Don't move

This story has two male leads and some fictional liberties. Sweeties, just read for fun-please don't take it too seriously!

Come on, be good and put your little head right here!

September, Xu City.

The Eight-Star Residential Community was an old neighborhood that had been around for decades, steeped in the atmosphere of bygone days. Fortunately, the tall, dense plane trees planted between its small buildings brought a little coolness and tranquility.

Most of the residents were elderly, and after nine at night, hardly anyone was out and about.

One hallmark of an old neighborhood like this was that barely any of the streetlights along the road worked.

Stars dotted the night sky, and the moon shone bright, but the plane trees' broad branches and leaves blocked their light.

With his backpack on his shoulders, Bai Jin walked alone along the tree-lined path back to the residential community.

He had just come from school. He had spent too long looking up reference materials in the library that evening, and by the time he finished copying out his notes, it was already half past nine.

Bai Jin was a first-year student at the nearby Xu City Medical University. The university had dorms, but their conditions were even worse than those of the small, rundown old apartment he lived in now.

Besides, he was on bad terms with the Bai Family and didn't want to see their adopted son, Bai Jianian, who also attended the Medical University. So he had simply moved out of the dorms and into the apartment his mother had left him in the Eight-Star Residential Community.

One more turn off the tree-lined path would bring him home.

Bai Jin quickened his pace. He was just about to enter his building's stairwell-

"Don't move!"

Suddenly, a dark figure shot out of the stairwell. Before Bai Jin could even make out the person's face, a hand clamped around his neck and pinned him against the wall, leaving him unable to move.

Bai Jin shuddered in fright, and the phone in his hand fell to the ground with a clatter.

He didn't even have time to mourn the fact that his newly bought phone had been broken again. He obediently stayed quiet, not daring to make a sound.

Aside from the arm locked so tightly around his neck that he could barely breathe, the faint smell of blood also kept Bai Jin obedient. More frightening still was the gun pressed against his waist.

Yes, that was right.

He was certain that what was pressed against his waist was a gun.

Bai Jin had been a well-behaved student for all eighteen years of his life, and this was the first time he had encountered anything so terrifying. He felt as though all his strength had been drained away in an instant. His entire body went rigid, and he didn't dare move.

The man pressed against Bai Jin's back breathed heavily. He was strong, and his weight... was considerable, too.

"As long as you keep quiet and behave, I won't kill you. Upstairs!" The man's voice was low and cold, spoken almost directly into Bai Jin's ear.

Stiffly, Bai Jin lifted his feet and climbed the stairs. Under the man's threats, he reached the door of his second-floor apartment.

"Open it!"

Trembling, Bai Jin took out his key. His hands shook so badly with fear that he failed to line it up with the keyhole after several attempts.

Finally, the man behind him lost patience, snatched the key from Bai Jin's hand, and opened the door.

The man shoved Bai Jin inside. Along with the metallic clatter of the discarded key, the old iron door slammed heavily shut behind them, as though shutting Bai Jin into even deeper danger.

"Turn on the lights," the man behind him ordered.

Not daring to resist, Bai Jin inched forward, found the light switch on the wall, and pressed it.

With a click, the living room flooded with light.

A well-maintained rosewood sofa and coffee table, a TV stand without a television, cool-toned curtains, a few shade-loving plants, and a beautifully perfect anatomical model made up the living room's entire furnishings.

The man marched Bai Jin through the whole apartment. After confirming that only one person appeared to live there, he returned to the living room, released Bai Jin, and tossed him onto the sofa.

Then the man set the gun on the coffee table with seeming casualness and leaned back. He watched the frightened, cowering Bai Jin for a long while before speaking. "Get the medical kit and take the bullet out for me."

Only then did Bai Jin dare lift his head and look at the man who had forced him back home.

The man had a buzz cut and a sharp, piercing look about his brows and eyes. His body was long and lean, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. Dressed in a bespoke suit, he possessed a towering, sexual presence that seemed to burst through the fabric.

"You're a medical student. You can at least manage that, can't you?" Seemingly displeased by Bai Jin's dawdling, the man tapped his knuckles against the coffee table and repeated, "Get the medical kit and take the bullet out for me."

Meeting the man's dark, fathomless eyes, Bai Jin pressed his lips together, stumbled to his feet, and went to the TV stand to retrieve the medical kit from a drawer.

Carrying the kit back to the man, Bai Jin took a deep breath, crouched down, and shakily lifted the man's suit jacket. The bullet had struck his abdomen, and his white shirt had already been stained red.

"The gunshot wound covers too large an area. Removing the bullet and stitching it up will require anesthetic, but I... don't have any at home..." After examining the wound on the man's abdomen, Bai Jin felt his scalp prickle.

"No anesthetic. Just take it out." The man didn't even blink.

Bai Jin had no choice but to dig the bullet out under the man's watchful gaze.

The bullet was lodged deep. Bai Jin was so nervous and flustered that the forceps he inserted into the man's abdomen moved around several times without successfully gripping it.

Anyone else having a bullet dug out without anesthetic would have screamed at Bai Jin's clumsy technique. But the man before him merely let out a few muffled grunts and left Bai Jin to it.

Fortunately, Bai Jin finally managed to remove the bullet.

Bai Jin handed the man a roll of gauze. "I'm going to stitch the wound now. If it hurts... bite down on this."

The man accepted it but didn't put it in his mouth. He merely toyed with it in his hand and signaled with his eyes for Bai Jin to continue.

Twenty minutes later, drenched in sweat, Bai Jin finished stitching and bandaging the wound. Out of habit, he even tied a pretty bow over it.

This guy's ruthless, Bai Jin decided as he packed up the medical kit.

"Pour me a glass of water and bring me something to eat." The man started ordering Bai Jin around again.

Bai Jin was angry but didn't dare say anything. He obediently went into the kitchen and, under the man's burning gaze, boiled water and made instant noodles.

Ten minutes later, Bai Jin came out carrying a bowl of noodles and a glass of water.

The man didn't stand on ceremony. He took the noodles and began eating in great mouthfuls.

After finishing the bowl and taking a few sips of water, the man stared at Bai Jin. "Bai Jin, first-year student at Xu City Medical University?"

Bai Jin glanced at his backpack, which had already been rummaged through, and nodded. "Yes."

"Good. I'll stay here tonight. As long as you behave, I'll leave tomorrow morning." Looking into Bai Jin's clear, innocent eyes, the man gave a gentle smile. "Understand?"

"Y-yes, I understand." Bai Jin didn't dare refuse, so he could only nod.

Just like that, the man sent Bai Jin to his bedroom to rest, while he brazenly claimed Bai Jin's living room for himself, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

Bai Jin knew that although the man had closed his eyes and looked harmless, he wasn't asleep at all. The gun that had been on the coffee table stayed clutched in his hand the entire night.