He followed Ji Wenzhen, his head still a bit foggy, and only came back to his senses once they reached Ji Wenzhen’s home.
Ji Wenzhen had his back to him as he changed his shoes at the entrance, and Bo Xinghang took a moment to look around.
As expected, the interior matched the style of his office, featuring pure white tones throughout. The living room was immaculately organized, with no traces of personal items—so clean it almost seemed uninhabited.
Ji Wenzhen took a pair of neatly packaged slippers from the cabinet and handed them to him. Meeting his gaze, he explained patiently, “This place is far from the hospital, which makes it inconvenient for work, so I rarely stay here. My usual place is too small and doesn’t have a guest room, so I brought you here instead.”
“Oh.”
No wonder, Bo Xinghang thought, nodding in understanding. He bent down, put on the slippers, and walked in.
It was late, and Bo Xinghang was quite tired. Neither of them had the energy to chat, so Ji Wenzhen got straight to the point. He quickly tidied up the guest room and urged him to rest early.
In fact, Ji Wenzhen’s home rarely saw visitors. One reason was his demanding work schedule, which left him little time to invite friends over. The second reason was that his friends were all doctors from various hospitals, each busy with their own responsibilities.
Ultimately, it was because of his profession as a doctor.
When Ji Wenzhen suggested that Bo Xinghang stay at his place, it surprised both of them. Bo Xinghang was taken aback, and Ji Wenzhen himself was momentarily surprised.
But then he considered that the kid had waited until late at night because of him, and it would be a bit harsh to send him home right away.
Ji Wenzhen made the bed in the guest room and said, “The guest room is rarely used, so the toiletries might not be complete. Let me know on WeChat if you need anything.”
Bo Xinghang nodded, yawning lazily. “Oh—okay.”
“Sleepy?” Ji Wenzhen smiled, scrolling through his phone until Bo Xinghang’s phone chimed with a notification. He said calmly, “I added you on my personal WeChat. Add me back. I don’t discuss personal matters on my work account.”
Not discuss personal matters?
Bo Xinghang looked up at him, incredulous. What about everything they’d talked about today? Was that just about helping a patient with their mental state? He silently mocked, feeling that Doctor Ji was putting on airs.
Ji Wenzhen turned off the light, plunging the room into darkness. Bo Xinghang adjusted himself into the most comfortable position and slowly closed his eyes, ready to sleep.
The night was very quiet. He could even hear the wind blowing.
One minute… two minutes…
Ten minutes…
Bo Xinghang suddenly opened his eyes and stared at the faintly visible light in the darkness. After a while, he sighed helplessly.
Fuck, the tiredness had passed, and he wasn’t sleepy anymore.
When he first entered the house, he had been at his sleepiest. But after a quick wash-up, he found himself wide awake.
Bo Xinghang stared at the ceiling and let his mind wander aimlessly.
It was fascinating.
Somehow, through a messy sequence of events, he ended up lying in Doctor Ji’s house.
He found it amusing how things had turned out like this, almost unreal in a surreal way.
Initially, he had only intended to ask Doctor Ji to pretend to be his brother to explain things to the principal and his English teacher. He wasn’t afraid of breaking school rules and getting points deducted, but the situation of everyone avoiding him wasn’t beneficial for a senior high school student’s physical and mental development. Besides, considering the direction the forum was heading, who knew what might happen in the end?
He still needed to trouble Doctor Ji, even though he wasn’t sure if Doctor Ji had the time to accompany him to the office. But judging by his academic prowess, Doctor Ji likely had never been called to the office.
Wait a minute…
Bo Xinghang wiped the smile off his face, suddenly realizing a serious problem.
He had come here specifically and had been in the office for so long just to ask Doctor Ji to play this role for him.
And the result?
Bo Xinghang suddenly wanted to punch himself to death. The most crucial thing, he had actually—for—got—ten!
He turned over, picked up his phone from the bedside, and opened the newly accepted WeChat contact. He typed: Doctor Ji, can I trouble you with something? Can you pretend to be my brother tomorrow and explain at the office that we didn’t fight that day at the bar…
Bo Xinghang paused his typing, read over the message he had just written, and then deleted it.
No way.
That was too perfunctory.
He thought again and tried a different phrasing. But halfway through writing, he deleted it again. He repeated this process several times, unable to find the right tone.
Damn it…
Bo Xinghang couldn’t help but curse in his head.
Ding ding—
A new message came in on his phone. He looked up to see it was from Doctor Ji.
—I’ve been waiting for ten minutes while you were typing.
Seeing the message, Bo Xinghang’s eyelid twitched uncontrollably. He didn’t know what to say, so he tried to get ahead by shifting the blame to Doctor Ji.
—How did you know I was typing if you weren’t watching the chat? Are you up to no good??
Ji Wenzhen found this counterattack amusing.
—I wanted to send you a good night message, but then I saw you typing for a full ten minutes. Were you writing me an essay?
—Fuck.
—You’re too young to be swearing like that.
—Who I want to curse at is none of your business.
—I’m just a wall away from you. What if you get tempted by my beauty?
Huh?
Bo Xinghang was taken aback by Doctor Ji’s sudden flirtatious words.
He was used to joking around with people at the bar, but everyone there had a carefree personality, and making raunchy remarks after drinking was normal.
But Doctor Ji… appeared all proper on the outside but made lewd jokes with a straight face.
Fuck. Bo Xinghang sat up and silently complained.
Was this considered breaking character?
Bo Xinghang propped himself up on his arms and shouted towards the door, “Doctor Ji, I’m going to fuck your uncle!”
Of course, Doctor Ji wouldn’t shout back. When he heard the angry shout from the kid, he smiled and turned around to put away his phone.
Bo Xinghang saw that no more messages came through on WeChat, so he sent a goodnight message and didn’t say anything else.
Early the next morning, Bo Xinghang was rudely awakened by his alarm clock. In his daze, he heard the clattering of bowls coming from the living room.
It took him a while to realize where he was.
Bo Xinghang turned over, pulling the covers over his head and ears in an attempt to go back to sleep.
Clang—!
It was as if Doctor Ji had done it on purpose. This time, the noise was even louder.
“Fuck.” Bo Xinghang frowned and opened his eyes, glaring towards the door. From the sound alone, he could tell that his temper was not good, “Doctor Ji, are you fucking crazy?!”
The clattering noise abruptly stopped, likely because Doctor Ji had heard his frustration.
Doctor Ji’s calm voice came from the other side of the door. “Get up. Don’t you have to go to work?”
Go to work?
Bo Xinghang furrowed his brows, slightly confused about what Doctor Ji meant.
“Work, my ass!”
“Quit?” This time, the voice came from just outside the door. Ji Wenzhen had wiped his hands with a towel and looked up at the boy lying in bed.
Bo Xinghang yawned. “Quit, my ass.”
Before Ji Wenzhen could respond, he heard Bo Xinghang’s lazy voice explain, “I’m a high school senior, underage.”
