021. High Fever

The next morning, He Jin woke up with a dizzy head, sore throat, aching limbs, and breathing difficulty–he had a fever!

Yes, it was raining when he went to the lake yesterday, and he did not take a warm bath after coming back to his dormitory, stupidly feeling like he was invincible to all diseases… So it was inevitable… Orz…

He Jin got up and drank a cup of water, then went back to lie down like a corpse on his bed.

Even when Hou Dongyan, who slept late yesterday, finally woke up, He Jin’s position stayed the same-“Why haven’t you get ready yet?”

For these 2.5 years of them living together, He Jin had always been an early riser, every day, he woke up at six o’clock without fail. So, to see him actually slept in like this, for Hou Dongyan it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

He Jin said: “I don’t feel well, maybe have a little fever.”

“But your complexion is not bad ah,” Hou Dongyan came over and put a hand on He Jin’s forehead, “Ouch, okay, it’s a bit hot. Want to go to the hospital?”

He Jin’s physique condition had always been a bit unique, it did not matter whether he had flu, fever, or was simply feeling tired, his complexion never turned bad, his voice also would stay the same, at most, it would only become a bit hoarse. So, even when he was ill, if he insisted that he was fine, other people would automatically think so too.

“No, I’ll just rest for now,” he said. “I will be better soon.”

Hou Dongyan was not the type of people who was good at taking care of others, therefore, after he heard He Jin said that, he also didn’t force him.

At noon, Hou Dongyan brought a meal back from the canteen to He Jin. He did not linger long though, and soon left again to play outside for the rest of the afternoon. In the evening, he went back to check on He Jin. However, when he saw that He Jin still stayed in the same position as before, with the meal he brought last time left untouched on the bedside table, Dongyan realized that something was really wrong. He rushed to He Jin’s side, and touched his forehead again: his temperature is way higher than before, and what’s with all this sweat ah!!

“Jin Ge, Jin Ge …”, he tried calling He Jin’s name a few times, but there was no answer. Hou Dongyan was frightened. He hurriedly pulled the other man up, put some casual clothes on him, then ran out of the room to look for help, “Big head! Qi Ge! Are you there?!” he knocked on the room next door for a while, but as he had expected, the room was empty. The two people who lived there were locals, so they would always go home every weekend.

Hou Dongyan returned reluctantly to He Jin’s room, thinking about how to bring He Jin to the hospital by himself.

He Jin didn’t weigh much, he really wasn’t heavy. It’s just.. Hou Dongyan’s stature was too small. His height was only 165cm, while He Jin’s was 175cm; to carry someone who was ten centimeters taller than him… it would certainly be a very tiring task.

He had no other choice though. Hou Dongyan sighed, picked He Jin up, then carefully carried him out of the room. When he arrived at the dormitory’s stairs, he unexpectedly bumped into two students, “What’s wrong with him?”

Hou Dongyan stopped and balanced himself: “My roommate has a fever, he was burning and feeling dizzy before!”

“Eh, isn’t this He Jin!” one of them exclaimed.

“Hey, you know him?” Hou Dongyan was pleasantly surprised, “then, help me quickly!”

Soon after he said that, the burden on his arms was suddenly taken, moved to the arms of one of the tall guys. Even with He Jin’s weight added to his body, the man’s look did not change, still looking very relaxed as he walked down the stairs.

Hou Dongyan pouted- we are both men, so why do our physical proportions differ so much! This is why I prefer playing games, at least there I can be whatever I want to be!

“We are going to the school’s hospital, right?” the tall man asked.

Hou Dongyan trotted behind him: “Ah, yes…  Are you from the student union? ”

The other man laughed: “No, we are from tennis club.”

Hou Dongyan: “Oh, how did you know He Jin?”

“We met at the lake tour yesterday.”

The two men Hou Dongyan bumped into were Shang and Qin Yu, who were on their way to have dinner.

The school’s hospital was quite a distance away from the dormitory building. There were many students loitering around along the way, and the sight of Qin Yu carrying He Jin in princess style really attracted most of their attention.

When they arrived at the emergency room, Hou Dongyan realized he forgot to bring He Jin’s student ID card, so he had to write down He Jin’s information manually.

As he was writing, Qin Yu peeked subtly at the form. The look in his eyes changed when he saw the familiar “Jin” character written there, it’s the same one as the one in Ah Jin!

An old doctor soon came, and took He Jin’s temperature. It actually reached 40 °C!

Shang exclaimed: “No wonder he felt dizzy. I had a 39 °C fever before, and at that time I couldn’t even walk!”

After checking He Jin’s blood, and putting an IV drip on him, the doctor told them that he should feel better after resting for a while. Hou dongyan was relieved.

“Thank you, if I had to take him here alone, I’m sure I’d collapse before I even arrive!” He said and turned around to face Qin Yu. He was in panic before, so he didn’t notice, but now, he could see that the man who helped him actually looked really handsome. He continued, “When He Jin wakes up, I’ll tell him to thank you too. I don’t want to trouble you anymore, so you can go if you want to, I can look after him by myself. ”

Shang nodded and turned to go. However, Qin Yu unexpectedly said: “It’s fine. I will go when he wakes up.”

“We will wait?” asked Shang, feeling a bit surprised. In his impression, Qin Yu did not seem like someone who had an “always ready to help others” character. His action of bringing He Jin to the hospital, this, Shang could understand, it was an urgent thing, after all… But it’s different now. There were many people who could help He Jin here, his roommate, the doctors and nurses, even other visitors! They really weren’t required to stay…

Qin Yu said to Shang: “You can go to eat first, then bring some food for me later. I’ll stay here.”

Shang nodded: “OK, then I’ll go first. Ah, right, you..” he looked at Hou Dongyan, “You also haven’t had dinner yet, want me to bring you some food too?”

“My name is Hou Dongyan, you can call me monkey.” Hou Dongyan handed his meal card to him, “I’m sorry to trouble you ah …”

After Shang left, there were only Qin Yu and Hou Dongyan in the room. They did some brief introductions, and chatted lightly. Qin Yu asked: “When did his fever start?”

Hou Dongyan thought Qin Yu did not leave because he was worried, so he also didn’t hesitate to answer him honestly: “This morning I think, he was still fine last night.”

Qin Yu: “What was he doing last night?”

Hou Dongyan answered casually: “Making ppt? He is going to do a lecture soon it seems…”

Hearing this answer, Qin Yu’s mood suddenly dropped. Maybe I’m thinking too much? It’s only my wishful thinking?

Hou Dongyan wasn’t wrong, He Jin did make some ppt yesterday afternoon, but he spent the latter half of the afternoon playing “Demon God”. Hou Dongyan knew about this, but he didn’t know the specific time. Well, it’s not like Dongyan stared at He Jin 24/7…

“What kind of lecture?” Qin Yu inadvertently continued the topic.

Hou Dongyan: “I heard it’s to teach English to some younger students. It’s on next Wednesday …”

—Xiao Xian-Jin: ” … I will be online every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday night at seven or eight o’clock. But I have something to do next Wednesday evening, so I may not come online.”

Qin Yu’s mood rose again. He glanced at He Jin’s figure on the bed thoughtfully. He remembered, yesterday He Jin also casually ordered ‘sweet and sour pork ribs’, the same as Ah Jin’s favorite…

He asked again: “What time did he sleep last night?”

Hou Dongyan: “Pretty late, he played some games last night.”

Qin Yu: “…!! ”

Hearing this answer, Qin Yu felt his mood rose once again, from the ground straight to the sky!

Qin Yu raised his eyebrow, and smiled: “He plays game too? What game? ”

At the mention of ‘game’, Hou Dongyan became excited: “Demon God, a local game. It’s really interesting, and will have a holographic version soon! Have you heard of it?”

Qin Yu: “…!!! ”

A Hua University student, who was in one grade above him, had the initial “HJ”, and played Demon God last night, how many people could fit these criteria? How could there be this much coincidences!

Qin Yu: “I’ve heard of it. He … did he play it a lot? ”

Hou Dongyan shook his head: “Not really, he is usually very busy, so I never thought he actually played games … I only found out a few days ago that he had played this game before. He asked for the game installation package from me, he said he used to play this game when he was young. Oh, he also told me later that he met an old friend in this game recently…”

Qin Yu: “!!!!! ”

He didn’t have to ask Hou Dongyan any other questions–all over China, if you could find a second “Hua University student, who was in one grade above him, had the initial “HJ”, liked to eat sweet and sour ribs, played Demon God last night , and met an old friend in the game recently”, he would change his name backwards!

Qin Yu was now 99% sure that He Jin is his “Xiao Xian-Jin”. The remaining 1%, he’d be able to confirm after Peng Yuhao was done checking the real data verification.

He got goosebumps just by thinking about this…

He had been waiting for Ah Jin for so long, and without him realizing, all this time, the other person actually lived in the same building as him. He also went to the same tour lake as him, eating together with him…

***

Qin Yu changed the topic, and chatted some more with Hou Dongyan. They soon became more and more familiar with each other.

“I think when He Jin wakes up, he still won’t have enough strength to walk back. So, I’ll just accompany you here, and help to carry him back later.”

Hou Dongyan thanked him: “Handsome boy, you are so kind ah!”

Qin Yu smiled: “But I think the clothes he is wearing right now are a bit too thin, he might feel cold later. Can you go back to the dormitory and bring some coats for him?”

The naive Hou Dongyan didn’t doubt Qin Yu’s “benevolence”, and hurriedly stood up: “Okay, I’ll go now!” ”

After Hou Dongyan went out, Qin Yu got up from his seat and walked slowly to the hospital bed. He gazed at the man lying on top of it, looking at him from head to toe over and over again.

His sweaty hair, his delicate face, his pale lips, his slim body, his hands and feet that were smaller than average…

Qin Yu never looked away, as if he was trying to engrave the other’s appearance to the depths of his memory, tightly wrapping it together with the eight years of illusion that had placed it’s root there first, integrating them into one, and finally, locked them up in his heart…..

See? Even if you are a man, I’ll still recognize you, I’ll still find you.

“He Jin…” Qin Yu recited his name, and raised his finger to stroke that pale face lightly. He smiled softly, and whispered, “The world is really small, right?”

I have not spent much time looking for you, but you actually slide into my life first.

Qin Yu had just taken his hand back, when Shang came. Fortunately he did not see that scene before, otherwise his chin might drop to the ground.

“Here, I bring some egg rolls for you… And that, ‘ monkey ‘? Where is he?” Shang Bai Jian looked around.

“He went back to the dorm to get some thicker clothes for He Jin.” Qin Yu took the egg rolls and smiled.

“Why do you have such a good mood?” Shang Bai Jian asked suspiciously, “You and He Jin… know each other before?”

Qin Yu nodded: “Sort of.”

Shang thought something felt off, but did not inquire more. Not long after, Hou Dongyan also came back, holding He Jin’s clothes in his hands.

He Jin also woke up a few minutes later. He was quite surprised to see Qin Yu and Shang there, but Hou Dongyan quickly explained what happened to him.

Because of his illness, he had caused troubles to others. He Jin felt very embarrassed, but also thankful.

“Come on, just treat them to dinner sometime.” Hou Dongyan laughed, “especially Qin Yu Ge, he was the one who held and carried you here”

……Held? ……Carried?

He Jin looked at Qin Yu, and found the other guy was gazing at him deeply. He hurriedly turned his eyes away in embarrassment: “Yes, how about tomorrow night? I’ll treat you to dinner.”

“Don’t worry about it, you have to rest your body first.” Qin Yu’s said in a flat tone.

Hou Dongyan then called the nurse to pull off the IV needle, and went to get He Jin’s medicines.

He Jin held the mattress and tried to get up, but was soon stopped by Qin Yu: “I’ll carry you back.”

He Jin was surprised: “Ah …”

He was going to say “It’s okay, I can walk”….

…. But Qin Yu had already squatted down in front of him.

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