Chapter 21: Men can’t speak fast

“Dr. Su, is it okay?”

He was pulled up by Fu Xingran and sat on the bed

.Fu Xingran supported himself with one hand at his side, and his deep voice resonated in his ears once again. It was an ordinary tone, but when he uttered the words “Dr. Su,” it carried a subtle intention. The ambiguous atmosphere was intensified at this close distance.

His other hand casually touched a bow.

Su Lixu watched as Fu Xingran’s fingers circled the gap of the bow, gently pulling. This slight tug also pulled at his heart, especially when this guy glanced at him with a smile, inquiring about his willingness.

Every move of this guy seemed meticulously designed.

Could he really say no?

If he said no, would he be able to walk out of this door?

He lowered his gaze, brewing extremely shameful emotions. Then slowly, he lifted his hand in front of Fu Xingran, pursed his lips, and took a deep breath, “… Please, please untie me.”

The dark sheets contrasted strongly with the man’s pale skin. Lifting the hand with the tied bow, the blushing and embarrassed expression made it irresistibly captivating. Not to mention the trembling confession.

Fu Xingran restrained the corners of his lips from lifting too much. The shyer this man was, the more he wanted to tease.

The Dr. Su from back then, in a white coat with patient records, once kept him at a distance due to his identity. But things had changed now.

“Alright,” Fu Xingran smiled and then untied the bow.

It felt like a ceremonial moment, and Fu Xingran’s movements to undo the bathrobe were slow and deliberate, teasing the air with a lingering ambiguity that became increasingly torturous.

Unable to contain himself, Su Lixu moved slightly. “Can’t you do it faster?”

He felt like digging a hole to bury himself!

“Men can’t rush,” Fu Xingran glanced up. “It needs to be slow, a gradual approach for a meticulous outcome.”

Su Lixu averted his gaze. He didn’t want to look at Fu Xingran; he sensed an aura that surpassed what Jinjiang could contain, even the words carried inscrutable meanings.

Suddenly, it felt like he was back in the days of the mental hospital, constantly engaging in a mental battle. But now, he couldn’t use the doctor’s rules to restrain Fu Xingran, and Fu Xingran’s emotions were like a roller coaster, unpredictable.

Whenever he was stern, Fu Xingran became obedient.

Whenever he indulged, Fu Xingran took advantage.

The disguise of these past days was completely exposed when he pushed open the door. He had indeed underestimated the situation, and Fu Xingran’s deception was too convincing.

The bathrobe fell to his legs, finally undone. Su Lixu was about to move his wrists when Fu Xingran held his hand.

Fu Xingran lowered his head, gently kissing the wrists marked with red imprints. The warmth of his lips trembled the heartstrings, and Su Lixu found himself locked in Fu Xingran’s gaze.

“Sorry, I was too impatient,” Fu Xingran apologized. “It wasn’t my intention to make Brother cry. Did I scare you?”

“Leave,” Su Lixu quickly withdrew his hand, turning away from Fu Xingran.

His mind was in chaos; he needed to reevaluate his relationship with Fu Xingran and figure out what to do. They were no longer in a doctor-patient relationship; he couldn’t use rules to restrain Fu Xingran. If he showed strong resistance, he knew what would happen.

He vividly remembered Fu Xingran’s past actions.

A sudden ache beneath his left ribcage.

“Do you hate me?” Fu Xingran sat on the edge of the bed, not approaching. He gazed at the turned-away Su Lixu, his fingers tracing the bedsheet to Su Lixu’s side, brushing against his hand. “Brother, I know I was wrong.”

Listening to this guy’s apology mixed with a hint of vulnerability, Su Lixu immediately hugged his hands to his chest as he felt the tingling sensation from his hand being brushed. He gave him a vigilant look, “Get out.”

Being in the same room with Fu Xingran now felt like having a wolf too close for comfort.

“I admit I had too many messed-up thoughts about you, a bit desperate, a bit impatient. So, I deliberately got close to you, wanting to get your attention. But I didn’t expect you to feel nothing for me, and I got a bit anxious,” Fu Xingran moved a bit away from Su Lixu.

Su Lixu noticed and shifted inward, then pointed at Fu Xingran with caution, indicating the width of an arm’s distance between them, “Stay one meter away, don’t move.”

“What if I do?”

“I’ll call the police.”

Fu Xingran felt a bit hurt, his brows drooping, looking at Su Lixu with a plaintive expression, “Brother, you’re so cold.”

“Fu Xingran, is this about me being cold? Can’t you realize your own problem, that you’re doing something dangerous?” Su Lixu felt irritated hearing Fu Xingran’s tone now. He had been deceived by this kind of Fu Xingran. Just the thought of those photos all over the room and that painting irked him, “Your feelings for me aren’t genuine; maybe it’s just because I saved you, or perhaps your father’s misunderstanding made you think I gave up on you. So, your feelings for me are just an unwilling obsession.”

“This is love; I love you,” Fu Xingran insisted. “I’m very clear about it.”

Su Lixu thought he had no mood to discuss the clarity of feelings with Fu Xingran now. He just wanted to stay calm, took a deep breath, and pointed to the door, “Get out.”

“But I haven’t eaten the cake yet.”

“Take it and eat it outside.”

Fu Xingran stared silently at Su Lixu, who completely ignored him. All the apparent compromise and vulnerability from earlier were just to deal with him, but did he regret it? No, he didn’t.

If he hadn’t done this, hadn’t spoken, that’s when he would regret.

Perhaps due to the thickening silence, Su Lixu sensed the instant downturn of Fu Xingran’s mood beside him, and the hand on his lap gradually tightened.

If it were an ordinary person, they would have called the police long ago, but it was Fu Xingran.

Fu Xingran’s personality disorder was like a timed bomb, and emotions served as the fuse. Whether it was anger or sadness, it could ignite this bomb. Because he had once been Fu Xingran’s attending physician, Su Lixu knew and understood, and he had restrained himself from knowingly provoking.

“Brother, I…”

“Fu Xingran.”

Both of them unintentionally called out each other’s names, and their eyes met, both momentarily stunned.

Su Lixu glanced at Fu Xingran and then withdrew his gaze, “Let me speak first.”

The newly promoted Fu, who wouldn’t dare to argue, said, “Brother, you go ahead.”

“If I didn’t know about your situation, I would have definitely called the police.”

In other words, this time, he spared him.

But this “if” cut sharply and ruthlessly into the heart, almost shattering the illusion.

Fu Xingran heard this word again and felt his heart clench. He lowered his head, staring at the bathrobe belt at his side, eyes welling up with heat, lips pressed, and jaw tense.

“…So, do you hate me, Brother?”

“I’m afraid of you,” Su Lixu spoke frankly.

No more medical rules constraining him and Fu Xingran. Fu Xingran’s proximity to him would only increase due to his indulgence, step by step, forcing it, or whatever Fu Xingran desired. Wasn’t it all within easy reach as long as Fu Xingran wanted it?

No, it couldn’t go on like this.Fu Xingran grabbed the bathrobe belt, clenching it tightly. The veins on the back of his hand were visible, but he remained silent, forcefully suppressing the emotions building up in his heart. After a moment of silence, he tugged at the corner of his mouth, looking at Su Lixu, and said with a smile, “I understand. Can you at least wish me a happy birthday?”

The smile on the young man’s face seemed bitter and forced, no longer resembling the fierce appearance from moments ago. It was like a deflated wolf, but even when defeated, he still sought a birthday greeting.

It made him seem inexplicably pitiful.

Su Lixu thought this guy knew how to manipulate him. If he allowed himself to be manipulated, he would truly be unworthy of being thirty. So, he casually said, “Happy birthday.”

“Okay.” Fu Xingran stood up, gave Su Lixu a deep look before turning to leave.

“Wait.”

Fu Xingran’s eyes brightened, turning abruptly. However, his bathrobe belt hit him in the face, and the light in his eyes dimmed instantly.

Su Lixu glanced at the disheveled Fu Xingran, with his abdominal muscles exposed, then withdrew his gaze, “Put on your clothes properly and don’t wander around.”

Fu Xingran: “Then, I’ll leave.”

“Remember to take the cake,” Su Lixu said.

“But I haven’t made a wish yet,” Fu Xingran’s voice trembled, eyes turning red, pleading as he stared at Su Lixu.

Even just a glance would be enough; he knew he had made a mistake.

But Su Lixu still didn’t turn around. In that moment, as if his self-esteem had been completely awakened, Fu Xingran stood up, left the room without looking back.

Halfway out, he stopped, turned around, and said, “I’m sorry.”

He forced himself to look away and truly left this time.

Su Lixu didn’t turn around. He listened to sounds behind him, and after a few minutes, he heard the soft closing of the door, the gentle sound of the password lock ‘beeping.’In an instant, it felt like his entire strength had dissolved. He weakly fell back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling, releasing all the suppressed emotions, breathing heavily.

Perhaps the chandelier was too glaring; he raised his arm to shield his eyes.

“This is love; I love you, and I’m very clear about it.”

“So, do you hate me, Brother?”

“Can you at least wish me a happy birthday?”

“But I haven’t made a wish yet.”

Closing his eyes, Su Lixu couldn’t shake off the echoes of Fu Xingran’s words – the emotional fluctuations from certainty to probing, then to a sense of grievance. It felt as if it were vividly replaying before his eyes, questioning his heart. It was as if he, a seemingly heartless person, had rejected an intense and passionate love from a personality-disordered individual.

He couldn’t bear it.

But this overly intense and passionate love frightened him.

The wall full of photos, that painting, the room, the sound of the closing door, the bathrobe belt – all these things made him fearful.

Now, how were they supposed to get along? He couldn’t be Fu Xingran’s doctor again, and he couldn’t promise Mr. Fu anything because they had become too close.

As he thought about it, he suddenly realized his mind was still filled with thoughts of Fu Xingran.

“Brother, I’m sorry, I was wrong.”

“Then, I’ll leave?”

“I’m sorry.”

Su Lixu abruptly sat up from the bed and, as if realizing something, walked over to take off the apron. He casually tossed it onto the nearby sofa and walked out of the room. As he entered the living room, he noticed the cake still on the counter.

Hadn’t he been obsessing over that cake?

He stared at it, dumbfounded.Was this guy not doing something foolish?

He walked briskly to the entrance, opened the door, then went to the doorbell beside 1214, pressing it several times without any response. Suddenly feeling flustered, he was somewhat afraid that Fu Xingran might have done something foolish.

In his panic, he opened the fingerprint-unlocked code box above and entered the password in haste.

With a ‘beep,’ unexpectedly, the door opened.The password was 115115, his birthday.

Pushing the door open, the interior was brightly lit but eerily quiet.

“Fu Xingran?” Su Lixu walked in and called out, but there was no one at home. Only silence responded.

In that instant, a chill surged from the soles of his feet.

On the highway, the echoing roar of a wild beast filled the long tunnel. A silver-gray Lamborghini, gleaming with a hard metallic sheen, arrogantly raced down the tunnel at a speed of 200 miles per hour.

The lights on the tunnel ceiling gradually passed over the car’s harsh and dominant lines, skipped across the windows, and fell onto the person in the driver’s seat.

Fu Xingran gripped the steering wheel, the interplay of light and shadow outlining the sharp contours. Shadows danced on his taut jawline, emitting an aura difficult to approach. A palpable low pressure emanated from him, seemingly mingling and venting with the roar of the car.

However, as the light passed over his chin, he saw clear tear stains, sliding down his throat and disappearing into his collar.

His gaze, dark and brooding, remained fixed on the dim tunnel ahead, paying no attention to the rapidly increasing speed on the car’s dashboard. He listened to the roar and continued to press on the accelerator.

“You don’t want me.”

“You hate me.”

“You promised to celebrate my birthday, but you didn’t.”

“Just making a cake is enough.”

Fu Xingran spoke, his eyes becoming increasingly red.

“How can you hate me?”

“Actually told me to leave so harshly.”

“Even wanted to call the police to arrest me.”

“…Su Lixu, you’ve changed.”

The highway stretched endlessly, devoid of other cars, only the roaring Lamborghini.

Fu Xingran, the saltiness of tears on his lips, tightened his grip on the steering wheel. He gazed outside the car window. Was he going to give up? Just because Su Lixu said he hated him, was he going to give up?

What did knowing when to retreat, understanding boundaries, or having manners matter? He was determined to face challenges head-on.

So what if he was cursed at? He could take it.

If Su Lixu didn’t like something about him, he’d change.

If Su Lixu liked something, he’d learn it.

He simply liked Su Lixu, and he wanted to be with him.

One failure? He’d try again.

No matter what, he just wanted Su Lixu.

He didn’t want anyone else.

After speeding for ten minutes, the Lamborghini slowed down, made a U-turn at the ramp, and headed back the way it came.