Ji Ting cradled the back of his head, adjusted the angle until their foreheads touched, and felt his temperature for a moment. Then he straightened up. "You have a slight fever, and you were coughing earlier..."
Ji Ting suddenly paused. Ji Yanzhi was staring blankly at him, as though he had just experienced something he couldn't come to terms with.
Only then did Ji Ting remember his aversion to germs. "Sorry. I was just checking your temperature."
Ji Yanzhi's chest rose and fell as he took his first breath since they had drawn close. "You're lying. Who checks someone's temperature like that?"
"When we were little, didn't our parents..."
Ji Ting faltered, then waited two seconds before continuing. "It isn't an accurate method, but it can give you a rough idea of whether someone has a fever. You do have one right now. Your face is red from it."
Panic suddenly flickered in Ji Yanzhi's eyes, and he inexplicably snapped, "Your face is red! Mine isn't!"
Ji Ting didn't engage in this pointless argument. He rose from the bedside. "Get up. I'll get your clothes. We're going to the hospital."
"I'm not going." Not only did Ji Yanzhi refuse to get up, he lay back under the covers. "I'll be fine after some sleep. Leave me alone."
"I can't. I have to take responsibility for you."
The scene from moments earlier flashed through Ji Yanzhi's mind, and his heart felt as though something had suddenly squeezed it. "You... what are you taking responsibility for?"
Ji Ting found his reaction a little odd. Puzzled, he said, "If you hadn't jumped into the pond to help me up, you probably wouldn't have gotten sick. So I have to take responsibility for your cold."
"Help you up? I saved you." Even at a