Chapter 38
Fang Jing Yao thought to himself, Han Qiaoye was absolutely right — Dr. Long has always been like this. Polite but distant, restrained in everything he said and did, as if he were always ready to quietly withdraw from the world — indifferent to everything.
But now… now he really cared about him.
That thought made Fang Jing Yao grin uncontrollably. He poked the photo of Long Yu with his finger, then flicked it playfully. Raising an eyebrow, he muttered, “Fine. You’re so handsome, I’ll forgive you.”
Fang Jing Yao waited upstairs for quite a while before Zhuo Yifan came back. When Zhuo went upstairs, he was carrying a jacket — the same one he’d worn when visiting Long Yu’s house, the one signed by his idol. Curious, Fang Jing Yao asked, “Isn’t that your favorite jacket? You never even let anyone touch it. How’d it end up at Han Qiaoye’s place?”
Zhuo Yifan mumbled, “I’ve been taking care of him these days, and it was cold that night, so I lent it to him… When I came back, I was in a hurry and forgot it there…”
Fang Jing Yao looked at him closely. “Why are your lips so red? What’ve you been sneaking?”
Zhuo quickly raised his hand to block his mouth and muttered, “Nothing — just… heat rash. I get like this when I’m overheated.”
His speech was clumsy, and Fang Jing Yao assumed he had a toothache. “I’ll go with you to the hospital this afternoon. Let’s get it checked and pulled if needed.”
Zhuo Yifan looked miserable, his face scrunched up like a bun, but he still nodded reluctantly. “Okay.”
Maybe that bouquet earlier had lightened Fang Jing Yao’s mood — the gloom that had been sitting on him for days finally lifted a little. Humming a tune, he went out to the balcony and spent quite some time fiddling with flowerpots, preparing soil to try replanting the flowers.
Zhuo Yifan sprayed some medicine on his lips, reducing the swelling a bit. Feeling guilty, he was afraid his master would notice, so instead of hiding, he deliberately hovered near him — which only made it more obvious. Watching Fang Jing Yao busy himself, Zhuo squatted beside him and said, “Master, these were cut so neatly — I don’t think they’ll grow in the pot, will they?”
Fang Jing Yao frowned slightly, still unwilling to give up. He took out two flowers and carefully planted them anyway. “Let’s try two first. Maybe they’ll last longer than just keeping them in a vase.”
Zhuo helped out while Fang Jing Yao worked carefully with his hands, afraid to damage the petals or stems.
Later that afternoon, Fang Jing Yao accompanied Zhuo Yifan to the hospital.
Zhuo was already trembling a bit on the way, but with his master beside him, he didn’t dare run. Halfway there, he suddenly remembered something and asked, “Master, isn’t that the same hospital where Dr. Long works?”
Fang Jing Yao froze. He’d subconsciously brought Zhuo to the city hospital, holding their medical cards. “Yeah, same place. He should be on duty now. It’s a big hospital though — different departments are in different buildings,” he added softly, unsure if he was saying it to Zhuo or to himself.
The hospital was crowded, and it took over twenty minutes just to find a parking spot. After registration, they learned the dental department had been moved last year to a separate building next door. Fang Jing Yao hadn’t been home or sick for a while, so he hadn’t known.
He glanced at the hospital map — the cardiology department was still in the main building, on the 18th floor.
He first took Zhuo to the dental department for X-rays and tooth extraction. Zhuo, wearing his baseball cap, looked cool enough, but his legs turned to jelly once inside. The moment he lay down, he froze, glancing helplessly at Fang Jing Yao while trying to gesture with his hands after the anesthetic kicked in.
Fang Jing Yao chuckled, walked over, and took off his cap. “You might as well relax. Do you know this tooth costs almost a thousand to pull? We’ve already paid — no use fighting it now.”
He waited outside, and soon heard what sounded like knocking. Looking up, he realized it was the sound of the drill. Zhuo lay there motionless — completely surrendered.
A nurse smiled at Fang Jing Yao. “You’re the patient’s family, right? Please wait outside. His tooth is a bit crooked; it’ll take about an hour.”
Fang Jing Yao nodded and sat in the hallway. After checking his watch — an hour — he thought, That’s enough time to go see Long Yu, isn’t it? They hadn’t seen each other for days.
He glanced once more toward Zhuo’s room, then stood up and left.
The main building was older than the dental one. The upstairs corridors were long and dim, with only a few beams of sunlight spilling in near the windows, forming a soft, warm golden glow on the floor.
At the nurse station, he asked quietly, “Excuse me, is Dr. Long here?”
The round-faced nurse smiled. “You mean Dr. Long Yu? Yes, he’s here. Just finished a surgery — he’ll be down soon. You can wait over there.” She pointed to a door by the window. “He should be here any minute.”
Fang Jing Yao thanked her with a smile. When he smiled, his eyes curved beautifully, and the nurse blushed, suddenly shy.
He sat down by the window, a little embarrassed, and put on Zhuo’s baseball cap before nervously watching the door. It opened several times, but it was never Long Yu. He waited for half an hour until finally — Long Yu appeared.
Dr. Long, in his white coat, walked toward him from the shadowed corridor, the light behind outlining his tall frame. The echo of his footsteps felt like it was pounding right on Fang Jing Yao’s chest. For some reason, his heart started racing uncontrollably. He lowered the brim of his cap and turned his head, feeling as if his pulse might burst through his throat. He swallowed hard, forcing himself to calm down, then peeked again.
Long Yu had stopped nearby, speaking quietly with someone, looking tired but composed. His tone was soft yet firm as he refused the other’s request:
“…No. The patient needs further observation. Surgery on Wednesday isn’t possible. I agree with the director — conservative treatment is the best option right now.”
Fang Jing Yao’s gaze lingered on his face — that fair, refined face above a black shirt buttoned up to the collar, making him look even paler, colder, more disciplined.
Perhaps he stared too long, because Long Yu suddenly turned toward him. From beneath the cap’s brim, Fang Jing Yao grinned.
Long Yu paused, immediately recognizing him. He wanted to walk over, but the person beside him kept talking, and he couldn’t leave yet. He seemed anxious, speaking faster though still firmly maintaining his point.
Fang Jing Yao had always been openhearted — his anger had already faded. He’d been thinking more about all the good things Long Yu had done for him. Checking the time, he realized the hour was up. Since Long Yu was still busy, he decided not to disturb him. He stood, waved lightly, and turned to leave.
Someone called out behind him, but Fang Jing Yao didn’t stop — he lowered his cap and quickly stepped into the elevator.
Once he reached the ground floor, he bent over, catching his breath, his heart still racing. He bit his lip, laughing to himself. If I hadn’t run, I might’ve kissed him right there.
He tried to compose himself — but the smile wouldn’t fade. What do I do now? he thought helplessly. Negotiations are impossible. Just one look at Dr. Long, and I forgave him for everything.
Covering his face with his hands, Fang Jing Yao groaned softly. I’m such an idiot, he thought. A lovesick fool sneaking around just to catch a glimpse of the man he likes.
After thinking it over for a while, he once again felt self-assured—since Dr. Long was such a good person, wasn’t his reaction perfectly normal?
Thinking that way, Fang Jing Yao felt proud again. Such a wonderful Dr. Long had even sent him flowers today!
He took out his phone to text Long Yu, but this time Long Yu beat him to it—two or three messages had already come through:
“Is that you?”
“Jing Yao, where are you?”
“I’ll come find you.”
Fang Jing Yao replied:
“No need, Yifan came to get a tooth pulled, I’m keeping him company, I’ll head home soon.”
After thinking a bit, he added a cute emoji and a word of encouragement:
“Dr. Long, work hard! ^_^~”
This time Long Yu replied almost instantly:
“Okay.”
Messages kept coming one after another, and Fang Jing Yao’s tense mood finally eased a lot. Chatting idly with Long Yu while waiting, he went to pick up Zhuo Yifan from the dental clinic.
Zhuo Yifan had a wad of cotton in his mouth and was trying to buy some anti-inflammatory medicine.
“Two boxes… right, and another two—thanks!”
Fang Jing Yao went over to help him pay. Seeing his teacher in a good mood, Zhuo Yifan blinked mischievously and nudged him with his elbow, whispering,
“Master, did you go see Dr. Long?”
Fang Jing Yao gave him a light knock on the head and raised a brow,
“Your face is swollen like a hamster’s and you can still talk that much?”
Even so, he laughed as he said it. Zhuo Yifan grinned too, genuinely happy for the two of them.
