"You're awake?"
Yan Jinyue walked naturally up to Ji Hanxing and reached out to rest a hand on his forehead.
"Mm, your fever's gone down."
Ji Hanxing gripped the covers tightly, instinctively shrinking back before looking around the hospital room. There were only the two of them, him and Yan Jinyue.
"Why are you here?"
Yan Jinyue withdrew his hand and was just about to speak when Ji Hanxing's screams rang in his ears.
[Aaaaaah, why is he everywhere! Was that voice I heard at the office really Yan Jinyue?]
[Why did he come to my office!]
[How did I end up alone in a room with him again? Even if it is a hospital room.]
Ji Hanxing secretly sized Yan Jinyue up. Yan Jinyue stood beside his bed with both hands in his pockets, openly letting Ji Hanxing look.
"Did I... did you bring me to the hospital, President Yan?"
Yan Jinyue nodded. "Yes. You collapsed into my arms as soon as you stepped out of the elevator, President Ji."
Ji Hanxing's face contorted in anguish. What kind of melodramatic plot was this!
[Aaaaaah, this is so mortifying. Why does it turn into a soap opera every time I run into him!]
Ji Hanxing forced the corners of his mouth up. "Thank you for bringing me to the hospital, President Yan. You're usually so busy. I must have held up your work, haven't I?"
[How can he have so much free time! Why hasn't he left after bringing me to the hospital!]
Listening to Ji Hanxing's bristling, distraught thoughts, Yan Jinyue couldn't help curling his lips. He sat down in the same chair he had used while watching over Ji Hanxing last night.
They were now barely half an arm's length apart.
"You suddenly collapsed into my arms, President Ji. How could I not bring you to the hospital?"
"Only after we got here did I find out you'd fainted from a fever. Anyone who didn't know might have thought you were trying to scam me, President Ji."
What could Ji Hanxing say? All he could do was awkwardly tug up the corners of his mouth.
[Who are you calling a scammer! Who are you calling a scammer!]
Aloud, however, he said, "Then thank you so much, President Yan. Sorry for taking up your time..."
Yan Jinyue lifted his eyelids. "As for taking up my time..."
"Yes, I have quite a lot on my plate lately. If you hadn't held on to my hand and refused to let go, President Ji, I wouldn't still be here."
Yan Jinyue's words were like a deep-sea torpedo, blasting the fish and shrimp in the lake of Ji Hanxing's heart into the air.
Ji Hanxing stared at Yan Jinyue with wide eyes, his face full of disbelief.
[What is he talking about!]
[I held on to his hand and wouldn't let go? Impossible!]
But Ji Hanxing wasn't very confident. He felt terribly uneasy.
[I didn't do anything out of line, did I? I didn't, right? Right?]
Ji Hanxing looked down at his clothes. He had actually been changed into a hospital gown.
Yan Jinyue said, "I changed your clothes, President Ji. Your fever had left them soaked through."
Ji Hanxing immediately clutched his collar.
Yan Jinyue chuckled. "What's with that reaction, President Ji?"
"I thought we knew each other well, considering we..."
"Shut up!"
Startled, Ji Hanxing immediately reached out and covered Yan Jinyue's mouth.
[He's insane! He actually brought that up! It was clearly an accident!]
[I even destroyed the security footage. Can't we just pretend it never happened!]
[When it comes down to it, I'm the one who lost out!]
Yan Jinyue gave Ji Hanxing a long look, his gaze flickering slightly. He said what happened that day was an accident. He had also destroyed the security footage Ji Hanxing had taken from Jiang Yuzhuo.
Ji Hanxing raised his eyes, meeting Yan Jinyue's gaze.
The warm breath from Yan Jinyue's nose made Ji Hanxing's hand instinctively curl. He quickly withdrew it, his gaze darting elsewhere.
Silence filled the hospital room. Yan Jinyue's brows and eyes shifted slightly. He couldn't even hear Ji Hanxing's thoughts.
Was he not thinking about anything?
"I heard from Yuzhuo that you know quite a bit about hotel management, President Ji. Is Ji Group considering entering the hotel industry?"
Only upon hearing Yan Jinyue's question did Ji Hanxing turn back, unable to resist rolling his eyes at him.
[As expected, Jiang Yuzhuo told him I took the security footage. Is he probing me now because he wants to know where it went?]
[He's not worried I'll extort him, is he? I can't get away from him fast enough. I was... you know... and I didn't even make an issue of it!]
[But he really does have a great body... fuck, what am I thinking!]
Yan Jinyue watched Ji Hanxing with amusement in his eyes, staring until Ji Hanxing felt creeped out.
[He doesn't think I'm trying to steal business from Jiang Yuzhuo, does he?]
"Rest assured, President Yan. Ji Group has no such plans at present. It's purely a personal interest."
Yan Jinyue said, "An interest?"
"Your interests really are quite unusual, President Ji."
[If I don't call it an interest, am I supposed to tell you I worked in a hotel?]
Yan Jinyue lowered his eyes, concealing the depth and oddness in them. Ji Hanxing had actually worked in a hotel? Had the Ji Family's young master gone to experience life on the front lines?
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the hospital room door. Ji Hanxing looked as though he had seen his savior. "Come in."
Xue Hui pushed the door open and entered. He showed no surprise at finding Yan Jinyue still in Ji Hanxing's hospital room.
"Hello, President Yan."
Xue Hui turned to Ji Hanxing. "President Ji, you're finally awake."
Ji Hanxing nodded. His nose twitched, and his eyes lit up, his gaze fixed on the large bag Xue Hui was carrying.
"What smells so good?"
Xue Hui said, "I thought you would probably be awake by now, President Ji, and President Yan probably hadn't eaten either, so I brought breakfast for both of you."
Hearing this, Ji Hanxing glanced at Yan Jinyue beside him, then looked at Xue Hui with approval.
[So thoughtful. That's my ace special assistant for you! Such excellent professionalism.]
A hint of pride colored Ji Hanxing's thoughts. Yan Jinyue deliberately asked, "There's some for me too?"
Xue Hui said, "Of course. Thank you for looking after President Ji last night."
As soon as he said that, Ji Hanxing's face stiffened. Could they stop bringing that up? It was making things so awkward between them.
[Does a big CEO like Yan Jinyue have nothing to do? How do I keep running into him every day?]
[He even stayed at my bedside. What exactly does he want?]
At that thought, Ji Hanxing looked at Yan Jinyue with a trace of wariness. Listening to his thoughts, Yan Jinyue couldn't help rubbing his fingers together a few times.
[Could he be...]
Could he be what? Yan Jinyue looked at Ji Hanxing. He could no longer hear his thoughts; the effect of their touch had expired.
That unfinished thought of Ji Hanxing's... what exactly had he been about to say?
Yan Jinyue felt as though a few feathers had brushed across his heart, leaving it so itchy he wanted to scratch it.
Ji Hanxing, however, paid no attention to how Yan Jinyue felt. He had already set up the little tray table and was waiting to eat.
Xue Hui moved quickly too, immediately setting the nourishing congee on the tray table.
"President Ji, this is your favorite nourishing congee from Xue's."
Xue's-Ji Hanxing remembered it. There was only one in all of City A, a long-established shop more than halfway across the city from the hospital where he was staying.
Had Xue Hui gone across more than half the city early in the morning to buy this congee?
With a touch of reverence, Ji Hanxing scooped up a spoonful of congee and put it in his mouth. Delicious.
Was this the female lead treatment?
He had gotten to enjoy it first.