It was clearly a warm spring day in April, yet the air around Jiang Xu felt like it was coated in a layer of frost, making Yu Sang’s spine involuntarily shiver.
The operating room was a relatively sterile environment, but not strictly off-limits for doctors and nurses to drop by. There had even been times when nurses paraded newborn twins around the floor like trophies. But this was the first time Shen Fangyu had shown up uninvited without Zhong Lan being present.
“Good morning, Dr. Jiang,” Shen Fangyu greeted casually. He was already in surgical scrubs but hadn’t put on a sterile gown yet, so he was probably just passing by on his way to the next OR.
All the students assisting in this surgery were from Jiang Xu’s group, and everyone knew these two didn’t get along, especially today, when Jiang Xu’s mood was unusually grim. So apart from a few nurses who exchanged brief words with Shen Fangyu, no one dared acknowledge him.
But if the mountain won’t come to me, I’ll go to the mountain.
Shen Fangyu walked right up to Jiang Xu and stared at him for no apparent reason.
Jiang Xu had been watching Yu Sang’s technique, showing only his profile to Shen Fangyu. But the man stood there like he’d taken root, refusing to move.
His gaze landed so tangibly on Jiang Xu’s face that even the tips of his ears turned red from the heat of it.
“What the hell are you staring at?” Jiang Xu finally snapped, unable to hold back any longer.
Shen Fangyu blinked innocently. “Staring at how good you look.”
Jiang Xu shot him a long, hard look, then turned and called out, “Yu Sang.”
Yu Sang trembled, sensing imminent doom. He didn’t even dare to call him “Xu-ge” like usual and obediently replied, “Yes, Dr. Jiang?”
Jiang Xu’s eyes locked onto the neatly arranged array of surgical scalpels, as if carefully choosing one. The glint of the silver metal reflected in his glasses.
“Do you know what the minimum sentence is for involuntary manslaughter?”
Jiang Xu wasn’t one to make himself feel awkward. He much preferred directly eliminating the people or situations causing his discomfort.
“Dr. Jiang, we really shouldn’t be doing that,” Yu Sang said nervously, trying to de-escalate.
For no particular reason, Shen Fangyu suddenly felt a chill crawl up the back of his neck.
His last shred of survival instinct flashed an image through his brain, a cartoon kid holding up a huge warning sign from a window that said “RUN” in big, bold letters.
So Shen Fangyu wisely said, “You’re busy. I’ll… be going now.”
Jiang Xu watched Shen Fangyu’s retreating back, forcing down the painfully vivid discomfort in his body. Then he silently recited three times, “I’m a good doctor. I save lives. I don’t take them.”
Only then did he finally manage to shove Shen Fangyu’s face out of his mind.
After surgery that night, Jiang Xu, as usual, grabbed a meal and headed to eat in the break room. But the moment he sat down, a jolt of pain made him sharply suck in a breath.
With a grim face, he took a deep breath and slowly, very gently, readjusted his posture, trying to accommodate the deeply unpleasant ache in his body.
Once the discomfort eased a bit, he opened his lunch box and had only taken a few bites when he spotted a certain someone, clearly not afraid of death, hovering near the break room door. He mentally prayed for three seconds that Shen Fangyu wouldn’t come in. But of course, the universe ignored him, and Shen Fangyu, as if hell-bent on doing the opposite of what Jiang Xu wanted, walked right in, grabbed a cup of coffee, and sat down across from him.
If their department weren’t on such a low floor, where tossing someone out the window probably wouldn’t kill them, just leave them disabled, and Jiang Xu would be stuck taking care of him for life, he would’ve thrown Shen Fangyu out then and there.
Jiang Xu had no idea what the hell Shen Fangyu was on. He hoped Shen Fangyu would, like him, selectively forget what happened last night and treat him like a one-night stand.
He swore, if Shen Fangyu so much as hinted at it, he would personally send him to the underworld.
But Shen Fangyu, that clingy ghost, acted like he didn’t see Jiang Xu’s displeasure at all, and once again started staring at him with an unreadable look.
Jiang Xu slammed his lunch box onto the table and grabbed Shen Fangyu by the collar with one hand, fist raised, ready to swing.
Unexpectedly, Shen Fangyu just laughed. “There really is a mole under your eye,” he said, almost to himself. “Funny how something I noticed subconsciously stuck around this long.”
It was strange. After having a few drinks with Jiang Xu last night, Shen Fangyu had dreamed about him, but couldn’t remember much except the vivid image of a mole under Jiang Xu’s eye.
When he woke up at the hotel, he checked out at the front desk and saw the room charge on his phone, so he naturally assumed he’d spent the night there alone.
Still, he’d been weirdly curious all day. He couldn’t recall ever noticing whether Jiang Xu actually had a mole under his eye, so when he got to the hospital, he couldn’t resist wanting to check.
But in the OR, Jiang Xu’s face was always covered with a mask and glasses, and he refused to face him directly. Shen Fangyu had tried to let it go, but even after a full day of work, the thought still lingered.
Worried it would keep him up all night, Dr. Shen finally decided: screw it, he had to confirm whether the mole was real.
And in that near-death moment when Jiang Xu was about to punch him, he finally saw it, the tear mole glinting under Jiang Xu’s eye.
“Holy shit! Are they fighting again?!”
“Jiang-ge, are you okay?!”
A few doctors, hearing the commotion, rushed in, only to find, as expected, Dr. Jiang and Dr. Shen at it again.
The apprentices of both team leads instantly jumped to defend their respective mentors. Tension flared in the room, and a full-blown showdown seemed imminent.
Jiang Xu glared daggers at Shen Fangyu but ultimately didn’t throw the punch. “This is a hospital. I won’t fight you here,” he snapped. “We’re both off Saturday. Meet me at the boxing gym, whoever chickens out is a loser.”
With that, he grabbed his lunch and tossed it into the trash, storming out. Behind him, Shen Fangyu scoffed, still fanning the flames, “What’s with that face? Kidney deficiency? Or did you stay up all night watching porn and wear yourself out?”
Jiang Xu’s expression darkened. He stopped mid-step, nearly spat out a comeback, “I think you’re the one who wore yourself out last night.” —but in the end, he swallowed it back. Suddenly, a realization hit him.
Shen Fangyu… really might not remember what happened last night.
Dr. Jiang, reversing his emotional gears, coldly thought, Good. Let him forget. Forget everything.
That way, he wouldn’t have to kill him to keep the secret.
The way home was pure gridlock. City A, being a hub of white-collar workers and corporate drones, had a rush hour that lived up to its reputation, lasting from dusk till moonrise.
Jiang Xu was stuck in the middle of the road, unable to move forward or back, feeling like the entire world was conspiring against him.
It’s fine, he told himself. So I slept with Shen Fangyu. So what? Just think of it as being bitten by a dog. You don’t stoop to a dog’s level.
After several rounds of mental self-talk, Jiang Xu gave up resisting. Fine. He admitted it. The dog bite kinda hurt. And no, he couldn’t not stoop to Shen Fangyu’s level just yet.
Listless and dead inside, he glanced out the window, only to notice that he was parked right next to that idiotic “Hell Bar” from the night before. Now that it was daytime, without all the blinding lights, the sign didn’t look nearly as obnoxious.
But at that moment, a crowd of police officers stood at the entrance of “Hell Bar,” murmuring among themselves. Since he was stuck anyway, Jiang Xu rolled down his window and asked, “Officer, what’s going on here?”
The police officer, righteous and serious, replied, “This bar is under investigation for selling fake alcohol. We’re currently gathering information from the victims.”
“…”
Jiang Xu, “How many years do you think the owner will get?”
“Hard to say. It’s pretty serious. Conservative estimate, ten years.”
Good. Excellent. Jiang Xu thought, May they rot in there for life.
Expressionless, he turned his gaze back forward. After a long moment, he slammed his forehead onto the steering wheel.
Fake alcohol ruins lives.