Chapter 62

The evening air was so hot and dry that it was irritating.

Jin Chuwan listened to the boy's hoarse voice, and his body was so hot that it made her feel uncomfortable.

"Li Xing'en, are you crazy?"

Unable to contain her anger, she looked up again, but even with all her might, she couldn't see his profile, let alone look him in the eye and vent her anger at how dissatisfied she was and how absurd he was.

Before her eyes was only the boy's fair neck and the clear teeth marks on his delicate skin.

The clouds had piled up into a sea in the sky without Jin Chuwan noticing, and the once dazzling sunlight seemed to dim in an instant. A light, restless breeze swept in with the darkening sky, and she felt the flowing heat waves brush against her cheeks, then hastily wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Jin Chuwan let out a breath and closed her eyes as if she were extremely tired.

The key she was about to use to open the door was in her hand, with the little dog that Li Xing'en had given her hanging on it.

The question that he had once used to sway her was now suddenly answered in a fierce, crazy, yet subtle and restrained way, but she felt no surprise, only a sense of being caught off guard.

Jin Chuwan felt a tightness in her chest.

She suppressed the emotions that had been surging within her not long ago and tried to relax.

"Xing En, I'm so hot, can you let go of me first?"

The head in her arms swayed slightly.

"I'm hot too."

He was hot too.

He was not just hot; at this moment, Li Xing'en was completely in a state of confusion and chaos.

He initially thought his unusual emotional state was simply due to the unease and restlessness caused by her constantly looking at others.

In the past, if he had noticed she wasn't there, he would have made a phone call to inquire and then left.

But today he was unusually anxious, and his inner doubts were easily stirred up and amplified. He didn't even know why he insisted on waiting at the door. By the time he realized it, the sun had already set, and he was enveloped in endless heat.

His throat felt like it was on fire; he couldn't move and didn't want to move.

The setting sun, like a shattered mirror, shattered all the way into the clouds, and the wind, which had just been tentatively stirring, suddenly began to howl.

Jin Chuwan felt the whole building shake.

The two people's hair was blown about wildly and tangled together by the strong wind.

Kim Cho-wan felt Lee Sung-eun hug her tightly again, but this time the embrace felt more like protection than possession.

She sighed again.

The boy's head rested wearily on Jin Chuwan's shoulder. She guessed that Li Xing'en was probably forcing himself to stay strong, but he was stubbornly resisting her.

Or perhaps it was coercion.

Knowing that his feelings had been laid bare, he decided to throw caution to the wind and demand an answer from her.

Jin Chuwan felt as if she were shrouded in a vast, murky sense of helplessness.

It wasn't that I felt helpless towards Li Xing'en, but rather towards myself.

She couldn't love anyone, nor did she know what it felt like to be moved. She didn't know why she was like this, only that she had been like this for a long time.

Her indifference to love has reached the point where those around her suspect she has been hurt.

However, she did not feel that she had any psychological trauma.

She is able to communicate normally with people and can empathize with sadness or happiness when appropriate.

She just doesn't know how to love anyone.

Even seeing that kind of enviable happiness together doesn't make her feel longing or hopeful for someone to be by her side like that.

She is a clownfish who is used to and enjoys diving alone among the corals, but Jiang Chen and Li Xing'en are like a deep-sea whale and a bloodthirsty shark traveling together.

They came aggressively, taking turns ramming into her coral reef, determined to drive her out.

That's too much.

Jin Chuwan thought to herself sullenly.

After a period of howling wind, the wind suddenly became still, and soon a torrential downpour began.

Jin Chuwan heard several exclamations from downstairs, followed by the sound of raindrops crashing against the eaves.

The waist-high railing of the old building couldn't shield them from the wind and rain, but Li Xing'en pressed her head into his arms, and Jin Chuwan simply sat there with him.

Her gaze passed over the boy's shoulder to the dark sky and the rain curtain that separated them in the corridor.

Time flowed by unnoticed, and she felt Li Xing'en's breathing gradually become steady, then she leaned back weakly.

The rain was still falling, and the once scorching air was gradually turning cold.

But Jin Chuwan didn't feel cold. She was being held by the human-shaped heating machine, and even when he was unconscious, he could still hold her tightly in his arms.

However, the water in the corridor gradually increased.

Kim Cho-wan smiled bitterly and lamented that her clothes always seemed to have a tragic fate.

But this lament didn't last long; a series of hurried footsteps startled Jin Chuwan, who was lost in thought.

Because she was being held tightly, she couldn't easily turn her head to look at the direction of the stairs. She could only hear the footsteps going from rapid to stopping, and then slowly approaching her in silence.

When Jin Chuwan finally poked her head out, she was met with a pair of eyes that were even darker than the sky.

Jiang Chen's black suit was completely soaked, and even his hair was dripping wet, but he still stood straight, showing no signs of being haggard or disheveled.

Now, this world of buildings, bounded by fences, has gained another person.

Jin Chuwan looked at Jiang Chen, and he was looking at her too.

The two seemed to have returned to that time in the past when they were under the same roof but remained speechless and at odds.

“Um… Li Xing’en, ​​he seems to be sick. Could you help me lift this guy up?”

Jiang Chen's eyes darkened. After staring at Jin Chuwan for a while, he finally showed a hint of fatigue in his expression.

He freed Kim Cho-man from Lee Sung-eun's grasp, then stood behind Kim Cho-man, holding the unconscious Lee Sung-eun.

He arrived with a jumble of thoughts, but upon seeing Kim Cho-wan, his mind went blank for a brief moment.

Various assumptions formed a continuous picture in his mind, making his breath catch in his throat.

However, this is all temporary.

After Jiang Chen and Jin Chuwan opened the door, they threw Li Xing'en onto the sofa.

He was soaked to the bone, and just by standing there, a puddle of water was left at his feet.

Jin Chuwan wasn't in the mood to dwell on those things. She went straight into the bedroom, then took her change of clothes and went into the bathroom. Before going in, she still spoke politely to Jiang Chen.

You can sit anywhere.

After saying that, she locked the bathroom door.

Jiang Chen glanced around the room but made no move. He then glanced at Li Xing'en, who was lying unconscious on the sofa. He had noticed the mark on Li Xing'en's neck as soon as he put him down.

Jiang Chen kept his head down, his rain-soaked hair obscuring his eyes, making it impossible to discern his emotions.

The old house had poor sound insulation; he could hear the sound of water flowing, and his dark eyes flickered slightly.

A short while later, Jin Chuwan opened the door and came out. She felt much refreshed after taking a shower, and her mind was also clearer.

She glanced at Jiang Chen, who was still in the same posture he had when he entered the room, silent as a sculpture in a palace.

In the cramped little room, Jin Chuwan didn't know where to look if she wanted to look away.

But this stalemate will only make her more and more helpless.

So she spoke first, in a fairly light and gentle tone: "You came here suddenly because you thought you could take shelter from the rain here?"

Jin Chuwan's words seemed to amuse Jiang Chen. He finally raised his eyes, his dark eyes slightly narrowed, as if he was suppressing some hidden emotion despite his smile.

"I came here to take shelter from the rain."

He calmly repeated Jin Chuwan's words, then shifted his gaze to the boy on the sofa.

"So, he's here for treatment?"

The boy's face was flushed with an unnatural blush. Only after Jiang Chen reminded him did Jin Chuwan seem to finally remember Li Xing'en.

She gave a wry smile, then went back into the bedroom.

When she came out, she was carrying a first-aid kit and a set of men's pajamas.

This was left by Li Xing'en, so she could hang it on the balcony.

"This is all I have at home, and there's hot water in the bathroom."

After Jin Chuwan finished speaking, she hung her pajamas on the back of the chair. In any case, she had made her point; if Jiang Chen wanted to get wet, so be it, and if he wanted to change, so be it.

Jiang Chen continued to stare straight at Jin Chuwan. Her face was somewhat pale, and her light-colored pupils flickered slightly. She seemed calm and composed, but she never dared to meet his gaze.

Jiang Chen's breathing became longer, but a muffled laugh escaped his throat.

However, he accepted Jin Chuwan's kindness and slowly walked into the bathroom with his pajamas.

Jin Chuwan gradually relaxed after the bathroom door closed. She raised her hand to press her head, recalling that moment when they made eye contact.

She wasn't inhuman or heartless; she simply wanted to live according to her own desires.

But she never imagined that such a shattered look would appear in his eyes.

Kim Cho-wan lowered her head and then picked up the hot towel she had just prepared to wipe the unconscious Lee Sung-eun.

He was quiet now, his features softened, and he looked gentle, harmless, and approachable. Jin Chuwan raised her hand to brush away the stray strands of hair that clung to his face, but hesitated when she touched his skin.

His body temperature was still burning hot, so hot that you could tell how abnormal it was without any thermometer.

Jin Chuwan inexplicably recalled the suffocating hug she had received not long ago, but she quickly patted her face to clear her head.

That's enough, stop thinking about it.

--

When Jiang Chen came out of the bathroom, Jin Chuwan had already given Li Xing'en his medicine and wrapped a blanket around him.

She knew she should take him to the hospital now, but it was raining too hard outside.

Jiang Chen dried the water stains on his neck and threw the towel aside. He saw the worried look on Jin Chuwan's face, but then he remembered why he had come here to find her.

He wanted to tell her that he didn't believe she was with Ran Xian at all.

They had no feelings for each other at all. Even if she said she liked him, he wouldn't believe her, and he wouldn't be swayed in the slightest by such a ridiculous thing.

Jiang Chen's thin lips moved slightly, but in the end he simply looked away in silence.

He still didn't speak, because now was not the time.

"If you're worried, I can contact a doctor to come over."

Jiang Chen glanced at Li Xing'en, his dark eyes revealing no emotion.

From the moment he learned of Kim Cho-man and Lee Sung-eun's acquaintance, he was trapped in a prison cell called regret.

He could have stopped it; if only he had cared for her more and spent more time with her back then.

When Jin Chuwan heard that he could contact a doctor, she immediately looked at him with pleading eyes.

Looking into those eyes, Jiang Chen felt both suffocated and powerless.

He picked up his phone from the table and answered the call. Perhaps because he had been in the rain, his voice was a little hoarse.

He calmly explained the patient's condition and address to the doctor, but his eyes held an overwhelming resentment.

It would have been better if they had never met.

It would be great if they didn't know each other.