After a night of drinking, Bo Xinghang had forgotten to check the time to visit his grandmother. While Doctor Ji went to register, he quickly glanced at his watch.
8:30.
Fortunately, he was still on time.
Out of the corner of his eye, Bo Xinghang noticed the man next to him playing on his phone. Casually, he slung an arm over the man’s shoulder and smiled, his eyes crinkling with warmth. “Uncle, could you do me a favor?”
“If the person I came with returns, could you let them know I just stepped out for a moment? I’ll be right back.”
Bo Xinghang looked young, and when he put away his tough demeanor and smiled, he left a good impression on anyone who saw him.
The man was about to frown at the sudden shoulder pat, but when he saw the boy’s bright eyes and sharp little canine teeth peeking through his smile, his irritation vanished, leaving him a bit embarrassed. Scratching his head, he smiled sheepishly. “Well, uh… kiddo, you mean Doctor Ji?”
The man’s voice was so loud that Bo Xinghang was taken aback for a moment. Once he recovered, he narrowed his eyes. “…You know Doctor Ji?”
Bo Xinghang had a premonition, and the man confirmed it.
“Of course, I know him! Doctor Ji is the most famous surgeon at the hospital. I don’t understand much, but when my aunt needed surgery last time, we booked Doctor Ji. He’s reliable.”
He gave a thumbs-up, raising his voice even more. “A miracle worker, a living Buddha!”
“…Oh.”
Bo Xinghang took a step back to give his ears a break. Just as he was about to suggest they speak more quietly, there was a sudden “thud” as the man and his chair moved half a step forward.
When Bo Xinghang looked over, he saw a leg slowly retracting.
The owner of the leg was a young girl who looked quite displeased as she glared at the man.
The girl had her hair in two tight pigtails, pulling her eyes into a slight upward slant, making them resemble phoenix eyes1eye shape where the corners incline upwards.
Bo Xinghang took a closer look.
He realized they were indeed phoenix eyes.
The girl with the phoenix eyes crossed her arms and withdrew her leg, still wearing a disdainful expression. “Old man, this is a public place. Please keep your voice down and show some manners.”
Her voice still had a childish tone, but her words were surprisingly sharp.
The man turned around, stunned by the little girl’s words. “…What? I have no manners?!”
“If not you, then who? Is it me?” The phoenix-eyed girl crossed her legs and clicked her tongue disdainfully. “So old, yet still lacking manners.”
“I… you…” The man’s face turned red, wanting to retort but not knowing where to start. After all, it was indeed wrong to be so loud in a hospital.
But being lectured by a little girl left him feeling indescribable frustration.
A few seconds later, the man moved his kicked chair back, sighed, and admitted, “…My fault.”
The girl snorted and turned her head away, clearly uninterested in pursuing the matter further.
Bo Xinghang watched from the side, finding the scene rather amusing.
“Qian Qian…”
Bo Xinghang turned at the sound of the voice.
A middle-aged man wheeled himself over, his hair long enough to obscure his face, making his features hard to distinguish.
Upon seeing him, the girl immediately dropped her arrogant demeanor and ran over, anxiously pushing the man’s wheelchair.
“Dad! Why did you come out?”
Dad?
The man looked to be in his forties, but the girl seemed only seven or eight, which didn’t quite add up.
“I-I was worried since you were out for so long… who were you chatting with so happily?”
The man glanced around the waiting area, his eyes hidden by his hair, before clenching his fist and turning back naturally.
Bo Xinghang frowned.
He felt the man’s gaze linger on him.
“Next time, don’t come out. I’m about to go back!” The phoenix-eyed girl quickly pushed the man toward the ward.
“Okay, okay… Our Qian Qian is the best. I’ll listen to you.”
“You’d better listen to me…”
Their voices gradually faded as they disappeared down the hallway.
For some reason, this father-daughter pair seemed a bit odd to him, though he couldn’t quite pinpoint why.
Bo Xinghang glanced again in the direction they had gone, then turned his attention back to his phone.
The time on the screen flashed before his eyes.
9:12.
It was already after nine??
“…”
A mix of emotions welled up inside him.
His phone was already flooded with messages, most of them from Meng-jie.
—Xiao Xing, are you coming later?
—I just helped Grandma wash up, and she’s about to rest. If you’re not coming, I’ll let her go to sleep?
The last message, sent two minutes ago, was short and clear.
—Grandma is asleep.
Resigned, Bo Xinghang leaned back in his chair and replied.
—OK, I’ll come next time.
At the registration desk, Ji Wenzhen made his way to the window with familiarity. Since there weren’t many people registering at night, it was his turn after waiting for only three people.
The nurse on duty didn’t look up, busy writing out registration slips, and asked while she wrote, “What kind of registration?”
“General,” Ji Wenzhen replied calmly.
Hearing the familiar voice, the nurse’s hand paused, and she looked up.
Ji Wenzhen lowered his eyes, intently watching the nurse fill out the registration form.
The nurse on duty gripped her pen, her face flushing red.
She asked softly, “D-Doctor Ji?”
If you were to ask who the most popular doctor at Q University Hospital was, it would undoubtedly be Ji Wenzhen. His ID photo was prominently displayed at the entrance, accompanied by a long list of accolades and achievements. Compared to the older, balding men around him, his handsome face stood out even more.
Doctor Ji had a cool, aloof demeanor. Paired with his white lab coat, he exuded a sense of restraint and detachment from worldly matters, which captivated many young women.
Many nurses fresh out of school chose to intern at Q University Hospital because of Ji Wenzhen.
She, too, had her own reasons for being here.
As an intern nurse, it was rare to have a chance to meet Doctor Ji, let alone speak to him. She said nervously, “Doctor Ji, are you sick?”
“It’s not for me,” Ji Wenzhen shook his head, tapping his fingers lightly on the front desk. “It’s for…”
He paused mid-sentence, frowning.
In his rush, he had forgotten to ask the boy’s name…
Ji Wenzhen looked at the nurse on duty. “Sorry, please wait a moment. I forgot to ask his name.”
“Oh…”
The nurse was so entranced by his face that she silently admired him, thinking about how the hospital’s poster boy, Doctor Ji, was even more handsome than she had imagined. It was worth all the effort it took to get into Q University Hospital.
It was just a pity that she saw him so rarely, and most of the time, the experience was dull and uneventful.
The young nurse thought while blushing.
She watched Doctor Ji until his figure disappeared from view, and only then did she realize that his last words had been a bit odd.
“Huh…?!”
Could it be… was it what she thought?!
Ji Wenzhen returned to the waiting area with an incomplete registration form. Seeing the teenager chatting familiarly with a middle-aged man, he walked over.
“Weren’t you planning on running away? Or did you fail to escape?”
“Huh?” Bo Xinghang feigned surprise. “Why would you think that?”
“Because you seem like the type to do that.” Ji Wenzhen sat beside him and lightly tapped his head with a pen. “Name.”
“Hmm?” Bo Xinghang blinked.
Ji Wenzhen held the registration form between his fingers and waved it in front of him. “I need your name for the form.”
“Oh.” Bo Xinghang fiddled with his earring and drew in the air with his finger. “Bo Xinghang, Bo as in mint, Xing as in star, and Hang like Hang-ge.”2he is explaining the characters used for his name 薄 = bo，星 = xing，航 = hang
Ji Wenzhen borrowed a pen and quickly wrote down the details following Bo Xinghang’s pace. When Bo Xinghang described his name as “Hang like Hang-ge,” Ji Wenzhen stopped writing, looked up at Bo Xinghang’s serious expression, and smiled slightly.
Pointing the pen at Bo Xinghang, he said, “Hang-ge?”
Unashamed, Bo Xinghang nodded. “Mm, I’m Hang-ge.”
“Oh.” Ji Wenzhen put down the pen. “Well then, Hang-ge, would you mind writing the last character yourself?”
Bo Xinghang immediately took on the role, grabbing the pen and scribbling it down while saying, “No problem, no problem, happy to serve the people.”
Finishing quickly, Bo Xinghang capped the pen and nodded toward the characters on the form. “Is Hang-ge’s ‘Hang’ handsome?”
Ji Wenzhen turned to look. After a long while, he finally figured out how to write the ‘Hang’ in ‘Hang-ge.’ It was so unruly that even in cursive, it didn’t resemble any known character.
But it was quite handsome.
It was very childlike.
Ji Wenzhen said, “Hang-ge, like in ‘a reed can sail’3idiom using the same “Hang” as in Bo Xinghang’s name?”
“A reed can sail?” Bo Xinghang hadn’t expected the character to be used this way. He raised his eyebrows, revealing his handsome eyes. “So sophisticated.”
The phrase “a reed can sail” describes using one’s own meager strength to push through waves and solve difficult problems.
Thankfully, he paid attention in middle school Chinese class, so he knew what the idiom meant.
“Do you like it?” Ji Wenzhen asked, observing his expression.
For once, Bo Xinghang nodded honestly. “…Yeah, it’s not bad. I just think it’s amazing. Do intellectuals always use meanings like that for names?”
Previously, he had always thought his name was quite bland, but now that it was given a special meaning by Doctor Ji, whether intentionally or not, it struck a chord with Bo Xinghang.
It was a fascinating feeling.
For the first time, he felt like his name was not meaningless.
Ji Wenzhen whispered, “Not always.”
“Hmm?” Bo Xinghang looked up at him.
“Not everyone’s name has a special meaning,” he explained.
Clunk.
As soon as his fingers relaxed, the pen fell to the ground.
But he didn’t care. His eyes were locked with Doctor Ji’s.
After a moment, Bo Xinghang smiled and said, “No, Doctor Ji. What you said can be easily misunderstood.”
“Hmm? Misunderstood how?”
Ji Wenzhen adjusted his suit jacket, feeling a little hot.
Bo Xinghang cleared his throat, leaned over, and whispered in Doctor Ji’s ear, “It might make people suspect…”
—“I like you?”
Rather than a question, his tone sounded more like a statement.
Bo Xinghang was at a loss for words.
The hospital was quiet at night, so quiet that it felt like you could hear the sound of a heartbeat, pounding rhythmically, echoing from the chest to the tips of their hair, crackling like fireworks.
The air felt a bit sticky.
This feeling was somewhat awkward.
The more awkward it was, the more it lingered in his mind.
At that moment, Doctor Ji’s every movement seemed amplified.
Doctor Ji draped his suit jacket over his arm. His shirt buttons were fastened to the top, pressing against his Adam’s apple. His Adam’s apple bobbed, causing the collar of his shirt to shift and tug at the buttons.
It was indeed a bit awkward.
Ji Wenzhen’s dark eyes stared at him, and with his slender fingers, he lightly tapped Bo Xinghang’s forehead, saying calmly, “Snap out of it.”
Bo Xinghang didn’t move.
He was clearly still lost in thought.
No wonder Doctor Ji took off his jacket; it was indeed a bit hot today.
Hot enough to be… restless and agitated.
Seeing Doctor Ji speak so openly, Bo Xinghang found it less awkward himself.
They were both open about it, and neither would mention the elephant in the room.
The corners of his lips curled, and his eyes narrowed.
“Hmm? It can’t be what I imagined?”
Ji Wenzhen picked up the completed medical form, stood up, and looked at him. “What do you think?”
“Well, I won’t say it, in case you end up chasing me.”
Ji Wenzhen stifled a laugh. “Then don’t say it. What if I really do chase you?”
“Then I’d have to reject you.” Bo Xinghang stood up, tiptoed to whisper in Ji Wenzhen’s ear, and couldn’t help but ask, “Are you… um, gay?”
Ji Wenzhen raised his eyelids. “Mm.”
“Oh?” Bo Xinghang laughed. “What a coincidence, so am I.”
He watched Doctor Ji’s expression and saw him slightly curl his lips, delivering his next words between his teeth.
“Oh, kid, focus on your studies and don’t get distracted by other things.”
