Chapter 70: Fever
That sentence was a little childish. It was no different than when young child throws a tantrum saying that they no longer wanted to play with you.
Jiang Yang couldn’t help but find it funny and his lips curved upwards.
But after laughing, his mood was once again uncomfortable. How can they no longer be friends? Looking back at all the things that had happened before, weren’t they getting along quite well? With Qin Xu no longer recognising him as his friend, all the effort from before had gone to waste.
Ever since Qin Xu said that he understood, he no longer bothered Jiang Yang or stuck to him day in day out.
Like this, Jiang Yang’s side suddenly had quietened down significantly. Although he had always found him annoying, this time he suddenly felt a little panicked and uncomfortable. He also couldn’t put a finger down on why he was feeling this way, but he just felt bad.
During class, he would sometimes find his eyes uncontrollably drift over to Qin Xu’s side and then he would be afraid that he would be found out, so he would quickly look back.
When the bell signalling the end of class rang Qin Xu stood up and grabbed his bottle to fill it with water. He very naturally also reached out to Jiang Yang’s side but, after remembering something, he paused for a moment and then retracted his hand.
Jiang Yang saw this and felt a strange sense of anxiety inside: “I’ll also go get water.”
He then picked up his bottle and followed Qin Xu out.
Qin Xu nodded dully and made a sound of recognition filled with suspicion.
The two walked side by side down the hallway. If they were acting like usual, they would have already started bickering around. It wouldn’t have been as quiet and weird like this.
Jiang Yang found it very awkward and wanted to say something to break the silence. For example, “Today’s weather is pretty good, there’s not a single cloud in the sky. What do you plan to eat for lunch?”
…….Too awkward.
Qin Xu’s response was still very perfunctory, and he basically didn’t answer. When they reached the drinking fountain and twisted open the faucet, Qin Xu suddenly interrupted Jiang Yang’s nonsensical chatter: “You don’t need to be like this. You should already know how I feel. I don’t want to be your friend.”
Jiang Yang fell silent. He suddenly found himself unable to speak.
Qin Xu however looked at him straightforwardly. His dark and bright eyes didn’t reveal any hidden desire to hide as he continued to say seriously: “Your earlier attitude to me was good. Clean and concise, it didn’t give me any hope. It’s fine if you just treat me the way you treat the girls that you don’t like.”
After he said this, he stood still and looked at Jiang Yang. It was as if he was waiting for something, but Jiang Yang didn’t say anything. In the end, he just turned around and returned to the classroom first with his bottle of water.
The fingers on Jiang Yang’s hand that hung by his side twitched a few times and then it clenched into a fist. On his face was an at loss expression. Does this mean that they can’t even be friends?
Qin Xu was very obviously depressed and sullen. After class, he no longer chatted or played around with the other boys and, instead, he slept while sprawling across his desk. He buried his face in his arms and not one part of his face was revealed.
Xie Zhe saw him acting half-dead and proceeded to laugh at him, “Hey, Xu brother. Why are you acting like an abandoned and sorrowful widow? You look very pitiful.”
Qin Xu didn’t respond and only lifted his eyelid to coldly look at him. He was too lazy to even make a sound.
“Hey wait. Why is your face so red? Wow, it’s so hot! It must be at least 39 degrees? Xu brother, be careful you don’t become silly from the heat.” Xie Zhe saw his flushed face and subconsciously touched his forehead. He marvelled at his stubbornness.
Qin Xu was extremely sleep. He rudely swatted away his hand, “Go away. Don’t bother me.”
“Xu brother, I’m not joking around. It’s okay if it’s just a small cold but you should be careful if you have a fever. You should go see a doctor.”
Although there are doctors at the school, but considering the degree of his fever, it is recommended for him to go to the nearby hospital to get a shot. After all, if the fever continues for a long time, it may lead to other complications.
However, Qin Xu didn’t want to cooperate at all. After snorting a few times with impatience, he continued to close his eyes and laid sprawled over his desk. He clearly didn’t have any intention to go see a doctor.
Jiang Yang sat next to him and, despite seemingly appearing to be focusing on playing the game on his phone, his thoughts fell onto the conversation taking place next to him. His ears perked up and he furrowed his brows with clear concern, but he continued to act indifferent. He casually inserted a few words, “That’s right. What are you going to do if you turn dumb from the fever? It’s better to go see a doctor.”
Qin Xu moved a little and revealed half his face from within his arms. His face was flushed red and his were mildly red. Like this, he looked particularly pitiful.
Jiang Yang thought that he was going to say something, but he only glanced at him for a moment before once again burying his head back in his arms.
For a moment, he felt a very difficult to describe mood inside him.
The words of persuasion had already been spoken but the other party didn’t listen. He thought about it seriously and realised that there didn’t seem to be any reason for the other party to listen to his words just because he was the one who had said it. What is he to him anyway?
Jiang Yang suddenly fell deep into thought and he didn’t notice Qin Xu secretly looking over at him from within his arms while paying attention to his reaction.
When it was time for the evening self-study class, the bell signalling the start of class rang.
The seat next to Jiang Yang’s remained empty. No one was there.
Where did he go?
He started feeling worried.
He told himself that Qin Xu may have gone to see the doctor so there was nothing to worry about, but he couldn’t control his eyes that constantly glanced over to Qin Xu’s seat. He was unable to calm down let alone work on his homework.
After hesitating for a few seconds, he couldn’t help but ask Xie Zhe. Unfortunately, the reply was also filled with confusion: “I don’t know. Xu brother didn’t tell you? That’s impossible. Isn’t he always going around with you?”
Why did he think that Qin Xu should naturally be with him? It seems like the scene of the two going around everywhere together had been firmly etched into the hearts of everyone.
If even Xie Zhe who is closest to Qin Xu didn’t know, the others were even less likely to know. Jiang Yang suddenly felt a little worried. He subconsciously stood up and ran out the classroom to find him.
He quickly went down the stairs and hesitantly pulled out his phone while glancing around.
When the phone started dialling, it only rang for a short moment before he heard the sound of something vibrating.
Jiang Yang didn’t have the time to react to this when he heard a familiar voice come from behind him. In a low and magnetic voice, “Jiang Yang, what are looking for me for?”
He turned around and saw Qin Xu holding his phone that was vibrating like crazy.
He had found him, but Jiang Yang didn’t breathe a sigh of relief. Instead, his body stiffened, and he became even more nervous. Although he only had a brief glance, he clearly saw Qin Xu’s face. It was even worse than how he had looked during the day – his face was even more flushed, his lips were dry and there was no sign of life in his eyes.
“Nothing….Just that class is starting so the class leader asked me to go find you.”
It was a very badly made up lie that was filled with holes.
Qin Xu was surprised: “That’s impossible. I already applied for leave with the teacher and the class leader should have received a copy of it with the attendance book.”
Jiang Yang: “………” A little panicked.
“………..Maybe the class leader hasn’t got it yet.” Qin Xu kindly helped him out with his lie.
“Yeah.” Jiang Yang nodded quickly.
After saying these words, the two should also part ways with one going to the hospital and the other going back to the classroom. Strangely, the two very tacitly didn’t move.
With eerie silence, the two looked at each other.
Qin Xu broke the silence first, “I’m going to the hospital.”
Jiang Yang’s lips moved a few times and he seemingly appeared hesitant. In the end he just followed his impulses and said, “I’ll go with you.”
Qin Xu raised his eyebrows in surprise: “Why?”
Jiang Yang deliberately smirked and said with a slight mocking tone: “I’m afraid of you turning silly from the fever and not being able to walk probably.”
Qin Xu smiled, “Turns out you’re worried about me going there alone.”
Jiang Yang scoffed coldly: “No way. I just don’t like troublesome things. If something happened to you, it would definitely trouble the classmates. I’m also your desk partner after all.”
Qin Xu perfunctorily oh’ed in recognition but he clearly didn’t believe his words.
Jiang Yang was too lazy to continue pushing and pulling with him, so he just started moving forward. But before he could take two steps, he sensed that the other person behind him didn’t follow. With some urgency and frustration, he grabbed onto his wrist and dragged him out the school gates.
Qin Xu followed behind him while smiling secretly.
As for how they should deal with his application for leave, it is actually quite simple. All he had to do was just add his name onto the form.
They reached the hospital.
Registration, queuing, diagnosis.
Jiang Yang remained by his side throughout the whole process. Although Jiang Yang had not personally tried going to a hospital on his own, he was at least familiar with the basic procedures. If he wasn’t familiar with the hospital, all he needed to do was to look at the directory to find what he was looking for.
Thinking this, Jiang Yang subconsciously looked over at Qin Xu next to him. If he didn’t come over with Qin Xu, then he would be at he hospital alone. He recalled seeing a ranking of when someone felt loneliest online and going to get surgery done alone was ranked ten as the worst. Although Qin Xu only had a fever, people who are sick are generally quite weak. Without people accompanying them, it was almost certain that he would feel uncomfortable.
Jiang Yang felt glad that he had come. He no longer found it necessary to hesitate and restrain himself.
After seeing the doctor, they took a form to get medicine and some drips before finally going to the infusion clinic.
It is currently night time, but there were still quite a lot of people waiting to see the doctor. There also weren’t many vacancies at the infusion clinic. However, if you think about it, it wasn’t unusual. With the weather changing, it is quite easy to get sick and everyone is busy working during the day, so they could only come at night.
After finding a vacant seat, Jiang Yang wanted him to sit down but Qin Xu was reluctant. He insisted on finding two adjacent seats so that Jiang Yang could sit next to him.
Jiang Yang also didn’t say anything. The nurse brought over the IV drops, confirmed Qin Xu’s name and then proceeded to disinfect his arm. She pulled out a needle and started to look for his blood vessel.
Although he knew that it was just a short moment of pain, just seeing the sight of a needle entering his blood vessel made his hair stand up. This was particularly the case for someone who is afraid of pain.
Jiang Yang stood to one side and felt his hand being held onto. Perhaps it was because of the fever, Qin Xu’s palm was especially hot to the point that he felt like it could burn him.
He couldn’t help but tremble as Jiang Yang felt subconscious resistance. However, he saw Qin Xu looking away from the needle and hesitated for a moment before resisting the urge and allowing him to hold onto him as much as he liked.
The nurse’s action was very proficient, and she was done in one go. She packed up her equipment and prepared to leave when she saw the two holding hands from the corner of her eyes. She paused for a moment and seemingly thought that these two young men are a little cute. She then acted like she had not seen anything and walked off.
Since the needle was already inserted, they naturally didn’t have to continue holding hands or it’ll be too strange. Jiang Yang guiltily looked over at the people around them and moved his hands wanting to retract it from Qin Xu’s hold.
But the next second, Qin Xu made the move first. He turned his hand around and changed the posture of the two holding each other’s hand into one where he gripped around the back of Jiang Yang’s hand. He then lowered his head and kissed Jiang Yang’s palm.
In an instant, Jiang Yang was surprised. Like he was shocked by electricity, he quickly pulled back his hands. His ears had turned red to the point that it looked like it was about to bleed. Jiang Yang pursed his lips tightly with a face void of expression. Rather than feeling angry, he was more shocked and at loss of what to do.
Qin Xu however took advantage of this and acted innocent. After kissing and seeing his hand suddenly become empty, he looked up at Jiang Yang. His dark, deep eyes remained fixated at Jiang Yang with a look of deep affection, as if he was the only person in his eyes. Despite this, he was filled with satisfaction and happiness.
Qin Xu clearly didn’t say anything and only smiled softly at him, but his burning gaze managed to convey his thoughts very well. It was as if he could hear him saying——-
I like you.
Like. Really like you.
Jiang Yang could tell what he was thinking while he was looking at him and his face instantly turned red. He felt that he was probably going crazy.
His heart pounded uncontrollably. Badump, badump, badump. It was like it was about to come out of his chest.
Too hot.
How can it be so hot?
Mouth is dry. I want to drink water.
Then, Jiang Yang very spinelessly ran away.
