Chapter 8: Is He Mad at Me?

Lu Siting didn't stay seated for long. He got up, walked over to the water dispenser, took a paper cup, filled it halfway with warm water, and set it down on the small table by the bed.

When he was done, he didn't sit back down right away. He just stood there, staring at that cup of water for a few seconds.

[If I wake him up now, will it disturb his rest?]

[If I don't, will he be thirsty when he wakes up?]

[Maybe I should just leave it here and let him wake up on his own.]

Xu Xingye, eyes closed, listened to the entire decision-making process in silence.

This guy looked so decisive when he handled things. How did pouring a cup of water for a patient turn into a three-department panel discussion in his head?

In the end, Lu Siting nudged the cup a little closer to the bed and returned to his chair.

Xu Xingye's eyelids twitched.

He had only meant to fake sleep and eavesdrop on whatever Lu Siting was plotting. Instead, from that moment on, his attention had been hijacked by all those ridiculous thoughts.

Lu Siting looked down at his phone. The screen lit up and dimmed, dimmed and lit up again — clearly, he wasn't taking in a single word.

[Why isn't he awake yet?]

[Is something still wrong with him?]

[Just now, while Wang Jianguo was talking, his hand moved a little.]

[He must have been scared after all.]

Xu Xingye held back as long as he could, then finally opened his eyes.

Lu Siting's head snapped up at almost the same instant, fast enough that he might as well have been watching a surveillance feed.

"Awake?"

"Mm."

Xu Xingye's voice was hoarse. He propped himself up on the edge of the bed, his face still wearing that just-woke-up daze, though the corner of his eye kept drifting sideways.

Seeing this, Lu Siting immediately picked up the water from the table and handed it over. "Drink a little first."

Xu Xingye took the paper cup but didn't drink right away. He just looked down at it.

"You poured this?"

"Mm. It's warm."

"You're pretty good at taking care of people."

Xu Xingye said it casually, but Lu Siting visibly paused.

[He actually complimented me.]

[Does he think I'm reliable?]

[If only I could take care of him every day.]

The paper cup in Xu Xingye's hand was nearly crushed flat.

He quickly lowered his head to drink, hiding his expression behind the motion.

When he finished, he set the cup back on the table and asked, as if something had just occurred to him, "That teacher just now — why did he suddenly run off?"

Lu Siting glanced at him. "He recognized me."

"You're famous?"

"Something like that."

Xu Xingye couldn't help looking up.

That was exactly the kind of answer that deserved a punch.

Yet Lu Siting's face remained perfectly calm, as if "something like that" were an act of great humility.

[It's really nothing. Our family just has some dealings with the school.]

[If he wants to know, I can tell him slowly.]

[But I can't say too much at once, or he'll think I'm showing off.]

The corner of Xu Xingye's mouth twitched.

This guy planned ahead even for bragging.

"Young Master Lu?" he drawled, dragging the words out. "Sounds pretty impressive."

Lu Siting's fingers tapped lightly against his knee, his face giving nothing away.

[He knows.]

[Will he keep his distance from me because of it?]

[No. I can't let him think that.]

"It's just a form of address," Lu Siting said. "Nothing special."

Xu Xingye looked at that cold, indifferent face and arrived at a single verdict.

Fake.

Wang Jianguo had practically bent himself in half at the waist earlier, and this guy was calling it nothing special.

"So you're close with our homeroom teacher?"

"Not close."

"Not close, but when he saw you, he nearly swallowed his worksheets?"

Lu Siting was silent for a moment, then said, in complete earnest: "Maybe his appetite's been off lately."

Xu Xingye blinked. He hadn't expected an answer like that — and then he couldn't hold back a laugh.

The laugh pulled at his abdomen. His face changed at once and he instinctively clutched his stomach.

Lu Siting's expression tightened in an instant, his body leaning forward.

[It hurts again.]

[Was it because he laughed too hard?]

[I shouldn't have bantered back.]

"Does it hurt a lot?" he asked.

"It's fine."

"How fine is 'fine'?"

"Maybe... a five?"

Lu Siting frowned. "Out of ten?"

"What else — out of a hundred?"

The moment he said it, Xu Xingye thought the question sounded redundant. But Lu Siting didn't argue. Instead, he picked up the medical record from the table and bent his head over it.

[A five is already not low.]

[Should we go to the hospital right now?]

[But he just woke up. Would dragging him straight off feel awful?]

Watching that furrowed brow, Xu Xingye suddenly felt this man wasn't listening to him so much as receiving a medical report.

"I'm really fine." Xu Xingye waved a hand. "The school doctor said I just need to rest a while."

"You're sure?"

"Sure."

"If it hurts badly, you tell me."

"Got it, Dr. Lu."

Lu Siting looked up at him.

Xu Xingye had only been tossing off a joke, but that stare was so earnest it left him ill at ease, and all he could do was take another sip of water.

Lu Siting looked away — though the tips of his ears quietly turned red.

[He called me Dr. Lu.]

[That sounds pretty good too.]

Xu Xingye nearly choked again.

He finally had it figured out: the colder Lu Siting looked on the outside, the noisier his head was.

And it was the kind of noise that never went through any review process at all.

Outside the infirmary, the final bell rang, and footsteps soon filled the corridor. Lu Siting glanced at the time, stood, and picked up the schoolbag from the table.

"Can you walk?"

"Yes."

"I'll walk you back."

Xu Xingye was about to refuse when he heard Lu Siting add silently:

[He isn't feeling well. It isn't safe for him to go back alone.]

[Besides, I want to spend a little more time with him.]

The refusal stuck in Xu Xingye's throat.

He looked at the hand Lu Siting extended, didn't take it, and pushed himself up off the edge of the bed on his own.

"I can walk by myself."

Lu Siting withdrew his hand, his face unchanged.

[I want to hold him up. To touch him.]

Xu Xingye's foot slipped, and he nearly crashed into the cabinet beside him.

Lu Siting immediately reached out and steadied his arm, brow pressing down.

[Stubborn.]

[He still needs the support.]

Once he was steady, Xu Xingye looked down at the hand on his arm, then up at Lu Siting.

The other boy let go quickly, as if nothing had happened.

Xu Xingye pressed his lips together, picked up his schoolbag, and headed for the door wearing a deliberately stiff face.

Lu Siting followed behind him, his gaze never straying from him.

[Is he mad at me?]

[Probably not... right?]

Xu Xingye's footsteps stopped.

He turned to look at Lu Siting, who halted on the spot.

The two of them faced each other across a few paces, neither willing to speak first.

Lu Siting's expression was as calm as ever — with only a faint, barely visible tension hiding in his eyes.

Xu Xingye opened his mouth, and in the end said nothing.

Forget it.

Asking now would just make it look like he cared.

He turned and kept walking out, and Lu Siting grabbed the water cup from the table and followed.