CW: Depictions of a medical procedure, explicit language.
He’s torn from the merciful darkness of sleep by a sickening, gut wrenching pain. It radiates white heat from his spine to the tips of his fingers and toes. Frothing waves of agony ruthlessly batter his trembling, sweat drenched form. A scream tries to work its way out of his mouth, but just a strangled, cracked noise comes out, his throat raw and torn to shreds. Perhaps he’d been screaming in his sleep, he thinks to himself dazedly.
Slowly, he realises that he’s lying on his stomach, with an unbearable pressure upon all four limbs. Something horrifically sharp stabs him in the back and his body jolts in shock. He cries hoarsely, quivering drops of tears sticking to his dense, sable lashes. Another stab, another jolt, and he cries again, completely helpless to this miserable torture. He tries pushing against the crushing pressure on his arms and legs, but all he gets is a nauseating wave of pain.
A deep voice murmurs beside him, so close he can feel a soft puff of breath. A gentle spiced fragrance fills his nose, dampens the iron tang of blood. Calloused fingers brush the sweat drenched hair from his face before slipping a leather strap between his lips.
You are going to be alright…I am here…I will take care of you…
And something about that tender voice has him fervently believing those words.
***
A warm summer’s breeze wanders into the dark room, bringing with it the scent of baked earth and summer blooms. A raven haired youth lies on his front in a sprawling bed, the size of which makes him seem smaller and as fragile as glass. His head lays sideways upon a soft white pillow, sable hair and lashes stark against the sickly pallor of his skin. His face is pinched in pain, a sheen of sweat glimmering across his crinkled forehead.
The covers are pulled up to his naked hips, leaving exposed the thick white bandages wrapped around his torso from shoulder to waist. Every now and then the youth would groan and clutch at the sheets until the knuckles turn white.
Whenever this happens, Jun would gently untangle the raven’s hands from the sheets and wrap them around his own. He lets Rin squeeze as hard and as much as he wants, not daring or even wanting to take away this small source of comfort.
It’s just been a few days since the incident and Jun is already exhausted. There are dark shadows beneath the young lord’s eyes and his face is pale and gaunt with weariness.
Despite the protests from his servants and Healer Wu, Jun had tirelessly tended to the injured boy, completely forgoing sleep and food himself. He assists the Healer change his patient’s bandages, comforts Rin whenever his wound needs to be cleaned, patiently feeds him medicine and porridge, and wipes the sticky sweat clean from his body. And when there’s nothing else he can do, he sits at Rin’s side, silently keeping watch over him.
When Mira asked him why he’s so attentive to this boy, this stranger, he couldn’t give her a proper response. The words stuck in his throat and rendered him speechless. In truth, it’s because he feels crippling guilt. Guilt that this boy, who selflessly came to his aid, had been so grievously injured because of him. And now he will be left with a disfigurement, all because of this lord’s foolishness. Is this how I will protect my people? Is this the kind of lord I wish to become?
You see us just fine. You just don’t care.
Jun sighs as he gazes down at Rin, his heart throbbing. He notices the raven’s dry and cracked lips, and he dips a clean cloth into the glass of water sitting on the bedside table. He brings the dampened cloth to those dry lips, gently wetting them.
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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A surprised murmur accompanies a shaky breath. “Are you thirsty?” The figure hurriedly brings the glass to his lips and he eagerly sips until he is sated.
By now, the Rat’s vision had cleared, and he sees the figure to be the little lord, sitting at his bedside with his strained features. The raven shifts slightly, feeling as though someone were lying flat upon his body. He intakes sharply when a lightning bolt of pain zig zags down his back. He stops moving then, trembling from shock.
“Lie still,” Jun says, his tone unintentionally sharp. He pulls in a deep breath and forces himself to calm, reaching out and grasping the raven’s hand to squeeze reassuringly. “You need to keep still, Rin. You might pull your stitches.”
Rin stares wide eyed at the exhausted lord, head spinning with more than just fever. “Where am I?” His voice comes hoarse, grating against his sore throat. “What happened?”
“You are at my family’s estate. In the guest house, to be exact.” With his free hand, Jun brings the damp cloth to the raven’s face, gently dabbing the cool fabric against his burning forehead. “One of the ruffians took me by surprise and you…you took his blade for me. Rest assured, our estate Healer is the best in the East, only rivalled by the Imperial Healer. After a week of bed rest, you will be well enough to walk.”
Ruffian. He called them ruffians. Rin smiles, a little deliriously.
Rin glances at the lord’s focused expression. Those golden eyes sweep over the raven’s flushed features as he attempts to cool him down. There’s a tug at Rin’s heart, one that’s unknowable and unfathomable. Has anyone ever cared for him in this way before? Perhaps, many years ago when he was a child, Dasom might have tried to keep his fever down like this during a bout of illness. But the memory is hazy and he’s not even sure if it’s real.
“How do you feel?” Jun asks worriedly, dabbing the corner of the cloth against his temple. “Are you in any pain?”
The Rat hums in thought, laying still for a moment. His back is throbbing, but it’s bearable as long as he doesn’t move. “Not too bad,” he says, daring a glance at Jun’s haggard face. “What did your Healer do to me?”
“He had to clean and stitch your wound. The medications you are currently on are to fight infection and to ease your pain. I have also given you a fever reducer…” His cheeks suddenly darken in colour, drawing a confused look from the Rat. The lord catches this look and hurriedly says, “You will be fine. Hopefully your fever will break soon and you will start to feel much better.”
“Do you normally act like a servant? Aren’t lords supposed to tell everyone else what to do and lounge around or whatever?”
Jun chuckles, brushing Rin’s damp bangs from his brow. “I am studying medicine under Healer Wu, so naturally I would assist him with a patient.”
“Really?” There’s a flicker of surprise in the raven’s tone. “Can lords become Healers?”
“As long as they study and take the examination. Yes, of course.”
“Huh.”
Dark orbs wander around the room (or the part of the room he can see), taking note of anything that looks expensive and portable. “This is a beautiful…” He trails off, unsure what to call it. Jun had called it a guest house, but even just this one room is bigger than Dasom’s place. “Are you sure I can stay here? Isn’t your old man gonna be pissed? I’m not exactly guest house material.”
“My father…” The lord wears a complicated expression, his lips twisting into a wry smile that sits badly on his person. “My father is currently in the Blue Plains, so you do not have to worry. You can rest here for as long as you need.” His expression dampens. Austerity sinking deep into his tired features. “Rin,” he starts, in a low voice. “I must thank you. For saving my life. I…faltered, when I should have not. And as a result you were…” His jaw tightens as he struggles against a wave of anger, directed mostly at himself. “I may never be able to repay you.”
Rin furrows his brows. He was ready to gloat about his own heroic actions…but just looking at this miserable lord’s face is enough to kill his desire to do so. He swallows dryly, a bitter taste in his mouth. “Yeah…it’s nothing. No need to beat yourself up about it.”
A brittle smile touches Jun’s lips. “Thank you.” He hesitates then, a question teeming on the tip of his tongue.
Rin raises a brow. “What is it?”
“I have to ask. Why did you save me? I did not expect–” Jun starts and bites his tongue, cheeks burning.
“You didn’t expect a Slummer like me to be your hero, right?” The raven hums a tease, lips curling into a coy smile. “You’re not anything special, pet. I save people all the time. I must have saved hundreds by now. The Slums would be an utter hellhole without me.” A pause. “Well, more of a hellhole than it already is.”
Jun’s smile dazzles, blinding the Rat momentarily. His goldens are twin suns, peeking over the swelling horizon of his cheeks. “My apologies. I know it is in your nature to help people. The Slummers are indeed lucky to have you.”
The Rat huffs through his nose and twists his head, burying his face into his pillow. His heart rattles helplessly in his chest, causing a sweet ache.
Rin is certainly not the type to save people. In fact, he’s fucked over so many people in the Slums, that he was given a moniker to match his devious personality. Of course, he wears it like a badge of honour, proudly calling himself the Rat to any and all he meets.
Even so, he’s just as prone to be swayed by people, especially those who show him a modicum of kindness. When his heart is moved, his mind and body follows, and within seconds do these people become his entire world. His everything. With nothing and no-one in between.
And at the first sign of rejection, he discards them without a second thought. And he’s left with a void he can only fill with drink and sex and violence. With nothing and no-one in between.
It’s a symptom of the sickness he shares with his mother, and none that he’d care to ruminate on.
“What happened to Tiger and his goons?” Rin muffles, trying to ignore his fluttering stomach.
When he raises his head from the pillow, he sees that Jun’s eyes hold a certain coldness to them. The lord’s voice is hollow with arctic ire. “By the time I sent guards to arrest them, they had escaped.”
“Ah.” Rin swallows under that intense stare and he brings his fingers to his lips, nervously picking at the dry skin. “Doesn’t really matter. Once I’m on my feet, I’ll take care of them myself.”
“Are there many others like him?” Jun asks, flatly.
“Hm? Yeah, I suppose so. You get by however you can and sometimes that means being an asshole like Tiger.”
“But you are not like him.”
Rin can’t help but smirk at the lord’s words. “No. Tiger’s nothing but a cockroach and I’m at the top of the food chain. You don’t know this, but I’m famous in the Slums. You won’t find anyone like me anywhere, that I can promise you.”
Jun’s ire melts rapidly under the warm glow of the raven’s foolery. He smiles and indulges in the lad, nodding and making impressed noises. “Of course. None could ever hope to match your prowess.”
The Rat drinks in the sight of the exhausted boy and he suddenly loses interest in continuing his jest. “…You should sleep,” he mutters, feeling an odd twinge in his heart.
Jun soaks and wrings the cloth in a steel bowl full of ice water. He brings the cloth back to Rin’s forehead and the latter automatically sighs in relief, lashes fluttering close as he savours the cold sensation. “I promised I would take care of you,” Jun says, calmly. “And so I shall.”
Rin wrinkles his brow. A faint memory drifts into the forefront of his mind. Jun’s voice…carrying him through an endless inferno of pain…keeping him sane…keeping him safe…
He pulls in a deep breath, trying to calm his pounding heart. “Don’t be an idiot. You look like you’re about to pass out. What if you collapse on top of me and crush me, huh?”
Jun flips the cloth to the colder side, folds it, and carefully drapes it across the raven’s forehead. He leans back in his seat, shoulders slumped, eyelids already drooping over sleepy goldens. “I suppose you have a point,” he sighs, chin hitting his chest. “But only for a moment. I will rest my eyes…only for a moment…”
Seeing his patient awake and well must have alleviated much of his burden, for Jun simply has to lean back in his chair and in seconds he is asleep.
Rin watches the slumbering lord with a complicated expression. Tempestuous thoughts and emotions surge through his heart and mind. Eventually, his own eyes slide close, and he too falls asleep. And so the rest of the day passes in this manner, with the two young men sleeping peacefully and the summer breeze gently drifting over their resting forms.
HE CALLED HIM RINNIE (≧▽≦)
Thank you for the chapter!! ❤️❤️❤️
Hehehehe ^3^ Thank you for reading~~ <3
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😤 thank you for the eggplants~ 🍆
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Thank you for reading~ ^3^
Jun already has a nickname for Rin, lol. And whaaaat kind of fever reducer was that? Not that I can’t imagine.🤭
The nickname thing was a bit too fast, though, IMHO. After all, they’ve barely talked to each other yet… Still, it shows that they have a connection and something that draws them together, just like Rin sacrificing himself (and thinking of Jun as “his knight, lol). I also find Jun to be quite interesting. He seems to have a darker side to him. I’m hoping we’ll see that eventually.
Haha you caught onto the fever reducer!! It’s…definitely the kind that you’re thinking of..😂And yes, you have a good point about the nickname ^_^ I think Jun felt a connection to this guy who saved his life. It just slipped out while he was taking care of him…and it kinda stuck.As for Jun’s dark side…you’ll just have to see~ ^3^Thank you for reading~~!! <3
The fun that lies in small details sometimes…😏 I’m curious to see more of him. And the two together.
Lovely, lovely writing, my friend. Can’t wait to see how this dark tale ends! <3
Ahhhhh omg Blu!!!! Thank you so much TT–TT Th-thank you for reading and leaving such kind comments <3333
https://blusmangareviews.wordpress.com/2021/04/18/when-we-were-boys-by-liang-li/
Hey Blu, thank you so much! That’s such a beautiful review! ^3^ Do you have discord? If so, we can chat more there? My username is Yuki#1481 😊 let me know what works best for you! We also have a discord for original boys love writers and readers which might be of interest to you: https://discord.gg/7PnRz4KGgf ☺
Alas, Discord dislikes me. 🙁 I can always be found here, though. I’m here pretty much every day and I believe my email can be found too, but if you like, send me a message through my email or here and I will try and do good by your great story. 🙂 My review website has my writing page attached but nothing is finished there except a few Sotus fanfictions–I can also be found at An Archive of Our Own, and that link is on my page. I also have Inkitt and Wattpad pages too, but can mostly find my work at AO3.
Ahh that’s great thank you! I will check out your work ^3^ <3
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