YPHC Chapter 45

“So why did you hold my hand…”

 

The temperature was so hot that Yan Jie was alarmed. He called Jiang Nan’an’s name softly a few times, and seeing no response, he simply put one arm around his shoulders and the other under his knees, lifting him up in his arms.

 

He carried him back to his own dormitory. inBlue, who was in the room, was startled to see him rushing in with someone in his arms: “What happened?”

 

“He practiced last-hitting until he overheated! Blue, do you have a thermometer? Get it and take a reading.”

 

Yan Jie placed Jiang Nan’an on his own bed, casually pulled a blanket to cover him, while rummaging for medicine and instructing inBlue.

 

inBlue quickly took out a forehead thermometer from his bedside drawer, pointed it at Jiang Nan’an’s forehead, and pressed the button. Half a second later, the thermometer emitted a piercing alarm.

 

Hearing this sound, Yan Jie immediately stood up to look, and seeing the large “41.8” on the screen, he threw the medicine box back:

 

“This won’t do, let’s go straight to the hospital. Blue, help me contact the production team to get a car over here.”

 

This show’s popularity was largely driven by Jiang Nan’an, so they couldn’t afford any mishaps. After the previous incident where the production team’s negligence allowed a sasaeng fan to enter, they felt so guilty that they practically treated Jiang Nan’an like a treasure and wanted to hire several bodyguards to watch him 24 hours a day. Now, hearing that Jiang Nan’an had another issue, the person in charge almost jumped out of bed, quickly arranging for a car to come pick him up and take him to the hospital in the middle of the night.

 

When the staff called to say the car had arrived downstairs, Yan Jie was changing Jiang Nan’an’s fever patch. Hearing this, he immediately grabbed a coat from the rack, wrapped Jiang Nan’an tightly, making sure not even a bit of wind could get through, before picking him up and heading out.

 

Although Jiang Nan’an exercised daily, he still looked slim and light, and felt weightless when carried.

 

Yan Jie’s jacket was large, making him look even more slender when wrapped in it. Perhaps feeling uncomfortable being carried, he frowned slightly and unconsciously leaned closer to Yan Jie.

 

“Why are you frowning? Now you know you’re uncomfortable? You’re so stubborn, I asked you several times if you were feeling unwell and you didn’t say a word. It’s a good thing you stayed in the training room where I found you. If you had gone back to your dormitory alone with no one to look after you, I don’t know what would have happened. You’d have ended up burning into a babbling idiot.”

 

Yan Jie muttered as he held Jiang Nan’an closer, then realized he was rambling to a feverish patient, which made no sense. So he shook his head with a self-deprecating smile and quickened his pace toward the ground floor.

 

At the entrance, the driver, accompanying staff, and Jiang Nan’an’s assistant Xiao Sun were already waiting downstairs.

 

Seeing his brother being carried down, Xiao Sun’s heart nearly jumped out of his throat. He quickly reached out to take him:

 

“Brother Spring, is my brother okay? Here, let me take him…”

 

Xiao Sun’s original intention was that Spring had already done more than enough by discovering his brother was sick, taking care of him, and calling for a car, so he shouldn’t trouble him further and should take over from here. But Spring showed no intention of letting go, walking past him straight to the car, leaving him with:

 

“Thanks, but I’ve got this.”

 

“?” Who’s thanking whom?

 

Who exactly was his brother’s personal assistant?

 

Xiao Sun was bewildered, unable to process what was happening, as he watched Spring carry his brother into the car. Only after they had disappeared behind the car door did he come to his senses and hurry to get in.

 

Once in the car, he looked back and saw Spring sitting with his brother in the back seat, with his brother’s head resting on Spring’s lap, while Spring was pressing the back of his hand against his brother’s cheek, presumably checking his temperature.

 

For a moment, Xiao Sun felt something was off about this scene, but he had no time to think it through and quickly asked:

 

“Brother Spring, what happened to my brother? How did he suddenly get such a high fever? He seemed fine this afternoon.”

 

“I don’t know, maybe he’s been too tired lately. With the finals approaching, the pressure might be getting to him. By the way, how’s his health usually?”

 

“Very good. He doesn’t even catch a cold all year round, so I was shocked to hear he had a fever.”

 

“Well, people who rarely get sick can be quite alarming when they do… Is he allergic to any medications? I need to know how to answer if the doctor asks.”

 

“He’s allergic to penicillin and cephalosporins.”

 

“Got it.”

 

The film and television park where the show was located was in the suburbs of Linyun, quite a distance from the hospital. By the time the panicked group arrived at the emergency room and completed the paperwork, it was nearly midnight.

 

Given Jiang Nan’an’s special identity, appearing in public could lead to photos being taken by passersby and posted online, which wouldn’t be good. So Yan Jie arranged for a private single-patient room for him to rest in.

 

Afterward, Yan Jie busied himself with registration and payment. The accompanying staff and Xiao Sun couldn’t help at all and were afraid of getting in his way, so they stayed in the hospital room to help take care of Jiang Nan’an.

 

After all the rushing around, once the blood tests were done, the doctor had prescribed medication, and the nurse had brought the IV into the room, Yan Jie finally had a moment to sit down and rest.

 

Xiao Sun had been waiting in the hospital room the whole time. Seeing that Yan Jie had taken care of everything, he felt a bit uneasy with nothing to do, so he asked:

 

“Brother Spring, why don’t you go back and rest first? You’ve been training all day and must be tired. I can watch over my brother.”

 

“It’s fine, I’ll stay. You go get some sleep. Running around in the middle of the night must be exhausting.”

 

Yan Jie’s eyes were fixed on Jiang Nan’an, showing no intention of leaving.

 

Having failed to persuade him, Xiao Sun could only say: “Alright, Brother Spring, you’ve worked hard tonight. Is there anything you’d like to eat? I can order something for you.”

 

“No need… hmm… actually, see if you can get a bowl of hot porridge or something similar, preferably in packaging that keeps it warm. I noticed he didn’t eat much tonight, and when he wakes up, he shouldn’t be hungry. At least he’ll have something warm to drink.”

 

“Oh, okay…”

 

Xiao Sun finally had something to do and quickly ran out to find a porridge shop. The staff member who had come along was also sent back to the compound by Yan Jie, leaving just the two of them in the hospital room.

 

The medicine dripped one drop at a time from the IV bottle. Jiang Nan’an hadn’t woken up yet. He lay on the pillow, his hair disheveled, his face pale, his brows slightly furrowed, and his lowered eyelashes long, looking pitifully vulnerable.

 

Yan Jie reached out to smooth his hair and also checked his forehead temperature-still very hot.

 

A high fever of over forty degrees is dangerous even for adults. Although the IV was already set up, Yan Jie was still worried, so he asked the nurse about physical cooling methods and prepared some cold water and alcohol to take care of his Mr. Hang.

 

He placed a cold, wet towel on Jiang Nan’an’s cheeks and neck, and gently rubbed some alcohol on his palms.

 

Jiang Nan’an’s hands were beautiful-fair, slender, with long joints-and due to his high body temperature, they felt hot to the touch.

 

As Yan Jie applied alcohol to his palms and massaged them, he happened to notice many tiny scars on his hands.

 

These scars appeared to be quite old, scattered throughout his hands. Because they were old, the color was faint, making them almost unnoticeable unless one looked carefully.

 

While massaging his palms, Yan Jie observed these scars, considering many possibilities in his mind, but couldn’t find a reasonable explanation for them.

 

How did these happen?

 

Yan Jie was about to lean in for a closer look when suddenly the man curled his fingers and gently held his hand.

 

Enveloped by the burning touch and gentle pressure, Yan Jie was slightly taken aback.

 

He initially thought Jiang Nan’an had woken up, but looking up, he found that he was still asleep, only his brows were furrowed more tightly than before. Who knows what he was seeing in his dreams.

 

In the hospital room, the cool-toned lights illuminated every corner, so quiet that only the “tick-tock” of the wall clock could be heard.

 

In this silence, Yan Jie heard Jiang Nan’an mumble something indistinctly, but the voice was too soft for him to hear clearly.

 

So he moved his chair a bit closer, leaned slightly forward to look at the person on the bed, and asked softly:

 

“What did you say?”

 

“I… am…”

 

The feverish sleep-talking wasn’t very clear. Yan Jie listened carefully for a long time before piecing together a phrase-

 

“I’m sorry…”

 

As these three blurred syllables fell, Yan Jie felt his hand being tightly gripped.

 

–

 

Jiang Nan’an had a distant, bewildering, unrealistic dream.

 

The sunlight in the dream was scorching and dazzling, making one feel hot to the core.

 

Jiang Nan’an seemed to be running through an open field, with the wind hitting his body, allowing him to feel a rare sense of freedom and coolness.

 

He ran through golden fields, through waist-high grass, all the way up a small hill under the blue sky, standing face to face with an elm tree at the top.

 

The tree was sturdy, with a rough trunk, tall and large, with a lush green crown. Standing under it and looking up, one couldn’t see the sky, only its luxuriant branches and leaves.

 

“If there is a next life, I want to be a tree, standing eternal, without a posture of joy or sorrow…”

 

Someone was gently reciting poetry in the wind. Jiang Nan’an turned his head toward the sound, but the sunlight and colors around him were bizarre, and apart from the old elm tree, there was no one else or anything else.

 

“Half peacefully in the dust, half flying in the wind…”

 

“Half casting shade, half bathing in sunlight…”

 

The elm’s branches and leaves rustled in the wind, overlapping with the verses.

 

“Very silent, very proud…”

 

The next moment, all the images receded like a tide, and Jiang Nan’an felt a heavy sense of weightlessness in his heart, as if his entire being was falling into a bottomless abyss.

 

At the same time, the voice reciting the poem grew more and more distant, eventually becoming ethereal and vague:

 

“Never relying…”

 

“Never seeking.”

 

The light before his eyes became increasingly piercing. As the last word fell, Jiang Nan’an struggled to wake up. When he opened his eyes, he first saw a white ceiling and cold white lights.

 

He blinked in confusion, slowly looking around at the surroundings, realizing he was in a completely unfamiliar environment, seemingly a hospital room.

 

After two blank seconds, he supported himself to sit up, but as he moved, he suddenly felt someone tightly gripping his hand.

 

Jiang Nan’an was startled for a moment, instinctively looking over, only then noticing Yan Jie lying beside his bed, one hand pillowing his head, the other holding his.

 

Probably awakened by his movement, Yan Jie immediately sat up.

 

Having just woken up, his eyes were still red and full of confusion and drowsiness, his chin covered with bluish stubble, his cheeks still bearing the creases left by his clothes:

 

“Oh my goodness, you’re finally awake. If you hadn’t woken up soon, I would have had to storm into the doctor’s office and demand to know if high fevers can turn people into vegetables.”

 

As he spoke, Yan Jie quickly raised his hand to feel Jiang Nan’an’s forehead.

 

Jiang Nan’an didn’t have time to dodge and was touched by a warm palm.

 

“…It’s better, much better. Let’s have the nurse take your temperature again in a bit.”

 

Jiang Nan’an looked at him, then at the clock on the wall.

 

Six-thirty in the morning.

 

“…Why am I in the hospital?” Jiang Nan’an still didn’t quite understand the situation.

 

“What do you think?” Yan Jie replied without any patience:

 

“Do you remember we agreed to meet downstairs for a night run yesterday evening? I waited and waited downstairs but no one came. Thinking you’re not the type to stand someone up without a word, I went up to check, and guess what? There you were, slumped over your desk, barely hanging on between life and death! When I checked, wow! 41.8 degrees! I quickly grabbed you and rushed you to the hospital, spent all night getting you on an IV, and finally managed to bring your temperature down.”

 

“…Oh.” Jiang Nan’an thought about what Yan Jie said and realized his memory indeed ended in the training room last night.

 

He seemed to have been practicing last-hitting minions, but his condition wasn’t good. He couldn’t remember exactly what happened, only that the minions in his eyes appeared with countless overlapping shadows that he couldn’t see clearly.

 

“So that’s how it is.”

 

He nodded and sincerely said:

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Don’t. I don’t deserve your thanks. Jiang Nan’an, you’re too much. I asked you several times in the training room last night if you were feeling unwell, why didn’t you say anything? Huh? Did you have to collapse there for me to find out?”

 

Yan Jie was genuinely worried and genuinely angry. Now that the person was no longer in serious condition, it was time to settle this account properly.

 

“I didn’t,” Jiang Nan’an, feeling at fault, obediently explained:

 

“It’s because I really didn’t feel unwell.”

 

“?” A fever of nearly forty-two degrees and he didn’t feel unwell?

 

Was this a joke to fool ghosts?

 

“Come on, describe to me how you felt at that time,” Yan Jie asked good-naturedly.

 

“…Cold.”

 

“Mm.”

 

“Dizzy.”

 

“Mm.”

 

“Headache.”

 

“What else?”

 

“Sleepy.”

 

“And these five words combined don’t qualify as ‘feeling unwell’ to you?”

 

Jiang Nan’an nodded.

 

Yan Jie was almost amused:

 

“Then what did you think was happening?”

 

Jiang Nan’an thought for a moment, perhaps recalling his mindset at the time, and then gravely answered with four words:

 

“Time to sleep.”

 

Yan Jie was done.

 

He didn’t know what he was feeling, perhaps it was shock. He let out a long sigh, showing complete helplessness and heartache.

 

Jiang Nan’an looked at him, was silent for a moment, then shifted his gaze downward and brought the conversation back:

 

“So why were you holding my hand?”

 

“…”

 

If he hadn’t mentioned it, Yan Jie would have forgotten he was still holding his hand.

 

But Yan Jie didn’t want to give a proper answer now, so he coldly snickered:

 

“Why? Last night when you were delirious with fever, you grabbed my hand like a female ghost and told me you were a fire bird, and I must be the flame. If you burned to death today, you’d definitely drag me to hell with you, refusing to let go. You said you craved my body and wanted to drag me to your nest as your nest-warming spouse to lay eggs for you, to produce a bunch of 41.8-degree little fire birds that would cling to me forever and ever, calling me mama. Grabbing my hand was our vow to share a pillow and sleep together. How about that, my husband?”

 

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