Chapter 78: Zhuang Shubai’s Kiss

Chapter 78: Zhuang Shubai's Kiss

When Gu Hansheng tried to understand Zhao Yu, he suddenly realized that Zhao Yu had already made clear what he truly wanted long ago—he simply wanted no one to interfere, and to be allowed to make his own decision.

It was that simple.

Zhao Yu wasn't a complicated person. He always said exactly what he wanted.

Gu Hansheng watched coldly as Zhao Lianfeng scrambled farther away, then signaled for the bodyguards to bring him back.

"Mr. Gu, should we stuff him back in?" Assistant Wu asked.

"Get in touch with the guy who called me earlier and hand him over."

Gu Hansheng took the suit jacket from another assistant, slung it over his arm, and turned to leave.

This time, he decided to respect Zhao Yu's choice.

...

Before Zhuang Shubai could call the police, Zhao Lianfeng was dumped at the hospital entrance, looking absolutely miserable. The black van sped off without a trace.

Word of the commotion at the entrance spread through the hospital quickly. When Zhao Yu heard the news, he couldn't help going downstairs to check it out, but he only caught a glimpse of Zhao Lianfeng before the police hauled him away.

What he saw shocked him to the core. Zhao Lianfeng was covered in filth, screaming in terror, "It wasn't me! It wasn't me!" as the police dragged him up off the ground, humiliating him in front of everyone.

"Why'd you come downstairs?"

Zhao Yu suddenly heard Gu Hansheng's voice beside him, and the next thing he knew, a hand was on his waist. The man's heavy tobacco smell overpowered his usual cold scent, and it felt unfamiliar to Zhao Yu.

Zhao Yu pushed his hand away and walked back without so much as a glance, dodging the crowd waiting for the elevator and heading into the stairwell.

As he climbed the stairs, the wound on his abdomen throbbed. But then he was suddenly lifted off the ground. He instinctively grabbed onto Gu Hansheng's clothes and said coldly, "Put me down."

Gu Hansheng's arms locked tightly around his legs, ignoring him and continuing up the stairs.

"Put me down!"

Zhao Yu struggled, and Gu Hansheng stopped at the landing, but he still didn't put him down.

Voices drifted up and down from the floors above and below, bustling with people, yet in the stairwell, it was just the two of them—as if they'd carved out a private space in the middle of all that noise.

So close together, yet a chasm between them.

Gu Hansheng pressed his lips together, lowered his head, and looked down at Zhao Yu's hospital gown. In a defeated voice, he said quietly, "I'll take you upstairs, then I'll leave."

"No need." Zhao Yu's tone was cold, as if he couldn't even be bothered to get angry.

Gu Hansheng still didn't let go. The ward was on the eighth floor, and he knew exactly how Zhao Yu had gotten down earlier. If he walked back up all those steps, the wound would definitely get worse.

He kind of regretted dumping Zhao Lianfeng at the hospital, but he also wanted Zhao Yu to see for himself how pathetic the man who'd hurt him had become.

Faced with Zhao Yu's insistence, Gu Hansheng actually said, "Just think of me as a regular orderly."

Surprise flickered across Zhao Yu's face.

Treat him like an orderly? Gu Hansheng actually said that?

Just then, hurried footsteps sounded from above. Zhuang Shubai came around the corner, the hem of his white coat fluttering. He saw the scene on the landing and stopped mid-step.

"Dr. Zhuang!" Zhao Yu called out like he'd seen a savior, immediately turning toward Zhuang Shubai and struggling again.

"Didn't I tell you to stay in bed and rest?" Zhuang Shubai's gaze landed on Zhao Yu.

"Put me down," Zhao Yu said.

Seeing that Gu Hansheng wouldn't let go, Zhuang Shubai stepped forward and said, "I've got him."

"I can walk on my own." Zhao Yu felt embarrassed—being carried around by two guys was awkward even for him.

"Don't be difficult. You want me to stitch you up again?" Zhuang Shubai put on a stern face, pretending to scold him, but his tone was actually kind of intimate.

If they weren't close, he wouldn't talk to him like that, and Zhao Yu wouldn't just quietly take the scolding.

A dark glint flashed in Gu Hansheng's eyes. He ground his teeth, veins bulging on the back of his hand. As Zhao Yu leaned toward Zhuang Shubai, he tightened his arms almost imperceptibly, holding on for a moment, before he was forced to let go.

If he didn't let go, Zhao Yu, in his stubbornness, would rather fall than stay in his arms.

Zhuang Shubai took Zhao Yu firmly and turned to head upstairs.

Sunlight streamed through the stairwell window, dust motes floating around Gu Hansheng. He looked up and saw Zhao Yu's arm looped around Zhuang Shubai's neck—a trust that stood in stark contrast to how he treated Gu Hansheng.

The warmth in his arms slowly faded. The brief closeness was over in an instant. Zhao Yu had left him behind, and even speaking felt like a distant hope.

Once they were upstairs and out of earshot, Zhuang Shubai finally said, "Did you see your father?"

Zhao Yu nodded.

"He's here because..." Zhuang Shubai wanted to tell him the truth, but seeing that he was still sick, he hesitated.

"Because of Gu Hansheng."

Zhuang Shubai said in surprise, "He told you?"

Zhao Yu shook his head, pressed his lips together, and looked away. Zhao Lianfeng showing up out of nowhere, looking like that—who else could have done something like that besides Gu Hansheng?

Even without anyone telling him, he knew it was Gu Hansheng's doing. This man had once been a subject he'd studied intently, and to this day, that unspoken understanding was still rooted in his heart, impossible to erase.

When they reached the inpatient floor, the nurses at the station all stood up to greet Zhuang Shubai, their nosy glances drifting toward Zhao Yu.

"Doctor brother!" A little girl came running up.

Zhuang Shubai turned to the side, careful not to let Zhao Yu's toes kick her, and said with a smile, "Xiao Man, you're getting discharged today?"

"Yes!" The girl held up the plush rabbit in her arms. "Thank you, doctor brother! This is for you!"

A few nurses teased, "Dr. Zhuang's really popular with the kids."

"Xiao Man, that's your favorite bunny. You sure you want to give it away?"

Zhuang Shubai said, "I've already felt your kindness. Keep the little rabbit to keep you company, Xiao Man."

Seeing that his hands were full, the girl stood on her tiptoes and stuffed the rabbit into Zhao Yu's arms, insisting, "I want the bunny to keep the doctor brother company!" Then she said to Zhao Yu, "Big brother, get better soon!"

With that, she turned and ran back to her mom. Her mom nodded to Zhuang Shubai with a smile and carried her daughter off.

Zhao Yu suddenly found himself holding a plush rabbit out of nowhere. He held it up to look—pink and adorable, ridiculously cute.

Zhuang Shubai carried him into the ward, lifted the gauze to check the wound, and only relaxed once he confirmed it was okay. Then he looked at the plush rabbit, a smile spreading across his face.

Zhao Yu suddenly said, "Dr. Zhuang, I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"The bear plushie." Zhao Yu scratched his head. "I'll sew it back up and give it back to you."

It wasn't until he saw the expression on Zhuang Shubai's face when he received the gift that Zhao Yu suddenly realized what he had done. Perhaps Zhuang Shubai had been just as happy when he received that little bear plushie—every gift from the children was validation of him as their doctor.

Zhuang Shubai had given him the plushie, surely wanting to share the joy of receiving a gift with him, yet he'd missed the meaning behind it.

A smile crept into his eyes. He had thought it would take a long time for Zhao Yu to understand, but Zhao Yu had figured out how he felt from something so small.

If he didn't care about Zhuang Shubai's feelings, why would Zhao Yu bother thinking about him at all?

Perhaps it was just being treated as a friend, yet Zhuang Shubai found himself moved by him all over again.

"You keep it." Zhuang Shubai bent down and placed the little plush bunny on his bedside too.

With that motion, the space between them suddenly shrank. Zhuang Shubai never smoked or drank, and his hands smelled faintly of grassy hand soap—at this distance, Zhao Yu could just barely catch it.

Zhuang Shubai slowly leaned in, and Zhao Yu said hesitantly, "Dr. Zhuang, I'm not sure..."

There were too many things he couldn't be certain about. Even when he searched his own heart, he came up empty. He didn't know whether his fondness for Zhuang Shubai stemmed from genuine affection, or whether he should even keep going down this path with him.

Zhuang Shubai asked, "Does me being this close bother you?"

"No, it doesn't."

Zhuang Shubai leaned in a bit more and murmured, "If you hate it, push me away."

It felt like a test—to see if this connection had actually reached Zhao Yu—while Zhuang Shubai's ulterior motive was simply to steal a kiss.

"Sir, who are you looking for?" A nurse's voice suddenly cut through from the doorway.

Zhao Yu looked up and saw a familiar figure through the window in the door.

Zhuang Shubai caught Gu Hansheng in his peripheral vision, but he kept leaning in toward Zhao Yu. Just as Zhao Yu's focus wavered, Zhuang Shubai's lips met his, cutting off Zhao Yu's line of sight to Gu Hansheng.

He was no saint—he wanted to win Zhao Yu's attention too, to send that ex packing.

Zhao Yu was taken aback, frozen for a second. Zhuang Shubai's kiss was soft, his technique easy and comforting, like a light silk scarf brushing across your face on a summer day.

This kind of kiss wasn't unpleasant at all.

Even if Gu Hansheng saw it, so what? Kissing whoever he wanted was his own business. Gu Hansheng clung to him one-sidedly, and he had no obligation to consider the man's feelings.

The figure in the doorway paused for a long time. The ever-arrogant Gu Hansheng didn't barge into the room. Only the taut profile reflected on the window and the hand gripping the doorframe so hard it couldn't push the door open revealed the turmoil within him.

Zhao Yu could turn to someone else at any moment. He'd tried to block him time and again, yet still couldn't get him to look back even once.

Even though Gu Hansheng had held him, had slept with him, their hearts had never truly drawn close. Something always stood between them, causing their moments of falling for each other to miss by a beat.

Gu Hansheng's hand trembled uncontrollably. He slowly stepped back two paces until the scene inside the room disappeared from his view, then let his gaze fall in defeat—like a loser stripped of all authority, all sharpness gone, silently swallowing the bitterness while his heart clenched in violent, repeated pain.

Every sound around him dissolved into meaningless white noise. All he could hear was a drawn-out, piercing ring in his ears.

Since his mother's death, he had never shed a tear for anyone else. He had prided himself on seeing through all the false affection in the world, able to watch from the sidelines with eternal composure.

But he still had a beating heart. He had uncontrollably fallen for Zhao Yu, and so he had finally tumbled from his heights, becoming a man lost inside love.

He stood at the door of the ward, unmoving for a long time, his expression nearly losing composure—as if he had misplaced the one thing he should never have lost, yet had no idea how to take it back.