Illness

Gu Nian'an curled up on the bed, clutching his constantly aching, bloated abdomen. His stomach had been hurting in waves these past few days, and at night, he could not fall asleep no matter what he tried.

Even after taking medicine for two or three days straight, he had not improved. He could barely eat each day, and he grew thinner and thinner.

At noon, the blazing sun hung overhead, and intense sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, making his whole body hot. But with the air conditioning running indoors, Gu Nian'an felt alternately cold and hot.

Because of the intermittent pain in his abdomen, he did not choose to leave, instead slumping in a chair.

After another stretch of time, Gu Nian'an suddenly felt another cramp in his abdomen, but this one was different from the previous ones.

It felt as though a knife were constantly twisting inside his stomach, making the pain impossible to endure any longer.

Gu Nian'an fought through the pain and tried to stand up to take his medicine, but the pain in his abdomen made his legs spasm as well. He barely staggered a few steps before finally losing his balance and collapsing to the floor.

The young man curled up on the floor, breathing rapidly and clutching his chest. He did not even dare take a deep breath for fear of throwing up.

Amid the waves of intense cramping, his vision went black, and breathing became increasingly difficult. For an instant, his consciousness seemed to return to the moment in his previous life when he had been diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer.

For some inexplicable reason, he suddenly wondered whether all of this was merely a dream before his death, and whether the dream was now coming to an end...

As his consciousness gradually blurred, his vision kept darkening.

Suddenly, an anxious male voice reached his ears. Gu Nian'an instinctively tried to listen closely to what the man was saying, but his ears kept buzzing, and he could no longer make out the words.

The moment Fu Xiuyuan saw the young man collapse on the surveillance feed, he frantically called an ambulance and hurried home.

The ambulance arrived at the same time he did. He anxiously opened the door, only to see Gu Nian'an curled up on the floor, his pale face completely bloodless and his body trembling nonstop.

In that instant, he felt as though his heart had stopped.

Even as he helped the medical staff carry Gu Nian'an into the ambulance, his hands were still shaking.

He held the young man's hands tightly, calling his name over and over.

"The abdominal cramps and vomiting were caused by acute gastroenteritis and a mild cold. It's nothing serious. Just take a little care with his meals."

The doctor casually flipped through the papers in his hand, then added, "Don't let him get too angry or upset, either. The stomach responds to emotions too. A bad emotional state can make him ill."

Hearing the first half of the doctor's words, Fu Xiuyuan finally felt his anxious heart ease a little. But when he heard the rest, his lips immediately pressed into a straight line. A complicated look flickered in his eyes as he turned to glance at the person lying in bed.

He walked over and sat beside the bed. Looking at the pale young man lying there, he fell into a daze for a moment. There were too many mysteries surrounding him, and many things Fu Xiuyuan simply could not uncover.

He kept fiddling irritably with the jade thumb ring in his hand, complex, unreadable emotions churning in his eyes.

After a long while, he slowly exhaled. Whatever happened, all he needed to do now was keep Gu Nian'an under his protection. One day, he would get him to talk.

Moonlight spilled through the half-drawn curtains onto the bed. Gu Nian'an slowly opened his eyes, feeling sore all over, dizzy and muddleheaded, as though he had had a very, very long dream.

"You're awake."

A voice sounded beside him. Gu Nian'an turned toward it and saw Fu Xiuyuan sitting beside his bed, his eyes filled with complicated emotions.

Remembering what had happened before he lost consciousness, Gu Nian'an froze briefly, then lowered his eyes slightly and said softly, "I'm sorry. I've caused you trouble again."

In his hazy consciousness back then, he had seemed to hear Fu Xiuyuan's voice, but he had thought he was imagining it.

He had thought this "dream" was about to end, never expecting that he would wake up again.

At that thought, he suddenly felt a little self-mocking. How many times had Fu Xiuyuan helped him now?

Fu Xiuyuan suddenly leaned closer to him and reached out to stroke his face, saying in a low voice, "Gu Nian'an, I don't know what you've been through, and I don't know your secrets. But no matter what, I'll protect you, so you can trust me a little."

At those words, Gu Nian'an felt his heart suddenly skip a beat.

He stared blankly at the man, who was gazing at him with eyes full of resolve and tenderness.

Fu Xiuyuan had noticed all his unusual behavior, yet he had kept protecting him. Gu Nian'an was the one who had failed to trust him.

At that thought, an ache and sadness welled up in his heart, and for an instant, a warm current seemed to sweep through his entire body.

The young man covered his eyes with trembling hands, unable to stop his tears from falling.

He thought he really had fallen for Fu Xiuyuan, but he could never forget the suffering of approaching death in his previous life.

He was afraid that all of this was a dream, and afraid that he might suddenly disappear.

He was someone who had been reborn by taking over another person's body. Someone who brought misfortune to others did not deserve love.

But Fu Xiuyuan was far too gentle.

After three years, he would leave him without a fuss. Even if these three years were only a dream, he would gladly embrace them.

So please...

Don't let me wake up.

Gu Nian'an kept his hands loosely over his eyes as tears fell unstoppably onto the bed, murmuring over and over, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, sir."

I'm sorry for having these feelings for someone who treats me so well, for harboring fantasies I shouldn't have.

Seeing the young man cry without stopping, Fu Xiuyuan felt as though something had stabbed his heart, sending a sharp pain through it. Then he heard him apologizing over and over.

He raised his arms and drew him into his embrace, stroking him gently. "It's all right. It's okay if you don't want to tell me. Sweetheart, you don't have to apologize. Tell me when you want to, all right?"

Gu Nian'an held the man tightly, unable to suppress the guilt in his heart. He was using Fu Xiuyuan's sense of responsibility to satisfy those little fantasies of his.

He was someone who did not deserve love.

As though trying to press each other into their embrace, the two held one another tightly, neither speaking.

After that day, the distance between them disappeared, and they grew increasingly close.

But Gu Nian'an still often felt uneasy. As though he knew what was on his mind, Fu Xiuyuan remained attentive to his feelings. If he did not want to speak, Fu Xiuyuan would not ask.

One day, while staring absently at his phone, Gu Nian'an suddenly received a message and tapped it open.

"Gu Nian'an, are you coming to the class reunion?" Looking at the contact saved as Zhang Muyü, Gu Nian'an searched through the original owner's memories.

He remembered that this was one of the original owner's high school classmates, and the only person in the class who had ever offered him a helping hand.

After hesitating briefly, he replied, "Sure. What's the address?"

The other person quickly sent the address. "Upper Elegance Restaurant, downtown Xinghai City."

Lying in bed, Gu Nian'an recalled the original owner's high school memories. Having grown up in an orphanage, he had always been very introverted and timid.

But his good looks had won him the affection of quite a few girls after he entered high school. The adolescent boys would not stand for that, especially since the original owner was already such a pushover.

Those people had also realized that the original owner was easy to bully. What began as ostracism and gossip behind his back gradually turned into verbal abuse, and eventually even group bullying.

The teenagers were young and had no sense of limits. Once, while bullying the original owner, they locked him inside a classroom, planning to come back for him the next day. But for some reason, whether out of fear or despair, the original owner...

In the end, he actually jumped from the building. Fortunately, the floor was not high, and he only broke his leg.

Those boys came from wealthy families, and a little money casually handed to the school settled the incident. The original owner was an orphan, with no one to stand up for him at all, so the matter was simply dropped.

In his final year, unable to bear the constant ostracism and bullying, and with no money, the original owner chose to drop out.

A few years later, Fu Xiuyuan approached him, and he signed the contract.