[present time]
“It is truly awe-spiring watching you work,” says the woman with half a head of gray. Her wrinkles take shapes under her eyes, creasing by her smile lines. “Doctor Shi, you are as prodigious as the rumors say. What say you take over this facility? This old lady can retire at ease with you here.”
Shi Luo’s disposition is just as kind as hers, but the young man carries with him a certain sharpness. His features are angular, refined, not a single centimeter off symmetry. He is all crescent eyes and friendly smiles, though there is an unmistakable air of condescension around him. It may not be a conscious manifestation, for the doctor is so remarkable that all those around him pale in regard.
His amber eyes curve upward as he works with the forceps, expertly dividing a layer of skin. The patient is laid on his back, his left latissimus pried open for surgery.
Shi Luo says airily, “The compliment is undeserved, Dr. Edith. It is only that I am familiar with this particular patient. I’ve had to deal with an unfortunate amount of his injuries – though I reckon this is among the first open surgeries he’s been unconscious for.”
Dr. Edith laughs wholeheartedly. “He’s a tough one, isn’t he? If any normal person has a bullet lodged in that part of their body… well, they wouldn’t survive to be on your operating table. I hear the young colonel is your half-sibling?”
“Unfortunately,” Shi Luo replies as he extracts the lead bullet. “Not very similar, are we?”
“Not at all,” the woman laughs again. She moves to the other side of the room and takes out a warm compress. “It is not often that I get such handsome patients – even rarer for one of them to be Xie Liwei’s biological son.”
“Please administer another nerve block,” Shi Luo tells her. “For Xie Xing, that is. He may need two injections to take effect.”
“Oh? Are you familiar with this young man as well?”
Shi Luo only smiles as he refocuses on suturing. Already, he’d done the extraction, suction and cleaning. “Very much so.”
“Oh my.” Dr. Edith gives him a teasing look. “Handsome, intelligent and a smooth-talker you are – I hear that you have lines of beautiful lovers to choose from, but you never go beyond cursory engagements. Surely there is another reason?”
The man only laughs. He cuts the last suture thread, places the bloodied equipment on the rack and replaces his gloves. Shi Luo walks over to the other side. “You may care for Yang Rong. Allow me to take over.”
The young doctor pauses when he reaches the other patient’s bed.
Xie Xing is quite worse for wear – his injuries are well-dressed and treated for sure, but his skin is pallid and his eyelashes quivering even in sleep. He’s dressed in a hospital gown too thin for his emaciated skin. Shi Luo frowns.
“A few months without seeing you and this is how you end up,” he murmurs mostly to himself. He reaches forward and cups the young man’s forehead. He frowns again the temperature. “With a crippling fever, looking eight kilos lower than the healthy index, bearing a ruptured eardrum, two broken ribs, a sprained elbow, three knife wounds and eight counts of blunt injuries.” He sighs, pinches his cheek and comments again, “You haven’t contacted me either, Xie Xing… Is this how you should treat me?”
As though the words (and continuous pinches) woke him up, Xie Xing furrows his brows and lets out a soft whine. Shi Luo stops all movements. Then, compelled by an inexplicable urge, the doctor leans forward and presses a soft kiss on his cheek.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Shi Luo watches with no visible emotions.
“…Mm…” The young man murmurs, his chapped lips brushing against the warm palm. “It is cold.”
Shi Luo only blinks once before regaining composure. He rubs his thumb on Xie Xing’s lips, intending to placate. “Alright.”
Xie Xing is gone again – dozed back to sleep, breathing softly in aftermath, still holding onto the doctor’s hand. Shi Luo shakes his head slowly but remains perfectly still.
“Xie Xing,” he says quietly. “Who do you take me for?”
There wouldn’t be a response – or so he thinks, but the young man shifts in his sleep and murmurs something inaudible. He seems to be dreaming. A nightmare, perhaps, from how his brows wrinkle in pain. His forehead is sheened lightly in sweat; his breaths are getting raspier with every exhale. Shi Luo kneads him softly.
“Xie Xing,” he says again. “It is alright.”
Xie Xing shifts once more. His inhales are beginning to sound like low gasps, and his exhales like soft sobs. Shi Luo frowns and is about to consider a ventilator before the young man pulls him in by the collar.
Xie Xing’s eyes are hazed, unfocused. When he speaks again, his voice cracks at every syllable.
“…Yang Rong,” Xie Xing almost chokes out. “I need you.”
Shi Luo stays completely still.
Chapped lips meet his own. The kiss could not be even considered one – it is messy, desperate, a plea for warmth. Their tongues meet sloppily and Xie Xing, fully unaware, is the first to deepen it. And the young man is very well acclimated to kissing, gasping and almost purring for more – undoubtedly, he has had experiences.
With a low sigh, the doctor lets him have his way.
—
[three days later]
He awakes in a jolt.
When his eyes snap open, he is met with pure darkness. Waves of dizziness overcome him, but Noah cannot yet move. He thinks he may be confined somewhere foreign and strange, so it is with fear that he blinks several quick times, musters up the strength to lift his hand. Four of his five senses are entirely compromised, and all he feels is pain.
Aside from the crippling headache, there is a hard throbbing by his ribs, numbness on his left arm… A particular spot on his chest burns. When he raises his hand to touch blindly at it, he is thrown into paralysis. Noah chokes on the pain, tries to catch his breath, and it is only then that he registers how harshly he’s breathing.
There is an incessant ringing, some low hums that seem to shift frequencies every second, some more muffling that’s canceled through the heavy gauze on his right ear. There is also a person calling out to him – that much he can register, though their voice seems to be submerged in water.
“…Xie…ing…!”
Only a few syllables are heard. Whoever is in front of him he can’t ascertain, but Noah is positive they’re a threat. When the person reaches to touch his wrist, Noah recoils so harshly he knocks against a metal surface. In between gasps, he tries to thrash away from the hold. The threat is more insistent now, locking both his wrists together, locking his legs too so he can’t escape… And it’s an alpha, Noah can finally tell by scent.
“Xie Xing,” the man says. “Calm down.”
The command in his tone only makes Noah more frenzied. He feels threatened in more ways than one, and his current position – on his back, arms rendered immobile, legs partially and forcefully spread – sends extreme fear down his spine.
“Don’t…touch…me!” he chokes out as he thrashes against the lock. “Get…away…!”
“Xie Xing.” The voice gets colder, firmer, more commanding. “If I release you, you will only hurt yourself and reopen your wounds. Take a deep breath and look at me. Do you hear me?”
Belatedly, Noah thinks the man is slightly familiar – through his hazed vision, he can make out raven-black hair and a sturdily-built frame. But the man isn’t familiar enough – for in place of forest-green eyes is a pair of amber ones, and in place of calloused hands are smoother, leathered ones. And the one he’s truly familiar with does not call him ‘Xie Xing.’
“—I don’t know,” he gasps out. “My ear…hurts…I’m…”
“Noah.”
Finally some clarity. Noah takes some more shuddering inhales before blinking rapidly again, trying to regain alacrity. So the place he’s in isn’t purely dark as he’d thought – there are light tones of sepia, some flickers of amber and red that reflect on the person’s eyes. Perhaps the man isn’t trying to hurt him after all either; the man had released the grip on his wrists and is now slowly kneading the back of his head, whispering words of cajole.
“Relax,” comes the voice with a note of airiness. “You will be alright, Noah.”
The cajole isn’t as tender as Noah is used to. The man’s voice isn’t quite as fond either. The doctor frowns slightly and says, “You’ve woken up several times over the past couple of days. Your condition seems to be fine, considering how aggressively you were latched onto Yang Rong…” He trails off and shakes his head. “Even when that fool is a doorstep away from death. Regardless, Noah, do you have any recall?”
Whatever he’s saying is only white noise to Noah’s ears.
“…” Noah’s pulse is still erratic. “…?”
He lifts his hand to rub at his eyes, but nothing clears up yet – he is only hit with more dizziness instead. The man stabilizes him.
“Relax,” the doctor answers with a light smile. “I’m not here to hurt you.”
“…” Noah nods slowly, unsurely. “…Oh… I… sorry, I’m…really…”
His head dips forward, landing softly against the man’s chest. Shi Luo’s scent is of a low-brewing musk, a balsamic note, a hint of antiseptic. Refreshing and calming, but not really what Noah is used to.
“…Head hurts,” Noah musters out. “Can’t think.”
Shi Luo holds him in a gentle embrace, rubbing soothing circles on his back. “I will administer painkillers for you,” he tells him softly. “Don’t worry.”
“I’m…really…” he exhales per each syllable, “cold.”
With shuddering breaths, Noah clutches his hands on the man’s torso. His grip is shaky but insistent. He burrows himself into Shi Luo’s hold – firm and desperate, hinting of unspoken need. The doctor appeases him for quite some time until Noah begins to panic once more. Around him, the surroundings are encased in darkness; behind him, there is emptiness; and in front, there is the slightest bit of warmth that he’s desperate to hold.
The fabric of Shi Luo’s shirt is crinkled beyond decency.
“Noah,” the man says.
“…” Noah lets out a soft hum, indicating he’s heard. “…Mn.”
“Look at me.”
Noah lifts his head slightly.
Shi Luo is veiled by deep amber, sepia tones that match the broadness of his frame. Very disconcerting for the doctor to look like this – eyes schooled in stoicism, frighteningly dark, covered partially by strands of black bangs. His normally neat and perfectly swept hair is tussled from days of activity. His wired glasses are taken off, hanging by the pocket of his trench coat. The air of professionalism is replaced by a colder, more inert quality.
The doctor leans forward and says lowly, a bit dangerously by his ears, “Do you know who you are currently holding onto?”
Thank you for another great chapter! Ahhh!! I feel (somewhat) bad for Shi Lou, even though I am suspicious of his intentions. Looking forward to the next chapter!
thank youuu for readinggg 😭🤧
Shi Luo is definitely sus.
and Noah might not know who you are, but he knows who you are not.
thanks for the chapter <3
i think every alpha in this novel is sus, except maybe yoo seok (who should’ve been the ML)😭
Yang Rome has grown on me, so congrats his redemption arc worked! But truly Yoo Seok should have been the ML. I think he would have been a better fit overall with Noah.
But what would happen to Jake? 😭
*jae srsly what’s with auto correct these days
I’m starting to have a hard time guessing what are actually Shi Luo’s feelings for Noah with the previous chapter and this one 😔
Thanks for the chapter 🍆
shi luo is weirdly infatuated with noah 🚔
I wonder what is Shi Luo’s role here 🤔
to induce convenient second ML syndrome
jk (or am i actually kidding–)
I agree about Shi Luo`s motives. Where us YR leaving Noah alone and helpless!!–
(behind the scenes)
yang rong: zzzzz…….zz..
–what could he be dreaming about to have such a suspicious grin on his face–
Yue-saaaan… How dare you implemented 2nd male lead syndrome here… QmQ
It’s a mixed feeling… really; on one side I’m being skeptical and be wary of him but on the other side, can’t help but somewhat pity him.
eeee i really like messed-up—- i mean flawed characters
Ikr
Shi Luo who are youuu hshshshd
shi luo: i am but a simple doctor
Wake up YR! Shi Luo is acting sus!
Thanks for the chapter!!
yang rong (murmuring in his sleep): …..k-kitten…show rong-ge your ears…….
thanks
thanks!!!!
❤
welc welc, thank you for reading 🤧
I
m lost for words.....<div>I cant even tell what I`m feeling…..Thankx?
😩
💦💦
I feel as if I may pity Shi Luo. A love, whatever kind it may be, that will never know fruition. And I feel so conflicted, because Shi Luo is a complicated character that I feel is not emotionless, but… hmm, I don’t know how to describe it. But his love, or attraction, or whatever he feels towards Noah, will likely be long lasting
Honestly, there was so much talk about how Yang Ring fits all of Norah’ dislikes in an alpha (being possessive, controlling, dominant), but I think Shi Luo fits those adjectives better. In a normal situation they are as everyone says, but in a critical moment Yang Rong is super sweet and unassertive while Shi Luo i caring, but still controlling and dominant
You have a very good point there. Though I will say, that unassuming gentleness is a pretty recent development for YR. He used to be arrogant and overbearing and emotionally detached too (just a little bit more vivaceous in his narcissism).
Both of them were raised by Xie Liwei, and for better or for worse it influenced them in significant ways.