Chapter 219: Xun Jun

After the incident yesterday, where the paper was torn to shreds, the relationship between the two seemed to have eased quite a bit, but Kaoru Hoshitani understood that there was still some distance between him and her, a crack that needed time to fill.

This was within Kaoru Hoshitani’s expectations, but he still couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

What he wanted wasn’t much, really.

The Boy was currently kneeling by the bed, like a puppy anxiously spinning in circles but not daring to make a sound.

He clumsily wrung out the wet towel with both hands, habitually puffed out his cheeks, and then carefully, ever so gently, placed the towel on Aina Saiten’s burning forehead.

Aina Saiten had a fever. The stress of fleeing to Hokkaido, the days of running around job hunting, and that bone-chilling winter rain had finally crushed her frail body completely this morning.

Aina Saiten weakly opened her eyes, secretly watching the boy’s delicate, soft jawline, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down with nervous breaths.

His expression was very serious, his clear eyes full of worry for her, and the feeling of his fingertips brushing her skin as he smoothed her messy hair was tingling and itchy.

“Is it really uncomfortable…” he asked softly.

“Mm…” Aina Saiten slowly came back to her senses, meeting Kaoru Hoshitani’s downward gaze. She blinked her dry eyes hard and forced a smile, “Not uncomfortable.”

Kaoru Hoshitani bit his lower lip, looking as aggrieved as if he were the one who was sick.

He put the towel away, took out his Mobile Phone, and searched online over and over again, but the information about prescriptions, emergency care, and real-name registration was like an airtight net, shredding his already fragile judgment.

He was afraid of buying the wrong medicine, more afraid that taking her to the hospital would expose their whereabouts, afraid that because of his own “uselessness” he would make her situation even more dangerous.

He hesitated for a long time, his hand in his pocket clenching and unclenching, before he finally took out that black Mobile Phone.

This was the first time he had ever actively reached out to Chika for help.

[Aina Onee-san has a fever, what should I do?]

The Mobile Phone vibrated quickly. Chika’s message was calm and restrained, with no unnecessary questions.

[Don’t panic yet, check her temperature. If convenient, take a picture of the thermometer and the medicine box you have on hand and send it to me. No need to photograph Miss Aina.]

Kaoru Hoshitani looked at the screen, took a deep breath, and turned to get the thermometer and medicine box from the Dining Table.

“Akane.”

Aina Saiten’s hoarse voice suddenly sounded. She leaned against the pillow, those wet-looking eyes from the fever quietly watching him, asking calmly but tiredly:

“Is that Miss Chika?”

Kaoru Hoshitani’s hand froze mid-air. Like a Child caught red-handed doing something wrong, he guiltily shrank his neck.

Guilt and panic overflowed from every pore of his body, spreading outward like nails driven into his heart.

He coaxingly took Aina Saiten’s fingers in return, stammering a small explanation:

“I-I didn’t know what medicine to buy… if I don’t take a picture…”

The light in Aina Saiten’s eyes dimmed. Her curled eyelashes trembled and drooped, her smile curling up in the lightless depths of her eyes, instantly losing her words.

That was a deep, piercing pain—had she gotten so sick that a third person had to intervene to take care of her?

“Sure, it’s just the thermometer and the medicine box, right?” Aina Saiten suddenly lifted her head.

Although her face was full of illness, she curved her eyes like crescent moons.

She shook her head, her smile hastily becoming overly obedient and sensible, “I don’t want to make things hard for Akane either. Just don’t photograph me looking this pathetic.”

“I definitely won’t get you in the shot.” Kaoru Hoshitani shook his head repeatedly, promising like a rattle drum.

After sending the photos, Chika immediately gave her advice, telling him to go to a nearby store to buy a certain over-the-counter medicine with better fever-reducing effects.

“I’m going to buy medicine, Sister, wait for me at Home like a good girl, okay?” Kaoru Hoshitani tried to puff out his thin chest, wanting to look more reliable.

“I’ll go with you.” Aina Saiten threw off the covers, stubbornly propping herself up.

“No! It’s very cold outside!”

Kaoru Hoshitani stomped his feet in place anxiously, but he couldn’t out-stubborn her.

He could only make a bitter face, frantically wrapping a thick down jacket around her, even looping a scarf several times around her, bundling Aina Saiten up like a round snowman.

Aina Saiten actually couldn’t walk steadily at all. She just didn’t want him to face the terror of the outside alone.

From the Apartment to the Convenience Store was only a short stretch of road.

The cold winter wind of Hokkaido cut like a knife, and the accumulated snow had melted into murky, filthy puddles of ice water by the roadside.

“I’m a bit cold.”

Aina Saiten moved closer to Kaoru Hoshitani, leaning unsteadily against him, and naturally placed her hand on his arm.

“Slow down.” Kaoru Hoshitani hurriedly reached out to support her.

His mind naturally surfaced the instructions Chika had sent earlier:

Be careful to stay warm, don’t let her catch a cold wind.

Following Chika’s teachings, he sheltered Aina Saiten in his arms, the two of them very close together, yet within this intimacy, it was as if the shadow of another woman was mixed in.

Kaoru Hoshitani lowered his eyes unnaturally, coughed twice, and complained softly: “Haven’t you been feeling unwell for a while? Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“I was just tired.” Aina Saiten leaned against him, answering straightforwardly. “Take some medicine, sleep well, and I’ll be fine. If I feel unwell in the future, I’ll tell you.”

“Really?” Kaoru Hoshitani stopped walking, leaning in to stare into her eyes to confirm. “Then it’s a promise, okay? Don’t push yourself alone anymore.”

“Mm, then you shouldn’t push yourself alone either.”

“I don’t.” Kaoru Hoshitani breathed a sigh of relief, like a stone finally landing on the ground.

His eye corners curved into a pretty crescent, and he gave a silly little laugh.

After buying the medicine and returning Home, watching Aina Saiten take the medicine and fall into a deep sleep, Kaoru Hoshitani’s taut nerves finally relaxed.

The Mobile Phone vibrated again. Chika had sent a new message.

[Has she fallen asleep?]

[Good work! Actually, what you were most afraid of just now wasn’t her fever, but that you might make a wrong judgment and put her in an even more dangerous situation, right?]

Kaoru Hoshitani was startled. A drop of cold sweat slid down from his temple.

He suddenly shuddered, as if he had grabbed onto something that had been carelessly overlooked.

Wasn’t this a bit too smooth…

He had actually relied completely on Chika’s instructions and resolved the crisis.

Chika hadn’t just provided a method, she had also laid bare the fear in his heart and caught him in his weakness.

He lowered his head to look at the screen, his gaze stopping at the very last line.

[Xun Jun, remember to take her temperature again in ten minutes.]

His fingertip hovered above the input box for a long time, not falling.

Xun Jun.

He knew he should immediately type a correction for that overly intimate form of address.

But just then, in the quiet Bedroom, the sleeping Aina Saiten let out a low cough.

Kaoru Hoshitani snapped back to his senses.

He had no time to reply to anything else. He picked up the warm water on the Dining Table and, just as Chika had instructed earlier, quickly walked over.