Orange Storm chapter 31

I’ll Carry You

After Jiang Zhijin finished speaking, the room fell silent for a moment.

Drenched in rain and intoxicated, his head was really throbbing. His thoughts were a bit sluggish, but during this short pause, he realized that his words came out somewhat abruptly.

He sighed and looked up at Fang Xing beside him. Fang Xing was also looking at him. During their eye contact, Fang Xing asked expressionlessly, “What do you mean?”

“…It doesn’t mean anything,” Jiang Zhijin felt that sooner or later, his habit of speaking without a filter when drunk would be the death of him. He fell silent for a moment, organizing his thoughts in his mind.

He didn’t think his sexual orientation was something out of the ordinary compared to others. If people didn’t know, he wouldn’t actively disclose it, and if they found out, it didn’t matter. If someone had opinions about him because of it… whatever, he didn’t care about that.

But Fang Xing was living under the same roof with him, so when Fang Xing found out, there was a moment of panic—he was afraid that because of this, Fang Xing would feel psychological pressure living with him, especially since he seemed like a typical straight guy. However, as time passed, Fang Xing not only didn’t distance himself but sometimes even got closer.

It was fine when they ate together, watched movies, or took care of the cat. It was also normal for Fang Xing to take care of him when he wasn’t feeling well just now. However, when Fang Xing held onto his waist and held his hand, Jiang Zhijin did feel a bit awkward.

Maybe because, even though he often referred to Fang Xing as a kid, Fang Xing was indeed an almost adult male—someone of the same height and quite handsome. When Fang Xing supported him just now, his face tilted down, and his lips almost touched Fang Xing’s jaw, scaring him. He immediately moved back a bit.

After all, he was the one who was gay, and he didn’t want Fang Xing to be affected by overly intimate actions or have an impact on the two of them.

He went through so much in his mind, but seeing Fang Xing standing still at the bedside, staring at him, he didn’t know what to say. In the end, he could only give up and lie down on the bed, pulling the blanket over himself.

“I’m just drunk, okay? Just go back to sleep.”

“No,” Fang Xing’s lips tightened. He took two steps forward to Jiang Zhijin’s bedside and looked down at the person on the bed. In order to see Jiang Zhijin’s expression clearly, he even bent down and approached him, asking, “What do you mean? Where did I go wrong?”

Due to the bending down, the bedside lamp was blocked by Fang Xing, casting Jiang Zhijin in his shadow. Looking up, Jiang Zhijin could only see Fang Xing’s face in the light and the eyes that were gazing at him.

His eyelashes are quite long, Jiang Zhijin thought inexplicably.

“For example, what you are doing,” Jiang Zhijin was a bit tired and decided to speak frankly. “you’re too close.”

Fang Xing was stunned for a moment, and after a while, he suddenly straightened up.

The light fell back on Jiang Zhijin’s face. Jiang Zhijin suddenly regretted it a bit and slowed down, saying, “Alright, I said the wrong thing. Thanks for taking care of me. Go to sleep.”

As he said this, he had to endure the pain, thinking about what a mess this was.

After a while, he heard Fang Xing make a “Hmm” sound.

Fang Xing’s voice was very low, and it was too short to discern any emotion. He said this sentence, and he had already turned and left Jiang Zhijin’s bedroom, helping to close the door.

“Ah…” Jiang Zhijin couldn’t help but sigh.

Kids are quite sensitive; he probably overthought things again.

Fang Xing did think a lot. When Jiang Zhijin was talking about the matter of “minding or not minding,” Fang Xing’s mind had turned quite a bit. It wasn’t until Jiang Zhijin said, “you’re too close,” that he suddenly woke up.

He found that he was indeed too close, and it was a bit strange.

Whether it was when he leaned down to look at Jiang Zhijin on the bed, or when he helped him back to the room, or when Jiang Zhijin wiped the rain off for him, or when Fang Chenglin came to talk to him, or during the parents’ meeting… everything felt a bit abnormal.

If it could be explained before knowing about Jiang Zhijin’s sexual orientation, now Fang Xing’s mentality and actions seemed a bit inexplicable.

For example, having an inexplicable interest in what Jiang Zhijin was doing, being curious about that Li Xingyan, worrying when Jiang Zhijin was sick, and feeling a bit angry at the words just now.

Fang Xing lay on the bed, exhaling slowly.

Jiang Zhijin was right; something was off. He hadn’t figured out the reason for his discomfort yet, temporarily attributing it to Jiang Zhijin’s sudden and clear boundary-setting behavior, which was somewhat hurtful.

Without me, who would take care of you when you’re drunk? That person who’s pursuing you, what’s his name, oh, Li Xingyan.

Fang Xing clicked his tongue and covered himself with the blanket.

Sometime during the night, it started raining again, quite heavily. It didn’t stop until the next morning when he got up. Fang Xing still woke up early. Seeing Jiang Zhijin’s tightly closed bedroom door, he hesitated for a moment but eventually tried to open the door.

After all, Jiang Zhijin was unwell last night, and he didn’t know how he was this morning.

Last night, he had closed the door, and Jiang Zhijin hadn’t locked it. With a turn of the handle, the door was already open. The curtains in the bedroom were all drawn, and there was no light, making it appear quite dark. Jiang Zhijin was still sleeping in bed, completely buried under the blanket, and Fang Xing couldn’t see whether he was awake.

Subconsciously, he tiptoed into the room. Jiang Zhijin’s eyes were tightly closed, and he seemed to be still asleep, with only heavy breathing giving away any sign of life.

Fang Xing furrowed his brows, reaching out to touch Jiang Zhijin’s forehead.

Hot.

If Jiang Zhijin had a slight fever last night, today he was already burning up with just a touch to his forehead. Fang Xing frowned, shaking Jiang Zhijin on the bed.

“Jiang Zhijin, wake up.”

After a while, Jiang Zhijin made a vague humming sound but didn’t move.

Fang Xing didn’t hesitate further, giving Jiang Zhijin another push, pulling him up from the bed.

“Wake up, you have a fever.”

When Jiang Zhijin was pulled up, he was still half-asleep, sitting there without much reaction until Fang Xing casually searched for clothes and threw them at him.

He glanced at the clothes Fang Xing found, and with some helplessness, he started, “Why are you—”

As soon as he spoke a few words, Jiang Zhijin closed his mouth.

His voice was dry and hoarse, and his throat felt like it was on fire; he felt dizzy all over.

Seems like he really has a fever.

Fang Xing didn’t bother with whatever he wanted to say, directly throwing the clothes on the bed. “Hurry up and get dressed, then let’s go to the hospital.”

Jiang Zhijin looked at him for a moment, about to say something with his raspy voice, but Fang Xing had already spoken.

“Get dressed. I’ll wait for you outside.”

“…No need.” By this point, Jiang Zhijin felt a bit helpless, and he just took off his pajamas in front of him.

In the dim room, Jiang Zhijin, with his upper body bare, had skin so fair it was hard to ignore. His hair, unkempt due to lack of care, hung messily on his forehead.

Fang Xing averted his gaze.

It wasn’t until he changed his clothes and Fang Xing packed things up that they left the room.

Because he had been drinking, Jiang Zhijin had parked the car at Crowd Seven last night. Now, the two had to take a taxi from the community gate to the hospital. After leaving the building, they noticed a large puddle of water in front of the building because of the overnight rain.

The water probably didn’t reach the ankles, not too deep, but the area was quite large, and they would have to step in it to walk some distance. Jiang Zhijin, still in a sickly state, instinctively bent down to roll up his pants, preparing to wade through the water.

The next second, his arm was grabbed by Fang Xing.

“I’ll carry you,” Fang Xing said.

“What?” Jiang Zhijin was stunned.

“You can’t touch the water again. I’ll carry you.” Fang Xing finished speaking, rolled up the pants without hesitation, and then bent down. “Get on.”

Jiang Zhijin, feeling a bit dizzy from the fever, stayed still for a moment without moving. Fang Xing turned to look at him, furrowing his brows. “Get on, don’t dawdle.”

He’s quite fierce.

Jiang Zhijin didn’t hesitate anymore and crawled onto Fang Xing’s back.

The water didn’t reach their ankles, and because there was a person on his back, Fang Xing walked very steadily and slowly. Jiang Zhijin’s slightly elevated body temperature constantly transmitted through his back, and Fang Xing could still hear the somewhat heavy breathing in his ears.

It inexplicably made him feel feverish too.