Chapter 16
Ti Xiao carried large and small bags of food home. As he closed the door, he heard a loud “bang—.”
Xiao Hulu, catching the scent of the delicious food, lazily approached and rubbed against his pant leg.
The night was enchanting. After taking off his coat, Ti Xiao stood in the entryway, staring at the empty room. A sudden thought crossed his mind—
“Xiao Yao, you heartless scumbag!”
I’ve been looking forward to this date for a whole month, and you just left like that?
Am I just someone you can call and dismiss at will?
Hmph! Xiao Yao, you’re nothing more than a long-legged cookie!
Ti Xiao sniffled angrily, then kicked a few bags of trash—ones he had just taken out and placed between their apartments—toward Xiao Yao’s door. Now, it looked as if Xiao Yao had been hoarding garbage for ages.
That’s what you get for being heartless!
Let the whole building think you’re a slob.
The real “messy and childish” one stood in the dimly lit hallway, stomping his foot in frustration, trying to trigger the sensor light.
After several failed attempts, he gave up.
The hallway remained dark, except for the warm glow spilling from Ti Xiao’s apartment and the faint light seeping through the stairwell gaps above and below. The motion-sensor light on their floor seemed to be broken.
A cold draft rushed up from downstairs, sending a shiver through Ti Xiao. He sneezed again and stuffed his hands into his pockets—where he felt something hard and rectangular.
It was the cold medicine Xiao Yao had bought him on their way home.
Ti Xiao’s fingers traced the box, from the ridges to the sharp corners, as if his fingertips had eyes and could read the text on the package. It was as if he could rewind time and see what Xiao Yao was thinking when he bought the medicine for him.
Xiao Hulu meowed at his feet, the sound softly echoing in the hallway.
Ti Xiao glanced at the trash between their doors, then tapped his fingers on the corner of the medicine box a few times.
Squatting down, he picked up Xiao Hulu, turned back toward his apartment, and let a small smile creep onto his lips.
Fine. Considering your face, the fact that I like you, and that you didn’t deny it—I’ll forgive you for now.
With that settled, Ti Xiao got ready to fulfill his promise to his readers. He turned on his computer and connected his digital tablet to start drawing, but just then, a message popped up from Guapi..
His editor worked a standard 9-to-5 job. It was already 8 PM—Guapi should’ve been offline.
They usually only talked about work—Guapi would either rush him for drafts or discuss character designs and storyboards.
But this time, work and personal matters unexpectedly overlapped—
Editor·Guapi: Achoo! Let me tell you, I ran into an old high school classmate today~
———
At the hospital, registration desk.
“Xiao Yu, four years old.”
Xiao Yao bent slightly, handing money through the small window to the nurse. His furrowed brows and serious expression caught the nurse’s attention—she couldn’t help but steal a few extra glances at him.
Recently, Xuan City had experienced a sharp drop in temperature. Many people had fallen victim to the flu, and even on a freezing winter night, the hospital’s emergency room was packed with people of all ages.
Children’s cries filled the air, resisting medicine and injections.
Xiao Yao swept his gaze around the crowded room before his eyes settled on the graceful back of a blonde woman nearby.
His expression darkened slightly, his hand subconsciously clenching.
I wonder if Xiao Jiu also caught a cold.
Did he make it home yet? Did he take his medicine? Will he get worse and end up here, too?
Three questions popped into his head, all revolving around the image of Ti Xiao sniffling. His nose would wrinkle, his lips would purse into little dimples on his cheeks, and his large, bright eyes would look utterly helpless.
But there was one amusing thing that happened while buying the medicine earlier—
Ti Xiao had been sitting on the pharmacy’s couch, waiting with the bags while Xiao Yao went to pay.
Perhaps due to the legalization of same-sex marriage, the number of same-sex couples—especially male couples—had noticeably increased in recent years.
The store clerk, seemingly used to such customers, casually tossed two boxes onto the counter for Xiao Yao.
One box of lube.
One box of condoms.
Xiao Yao’s brain short-circuited.
His index finger awkwardly brushed under his nose before he pressed his lips together, suppressing a reaction.
The nurse was still printing his receipt. Xiao Yao glanced at his phone—his last conversation with Ti Xiao had been yesterday.
His finger repeatedly scrolled down, refreshing the chat, but no new messages appeared.
What exactly am I waiting for?
Unclear.
His phone buzzed twice. It was a message from Li Yi.
High School – Li Yi: Wow, you’re ruthless. Just because I ran into you and your little boyfriend at dinner, you had to chase me away? Don’t worry, I won’t tell your dad. Relax~
Xiao Yao started typing—”He’s not”—but after a moment of hesitation, he deleted it. He pretended not to have seen the message at all.
Running into Li Yi at the restaurant had been completely unexpected.
Li Yi was an old high school classmate. They had studied art together, but after Xiao Yao went abroad, their contact naturally lessened.
What Xiao Yao didn’t expect was that, even after four years, Li Yi’s mouth was still as reckless as ever—able to drop a single sentence that could cause an earthquake.
“Is this your boyfriend?”
Xiao Yao lowered his gaze, staring at his fingertips for a long moment. This topic touched a nerve—one he had always avoided.
One of those things he never wanted to talk about.
But back at the restaurant, when his fingers accidentally brushed against Ti Xiao’s, a fleeting thought surfaced—
He wanted to hold on.
Back at the convenience store, he hadn’t felt that way.
It was like thick vines of thorns wrapped tightly around his heart, layer upon layer, obscuring everything inside—impossible to see through.
Yet among them, a tiny rebellious branch was stirring.
A thorn withdrew from the flesh, exposing a glimpse of something underneath—raw, burning, and honest.
Something that wanted to bloom from his bloodstream.
But he was afraid of regret.
Some words must be carefully considered before speaking. Once spoken, they cannot be taken back.
Xiao Yao understood this deeply.
Thankfully, Naomi’s call had given him an excuse—one that led him here, to the hospital.
“The first room on the left,” the nurse said, handing him the receipt and change while sneaking another glance at him.
Taking the registration slip, Xiao Yao patted Naomi’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”
Naomi’s eyes were a rare shade of deep green. Her golden curls made her the perfect embodiment of “blonde and blue-eyed.”
She held a small child in her arms—his face flushed, eyes shut tight. His fair forehead was coated in a thin layer of sweat, and his lower lip bore faint teeth marks. He looked miserable.
“How is he?” Xiao Yao asked as he led the way without looking back.
He meant the child in Naomi’s arms.
“Almost 39°C.” Naomi checked the thermometer. “I was going to bring Xiao Yu to the hospital myself, but he insisted on seeing you…”
Hearing this, Xiao Yao’s furrowed brows relaxed slightly.
This was his half-brother.
And Naomi—his legal sister by law, though they shared no blood ties.
Another thing he never liked to talk about.
