Don't Move

This story has two male leads and some fictional settings. Read it for fun, darlings—please don't take it too seriously!

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

September, Xu City.

Eight-Star Residential Community was an old neighborhood with the air of a bygone era. Fortunately, the dense, towering plane trees planted between each small building brought a touch of coolness and tranquility to the aging complex.

Most of the residents living there were elderly, and after nine at night, hardly anyone could be seen walking around the neighborhood.

One characteristic of the environment around old residential communities was that few of the streetlights along the road actually worked.

The night sky glittered with stars and the moon shone bright, but its light was blocked by the broad branches and leaves of the plane trees.

Bai Jin carried his backpack as he walked alone down the tree-lined path leading back to the residential community.

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

Bai Jin was a first-year student at nearby Xu City Medical University. The school had dormitories, but their conditions were even worse than the shabby old apartment where he lived now.

On top of his poor relationship with the Bai Family, he did not want to see Bai Jianian, the Bai Family's adopted son who also attended the medical university. So, he simply withdrew from the dormitory and moved into the apartment in Eight-Star Residential Community that his mother had left him.

After turning another corner off the tree-lined path, he would be home.

Bai Jin quickened his pace. Just as he was about to enter the stairwell of his building—

"Don't move!"

Suddenly, a dark figure darted swiftly out of the stairwell. Before Bai Jin could even make out the man's face, one hand clamped around his throat 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 sharp smack.

He did not even have time to mourn his newly purchased phone being broken again. He obediently stayed quiet, not daring to make a sound.

The reason Bai Jin obeyed was not only because the arm around his neck was choking him so tightly that he could barely breathe. There was also the faint smell of blood in his nose—and even more frighteningly, the gun pressed against his waist.

Yes, that was right.

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

For Bai Jin, who had been a model student for all eighteen years of his life, this was the first time he had encountered anything so terrifying. It felt as if all his strength had been drained away in an instant, leaving his entire body stiff and unable to move.

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

"As long as you stay quiet, I won't kill you. Upstairs!" The man's voice was deep and cold, practically spoken against Bai Jin's ear.

Bai Jin stiffly lifted his feet and went upstairs. Under the man's threats, he arrived at the door of his second-floor apartment.

"Open the door!"

Bai Jin tremblingly took out his keys. He was so frightened that his hands shook badly, and after several attempts, he still could not line up the key with the lock.

In the end, the man behind him could no longer stand watching. He snatched the key from Bai Jin's hand and opened the door himself.

The man shoved Bai Jin inside. Along with the metallic clatter of the tossed-away keys, the old iron door shut heavily behind them, as though it had locked Bai Jin into an even deeper danger.

"Turn on the lights." The man behind him continued to command him.

Bai Jin did not dare resist. He edged forward step by step, felt around for the light switch on the wall, and pressed it.

With a click, the living room lit up brightly.

A well-maintained rosewood sofa and coffee table, a TV stand without a television, cool-toned curtains, several shade-loving plants, and a beautifully perfect anatomical model were all the decorations in the living room.

The man forced Bai Jin to walk around the entire apartment. Once he confirmed that there were only signs of Bai Jin living there alone, he returned to the living room, released him, and threw him onto the sofa.

Then, seemingly casually, the man set the gun on the coffee table. He leaned back and stared at the frightened, shrinking Bai Jin for a long while before speaking. "Get the first-aid kit. Help me remove the bullet."

Only then did Bai Jin dare raise his head and look at the man who had held him hostage and brought him home.

The man wore a buzz cut, and a sharp gleam radiated from between his brows. He had a tall, lean body, broad shoulders, and a narrow waist. His custom-tailored suit could barely contain the height and sensuality of his physique.

"You're a medical student. You should be capable of this much, right?" Apparently dissatisfied with Bai Jin's hesitation, the man tapped the coffee table with his knuckles and repeated, "Get the first-aid kit. Help me remove the bullet."

Bai Jin met the man's deep, unfathomable black eyes, pressed his lips together, then staggered to his feet and walked to the TV stand. He took the first-aid kit from the drawer.

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

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

"No anesthetic. Remove it like this." The man did not even blink.

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

The bullet was lodged deep, and because Bai Jin was truly nervous and flustered, the forceps he inserted into the man's abdomen stirred around several times without managing to grasp it.

If it had been anyone else, having a bullet dug out without anesthetic by someone as inexperienced as Bai Jin would have made them scream in agony. But the man before him only let out a few muffled groans and allowed Bai Jin to continue.

Fortunately, Bai Jin successfully removed the bullet in the end.

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

The man took it, but did not put it in his mouth. He merely toyed with it in his hand, signaling Bai Jin with his eyes to continue.

Twenty minutes later, Bai Jin finished stitching and bandaging the man, drenched in sweat. He had even habitually tied a pretty bow over the man's wound.

He's a ruthless one, Bai Jin concluded inwardly as he packed up the first-aid kit.

"Pour me a glass of water, then bring me something to eat." The man began ordering Bai Jin around again.

Bai Jin was angry but did not dare say it aloud. 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 was not polite about it. He took the noodles and began eating in large mouthfuls.

After finishing the bowl of noodles and taking several drinks 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 searched, and nodded. "Mm."

"Good. I'll be staying here tonight. As long as you behave, I'll leave tomorrow morning." The man stared into Bai Jin's clear, clean eyes and smiled gently. "Understand?"

"I understand." Bai Jin did not dare refuse and could only nod.

Just like that, the man drove Bai Jin into the bedroom to rest while he brazenly occupied Bai Jin's living room and closed his eyes to sleep.

Bai Jin knew that although the man appeared harmless with his eyes shut, he had not fallen asleep at all. The gun on the coffee table remained in the man's hand the entire night.