26: Hit Right Into His Chest
The umbrella was big. The two of them walked in silence through the curtain of rain.
The raindrops were like pearls on a snapped string, dripping nonstop from the rim of the umbrella.
When they passed the bare umbrella frame, Qian Kun bent down and picked it up.
Shen Jin glanced at him, lips moving like he wanted to say something, then fell quiet again.
Qian Kun seemed to understand anyway. He already noticed Shen Jin’s gaze had been fixed on that umbrella frame.
Back in the dorm, Qian Kun took Shen Jin’s backpack, grabbed a soft towel, and gently draped it over Shen Jin’s hair.
“Dry off first.”
With most of his expression covered by the towel, an indescribable sense of security enveloped Shen Jin.
It was probably like how a snail could hide inside its shell.
He held the towel and watched Qian Kun’s busy back through the gap, like he was meeting the person in front of him all over again.
Qian Kun went to the balcony to collect the laundry. The wind had blown rain onto clothes that were already dry, so he had to toss them back into the hamper to be washed again later.
With Shen Jin’s mild perfectionism, he would definitely start doing these trivial things the moment he got back.
He might as well do them first.
Qian Kun found the first-aid kit and dragged a chair over to sit in front of Shen Jin.
“Want me to put medicine on it?”
They held each other’s gaze for one second.
Qian Kun was about to call a doctor, then Shen Jin slowly extended his hand.
The injury wasn’t serious. It was only scraped skin with a few beads of blood, but on that pale skin it looked painfully sharp.
Qian Kun’s brow tightened, but his hands stayed gentle as he treated it.
“I wrapped a waterproof gauze layer on the outside. Be careful when you shower.”
Shen Jin stared at his elbow.
Why was a tiny scrape being wrapped up like a dumpling?
When Qian Kun saw he wasn’t reacting much, he went straight to the bathroom to test the water temperature.
Nanhu High School saved money with alternating water supply, hot water only every other day.
He made sure today had hot water before letting Shen Jin go in.
When Qian Kun came out, Shen Jin was holding a set of white clothes for changing. Those eyes that usually carried so little emotion looked slightly softened, cool and gentle.
Qian Kun was about to step aside when Shen Jin finally spoke.
“You got soaked too.”
Earlier, after he received Shen Xie’an’s message, Qian Kun called Shen Jin.
Phone off. No connection.
Qian Kun searched several streets in the rain until he checked the school surveillance and found that Shen Jin had returned to campus.
After he found Shen Jin, he reported safety back to Shen Xie’an.
He didn’t even care that he was drenched. He just raised the umbrella in his hand.
Now Shen Jin was in this state and still worried about other people.
Too obedient.
That nameless ache kept twisting up inside him, becoming more intense.
“No rush. You go in first.”
Watching Shen Jin obediently walk in, Qian Kun observed for a while. After confirming the person hadn’t fallen and had normal mobility, he sat back in the swivel chair.
His phone showed plenty of missed calls. He didn’t check anything else. He only called his mother back.
“I found him. Thanks, Mom.”
The Qian family had donated several buildings and earned an honorary school board title.
Just now, her son had actually mobilized every bodyguard around him and asked her for permission to enter the school’s surveillance room.
Her son had been arrogant since he was little. Hardly anyone ever caught his eye.
She thought he didn’t know how to care about people.
“How’s your classmate?”
Qian Kun didn’t want to explain. “Mm. I’m not coming home this weekend.”
“Then take good care of him. Every family has its own difficult scripture to recite. Don’t bully him.”
“Mm.”
By Qian Kun’s estimate, Shen Jin had already reached late-stage differentiation.
His body would be more sensitive and weaker than usual, and he’d be more likely to catch a cold or run a fever.
Normally, differentiation wouldn’t last longer than a month.
Yet from the time Shen Jin’s differentiation was exposed until now, it had already been more than two months.
His body's pain, fatigue, and various other conditions would only get increasingly severe. Naturally, his resistance would also continue deteriorating.
It looked like Shen Jin had been hiding it from his family.
Even Shen Xie’an seemed unaware.
Qian Kun had only observed, yet he’d already pieced most of it together.
Right now, the urgent priority was getting Shen Jin through this most miserable stretch safely.
When he heard the bathroom water pause, he set down his phone.
He pulled a packet of portable brown sugar ginger tea from his bag. He’d just bought it at the pharmacy he passed earlier.
He mixed it into a cup of warm water and waited by the door.
Shen Jin walked out slowly. His hair was still dripping, and the white cotton T-shirt made him look clean and soft.
Qian Kun handed him the ginger tea. “Why didn’t you dry your hair?”
Shen Jin was much better now. Seeing the steaming cup in front of him, he blanked for a beat.
He glanced at Qian Kun, took it, and drank it down in one go.
Warmth sank into his stomach, and the heat drove away the chill inside him.
Shen Jin tugged at his wet hair and spoke like he didn’t care.
“Oh. It’s fine.”
Anyway, he knew the person in front of him had no interest in him.
Qian Kun thought, that line alone was wildly different from his usual self.
He had Shen Jin sit in his chair.
Shen Jin was confused, then Qian Kun pulled something from the drawer. A moment later, the hair dryer roared to life.
Shen Jin had never been cared for this meticulously, like he was being cradled in someone’s palm.
He was extremely uncomfortable.
His first instinct was to reject the strangeness and shove it away. He still preferred when they were at each other’s throats.
He started to stand, then a large hand pressed him down gently.
A low voice followed.
“It’ll be done soon.”
Shen Jin wasn’t used to strangers coming close.
Even when he only dozed off, he’d wake fast.
Right now, he was persuaded so easily.
Maybe because he didn’t sense any malice at all.
That voice held no aggression.
It was too soft.
The prickles on his body were smoothed down little by little.
The roar beside his ear mixed with the steady patter of rain outside.
Qian Kun’s fingertips combed through his hair as warm air separated the strands.
Shen Jin slowly started to get drowsy.
When it was done, Qian Kun saw Shen Jin forcing himself to stay upright, eyes half-closed. It was the reaction of overdrawn mental power.
Shen Jin wasn’t only fighting differentiation symptoms. He was also enduring the side effects of suppressants, and all of it consumed mental power.
It was like he was using everything he had to keep himself looking flawless and unbreakable.
Qian Kun couldn’t name the feeling in his chest.
“Go sleep on the bed.”
Shen Jin glanced toward his backpack again.
Qian Kun had already noted his habits, so he said directly, “I’ll organize it for you.”
Only then did Shen Jin climb onto the bed.
Fatigue surged up quickly.
Right as he was about to fall asleep, he suddenly opened his eyes. There was a trace of panic in his expression as he stared straight toward Qian Kun.
Qian Kun sensed it and lifted his head.
That look nearly melted his heart.
He knew perfectly well that Shen Jin was mentally exhausted right now.
He probably didn’t even know what he was doing.
“I’m right here.”
In the distance you can see when you open your eyes.
Outside the window, wind and rain battered the glass. Raindrops drummed like a lullaby with messy pitch.
Mixed with Qian Kun’s voice, it carried a damp kind of warmth.
With that reassurance, Shen Jin closed his eyes again.
In his sleep, Shen Jin felt a soft current of water around him, gently combing through the pheromones inside him that wanted to stir.
He slept heavily.
He vaguely woke a few times in the middle, as if a dry, warm hand touched his forehead.
By the third time, he couldn’t be bothered to open his eyes. He lazily slapped the hand away and muttered, “I don’t have a fever. You’re so annoying.”
Qian Kun watched him, bleary and impatient, full of dislike.
With Shen Jin acting this unaware, Qian Kun felt both annoyed and amused.
Late-stage differentiation was when immunity was worst. If luck was bad, there could even be complications.
“Alright, alright. Keep sleeping.”
Qian Kun didn’t realize the helplessness in his voice and the gentleness that could drown someone.
Shen Jin slept well. His body felt strangely weightless.
In the dream, there seemed to be a familiar Alpha presence soothing him, yet when he woke, there was no scent in the air at all.
Seeing the bed frame, Shen Jin realized he was in the dorm.
He sat up with a hand on his head and immediately saw the person below him.
The boy sat by the window reading.
After the rain, damp air rolled in and brushed his hair. His temperament was cool. With that lazy indifference stripped away, he looked distant enough to keep people a thousand miles away.
Hearing movement, Qian Kun looked up and saw that Shen Jin’s state had returned. That dead, sinking air was gone.
He put the book down and stood up naturally.
“I’m going downstairs for a bit. Just a few minutes.”
Since he’d promised Shen Jin, Qian Kun hadn’t left.
Only after Shen Jin woke did he finally leave the dorm with a stack of test papers.
He’d wanted to do this earlier.
The papers were his, still blank.
When he’d organized Shen Jin’s bag, he found the papers inside were soaked.
He planned to go to the printing room and make new copies.
He was also giving Shen Jin some buffer time.
If he stayed, a certain little friend probably wouldn’t feel at ease.
Shen Jin was far beyond uneasy.
Thinking about the few fragments before he fell asleep made him feel like he was about to start smoking from the ears.
He had acted dependent and willful toward an enemy.
He even wouldn’t let him leave.
Ah!
That wasn’t me. How could I act like that?
A scholar can be killed but not humiliated.
How was he supposed to make the enemy understand that it was only a rare accident?
“I’m finished.”
Shen Jin clasped his head with both hands. With that guy’s usual sharp tongue, he was going to get laughed at to death.
Was one semester enough?
He’d woken up clear-headed, but now he felt soft and weak again, completely unmotivated.
He climbed down and sat in the chair, his mind full of tiny people scratching at the walls.
Then he saw the items from his soaked backpack laid out on the desk, dried one by one.
Who did it was obvious.
Right now he wanted to perform a chest-smashing-on-a-boulder routine.
He played dead and grabbed his phone, tilting it to pour out the water that had gotten inside, then powered it on.
Based on the time display, he’d slept for about two hours, and outside the window it had just started to darken.
Text and call notifications popped up immediately.
Aside from his brother’s, an unknown number had called nineteen times, and there were two more from his parents.
Shen Jin glanced at his parents’ numbers and silently swiped them away.
It was rare, but he didn’t feel excited at all.
He didn’t want to talk to them right now.
He tapped the unknown number’s WeChat.
The daily friend request was there as expected. This person had added him before, and he deleted them later.
Shen Jin accepted again.
When he checked the profile, the phone number shown was indeed that unfamiliar one.
He saved the number, then looked at his brother’s WeChat messages.
[Ge, whose house are you staying at?]
[I messaged the handsome guy across from your dorm. He said you didn’t come back.]
[He’s really nice. Do men like that actually exist, handsome and willing to help?]
.
.
.
[Ge, I’m waiting for you to reply.]
Shen Jin felt guilty.
Earlier, his emotions had been too chaotic. He had been afraid of taking it out on someone else, so he shut off his phone.
He typed a few replies.
Then he heard the door behind him.
His body tensed, sitting up straight and proper.
He felt the person behind him draw close and set a stack of papers onto his desk.
“When I organized your bag earlier, I saw your papers were all wet. I went to buy fruit and copied them while I was there.”
Qian Kun pulled out the biggest orange from the bag.
“Orange. Want one?”
Seeing the fresh stack of new papers, Shen Jin’s restless mood settled in a strange, quiet way.
He really did have a bit of perfectionism, like noticing when someone used the wrong term.
“Ugly thing.”
Qian Kun looked blank. “Huh?”
A bad feeling rose slowly.
Shen Jin pointed at the golden fruit in his hand and explained in a flat tone.
“Some people call it ‘Shiranui’ too. It’s a kind of mandarin. It’s harvest season right now, and it costs one-fifth of an orange.”
When Qian Kun bought it, he’d already thought it looked a little rough. He’d even told himself not to judge fruit by looks.
He was in a hurry to get back, so he didn’t think much beyond that.
Shen Jin asked, “How much did you pay?”
Qian Kun’s brow twitched, but he still gave a number.
Mm.
You got scammed again.
Shen Jin thought, Qian Kun had been gentlemanly enough not to mention what happened earlier.
He had no reason to laugh at him.
Shen Jin tried hard to suppress the upward curve of his mouth, peeled it quietly, and took a bite.
Qian Kun saw Shen Jin go from stiff to completely relaxed, and he even accepted the fruit. His eyes eased, and that last bit of anger evaporated.
Fine.
Losing money to soothe someone wasn’t bad either.
Shen Jin said, “Did you take the receipt? Give it to me.”
In tenth grade, Shen Jin had been scammed by the convenience shop owner too, but he’d gotten it back.
“Didn’t take it.” Qian Kun didn’t have that habit.
“He targets people like you, the kind that look obviously rich. Next time dress a little more worn-out and he’ll go easier. I remember in tenth grade a classmate had a family emergency and the uncle donated a lot.”
Sometimes the owner really did have this ‘rob the rich to help the poor’ vibe.
Qian Kun: “……”
How does a convenience shop owner have a character setting this detailed?
Qian Kun lowered his head and deleted the text he was about to send his father, word by word.
[I’m planning to buy the convenience shop.]
Qian Kun said, “Still, it’s fraud. You can’t encourage it.”
Shen Jin agreed deeply.
“Seconded.”
The atmosphere unknowingly became relaxed and carefree.
Neither of them mentioned what happened a few hours ago.
They each did their own things.
Shen Jin sent Shen Xie’an several voice messages.
[You’re a man, stop crying all the time.]
[What can happen to me? If a normal Alpha runs into me, it’s hard to say who gets hurt.]
[Mm, I’m really fine. I’m chewing citrus, that’s why my voice sounds like this.]
[Sweet or not?… Mm, sweet.]
Shen Xie’an wanted his brother to formally thank him properly. He felt WeChat wasn’t sincere enough.
Shen Jin thought it made sense too.
He should, yet how was he supposed to open his mouth to Qian Kun?
When he’d just woken up, he should’ve said it.
Now he’d missed the best timing.
If he said it now, would it feel awkward and sudden?
Shen Jin hesitated, mind spinning for an excuse.
Would only thanking him feel too light?
He scrolled through WeChat without focus and suddenly saw Qian Kun’s name in the newest group chat.
He tapped in.
Liu Qimai: [I’m pissed off. Everyone come judge this! @CAT]
CAT was Qian Kun’s WeChat nickname.
That one line dragged a bunch of lurkers in Ninth Class out of the shadows.
[What happened? How did Brother Kun mess with you?]
[Talk. We’ll host justice for you. If you talk nonsense, we’re not backing you.]
Liu Qimai fumed.
[We agreed a month ago. Today we’re meeting up with old classmates. That ridiculous land policy scattered everyone. If we have time, we should meet, right? That’s not wrong, is it?!]
The Ninth Class kids were the type who never minded more chaos.
[Not wrong.]
[Not wrong.]
[Keep going.]
Even through the screen, Liu Qimai’s cold laugh was obvious.
[Do you know how heartless he is? The driver was halfway there, then he got some message, told him to turn around immediately, and then he made me get out. He dumped me on the road like that!]
[F*ck, I watched the car drive away in a cloud of dust, eating a mouthful of exhaust! Nothing can describe my feelings then!!!]
[Oh, and he sent me 300 yuan as travel money. Do I look like someone who’s short on a few hundred!?]
The group really wanted to laugh. Replies flew in.
[I am short, actually!]
[Same, not gonna lie. If you don’t want it, give it to me!]
[I want a big boss friend who hands out allowance whenever!]
Liu Qimai: [Be serious. I’m very angry right now!!]
Luo Ying said weakly: [Maybe something urgent came up?]
Other classmates: [Yeah, family emergency, understandable.]
Liu Qimai: [Bullsh*t! I called his place. His whole family and even the staff are fishing off a private island. His phone rings, he picks up, and he says he has something and won’t go! @CAT Stop playing dead. What made you throw away our friendship of more than ten years!]
Shen Jin thought, he was probably talking about him.
He covered his face that felt a little hot, and guilty.
He looked at Qian Kun.
After showering, Qian Kun had just changed into a T-shirt. His phone sat on the desk, completely silent.
He was probably on silent mode.
Shen Jin asked like it was casual.
“You had a class reunion today?”
Qian Kun responded. “Mm. I already told them.”
Qian Kun thought about how Ji Zhen and those girls still hadn’t given up on dragging him into transferring schools. It was annoying.
“Liu Qimai came to find you?”
Shen Jin said, “No. Can you still go now?”
Shen Jin understood Qian Kun’s intention, but he still felt oddly flattered and couldn’t quite believe it.
They were only classmates.
In a single day, he’d revised his view of this person again and again.
He suddenly understood why Qian Kun was so admired. Setting aside all the external things, this person was worthy.
Just that… the gap was still too big. It wasn’t something he could touch.
Qian Kun said, “Yeah. The meetup started at four. Usually we play until around midnight. Still…”
He didn’t feel at ease leaving Shen Jin alone in the dorm.
If he went, he’d just keep thinking about it.
He might as well not go.
Shen Jin said, “I’ll go too.”
Shen Jin knew the reason Qian Kun might not go was because of him.
If Shen Jin didn’t go, Qian Kun probably wouldn’t either.
Qian Kun turned his head abruptly.
Shen Jin was already changing into his shoes.
Something caught him off guard and hit right into his chest.
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