CFRFGC Chapter 114

⌈Lu Ran said loudly: “I’m angry too!”⌋

The two of them were separated by a layer of security bars and a mesh screen, silently staring at each other.

Ji Min thought either his brain wasn’t working or his eyes were malfunctioning.

Otherwise, why was he seeing Lu Ran clinging to the second-floor security bars?

Was this some kind of post-surgery side effect?

What’s more, Ji Min saw the person outside the window staring at him for a while before showing a visibly relieved expression.

Then, as if it were the most normal thing in the world, Lu Ran nodded at him and said calmly, “Seeing that you’re still alive, I feel at ease.”

“If you’re fine, I’ll head back to do my homework.”

When he said this, the boy’s expression was so calm it was almost unsettling, as though he hadn’t climbed up a drainpipe to the second-floor window but was simply passing by on his way home and happened to glance in.

After speaking, the boy looked down to gauge the distance and began preparing to climb back down.

The moment he moved, Ji Min snapped out of what felt like a surreal dream.

Realizing the person outside the window was indeed Lu Ran and seeing where the boy was standing, Ji Min’s heart almost jumped out of his chest.

“Lu Ran!”

For the first time ever, Ji Min shouted Lu Ran’s name.

“What are you doing up there?”

Ji Min immediately stood up from his chair, balancing on one leg.

He even forgot about the crutch beside him, instead, he propped himself up on the table as he tried to move toward the window.

After taking just two steps, he realized rushing forward might scare the boy, so he quickly stopped.

Flustered and unsure of what to do, Ji Min pointed at the person outside the window and stammered, “Get down from there right now!”

Then, realizing his mistake, he quickly pressed a hand to his forehead and lowered his voice in a panicked growl, “No, no, don’t move! Hold on tight!”

“It’s fine,” the boy outside the window replied, still calm as ever.

“I just came to check on you. I’ll leave the same way I came.”

Fine?

How was this fine?

Go back the same way?

What way?!

Ji Min was so furious he nearly fainted.

Ji Min’s chest felt like it was about to explode.

Yet, with Lu Ran clinging to the second-floor window, he didn’t dare show a trace of anger.

He was terrified that even the slightest harshness in his tone might cause the boy to lose his grip and fall.

The mere thought of such a scene made Ji Min’s entire body tremble, down to the tips of his hair.

He could only take a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

His Adam’s apple bobbed nervously twice before he finally began to inch toward the window, moving slowly and deliberately.

As he approached, he kept his voice deliberately soft, as if speaking to a frightened child, and said gently: “Hold on tight. Don’t move yet.”

But Lu Ran, perched outside the window, merely glanced at him and said: “No, I’m going back. I still have to go to work.”

With that, he prepared to climb down.

Ji Min nearly suffocated from holding back his frustration.

Work, work— was this the time to be thinking about work?

The veins on his forehead were already bulging, throbbing wildly, but he didn’t dare let his anger show.

He could only say, “Wait! You’ve already come all this way. Don’t you want to talk to me for a bit?”

Lu Ran’s face remained cold. “No.”

Ji Min: “…”

Maintaining his gentle tone with great difficulty, Ji Min gritted his teeth and said, “Well, I want to! I’m going insane here!”

The boy, just about to climb down again, paused and looked back at him. “Oh. Didn’t notice.”

Ji Min: “…”

Taking another deep breath, Ji Min reminded himself to stay calm. Do not lose your temper. Not now.

Taking advantage of the brief moment while Lu Ran was speaking, Ji Min finally managed to reach the window.

He yanked open the mesh screen, extended his arms through the security bars, and tightly wrapped them around the boy’s waist.

The moment his arms encircled Lu Ran and his fingers felt the warmth of the boy’s body, Ji Min’s heart, which had been lodged in his throat, finally began to settle.

It pounded furiously in his chest, thudding like a drum.

“You scared me to death!”

Ji Min couldn’t hold back anymore and roared in frustration.

In just this short amount of time, cold sweat had trickled down the sides of his face, soaking his temples.

The back of his shirt was completely drenched.

Lu Ran, now held firmly in Ji Min’s arms, glanced down at him and said coolly, “I’m perfectly fine. There’s nothing to be scared of.”

Ji Min: “…”

Perfect. Even now, he’s throwing my words back at me.

Ji Min sighed heavily.

Ji Min finally turned his attention to the butler behind him and said, “Quick, go get someone to bring him down!”

The butler, stunned by Lu Ran’s daring antics, finally snapped out of it and hurriedly made a call to the hospital staff.

Lu Ran glanced at the commotion and said, “No need for all that fuss. If you make such a big deal, the whole world will know you’re staying here. What’s the point of keeping it a secret then?”

“I can climb down by myself,” he added.

“Is this really the time to be worrying about that?”

Ji Min shifted his hold on Lu Ran’s waist. He wanted to smack the boy out of exasperation but was too afraid of accidentally causing him to fall. Instead, he tightened his grip.

Even holding him like this didn’t feel secure enough.

What if the security bars fail? What if something unexpected happens and I can’t hold on to him?

So, he quickly shouted, “Bring me a rope!”

The butler hung up his call and promptly fetched a rescue rope.

Ji Min took it, looped it around Lu Ran’s waist, and tied a firm knot.

Then, he secured the rope to the security bars with two additional loops.

Even after tying it, he still didn’t feel reassured.

What if the bars are old and break under stress?

So, he wrapped the rope around his own waist twice as well, fastening Lu Ran securely to himself through the bars.

Only then did Ji Min finally breathe a genuine sigh of relief.

The butler, now fully grasping the situation, quickly brought over a chair and placed it behind Ji Min, saying, “Sir, you can’t stand for too long right now!”

Ji Min waved his hand dismissively, about to say he wouldn’t be standing long.

But Lu Ran lowered his gaze and said flatly, “If you don’t sit, I’m climbing down right now.”

Ji Min immediately adjusted his position and sat down.

Once he was seated, his simmering frustration boiled over. He finally began to scold: “Lu Ran, have you grown bold? Who taught you to climb windows? You’re just a kid, and now you’ve mastered scaling walls?”

The more he spoke, the angrier he got.

Across from him, the boy showed no fear, glaring back as he retorted, “And you? Aren’t you bold yourself? Why didn’t you tell me about your second surgery?”

“With one leg still injured, you keep saying everything’s fine, no problem at all! Well, guess what? My window climbing is ‘fine’ too!”

Ji Min faltered for a second, guilt flashing across his face, but he couldn’t help firing back, “How am I supposed to feel at ease with you acting like this?”

“And how do you think I feel when you keep everything from me? Even secretly distributing your will—did you even ask for my opinion before making those plans?”

Lu Ran refused to back down.

“That was just in case!” Ji Min said defensively.

The man closed his eyes briefly and sighed, “You’re going to be the death of me.”

Lu Ran shouted back, “I’m angry too!”

At that moment, the hospital administrators, alerted to the commotion, arrived on the scene.

The hospital administrator reached up to touch his increasingly thinning hair, looking utterly defeated as he said, “Could you two not argue through the security bars on the second floor?”

It’s so dangerous.

Finally, after some time, Lu Ran was safely seated in Room 217.

The hospital administrator, wiping sweat from his forehead, left with his staff.

The butler, always sharp-witted, used the excuse of preparing dinner to discreetly leave as well.

And so, only Ji Min and Lu Ran remained in the hospital room.

Both wore sullen expressions. Neither spoke a word.

Eventually, Ji Min couldn’t stand the silence any longer.

He bent down closer to the boy beside him, tugged at Lu Ran’s sleeve, which had been snagged by a metal wire, and frowned, “Don’t move. Let me see if you got scraped underneath.”

Lu Ran wanted to pull his arm back but glanced at Ji Min’s right leg still in a brace and decided against it.

Ji Min guided him to sit opposite him.

He rolled up Lu Ran’s sleeve, examining the red marks on his arm.

Most were just scrapes.

But a few had broken the skin, with tiny beads of blood forming.

“You’ve broken the skin. Should I call the doctor for a tetanus shot?” Ji Min asked, reaching out for the call button.

Lu Ran rolled his eyes. “For such shallow wounds? What’s the point?”

Ji Min glanced up at him. “We’ll let the doctor decide.”

Ignoring Lu Ran’s protest, he retrieved iodine and cotton swabs and began cleaning the wounds himself.

The room fell silent again.

Having just been yelling at each other moments ago, the atmosphere now carried a hint of tension.

Ji Min finished tending to the scrapes on Lu Ran’s arm and then examined the abrasions on his ankle.

After a long pause, the man finally broke the oppressive silence with a low voice, “Sorry. This time, I was in the wrong.”

Lu Ran lowered his gaze to look at him.

Ji Min sighed. “I shouldn’t have kept you in the dark about the surgery. I shouldn’t have treated you like a child at every turn, only sharing the good news and hiding the bad.”

“And?” Lu Ran pressed.

Ji Min: “…”

He sighed again. “I shouldn’t have kept the will a secret from you.”

Only then did Lu Ran let out a dissatisfied hum.

“But you were way out of line.”

Ji Min thought back to the scene earlier and still felt sweat trickling down his back.

Ji Min couldn’t help it. The force he applied while applying the medication became a little too strong.

But as soon as he noticed, before Lu Ran had any reaction, he quickly lightened his touch, fearing that he might hurt him.

Annoyed, Ji Min said, “Luckily, I’m on the second floor. The height isn’t too high. If I were on the fifth or sixth floor, would you really have climbed up?”

“I’m not stupid.”

Lu Ran, unusually sheepish, replied, “It’s only because it’s only two stories that I climbed.”

“Still not stupid!”

Ji Min reached out and knocked on his head. “The person is already down below and you still want to go up. Who would dare stop you?”

Lu Ran: “…”

He rubbed his forehead, suddenly remembering and realizing, “Oh, right.”

Ji Min had successfully made him nearly lose his temper.

He began tidying up the used cotton swabs and threw them into the trash.

Then he looked up and stared at the boy opposite him for a while.

It had been almost three months since they last met.

Now, this was Ji Min’s first time seeing Lu Ran in three months. It was impossible to say he wasn’t excited or didn’t miss him.

But who would have thought that this guy would pull such a stunt?

Despite how outrageous it was, when it came to Lu Ran, it somehow seemed almost logical in a bizarre way.

Ji Min recalled the first time he saw Lu Ran.

That guy had even directly stopped a car.

Back then, Ji Min had just raised an eyebrow, mildly surprised.

But now, thinking about how the sports car had been stopped by Lu Ran’s knee, a wave of fear rushed through him.

“Never do anything like this again.”

Ji Min took Lu Ran’s hand in his, wrapping it in his palm.

With a bit of helplessness, he said, “Nothing is more important than your own safety.”

Lu Ran glanced at him but didn’t respond.

There was always a reckless, almost fatalistic aura around this person.

Ji Min narrowed his eyes and threatened him, “If you do this again, I’ll…”

The man trailed off.

“I’ll…”

The proud head of the Ji family couldn’t come up with anything substantial after a long pause.

“What will you do?” Lu Ran asked him.

Ji Min: “…”

He leaned in close to the boy’s cheek, gritting his teeth, and said, “I’ll watch you like a hawk and won’t let you do it.”

Lu Ran listened and thought this idea wasn’t too bad.

Lu Ran nodded in agreement, saying, “Sure, if you have the guts, keep staring at me.”

Ji Min really had no way to handle him.

He could only decide inwardly to keep a closer eye on him in the future.

He raised his gaze again and studied the young man in front of him.

It had been a few months since they last met. The person in front of him seemed to have lost some weight.

Because he hadn’t been eating or sleeping well, his face had visibly thinned out.

Even the bright, shiny eyes that Ji Min had worked so hard to nurture had returned to their original dullness.

Ji Min felt a pang of heartache.

He gently touched the dark circles under Lu Ran’s eyes, sighed, and promised, “It’s okay now, don’t worry. There won’t be anything like this happening again.”

Lu Ran’s expression finally softened a little.

He lifted his gaze to meet Ji Min’s.

The dangerous and difficult surgery, along with the one or two months of recovery in bed, had clearly taken a toll on Ji Min’s condition.

He had noticeably lost muscle mass and his complexion had grown paler.

Without thinking, Lu Ran moved as if he was about to sit on Ji Min’s lap, just like before the surgery.

But when he lowered his head and saw that Ji Min was still supporting his leg with a brace, he pulled back.

With a bit of concern, he asked, “Does your leg still hurt?”

Ji Min pulled him into his arms.

“The surgery wounds have healed. Sitting for a while is fine.”

As their bodies drew closer, the longing that had been suppressed deep in his heart surged uncontrollably.

The familiar, comforting warmth and scent flooded over him. Ji Min closed his eyes, feeling his heart ache from the intense yearning.

Unable to resist, he leaned in, about to kiss him.

Then he suddenly remembered the surveillance cameras in the hospital room and restrained himself, instead holding Lu Ran tightly.

After a moment, Ji Min sighed.

Shifting his attention, he decided to change the topic and asked, “Is it finals season? How’s your exam preparation going?”

“Oh,” Lu Ran answered honestly, “I skipped two classes today.”

Ji Min: “…”

Well, that comment erased all the tender thoughts he had.

Now all that was left was his forehead burning with anger.

After this little fiasco, Ji Min naturally wouldn’t let Lu Ran stay away anymore.

A few days later, Ji Min removed his leg brace and officially began his rehabilitation.

Every day, after class, Lu Ran would come to the hospital, stay for a while, and then go back home at night.

In the past few days, even though Lu Ran came every day, Ji Min felt that something was off.

The boy would come, sit beside him, and either do his homework or read papers.

The young man had a cold, indifferent look as if he didn’t want to talk to anyone.

After coming out of the rehabilitation area, Ji Min sat down beside Lu Ran to rest.

He watched the boy’s expression for a while and sighed. “You’re still mad? Is it that hard to calm you down?”

Only now did Ji Min realize the weight behind Lu Ran’s words, “I’m angry.”

Lu Ran probably didn’t get mad often.

When he did get angry, it wasn’t something that could be solved with just a few words.

Like now.

The boy glanced up at him and said, “I’m not angry.”

“You’re clearly angry based on your expression,” Ji Min said.

“I’m not angry. I just think you, old man, are boring. I want to find someone younger,” Lu Ran replied.

Ji Min chuckled.

He looked at the angry boy with interest and asked, “Who’s caught your eye?”

Lu Ran glanced at him and deliberately said, “I’ve been hanging out with Fang Chen recently. You know him, right? The one from the Fang family. I like him now.”

When Ji Min heard Fang Chen’s name, he thought of his own arrangements and felt guilty for a moment.

He realized he hadn’t mentioned this when apologizing yesterday.

But Ji Min was somewhat confident in this area.

He confidently replied, “Impossible, he’s not your type.”

However, after saying that, Ji Min couldn’t help but glance at the boy’s expression beside him.

“Oh, really?”

Lu Ran smiled and showed him a photo of Fang Chen on his phone. “But I think he’s really cute.”

Ji Min: “…”

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