Shen Kuangye thought that since he had slept so late, he wouldn't be able to wake up in the morning. But his biological clock still woke him up a little after eight.
When he opened his eyes, Lu Xiangyang was still asleep in his arms, his cheeks flushed red.
Shen Kuangye shifted slightly, then realized that a certain part of his body was acting strange again.
"..."
Shen Kuangye, do you have some kind of problem?
He cursed himself silently in his mind.
He slowly lifted himself out of bed. Considering that taking a cold shower last time had given him a high fever, he used hot water this time.
After cleaning up the "crime scene," he even grabbed the perfume from the sink and sprayed it around the bathroom. Only after confirming that no one would notice anything did he leave.
EAR had rules about sleeping early and waking up early, but most people still didn't get up until eleven.
The only two people who could wake up before ten were currently still sleeping soundly.
That was good.
Shen Kuangye thought this would give him some time to clear his head.
The first floor of the club was empty. Shen Kuangye sat in a gaming chair, his gaze unconsciously drifting toward Lu Xiangyang's seat.
He frowned.
What exactly was wrong with him lately?
Why did he keep having reactions just from looking at Lu Xiangyang's face?
Had he become that narcissistic?
In his previous life he had lived alone for many years with almost monk-like restraint, rarely experiencing anything like this.
But recently it had been happening far too often.
He was even starting to wonder whether he should see a doctor and get some medication.
"Tap."
The quiet hall was suddenly broken by the sound of slippers.
Shen Kuangye looked toward the source and saw Lu Xiangyang walking downstairs while rubbing his sleepy eyes.
"Kuangye-ge—"
Before he could finish speaking, his foot slipped.
He staggered—
And fell down the stairs.
Even though Shen Kuangye reacted quickly, he couldn't reach him in time.
He could only watch as Lu Xiangyang tumbled heavily down the steps and hit the ground with a dull groan.
"Are you okay? Does anything hurt?"
Shen Kuangye's voice carried a trace of panic.
Lu Xiangyang's face turned pale.
The place that hurt was too embarrassing to say, so he stammered without answering.
Shen Kuangye's first thought was a fracture.
He calmed down and quickly called a taxi. Since it was still a weekday morning, a driver nearby accepted the order almost immediately.
Shen Kuangye crouched down.
"Put your arms around my neck."
Lu Xiangyang was already in so much pain that tears had welled up in his eyes. He obediently wrapped his arms around Shen Kuangye's neck.
Lu Xiangyang had gained some weight recently from Shen Kuangye feeding him so well, so lifting him was a bit harder than before.
But Shen Kuangye still managed to carry him steadily into the car.
When Lu Xiangyang's butt touched the seat, he grimaced in pain.
The driver noticed the urgency and immediately headed for the hospital.
Shen Kuangye also noticed that Lu Xiangyang's leg had been bruised. Blue and purple marks were forming, looking even more striking against his pale skin.
Shen Kuangye didn't dare touch it.
Seeing Lu Xiangyang's red eyes, he gently comforted him.
"It's okay."
"It's my fault for not paying attention when going down the stairs," Lu Xiangyang said with teary eyes.
Shen Kuangye felt a tight ache in his chest.
He hated seeing Lu Xiangyang cry.
But saying more wouldn't help.
"Don't think too much about it."
The driver moved quickly.
Shen Kuangye hurried through registration and took him for examinations.
After hearing the situation, the doctor told them to get an X-ray first.
While waiting for the results, Lu Xiangyang stayed entirely in Shen Kuangye's arms.
With so many people passing by, he felt a little embarrassed.
"Kuangye-ge, maybe I should just sit by myself?"
Shen Kuangye immediately refused.
"The benches are too hard. It'll hurt more if you sit."
Lu Xiangyang had no choice.
His butt hurt. His leg hurt.
If he really sat on the cold hospital chair, it would probably hurt even more.
So he simply buried himself like an ostrich in Shen Kuangye's arms.
The results came out.
As expected—
A coccyx (tailbone) fracture.
The doctor suggested rest.
Although Lu Xiangyang's injury was mild, he still needed to lie down for about two weeks.
During that time he shouldn't walk much, and definitely shouldn't sit for long.
The first few days might be painful, and if necessary he could massage or apply heat.
Shen Kuangye carefully memorized everything with a very serious expression.
Meanwhile Lu Xiangyang wished he could bury his head in the ground.
Too embarrassing.
His image was completely ruined.
Still, Lu Xiangyang wanted to visit Lu Ning.
At the ward entrance, Shen Kuangye set him down and helped him limp inside.
Lu Ning wasn't in the room.
Only Xu Wen was there, along with a girl beside her wearing a school uniform and looking very gentle.
The girl's eyes were red, and she silently packed her things.
Xu Wen also no longer looked as cheerful as when Lu Xiangyang first met her.
She frowned slightly, looking helpless.
"You should go back. Otherwise your mom—"
"I don't need you to control me. I want to stay here."
The girl wiped her eyes.
"If I hadn't asked the doctor today, were you planning not to tell me?"
Xu Wen fell silent.
Shen Kuangye and Lu Xiangyang paused at the doorway.
The girl seemed to notice them and looked over, clearly startled.
Shen Kuangye helped Lu Xiangyang sit on a chair.
Lu Xiangyang then took out the carefully kept poster and handed it to Shen Kuangye.
Shen Kuangye immediately understood and gave it to Xu Wen.
Xu Wen smiled and passed it to the girl.
"Do you like it?"
The girl didn't even look at it.
"At a time like this you're still doing things like this."
But despite her words, she honestly accepted the poster.
"Oh? Doesn't our Xia Zhan like EAR?"
Xu Wen teased.
"Why aren't you talking now that the real person is here?"
"You probably didn't expect it, but I'm actually friends with SUN."
"You couldn't attend the offline event last time because your mom wouldn't let you, so I got this for you."
Xia Zhan blushed awkwardly.
"Why did you print this one?"
She had only secretly shipped the CP.
Why did Xu Wen bring a CP poster for them to sign?!
"What's wrong with this one?" Xu Wen asked.
"Isn't it pretty?"
Xia Zhan's face turned even redder.
"I'm not talking to you anymore!"
"Not talking again?"
Xu Wen teased her.
She glanced at the time.
"Alright, go back. I'm fine here. Your mom will worry."
Xia Zhan hesitated, clutching her backpack tightly.
"Then I'll go. I'll come visit again Saturday night after class."
"Okay," Xu Wen smiled. "Go quickly. I'm fine. Don't listen to the doctor's scare tactics."
Only after looking at her several times did Xia Zhan finally leave.
Shen Kuangye and Lu Xiangyang had stayed silent the whole time.
After she left, Xu Wen sighed.
"How did she hear about it…"
Shen Kuangye glanced at her and began to guess something.
The ward where Lu Ning stayed probably treated patients with similar conditions.
And Xu Wen's condition might be even more serious.
"So you're WILD?"
Xu Wen looked at Shen Kuangye.
"I watched your match this week. You played really well."
"Aunt Lu just went for another check-up, so you might need to wait here."
Lu Xiangyang was still uncomfortable sitting.
Shen Kuangye pressed his lower back and whispered,
"Want to go back first?"
Lu Xiangyang thought about it.
That was probably better.
If Lu Ning saw him like this she would definitely worry.
Shen Kuangye helped him stand carefully and watched his expression the whole time.
After saying goodbye to Xu Wen, they left.
Xu Wen rested her chin on her hand and waved with a subtle smile.
"Don't worry. I'll tell Auntie you came."
---
The news of Lu Xiangyang's injury quickly spread through the club.
Cheng Rang asked worriedly,
"Baby, where are you hurt? Let me see."
Shen Kuangye grabbed his collar and dragged him aside, warning him with his eyes not to talk nonsense.
Cheng Rang wasn't afraid and glared right back.
"What happened?" Xing Xing asked with concern.
"What did the doctor say?"
Lu Xiangyang felt too embarrassed to admit that he slipped down the stairs and fractured his tailbone.
So he simply stayed silent.
Fortunately Shen Kuangye helped cover for him.
During the day it was manageable.
But nighttime was terrible.
He couldn't lie on his back and had to sleep face-down.
Even though he didn't need hospitalization, the pain in his tailbone was very clear.
He whimpered softly in bed.
Shen Kuangye couldn't help asking,
"Does it really hurt that much?"
Lu Xiangyang thought for a moment and pitifully said,
"Yeah… it hurts a lot."
In fact he had secretly been reading tips for chasing someone last night.
Step one: make the other person feel pity for you.
So he was trying his best to act weak.
But it didn't seem to work.
Because after hearing this, Shen Kuangye simply fell silent and started scrolling his phone.
Lu Xiangyang felt a little disappointed.
Shouldn't the normal procedure be comforting him?
Why wasn't he saying anything?
What he didn't know was that Shen Kuangye was seriously searching:
"Traditional Chinese Medicine Encyclopedia: Professional techniques for massaging the coccyx."
After studying for a moment, he confidently decided to try it.
Lu Xiangyang didn't notice what was about to happen.
He opened WeChat and saw a message from Xu Wen that afternoon:
"Are you two a thing? 😏"
Before Lu Xiangyang could even send a question mark, he felt his shirt being lifted slightly.
Then a pair of hands gently pressed on his lower back.
He immediately grabbed Shen Kuangye's hand.
"Does it hurt?"
Shen Kuangye thought he used the wrong technique.
"Am I pressing too hard?"
"Of course not," Lu Xiangyang finally said.
"It just feels… a little weird."
"Then it's fine."
Shen Kuangye gained confidence.
"You keep doing your thing. I'll massage you."
Only then did Lu Xiangyang realize—
Shen Kuangye was actually worried about him.
So the earlier silence was because he was searching for tutorials?
Lu Xiangyang felt secretly delighted.
He also didn't remind Shen Kuangye that the injury was on his tailbone, not his lower back.
While massaging, Shen Kuangye's gaze unconsciously fell on Lu Xiangyang's pale waist.
Lu Xiangyang's skin bruised easily.
After just a little pressing, faint marks were already showing.
And his waist was so slender.
So slender Shen Kuangye felt he could hold it completely with both hands.
…What was he thinking?
Shen Kuangye snapped back to his senses.
Lu Xiangyang enjoyed the massage while replying to Xu Wen:
"?"
Xu Wen replied instantly.
"Are you two having something going on?"
Normally that kind of question might feel intrusive.
But coming from Xu Wen, it didn't feel annoying.
Lu Xiangyang's heart jumped.
"What do you mean? Don't talk nonsense."
"I didn't even say what kind of situation," Xu Wen replied.
"How did you guess it yourself?"
"..."
"I knew my Xia Zhan was smart. She already noticed something strange about you two."
"..."
"?"
"Don't talk nonsense," Lu Xiangyang typed.
"We're really just good friends."
"Stop pretending. If you two aren't anything I'll eat my words."
"..."
"Wait… you two haven't even started dating yet?"
"?"
"Seriously? The way you look at each other—haven't you started dating?"
"Don't talk nonsense," Lu Xiangyang replied.
"My brother doesn't like men."
"I don't believe it."
"The way he looks at you isn't exactly innocent."
Lu Xiangyang's heart skipped a beat.
"What do you mean?"
Xu Wen replied:
"From my years of experience…"
"He definitely likes you."