CH 29

Chapter 29

The weather forecast reported a temperature of 16°C to 20 °C with torrential rain. 

Lu Qi’an chased at a very quick speed, but once he ran down to the second floor, he could no longer hear the footsteps of anyone running.

He looked down from the corridor and saw Fu Jia in short sleeves, rushing into the less than 20 °C torrential rain, and staggering off to the northern direction.

Despite knowing the other couldn’t hear him, he still shouted out: “Fu Jia!”

No one responded.

He quickly went downstairs and followed Fu Jia into the rain, but there wasn’t a sign of anyone in the northern direction anymore. He chased along the way that Fu Jia ran in, and continuously called out Fu Jia's name, but the sound of the rain was so deafening that his voice was quickly drowned out and he couldn’t even hear himself clearly. 

He quickened his pace and shouted again: "Fu Jia!"

In his memory, he had never howled so exhaustively before. 

There were no education buildings in the north, only the woods and a school laboratory. The route was complicated with many forked trails along the way. Lu Qi’an intuitively picked out a path and searched from beginning to end. When he couldn’t find anyone, he could only go back to the starting point and continued searching down another path. The rain was too heavy, and Lu Qi'an quickly became completely soaked. He rarely blinked because he was searching so anxiously, causing the rain to block his vision and slowed down his speed more and more. 

Lu Qi'an didn't know how long he had been looking for, but he never gave up. Finally, he found Fu Jia behind the laboratory building.

At first he couldn’t be sure if there was someone there. Looking from a distance through a curtain of rain, the silhouette of that person didn't look human, but rather a mass of discarded objects. Lu Qi'an approached closer and once he saw that the person was trembling, he became sure it was Fu Jia. He squatted with his back against the wall, hugging his body with both hands and his head buried deeply between his arms, curling up as much as possible.

He was protected from rain by the protruding eaves above his head. Although he was splashed by rain, at least he didn’t stay in the rainstorm this entire time, which made Lu Qi'an heave a sigh of relief.

He didn’t approach rashly. Instead, he stopped a step away from the eaves and shouted hoarsely: "Fu Jia."

After searching for so long, and shouting for so long, Lu Qi'an's voice had already become raspy. 

Fu Jia's hands moved, but he didn't raise his head, nor did he relax his body. Even though there was no more space behind him, he still shrank back and said: "Don't come here."

His voice was buried by his hands, muffled and inaudible.

Lu Qi’an cleared his throat. To prevent suddenly turning dumb and forgetting how to speak properly, he spoke word by word: “It’s too cold outside. Let me take you somewhere to shelter from the rain.”

Fu Jia's body trembled even more. 

He raised his head, but before Lu Qi’an could make out his expression, he already began to vigorously shake his head while saying: “You– If you want to take shelter from the rain, then you can go by yourself. No need to mind me.”

Lu Qi'an took a deep breath and softened his voice: "You're injured, you can't get rained on again."

Fu Jia still refused to raise his head and make eye contact with him. Pulling the corners of his mouth, he sneered: “What does that have to do with you? In your opinion, shouldn’t I be the one to blame for getting hurt? You don’t like me, and you’ve said before that you don’t pity me, so you shouldn’t care whether I’m dead or alive.”

His tone was unsteady, but because an unyielding spirit supported him, the whole monologue came out articulately. 

Lu Qi'an clenched his hands so tightly that his joints ached. He relied on the pain to maintain his composure, and refrained from showing a loss of control on his face. 

Fu Jia had been obedient for so long that he almost forgot about the gloomy demeanor Fu Jia maintained when he hadn’t moved out of the Lin family villa. Now, he was the same as before; hostile towards everything around him, with an air of rejection like a spike personified. 

Lu Qi'an didn't blink, letting the rainwater flow into his eyes and causing them to become more and more bloodshot. 

He said: “I care about you, and from now on, I will take care of you.”

His tone was decisive, as if he was not only telling Fu Jia, but also making a promise to himself.

Fu Jia's eyes became hot, and he couldn't help letting out a vague sob from his throat. He was trembling like a leaf as he stammered: “I don’t need… you can go.”

Lu Qi'an stood there without moving, biting his words heavily as he spoke: "I'll take care of you, Fu Jia, don't give up."

For a moment, Fu Jia was stunned. He couldn't help but raise his head, then looked at Lu Qi'an—

Since the time the two of them have met, Lu Qi’an had never been so flustered. However drenched Fu Jia was, Lu Qi’an was just as drenched, and that was on top of him traversing back and forth through the muddy forest, his pants and jacket covered in sprays of mud. 

Fu Jia closed his eyes, but couldn't stop the tears from pouring out. As he mentally broke down, he hugged his head in an attempt to hide his crying. 

Fu Jia hated himself very much, because when he said aloud the sentence, “I’m giving up”, he truly was determined to give up. He rushed into the rain aimlessly and ran without a direction in mind, deciding that even if Lu Qi'an came to look for him, or even to apologize to him, he would still shoo him away with the most unwelcoming tone. 

But hearing Lu Qi'an's words of "don't give up", he couldn’t stay firm anymore; when he looked up and saw that Lu Qi'an was thoroughly drenched by the rain like him, he couldn't do anything except cry out in pain.

Fu Jia wondered why he felt so distressed upon seeing this, why he felt like he couldn’t bear it at all. He didn’t want to scold him or drive him away anymore, he just wanted to block the rain for him, he wanted to bring him to a dry and warm place. 

He hated himself, but he couldn’t control himself.

Lu Qi'an took a deep breath, took off his jacket, walked under the eaves, then squatted down in front of Fu Jia and asked him: "Aren’t you cold?”

Fu Jia was slow to react, and it took him a long time to shake his head.

Lu Qi'an shook his jacket, put it on Fu Jia's back, and said: “Use this jacket to block the rain for now, and I’ll carry you back to the school building. The ambulance should be here by now, so I’ll take you to the hospital.”

His jacket was so soaked that it could even drip water. But the school uniform was waterproof to a certain degree, so it was better to use it as cover than be directly exposed to the rain. 

Fu Jia pushed his hand away, and even wanted to rip off the jacket. He said: “I won’t go to the hospital.”

Lu Qi'an grabbed both sides of the jacket, wrapped Fu Jia inside, pulled him towards himself, and  then said: “Then where do you want to go?”

Fu Jia was suddenly pulled closer by him; his mind blanked out and his tears also stopped.

Lu Qi’an’s face was very close. Fu Jia stared at his bloodshot eyes, but not only did he not find them scary, he felt they were gentle. 

Fu Jia held his breath and couldn’t speak. 

Lu Qi’an shifted his hands further, putting it around his back and circling him, and said: “If you don’t speak, then we’re going to the hospital.”

Fu Jia sniffed and shook his head with all his strength.

Lu Qi'an sighed and said: "Then I'll take you to my apartment."

Fu Jia still shook his head.

Lu Qi'an pulled up the two sleeves of his jacket and tied a knot by Fu Jia's chest, then said: “If you shake your head again then we’re going to the hospital. You wait for me here, I’ll go borrow an umbrella.”

After speaking, Lu Qi'an stood up and walked into the rain again.

Fu Jia blankly stared after him, his first reaction was that since Lu Qi’an was gone, he could run away now. 

But the reality was, his body didn’t move an inch.

He struggled for a few seconds, moved his legs, and then discovered that he had been squatting for so long that his legs had already lost all sensation. When he moved again, the pain was so intense that his whole body couldn’t exert any strength. 

Fu Jia leaned against the wall to sit on the ground, covered his legs, and decided not to run away. 

Because his legs were numb, it was because his legs were numb. 

He wiped his face and felt a mixture of sweat, rain, and tears wet his hands. 

He kept convincing himself: it was because his legs were numb.

While waiting for Lu Qi'an, Fu Jia kept finding excuses for himself, and convincing himself bit by bit until Lu Qi'an came back. 

The rain was already significantly lighter. 

Lu Qi’an had borrowed a plaid-patterned umbrella from who knows where. Although there was only one umbrella, its large size could cover the two without a problem. Seeing him gradually approaching, Fu Jia was in a complicated mood. Even though he kept comforting himself with the excuse that he didn’t leave because his legs were numb, by the time Qi’an returned with a borrowed umbrella, he really had just stayed here obediently. He was straight-up more well-behaved than a pet dog.

Lu Qi'an walked under the eaves. When he saw that Fu Jia had changed from squatting to sitting, he closed the umbrella and put it against the wall, half squatted down to look at him on eye-level, and said: “You hold the umbrella, I'll carry you to the apartment.”

Fu Jia turned his face away and said icily: "Why should I go together with you? I want to go back to the dormitory."

Lu Qi'an said without hesitation: “You can’t.” His tone was understated, but Fu Jia could hear how resolute he was.

"You…" Fu Jia opened his mouth, and the phrase ‘on what basis’ got stuck in his throat. He was on the verge of almost saying it.

But almost was just an almost. Such rude words, it couldn’t be easily said aloud even at the peak of his anger. 

Seeing that he held back from speaking, Lu Qi'an explained: “You can't go back to the dormitory now. You ran out so suddenly that the teachers couldn’t resolve the situation well. No one is coming for you currently because problems from the other side have tripped them over, and I’ve already come out to look for you. If you let the teachers find out that you didn't go to the hospital or meet with your parents, but went back to the dormitory instead, do you know what they would do?"

Fu Jia didn't answer him.

He had already smashed the broken jar to pieces#, and now he wasn’t afraid of anything. When he hit someone, he was prepared to bear all consequences. No matter what happened, in that moment he would definitely raise his fist. 

Moreover, he even gave up on Lu Qi'an, so what was he afraid of?

Fu Jia didn't care, but Lu Qi'an was quite serious: "They will contact your parents.”

In an instant, Fu Jia’s body froze.

"Come to the apartment with me, and I will tell the teacher that you’ve been picked up by your parents and taken to the hospital for examination. Liu-laoshi will also help convince the other teachers," As Lu Qi’an spoke, he passed him the handle of the umbrella, “You have to change your clothes as soon as possible and come back with me. I’ll piggyback you."

Fu Jia gritted his teeth. He didn’t take his umbrella, but used the wall to support himself and exerted all the strength in his legs to stand up from where he was sitting. But he was both physically weak and nervous; his legs constantly trembled, causing his movements to be slow and embarrassing.

Slowly, Fu Jia straightened himself by holding onto gaps between the bricked wall, and said: "I want to walk by myself."

His tone was stubborn.

Lu Qi'an was silent for two seconds, and didn’t continue to insist. He also stood up, then opened the umbrella and enveloped the two of them under its shadow.

As they were on the backside of the building on a rainy day covered by an umbrella, the lighting was particularly dim. Fu Jia couldn't see Lu Qi'an's expression clearly, and only heard him say: "Okay."

Fu Jia breathed a sigh of relief.

He tried to move his feet and found that it wasn’t as difficult as he imagined. With exception to his somewhat flimsy footsteps, the feeling of pain wasn’t as severe as before. If he wanted to run away, he definitely could’ve left before Lu Qi'an had come back.

But he didn’t.

Fu Jia walked out from under the eaves, and Lu Qi'an followed him with an umbrella. The two walked very slowly; Fu Jia didn't speak and Lu Qi'an didn't speak either.

After walking at a snail pace to the school gate, Lu Qi'an hailed a taxi. The apartment was very close to the school, and since traffic flow increased significantly on rainy days, going by car may not be faster than walking.

Fu Jia raised this question: "Why hail a ride when we’re so close by?”

A car stopped in front of the two of them, Lu Qi'an stepped forward and opened the rear door: “Take a ride or let me piggyback you, you can choose freely.”

Without even thinking about it, Fu Jia sat in the backseat. Lu Qi'an followed in and sat next to him.

Fu Jia leaned against the car door on his side, staring out of the car window while staying away from Lu Qi'an as much as possible. But the window hazily reflected the inside of the car, and despite Fu Jia trying to ignore it, he still couldn’t help being attracted to the reflection. 

He lowered his arm to prop against the window and closed his eyes.

Although there were many cars on rainy days and they were on the road during peak afternoon rush hour, there was only one traffic light on the way to the apartment so the drive didn’t take too long. 

Before entering the community, Lu Qi'an explained the situation to the guard and let the car drive into the courtyard.

The car stopped, and Lu Qi'an got out first after paying. He opened the umbrella and went around to Fu Jia's side, then opened the car door and lowered the umbrella as he waited for him to come out.

Fu Jia turned a blind eye to this and turned around, trying to get off from the other side of the car.

Lu Qi’an lightly frowned and reached out to grab onto the article of clothing on Fu Jia’s chest– it was the jacket he had wrapped Fu Jia in by using the sleeves to tie a knot, and it was that very knot that he grabbed. 

Fu Jia tilted forward and almost fell out of the car door.

Lu Qi'an let go in time, and took a step back. His lips were pressed into a tight line, and his eyes looked extraordinarily dark as he stood against the light. 

Although his actions were acquiescent, Fu Jia examined his expression and actually felt a sense of anger from it. 

Fu Jia thought about it, and stopped acting difficult. He got out of the car and went under the umbrella. 

Lu Qi glanced at him expressionlessly, closed the car door, and then nodded to the driver. Once the driver started the car and drove away, he began to walk towards the apartment.

He didn't let Fu Jia walk in front, nor did he didn't pay attention to whether Fu Jia followed him. He simply walked forward on his own. This was completely different to how he was acting at school, before they got into the car.

Fu Jia followed him, both angry and nervous.

Why was it Lu Qi’an’s turn to be angry? Shouldn’t he be the angry one right now, and Lu Qi’an being the one to carefully observe his expression?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got, and the angrier he got, the more he couldn't let it go. After entering the building, Fu Jia deliberately lagged behind a few steps, a full meter away from Lu Qi'an.

Lu Qi'an's footsteps paused, but he didn't stop. He continued to walk forward and pressed the elevator button.

The elevator arrived quickly and it was empty. Lu Qi'an directly walked in, while Fu Jia deliberately dawdled for a few seconds before following in, then stuck to a corner to distance himself from Lu Qi’an. 

On the surface, Lu Qi'an did not respond to this.

This lasted until they reached their floor. When Lu Qi'an stepped out of the elevator and saw that Fu Jia was still dawdling inside, his seemingly calm expression finally disappeared completely.

He took a quick step, stretched his arm and grabbed the knot on Fu Jia's chest, then pulled him out forcefully.

Fu Jia's center of gravity was unstable, and he cried out, but Lu Qi’an firmly held him in place with his other hand.

Fu Jia was furious and said: "Why are you..."

He only said these three words, and Lu Qi'an lowered his hands, put them around his waist, then lifted him up. At the same time, Lu Qi'an lowered his body, placed Fu Jia’s abdomen against his shoulder, and carried him over his shoulder. 

Fu Jia's upper body instantly faced the ground head first and his mouth fell open in a daze, but he didn’t dare to move. 

Lu Qi'an held him in place with one hand, and unlocked the door to the apartment with the other.

After entering, he walked straight into the master bedroom where he slept in, lowered himself on the side of the bed, then placed Fu Jia on the bed with both hands around his waist.

Fu Jia stared at him blankly, letting him dictate the entire process.

Lu Qi'an stood up straight, his expression looking much better. He was finally willing to speak and said: "Stay here and don't move."

He took a set of clothes from the closet and entered the bathroom attached to the master bedroom, not forgetting to close the door either.

Fu Jia watched him walking back and forth, his head was still recovering from the ten-seconds anti-gravity lift and couldn’t think straight. 

In less than a minute, Lu Qi'an came out of the bathroom. He changed into the set of clothes he brought in, but instead making his way towards Fu Jia, he stood outside the bathroom door and observed Fu Jia. Seeing that he had remained in the same rigid posture without moving, Lu Qi’an’s face looked better again. He said: "I want to examine the wounds on your body. I can't let you take a bath directly, so I’ll wipe  you down with a towel first." After he finished speaking, he went back in again, this time without closing the door. Although Fu Jia couldn't see what was going on in the bathroom from his angle, he could hear the sound of water.

Very soon, the sound of water stopped and Lu Qi'an came out with a basin and a towel. He placed a chair by the bed and placed the basin and towel on it, then adjusted the temperature of the air conditioner from its original 28°C to 30°C. After preparing all of this, he moved a second chair to sit in front of Fu Jia and said: “Okay, take off your clothes now.”

Fu Jia: “?”

He shrank backwards, shaking his head frantically.

Lu Qi'an repeated in a low voice: "Take off your clothes."

Fu Jia shook his head even more fiercely.

Lu Qi'an raised his hand and reached out to Fu Jia, but Fu Jia quickly ducked away and shuffled back to the centre of the bed with his feet, shivering and trembling.

Lu Qi'an didn't speak. He used one hand to prop himself on the bed and grabbed Fu Jia's ankle with the other. Dragging him back, he said: "If you don't take it off, I’ll help you take it off."

Fu Jia's face turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye. He shook his head frantically, then nodded desperately, completely losing his ability to speak.

Lu Qi'an didn't know what he was trying to express: "So who’s taking it off?"

Fu Jia's eyes widened, he excitedly pointed at himself excitedly and whispered: "I'll take it off, I'll take it off."

Only then did Lu Qi'an let go of his hand.

Fu Jia clutched his chest, feeling that his heart was beating violently; for every beat, every part of his body would also quake. 

Why was he so dizzy?

Lu Qi'an looked at him calmly, his eyes seemed to say: "Please do it."

Fu Jia avoided his eyes, then reached out to untie the jacket that Lu Qi'an gave him. This step wasn’t difficult, completed after just one second, but what’s next was taking off the t-shirt under the jacket. 

Fu Jia grabbed the hem of the t-shirt and tried to lift it up, trying two whole times without success. 

Lu Qi’an waited patiently for his third attempt, and once he failed, he asked: "Do you need my help?"

Fu Jia immediately said: "No!"

He took a deep breath, and took off his shirt with a desperate momentum. He felt a little cold once the skin of his upper body was exposed– not because the room’s temperature was too low, but because his skin was too hot.

Fu Jia quickly hugged himself, raised his back, and bent his waist, trying to cover as much as she could. The thought of exposing his naked body to Lu Qi’an’s gaze, including his stomach, navel, and nipples, made Fu Jia think he was going to die.

The speed of Lu Qi'an's breathing accelerated in an instant. He raised his hand and put a fist to his lips, and coughed lightly.

Fu Jia's whole body was flushed and he shrank inwards with the wish that he wasn’t inside this apartment, not even existing above-ground, but below the foundation of this building, a place that Lu Qi'an would never see.

Lu Qi'an stood up, then went to the closet for a blanket to give Fu Jia. Fu Jia grabbed the blanket, acting as if he was frozen in the midst of a deep winter with sub-zero temperature. He desperately wrapped the blanket around and around his body, until it was finally airtight. 

Lu Qi'an looked at his flushed face and said: “I remember that your mouth and nose were bleeding. Open your mouth first, and let me see if there’s anything wrong with your teeth.”

Fu Jia shook his head and said incoherently: “No... No, there’s no problems with my teeth, no problem at all, and there’s no problems with my body, it’s just that I was anxious at the time, so I bit the flesh in my mouth, and a little blood came out.”

His lips opened and closed, and Lu Qi'an's gaze shifted from his eyes to his mouth– his red tongue was visible. 

He approached Fu Jia and said: "Open your mouth."

"I..." Fu Jia wanted to refuse, his mouth was opened by saying the word ‘I’. Although the opening was small, it was prolonged by his hesitation. He immediately shut up and switched to shaking his head. 

Lu Qi’an repeated again: “Open your mouth.”

This time, his voice was hoarse.

Fu Jia's gaze shifted quickly, and he noticed that Lu Qi'an was getting closer and closer. He had no choice but to retreat, and could only open his mouth with an, "Ah."

Lu Qi'an's eyes darkened. He stretched out his hand, pressed against Fu Jia’s nape, and leaned closer. 

He displayed what a qualified forced kiss should be like to Fu Jia, meaning that at the moment lips and teeth met, he reached his tongue in and intertwined it with the other party’s, sucking from time to time, evading from time to time, then carefully licking other areas in the oral cavity. 

Fu Jia moaned vaguely and limply fell back.

Lu Qi'an supported his body, withdrew his tongue, and switched to gnawing on Fu Jia's upper and lower lips. 

He didn’t know how long he kissed him for, or how long he should kiss him for. Although he had more understanding than Fu Jia, this was also the first time he had done it. Theoretical knowledge was useless, putting it into practice required instinctive actions. 

Simply put, do whatever you want to do. 

By the time he let go of Fu Jia, both of them were panting.

Falling into some unknown stupor, Fu Jia’s mouth was open, his soul no longer inhibited his body, and his eyes were unfocused.

Lu Qi’an pinched his face and said: “The next time you force a kiss on me, remember to stick out your tongue like this.”