By the time Doctor Gu finally arrived at the apartment.The doorbell barely had time to ring twice before Anxin yanked the door open.Doctor Gu stood there holding a medical bag in one hand, hair slightly messy, jacket thrown on too quickly, and an expression caught somewhere between exhaustion and concern.Anxin exhaled hard, immediate relief visible in his face. "Doctor Gu seriously, I'm so sorry to drag you here at this hour."
Doctor Gu shook his head once as he stepped inside. "It's fine," he said, voice calmer than expected despite clearly being pulled from sleep. "This is literally my job." Then, after a pause, his expression softened slightly. "And Cai Lang is my friend."
That answer hit harder than Anxin expected.
"Right," Anxin muttered, stepping aside quickly. "Come in."Doctor Gu moved fast after that, already scanning the apartment automatically. "How bad?"Anxin's jaw tightened. "He is bleeding non-stoply. "Doctor Gu stopped mid-step. "Then why is not at hospital?" Anxin said "That was I said."
Neither of them wasted another second.
They entered Cai Lang's room quickly, where Cai Lang was sitting against the bedrest with visible irritation, one arm draped over his side while blood-soaked bandaging made it very clear this was not "just a scratch." The moment he saw Doctor GuCai Lang frowned.
"You really don't listen."Anxin immediately folded his arms. "Oh, absolutely not."Doctor Gu set the medical kit down near the bed. "I just got here and somehow I already know this is going to be annoying." "Yes." Anxin said with angry tone. "Cai Lang." cai Lang response "What?" Anxin pointed directly at him. "Don't forget I'm your elder brother."
Cai Lang closed his eyes briefly like enduring this conversation required strength too." I know."A pause.Then, dryly "I've had enough time listening to that truth."Doctor Gu actually snorted once before stopping himself.Anxin looked offended. "Was that sarcasm?" "No," Cai Lang replied immediately. "That was suffering.""Unbelievable." Anxin muttered.
Then his expression sharpened again."So behave. And do what I said."
Cai Lang didn't argue.Mostly because Doctor Gu was already pulling supplies out.Gloves, Antiseptic, and Sterile gauze.Doctor Gu glanced at the wound and visibly grimaced.
" hey!" he said flatly. "This is going to hurt."
Cai Lang leaned back slightly. "I'm not afraid."
Doctor Gu gave him one unimpressed look. "That's nice. Fear isn't really the issue."Then
The antiseptic touched skin.Cai Lang's entire body locked instantly.His jaw clenched so hard it looked painful by itself. His fingers gripped the sheet beneath him, knuckles whitening immediately, and although he made no real sound his breathing betrayed him. "Damn?!"
Anxin's expression changed the second he saw it. There was not teasing, not irritation.
There was just fear.His voice lowered immediately. " You don't always have to act strong," he said quietly.Cai Lang didn't answer.Doctor Gu kept cleaning carefully, though his tone stayed practical. "At least not in front of me."Cai Lang's expression shifted slightly, though whether from pain or emotion was harder to tell.His eyes had gone suspiciously brighter now not fully tears, but close enough that pretending otherwise felt unnecessary." I said I'm fine." he muttered.
Anxin immediately shot back, "Your definition of 'fine' is honestly offensive."
Doctor Gu carefully inspected the depth more seriously now.Then his tone changed.
"This was definitely a knife wound." Silence in room. Anxin froze.His head turned so sharply toward Cai Lang it was almost impressive." Knife?"Doctor Gu didn't look away from the injury. "Yes. Very obviously."
Anxin's voice rose instantly. "Cai Lang?!"
Cai Lang visibly regretted surviving."What."
"What do you mean WHAT?!" Anxin snapped. "He said KNIFE!" "It's not invisible." Cai Lang muttered.Anxin looked one second away from losing his mind.
" If you ever ...ever consider me family," Anxin said, voice dropping lower now, more dangerous because of how serious it became, "then tell me what exactly happened."Cai Lang was quiet for a moment.
Then he said "Why are you emotionally blackmailing me?" Cai Lang asked at last, his voice flat despite how tired he clearly was.
Even injured, there was still enough irritation left in him to sound personally offended.
Anxin didn't miss a beat. "Because normal asking clearly doesn't work."Doctor Gu, still focused on cleaning and wrapping the wound with practiced precision, actually snorted once under his breath before catching himself.Cai Lang closed his eyes briefly, as if both the pain and the conversation had become equally exhausting. " Annoying."
"Cai Lang."That toneolder-brother voice. The one that usually meant resistance was pointless.
" Fine."The word came with visible surrender.
The room quieted almost immediately after that.Cai Lang exhaled slowly, leaning back just enough to ease some pressure without interfering with Doctor Gu's work. When he spoke again, his voice was lower now, stripped of most of its usual sarcasm."I was out."Anxin folded his arms tighter, expression unimpressed despite the concern written all over his face. "Obviously." Then cai Lang continued "I noticed something off." Anxin expression didn't changed."Still vague."
Cai Lang opened one eye just enough to glare at him. "Do you want here truth ?"Anxin didn't even blink. "No, I'm waiting for your nonsense "A brief silence followed.Then cai Lang continued"I got surrounded."
Everything stopped.Doctor Gu's hands paused for half a second.Anxin's face visibly lost color."By who?"Cai Lang stared ahead, jaw tightening faintly as fragments of the fight replayed in his head. "A group." Anxin asked
"Random?" cai Lang replied."No." Doctor Gu asked "Armed?" cai Lang replied "Yes."
Anxin went pale so fast it was almost impressive. " How many?"Cai Lang gave him a tired, genuinely exhausted look. "Enough."
"That is NOT a number!" "Enough," Cai Lang repeated, somehow sounding even more tired this time.Doctor Gu sighed without looking up. "Please continue before he actually explodes."Cai Lang shifted slightly, immediately regretted it, and stopped. His expression darkened. "They had guns. Knives. Looked organized."Anxin's voice dropped instantly, anger cracking under sharper fear. " And you fought them?"Cai Lang blinked once, as though the answer should've been painfully obvious. " Yes."
"Are you insane?!" Anxin snapped
immediately, his voice jumping somewhere between outrage and panic."They attacked first." "That is absolutely not the point!"
Cai Lang ignored him with remarkable consistency."One of them got careless," he continued, calmer than someone currently bleeding from a knife wound had any right to be. "Things got messy. Then police sirens started getting closer."Doctor Gu finally nodded once. "You called them?" cai Lang Shake his head. "No." Anxin with confused face "Then?" "They showed up."Doctor Gu's shoulders eased slightly. "Good."
Anxin, however, looked nowhere near relieved."All of this happened," he said slowly, dangerously controlled now, "and you are telling me NOW?"Cai Lang looked at him with what could only be described as exhausted logic. "I was bleeding.""That is NOT an excuse!" "It literally is."Doctor Gu physically had to turn his face away for a second.Anxin pointed at Cai Lang like he had become the center of every personal betrayal imaginable. "You really think of me as your brother?"Cai Lang blinked once. " I know where this is going.""Because brothers CALL!"" To be fair," Cai Lang replied flatly, "I was a little busy not dying."
Doctor Gu coughed immediately into his hand, which did absolutely nothing to disguise what was very obviously suppressed laughter."NOT HELPING," Anxin snapped.Then his anger cracked.His shoulders tightened, but his voice changed.
" What if something actually happened to you?" The room changed with it.Anxin's eyes were still sharp but no longer angry just scared."What exactly was I supposed to tell Dad?" Silence in room in several minutes, Cai Lang's expression went completely still.
Then colder."I don't think it would affect him much."Anxin froze.The words clearly hit harder than he expected." Cai Lang." "He doesn't care.""That's not true."Cai Lang laughed once. "That's convenient."Anxin's jaw tightened instantly. "Don't do that."
"Do what?" "Pretend you don't matter."
Cai Lang just stayed quiet.And somehow, that silence said more than any argument would have.Doctor Gu finally finished wrapping the wound securely, adjusting the bandage one last time before leaning back slightly to assess his work." For the record," he said calmly, very deliberately shifting the emotional direction before it collapsed entirely, "whether your family communicates terribly or not someone very clearly wanted you dead." "Comforting," Cai Lang muttered.
Doctor Gu gave him a dry look. "Do you have any idea who?"
Cai Lang leaned back more carefully this time, fatigue finally catching up harder than pride."There are too many options."Anxin immediately looked offended again, if only because that answer somehow created more stress instead of less." Why do you say things like that so casually?!" "Because panic won't narrow the list."Anxin visibly hated that.
"I know still I'm not used to Hear that ."
Doctor Gu finally stood, beginning to pack away his supplies with calm efficiency. "I've done what I can tonight."Anxin looked up immediately. "You can stay here."Doctor Gu paused.Then smiled faintly."I would," he said, lifting his medical kit, "but someone's waiting for me."Anxin's entire expression changed so quickly it was almost offensive." Wait."
His exhaustion vanished just enough for genuine curiosity to take over." Anyone special?"Doctor Gu gave him a long, unreadable look.Then "You could say that."
Anxin stared at him like this information had personally disrupted his night even further.
" No."Doctor Gu ignored him completely and glanced once more at Cai Lang. "Don't reopen the wound."
Cai Lang, now with his eyes fully closed and sounding half-asleep already, gave the verbal equivalent of dismissive surrender."Yeah, yeah."Then, after a beat." Enjoy your suspiciously mysterious life."Doctor Gu smirked."I plan to." "And I'm not seeing you off." "I wasn't expecting royal treatment."
Anxin rubbed both hands over his face as he followed Doctor Gu toward the door, exhaustion finally crashing into him properly again." This night is actually unbelievable."
Behind them, Cai Lang stayed quiet at last.
Elsewhere outside of Suo ran home. Lian ziho and Lin yichen looked at each other for second.His relief disappeared so fast it was almost unsettling." You?" Lian Ziho stood in the doorway, one hand still gripping it tightly, his chest rising slightly harder than before from the sheer spike of panic that had dragged him there. Moments ago, hearing Suo Ran's drunken voice from outside had nearly stopped his heart for one terrifying second. But now he could actually see the full situation.
Suo Ran was barely standing.His hair was messy, his face flushed an alarming shade of red, his eyes half-lidded and unfocused, and most of his body weight was currently leaning against Lin Yichen like balance had completely abandoned him.And beside him
Lin Yichen.Already exhausted, emotionally drained, and physically suffering under Suo Ran's inability to stand properly, Lin Yichen blinked at Lian Ziho for half a second before narrowing his eyes in immediate offense.
" Wow," he said dryly, adjusting Suo Ran before he fully tipped sideways. "Thank God you're not asleep."
Lian Ziho looked at with irritation.His gaze moved over Lin Yichen once cold,suspicious, deeply unimpressed before instantly returning to Suo Ran. "Why," Lian Ziho asked, his voice low and dangerously controlled, "is he like this?"Lin Yichen opened his mouth.Lian Ziho cut him off instantly."Why did you make him drink?"
Lin Yichen visibly exhaled through his nose, already offended. "Okay, first of all..""You know he can't handle alcohol." "That," Lin Yichen snapped, now genuinely irritated despite his exhaustion, "feels aggressively unfair."
Lian Ziho stepped forward once, and somehow his expression became even worse."Where were you?" Lian Ziho's voice came out low and cold, each word clipped with frightening precision. His stare locked directly onto Lin Yichen's face. "At this hour."
Lin Yichen visibly stiffened.For once, even he seemed to understand immediately that this was not casual irritation. Lian Ziho looked furious.Lin Yichen's grip on Suo Ran adjusted slightly, his expression tightening. He glanced away for half a second before answering, quieter this time. "I can't say."
Lian Ziho's eyes narrowed instantly. "You can't say?"The repeated words were calm, but dangerously so.Lin Yichen exhaled slowly, looking more exhausted than defensive now. " I had my reasons."Lian Ziho took another step forward, and the look on his face made it very clear he currently had no patience for mysterious reasons."Your reasons," he said, voice sharpening despite how controlled he was trying to remain, "included bringing him back like this?"
His gaze flicked toward Suo Ran half-conscious, flushed, barely standing and the anger cracked just enough for something more shaken to show through."Even if you took him out," Lian Ziho said, his voice dropping lower, more cutting, "the very least you could've done was take care of him."
Lin Yichen's brows furrowed immediately, a flash of frustration crossing his face."I was."
Lian Ziho barely looked at him aybarely listening anymore.Because his attention had already shifted back to Suo Ran.The anger was still there and irritation too.But underneath it Relief because Suo Ran was here.
Drunk beyond reason, visibly unstable, leaning like gravity itself had become a personal enemy but here.Lian Ziho's jaw tightened once before softening despite himself." Idiot." he muttered under his breath.
This time, there was no real anger in it.Only exhausted fear.
Suo Ran, whose head had been resting against Lin Yichen's shoulder with absolutely no dignity left, blinked slowly at him.Then frowned with intense concentration."You have…"He squinted harder, as though solving something deeply important."Two of you."Lin Yichen immediately made a sound suspiciously close to choking on laughter.
Lian Ziho did not laugh.Suo Ran lifted one hand vaguely toward Lian Ziho's face, completely missed, and nearly poked himself directly in the eye."Wait…" Lian Ziho caught his wrist instantly, firm but careful, his expression tightening."Absolutely not."Suo Ran looked genuinely betrayed."Rude." Lian ziho adjust suo ran postion and said softly "You're drunk."Suo Ran straightened slightly or at least attempted to."No," he said with deeply misplaced confidence. "I'm… balanced."And then immediately lost that balance.His knees nearly gave out.
Lian Ziho caught him before gravity could prove its point, one arm securing his waist while the other steadied his shoulder.Lin Yichen, watching this, finally let Suo Ran go completely and flexed his aching arm like he had personally suffered enough."Alright," he muttered. "Great. He's clearly your problem now."Lian Ziho gave him a flat stare so severe it somehow communicated multiple insults without saying a word.
Lin Yichen frowned immediately. "I said I brought him home alive." "Barely." Lian Ziho replied coldly. "That still counts." Lian ziho stare at him and said "No, it doesn't." Lin yichen replied "Yes, it absolutely does."
Meanwhile, Suo Ran despite being the entire subject of this argument had somehow become distracted by the nearby wall.
He stared at it with drunken sincerity." Nice wall." he whispered. Silence between them.
Both men stopped.Lin Yichen pointed immediately, deeply vindicated. "See?! This is what I dealt with."
Lian Ziho closed his eyes briefly like patience itself was becoming physically difficult. "Inside," he said firmly.Without waiting for further argument, he carefully pulled Suo Ran's arm fully over his shoulder, supporting nearly all of his weight now.Suo Ran frowned immediately. "Bossy." he said. Lian ziho nodded "Yes." suo ran said again "Rude."
Lian ziho nodded again "Yes." then suo ran watched Lian ziho for second and said "Pretty." Silence between them.Everything stopped. Lin Yichen froze.Lian Ziho froze.
Even Suo Ran blinked slowly, like some deeply buried sober part of him was trying to understand what had just happened.
Then Lin Yichen laughed.A full, helpless, deeply unfortunate laugh."Oh, that is wow."
Lian Ziho turned his head slowly.Lin Yichen straightened immediately."I'm leaving."
Lian ziho glares at him like he'll kill him if he stay any longer. Then he said with lower voice "Good."Without another word, Lian Ziho guided Suo Ran fully inside, his grip careful despite the irritation still written all over his face. Suo Ran continued muttering nonsense under his breath something about unfair floors and suspicious walls as he was half-carried through the doorway.
Then door shut directly in Lin Yichen's face.
Lin Yichen stood there in complete silence for one full second then two."What," he said at last, staring at the closed door in profound offense, "is his problem with me?"Lin Yichen gestured at the door dramatically."I literally brought him home!"Lin Yichen's expression twisted into deeply personal betrayal."You know what? Fine."He pointed accusingly at absolutely no one."I'm never taking him drinking again." A pause.Then, with increasing honesty " Actually no. I'm never taking him anywhere."Another pause.
Then, rubbing his forehead with the full exhaustion of someone who had made catastrophic life choices "Unbelievable."
Still muttering all the way down the hallway, Lin Yichen finally turned and walked off.
"I risked my life, got threatened, emotionally attacked, and somehow I'm the villain."
Lian Ziho barely made it three steps down the hallway before realizing two things very clearly. First, Suo Ran was somehow both heavier and less coordinated than he looked, and second, drunk Suo Ran was an actual problem. " Walk properly." Lian Ziho said through a controlled breath, one arm securely around Suo Ran's waist while keeping his shoulder steady.
Suo Ran, currently leaning most of his body weight like gravity had personally betrayed him, frowned in visible disagreement. "I am walking properly." "You almost fell into the wall." "The wall moved." Lian Ziho stopped for half a second, stared at him, then exhaled slowly through his nose. "The wall did not move." Suo Ran looked mildly offended by that accusation. "You don't know that." Lian Ziho genuinely had no response to that, so he simply kept moving, slowly, very slowly.
Suo Ran managed approximately two more unstable steps before his foot caught against absolutely nothing and his entire balance tipped sideways. Lian Ziho's expression changed instantly. "Suo Ran!!" Before the fall could complete itself, Lian Ziho caught him firmly, pulling him back against himself before he hit the floor. Suo Ran blinked up at him, visibly dazed for a second, then murmured, "You keep appearing." Lian Ziho stared at him. "I have been here the entire time." "That's… impressive." Lin Yichen's earlier suffering suddenly made much more sense. Lian Ziho adjusted his grip, one hand tightening carefully around Suo Ran's arm while the other steadied his back, and muttered, "No more independent movement."
By the time they finally reached Suo Ran's bedroom door, Lian Ziho was running entirely on patience, adrenaline, and emotional exhaustion. He carefully steadied Suo Ran upright and asked quietly, "Can you go inside by yourself?" Suo Ran blinked slowly, stared at the room as if it required deep philosophical analysis, then nodded with deeply misplaced confidence. "Obviously."
Lian Ziho did not believe him correctly.
Suo Ran took one step, then another, and on the third his legs simply gave out on existence. He dropped straight to the floor with all the quiet dignity of a fallen blanket. Silence followed. Lian Ziho closed his eyes. "Of course." From the floor, Suo Ran weakly lifted one hand. "I meant to do that." "No, you didn't." "You can't prove that." Despite everything the stress, the fear, the exhaustion Lian Ziho actually let out a small, tired laugh. "Hopeless," he murmured.
He bent down, slid one arm beneath Suo Ran's knees and the other behind his back, and lifted him properly. Suo Ran made a faint sound of approval, already settling against him, his head dropping onto Lian Ziho's shoulder. " Comfortable." "You're welcome." The rest of the way was easier, not physically but emotionally, because Suo Ran was finally here, safe. Lian Ziho crossed the room and lowered him onto the bed with careful hands, adjusting the pillow, removing his shoes, and pulling the blanket into place until Suo Ran was properly settled. Only then did he sit beside him.
For a while, there was only stillness, broken only by Suo Ran's uneven but steady breathing. Lian Ziho just looked at him, unable to look away. Drunk, flushed, hair slightly disheveled, expression softened in sleep Suo Ran looked painfully vulnerable. Something in Lian Ziho's expression softened in return, all earlier tension fading into something quieter, heavier. His fingers moved without thought, brushing a few strands of hair away from Suo Ran's face. "You really are unbelievable," he whispered.
Then, more carefully, he reached down and took Suo Ran's hand. His grip was gentle, almost reverent, like he was holding something far more precious than he had any right to. His voice dropped even lower. "Do you know how painful this is for me?" His thumb shifted slowly against Suo Ran's knuckles. "When I saw your room empty…" He stopped, breath catching. "Do you have any idea how scared I was?"
His eyes burned, and this time he didn't stop it in time. Tears slipped out quietly as he continued, voice tightening. "You don't take care of yourself. You go out alone. You disappear like nothing can happen to you…" His grip tightened slightly, not enough to hurt, just enough to anchor himself. "I keep thinking… what if one day something does?" His head lowered, and for a moment he looked less composed than he ever allowed himself to be. " I can't even imagine that."
The tears fell silently onto their joined hands. And then, finally, the words he had never allowed himself to say came out anyway, broken and raw. "Your life… your life is someone's reason for living."
A faint movement interrupted him. Suo Ran's fingers shifted in his hand, and his eyes opened slowly, not fully focused but awake enough. Lian Ziho froze instantly, his entire body tensing as if caught in something forbidden. He let go of Suo Ran's hand too quickly, wiping at his face in a reflexive panic, turning slightly away as he tried to steady his breathing.
"You're awake?" he asked quietly, his voice still carrying the residue of everything he had just said.