Mu Yuze bit the tip of his tongue as soon as he realized what kind of atrocious question had come out of his mouth.

What the hell was wrong with him? What right did he have to pry into He Juan’s private business? The man had just been a little kinder to him more – a thousand times more – than anyone ever had, and here he was, forgetting his own place! Gripping onto the blanket tightly, he opened his mouth to apologize when He Juan beat him to it,

"Oh, I’m so sorry to leave you alone when you’re not feeling well," he said in a remorseful tone, causing Mu Yuze’s mind to screech to a halt. Wait... why was he the one who...

"I swear, I didn’t even know that he would be waiting for me here." He Juan rubbed his face and let out a wry chuckle. "We’re nothing more than colleagues – wait, should it be business partners? Well, whatever. My point is, he’s just here to hand me some important documents."

Mu Yuze stared at the man blankly, his heart jackrabbiting in his chest.

Why... are you explaining this to me? He wanted to ask. Why do you care about what I think of both of you?

"So don’t misunderstand okay, Xiao Ze?" He scratched his cheek sheepishly and mumbled under his breath, "What if you thought I am a playboy on top of a pervert and a shameless flirt? Where would I put my face then?"

Oh. So that’s why... he painstakingly made it clear to Mu Yuze because he did not want to receive another horrible accusation. Of course, that must be the reason why. He Juan was but a powerful and respectable Alpha. Being labeled as a pervert and shameless flirt must have dealt a blow to his dignity. All the more reason he had to defend his innocence in front of Mu Yuze. It was completely understandable.

...So why was he feeling a bit disappointed?

Mu Yuze hastily shoved the weird feeling to the corner of his heart, unwilling to dwell on it further.

In the next moment, he heard a series of quick footsteps heading this way. He Juan quickly rose to his feet and went to open the door just in time for Doctor Jia to show up, still clad in his bloody white coat. "What’s wrong?!" The man asked in a hurry. "Why did you press the emergency button—"

He had just taken a step into the room when He Juan stretched out a hand to prevent him from entering. Mu Yuze watched in confusion as the two men were engaged in a silent staring contest, then Doctor Jia let out an ’oh!’ as if he had just recalled something. "Wait a minute. I will be back soon," was what he said before he turned around and left again like a whirlwind.

Not even two minutes later, Jia Molei returned in a clean set of clothes, without the bloody coat. "Alpha and their weird sense of territory..." he grumbled under his breath as he pulled on a new pair of surgical gloves. "So what’s wrong with the little brat?"

Mu Yuze glowered, displeased at being called a brat. He was already an adult, okay? It was not his fault that he grew up short and scrawny!

As though sensing the line of Mu Yuze’s thought, He Juan cast him an amused look before he launched into a detailed description of Mu Yuze’s condition, starting from the time when he had just entered the room. Jia Molei listened intently with a frown and when He Juan was finished, he took off the stethoscope around his neck, put on the earpieces and began to inspect the area around Mu Yuze’s chest and stomach. Mu Yuze had to resist squirming at the sensation of cold metal pressing against his bare skin, his brows furrowing.

Beside him, He Juan inserted himself into the role of emotional support perfectly. "Just bear with it for a while, okay Xiao Ze? We have to know why you’re feeling sick all of a sudden! Good boy, thank you for staying still..."

This time, Mu Yuze’s glare was directed toward He Juan. He had no idea which point he should be angrier at – the fact that He Juan treated him like a spoiled child, or his own treacherous heart that decided to beat extra loudly today. He was almost afraid that Doctor Jia would call him out.

Luckily, his worst fear did not happen.

"Hmm..." the doctor eased back and took off his stethoscope, hanging it back around his neck.

"How is it?" He Juan asked anxiously. "Is there something wrong with him?"

"Wait a second," Jia Molei told them and exited the room again, only to return a moment later with a small device in his hand. "This will sting a bit," was all the warning Mu Yuze got before the doctor took hold of his hand and pricked the tip of his finger, drawing out a bead of crimson blood.

"That’s it," he announced once the result was out.

Mu Yuze almost could not believe what he was hearing. "L–Low blood sugar...?" He almost choked on his breath when he stuttered it out.

In his fourteen years of life, this was the first time he had ever experienced such a delicate illness. He, a slum kid, had low blood sugar all of a sudden after living in comfort and riches for a few days? How?!

Toward Mu Yuze’s protest, Jia Molei soon found an answer. "You got a fright when you saw that chaos outside earlier, right? Yes, your blood sugar took a sudden dive there and caused you dizziness and nausea. Not to mention, you’ve just had a panic attack yesterday."

In the end, what made Mu Yuze angriest was how the doctor forced him to eat a few pieces of wheat biscuits and drink a small glass of sweetened tea; then all of a sudden, he was as good as new again.

"So you’ve really got a scare, huh?" He Juan let out a heavy sigh, much to Mu Yuze’s mortification. He gently urged Mu Yuze to finish his tea. "Go on. Drink them all up."

Mu Yuze wrinkled his nose and grimaced, "I don’t like sweets." He Juan looked mildly horrified at that as if he could not believe that there was someone who disliked sweets in this world. Mu Yuze did not want to hear this coming from someone who liked to munch on sugar cubes. "But I really haven’t gotten low blood sugar before," he argued again, frustrated. "How can I become like this all of a sudden?"

"Just because you haven’t been like this before doesn’t mean that you never will, Xiao Ze. I’m a bit relieved because of this, actually..." He Juan said, sending a wave of confusion over Mu Yuze’s mind. Relieved? How could He Juan be relieved to find out that he had low blood sugar?

He Juan smiled and reached out a hand to ruffle the boy’s hair. "It means that your body has started to demand things from you. Isn’t it better this way?"

Mu Yuze scoffed. What was good about it? He would only become more fragile and delicate from now on! Alas, He Juan did not seem to share his concern. Instead, he really looked a tad happier as if... as if he was truly glad that Mu Yuze was becoming spoiled and delicate.

Mu Yuze could not even begin to guess what was running through his mind. How could he be happy because of something like this? How ridiculous.

Again, He Juan tucked him into bed and told him to have a good rest, saying how he would go through his x-ray results in the doctor’s office. When Mu Yuze told him how he was already feeling fine, that he could just wait outside, He Juan was unmoved and insisted that he take a short nap, at least until the man returned.

"I will wake you up when I come back, okay?" He said gently, his fingers moving to tuck the strands of Mu Yuze’s hair behind his ear.

Left with no choice, Mu Yuze could only purse his lips and close his eyes, the phantom of He Juan’s touch still lingering on his skin like a trail of everlasting flame, burning him inside out.

***

The walk to Jia Molei’s office was filled with silence, each was occupied with their own thoughts. And it was not until they arrived that Jia Molei broke the silence, "A–Mu called me while crying last night. He said that you suddenly became cold and aggressive."

He Juan snorted. This was the last topic he wanted to talk about. He did not even bother to mask his displeasure. "I think we have—"

"I know. Did I even blame you? I fucking didn’t, okay?" Jia Molei huffed out in exasperation. He walked to his table, sat down on the edge and grabbed the document on the top, flipping through it. "I had a lot of thinking yesterday. You’re right, it is indeed better to make that person give up on you, rather than give him false hope..."

He Juan raised a brow, surprised that the headstrong Jia Molei could actually be swayed by his words. What had brought forth the change? He had actually prepared himself for being jabbed with a needle or two for making A-Mu cry...

Jia Molei let out a groan and shook his head as if trying to shake off some unwanted thoughts, "Enough about A–Mu, I didn’t bring him up so I can preach on shitty things like love or relationships. I heard that he’s found the person you are looking for?"

He Juan drew in a breath, his fingers subtly brushing against the tiny flash disk inside his pocket. "Yeah, found her." He showed a grim smile. "She’s in Yuyang right now."

.

.

A/N: a tiny reminder ^^

They’re currently in Shunan City, Jiangnan Province (where Xuanlong’s HQ is)

Yuyang is the city in volume 1, a few hours away from Jiangnan Province