Chapter 38: Low Fever
In the middle of the night, Luo Jing suddenly heard a thud from the living room, like glass or some other hard object falling onto the tiled floor.
His consciousness slowly returned. After a moment, he picked up his phone and checked the time. It was 3:30 a.m.
With the absurd thought of “Do even these kinds of neighborhoods have burglars?” in mind, he quietly got out of bed, opened the door, and slowly walked to the living room barefoot.
In the darkness, Huai Dan was standing by the coffee table, his head slightly lowered, lost in thought.
As he got closer, he saw a glass on the floor, and the kettle on the coffee table seemed to have been moved.
Huai Dan’s eyes were slightly closed. Hearing the noise, he opened them and looked over, his eyes a bit dark.
Luo Jing froze seeing this, then walked over and asked with concern, “Brother, what’s wrong?”
Huai Dan’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and his voice sounded a bit hoarse when he spoke: “Nothing, did I wake you?”
Luo Jing pursed his lips, picked up the glass from the floor, put it back on the coffee table, then took a new one, poured half a glass of water, and handed it to Huai Dan.
The kettle was temperature-controlled, and the warm water quickly warmed the glass, making it comfortable to hold.
Huai Dan took it but didn’t drink immediately. Instead, he looked down at Luo Jing: “Why aren’t you wearing shoes?”
Luo Jing didn’t answer but reached out and touched Huai Dan’s forehead.
Having just woken up, his hands and feet were warm from being under the covers. Huai Dan instinctively closed his eyes, feeling a warm touch on his forehead for a moment.
Luo Jing quickly withdrew his hand after checking his temperature, and the coolness of the air replaced the lingering warmth, which quickly dissipated.
Huai Dan lowered his eyes.
“Brother, you seem to have a fever,” Luo Jing said.
Huai Dan took a sip of water: “Mm, it’s okay, not serious.”
“Go back to sleep, you have an exam tomorrow,” he said.
Luo Jing, however, unusually disobeyed him.
“No, you go lie down first.” He took the almost empty glass from Huai Dan’s hand, put it aside, and gently pushed him, signaling him to go back to his room.
Huai Dan obediently followed his lead.
After Huai Dan lay down in bed, Luo Jing tucked him in, covering him from head to toe, only his head exposed.
“Brother, where’s the medicine cabinet?” he then asked.
Huai Dan paused: “In the cupboard above the oven.”
So Luo Jing left again.
After a while, he returned, wearing slippers, holding a glass of water and a box of medicine.
Not knowing what the different medicines were for, Luo Jing checked them on his phone for a while.
He first took Huai Dan’s temperature with a thermometer, then hesitantly handed him the medicine: “Is it okay to take this?”
Although it was medicine for a fever, was it suitable for all types of fevers?
Would there be any problems?
As someone who knew nothing about medicine, Luo Jing instinctively had a sense of awe for all medications, feeling like taking the wrong medicine would cause serious problems.
The more he thought about it, the more worried he became. Finally, he said, “Why don’t we just go to the hospital?”
Huai Dan, however, chuckled softly.
Luo Jing: “?”
He took the medicine box from Luo Jing, looked at the words on the box under the bedside lamp, then took out a strip of pills, took two, and swallowed them with water: “It’s okay, go back to sleep.”
Luo Jing pursed his lips, but he didn’t leave. Instead, he went to the bathroom in Huai Dan’s room, wet a towel with cold water, wrung it out until it was damp, and placed it on Huai Dan’s forehead.
The towel was a bit big, even after folding it, and Luo Jing didn’t get the angle right. He ended up covering Huai Dan’s eyes.
Huai Dan: “…”
“Preparing an eye mask for your brother?” After a moment of silence, he asked calmly.
Luo Jing suppressed a smile and apologetically adjusted the towel, revealing Huai Dan’s eyes.
The towel was quite wet, so Huai Dan’s eyelashes looked slightly damp as he looked at him.
Without his usual coldness, and with the towel on his forehead, he looked unusually vulnerable.
Luo Jing looked away.
“Do you want more water?” he asked, clearing his throat in the silence.
“No, this is fine.” Huai Dan looked at Luo Jing, a gentle look in his eyes after a moment. “Thank you, Luo Luo.”
“…You’re welcome.” Luo Jing suddenly turned off Huai Dan’s bedside lamp, as if trying to hide something. “Then… then I’ll go to sleep now. You can take the towel off later, brother.”
“Okay.”
After leaving Huai Dan’s room and closing the door, Luo Jing rubbed his slightly hot ears and breathed a sigh of relief.
The next day, after lunch, Luo Jing refused Huai Dan’s offer to take him to the test center, telling him to rest at home.
Luo Jing’s attitude was unusually firm, and Huai Dan, for once, couldn’t change his mind, so he called the driver.
He was indeed not in a suitable state to drive.
After sending the neatly dressed Luo Jing out, he went back to his room.
Although it wasn’t a serious fever, he did need to rest.
The medicine box, thermometer, and towel from last night were still on the bedside table. He looked at them, ultimately not putting them away, and lay down in bed.
He was used to enduring illnesses on his own. This was the first time someone had taken care of him.
Although the care was clumsy and unskilled, clearly not something the other person was accustomed to.
His sleep was long, and when he woke up, his fever had subsided. The curtains were still drawn. Huai Dan opened his eyes, grabbed his phone, and checked the time.
It was already 6 p.m.
Late summer and early autumn, the sky darkened quickly. The streetlights outside were already on, and the sunset was fading.
Luo Jing should have packed his things and left by now.
He looked at his phone.
Perhaps the child was afraid of disturbing him, as he hadn’t received any messages.
Huai Dan had long been accustomed to living alone. Luo Jing had only stayed for a day, but realizing this, he suddenly felt a rare sense of unease.
The house suddenly felt very empty, and a slight hollowness appeared in his heart.
Wearing slippers, he went to the living room. The surroundings were quiet. He went to the coffee table, poured himself a glass of water in silence, and sat down on the sofa.
After a moment, he opened his phone again and saw a message from Ye Lin sent a minute ago.
Ye Lin: [Luo Jing said you’re sick. Do you need me to bring you some fruit?]
Ye Lin: [Persimmons are in season recently. My family sent over so many that we can’t finish them all. I can bring some over to help you get rid of them.]
Huai Dan: “…”
He’d rather the house remained empty.
He coldly replied that he didn’t need anything, then, after thinking for a moment, opened Luo Jing’s chat window.
H: [At the airport? Let me know when you get home.]
Before he could send the message, a soft sound came from behind him.
Huai Dan instinctively looked over and saw Luo Jing shuffling out of the guest room in slippers.
He looked like he had just woken up, his hair slightly messy, rubbing his eyes, still a bit drowsy.
Seeing Huai Dan sitting on the sofa, he looked surprised.
After reacting, he instinctively ran a hand through his hair and cleared his throat: “Good evening, brother.”
He paused, then lowered his eyes, not daring to look at him. “I… I booked the flight for tomorrow morning, and I just asked my mom to call the school and ask for leave…”
“Can I stay another day?” Luo Jing looked at Huai Dan, a hint of nervousness in his eyes.
Huai Dan looked at him for a moment, then lowered his eyelashes.
His expression was hidden, and Luo Jing couldn’t see clearly. Huai Dan was silent for a while.
Luo Jing didn’t know what he was thinking, but the silence made him even more nervous. He thought Huai Dan might not be used to having someone at home and was about to say, “Brother, maybe I should just book a hotel,” when Huai Dan spoke.
“You can stay as long as you want,” Huai Dan replied softly.
His voice was so soft that Luo Jing didn’t hear him clearly, so he took a step forward: “Brother, what did you say?”
In the dim light, Huai Dan sat on the sofa, looking up at him slightly. Luo Jing’s eyes reflected the faint light from outside the window, but for some reason, they seemed a bit bright.
“I said, of course you can,” Huai Dan looked away. “How was the exam?”
Hearing this topic, Luo Jing immediately brightened: “The listening and reading scores were released on the spot. I got one point higher in both sections than last time.”
His scores were already very high, and it became increasingly difficult to improve them. Luo Jing had taken this exam casually, his mind preoccupied with Huai Dan’s illness.
But unexpectedly, he found the questions easy, and two of the reading passages were on similar topics that the teacher had recently covered.
He also felt good about the speaking and writing sections.
It was possible that he would actually achieve a new personal best this time.
Seeing him happy, Huai Dan’s eyes also crinkled with amusement, and he ruffled Luo Jing’s hair: “Not bad, good job. What do you want for dinner?”
“Ah… anything is fine,” Luo Jing was stunned by the touch.
“How about dumplings?” Huai Dan said. “There are still a few bags in the fridge for you to… cook.”
For you to mess with.
“…” Luo Jing was about to agree instinctively, then, realizing what he meant, his eyes narrowed, and all his strange emotions vanished.
He said calmly, threateningly, “Okay, I’ll cook them. You’re not allowed to leave any soup.”
Huai Dan chuckled: “Okay.”
