Unspoken Concerns (Revised Edition)
The days after the class merger were like a cup of water gradually warming up. The initial subtle awkwardness slowly melted away in the daily interactions, settling into a unique and warm rhythm. The front row was filled with a quiet, flowing understanding, while the back row was filled with lively and engaging companionship.
As the seasons changed, the flu virus began to spread silently on campus. Jiang Zhao was the first to be affected. He took two days off and returned looking dejected, his voice thick with a nasal tone.
"Stay away from me, don't let me infect you." Jiang Zhao slumped weakly on the table, waving his hand at Su An beside him.
Before Su An could reply, Lin Jun in the back row reached out and touched Jiang Zhao's forehead, her brows furrowing slightly: "You still have a slight fever. Did you take any medicine this morning?"
"I've eaten..." Jiang Zhao replied in a muffled voice, like a puppy soaked by the rain, "Brother Jun, I want to drink water."
Lin Jun sighed, resignedly picked up his water cup to get hot water, and on his way back, he also tidied up Jiang Zhao's messy textbooks.
Su An carefully avoided Jiang Zhao, afraid of getting infected. He wasn't very healthy and always caught the flu.
What he feared most came to pass. When Su An woke up Wednesday morning, his throat was dry and his head was spinning. He took his temperature: 37.8℃. After taking a fever reducer, he still insisted on going to school.
He seemed a bit listless during morning reading. Jiang Qi quickly noticed his unusual behavior. When he gasped for breath for the third time due to a stuffy nose, Jiang Qi turned her head, her brows furrowing slightly: "Are you feeling unwell?"
Su An rubbed her sore nose: "I think I have a bit of a cold, but it's nothing."
Jiang Qi didn't say anything more, but silently pushed her untouched cup of hot water towards Su An.
Su An could barely manage during the first class, but by the second class, the effects of the medicine wore off, his body temperature rose, and he felt his head getting heavier and heavier, his eyelids drooping, and even his hand holding the pen felt weak.
In his hazy state, he felt a cool touch on his forehead. It was Jiang Qi's hand. The fleeting touch jolted Su An awake. He turned his head to look at Jiang Qi.
Jiang Qi had already withdrawn his hand and was still sitting upright, but his tightly pursed lips and tense jaw betrayed his worry.
During the break, Su An could no longer hold on and collapsed onto the desk.
"Are you feeling unwell?" Jiang Qi's voice rang in my ears.
Su An buried her burning cheeks in her arms and nodded weakly.
He sensed Jiang Qi stand up and leave her seat. A moment later, an open bottle of mineral water and a brand-new box of cold medicine were placed on the corner of his desk.
"Have some water." Jiang Qi's voice brooked no refusal.
Su An thanked him quietly and took the water bottle. Jiang Qi stood beside him, neither sitting down nor leaving.
In the afternoon, Su An's temperature rose to 38.5℃. Seeing that he was not feeling well, his homeroom teacher let him go home early.
"I'll take you." Jiang Qi picked up her schoolbag, her tone calm but firm.
"No need..." Su An wanted to refuse.
"It's on my way." Jiang Qi interrupted him, already picking up Su An's schoolbag.
Walking home, Su An's steps were unsteady. Jiang Qi deliberately slowed down and walked on his outside, shielding him from the cold wind. As they approached their apartment complex, Su An tripped, and Jiang Qi reacted quickly, grabbing his arm to steady him.
"Be careful." Jiang Qi's voice was slightly tense.
Su An used his strength to steady himself, raised his head, and met Jiang Qi's worried eyes. Jiang Qi quickly looked away, let go of his hand, but her ears turned slightly red.
After escorting Su An to the entrance of the residential complex, Jiang Qi watched him walk in until his figure disappeared before slowly withdrawing his gaze. He opened the hand that had just supported Su An, his palm still seemingly retaining the slender touch of the other's arm and its slightly elevated body temperature. He clenched his fist tightly, a feeling of "heartache" gripping his heart.
Su An took two days off. During her time resting at home, although she felt unwell, she couldn't stop thinking about Jiang Qi. She remembered his slightly cool hand when he checked her temperature, the water and medicine he handed her, and his silent but firm companionship when he took her home.
On the day Su An returned to school after recovering from her illness, Jiang Qi looked over as soon as she sat down.
"alright?"
"Okay, all done." Su An gave a relaxed smile. "Thank you for taking me home that day."
Jiang Qi nodded almost imperceptibly and didn't say anything more, but the slightly tense aura around her obviously eased.
However, not long after Su An recovered from her illness, Jiang Qi encountered a small accident.
The physics competition training has entered a crucial stage, with an increase in experimental operations. During one operation, Jiang Qi accidentally cut the web of her right hand on a broken glass. The wound wasn't deep, but it bled quite a bit, and a conspicuous white bandage was applied to it.
Jiang Zhao excitedly told Su An about this: "My brother got injured! In his right hand! It will even affect his writing!"
Upon hearing this, Su An's heart tightened. He subconsciously looked at Jiang Qi's right hand and, sure enough, saw a band-aid on the web of her hand. Jiang Qi was clumsily flipping through a book with her left hand, her brows slightly furrowed.
All day long, Su An couldn't help but notice Jiang Qi's right hand. Seeing him pause when writing because of the difficulty, seeing him carefully trying to hold the water glass with his left hand, Su An's heart felt like it was being squeezed, a dull ache.
He wanted to ask, "Does it hurt?" and "Do you need any help?" but the words felt too intimate, and he couldn't bring himself to ask. He could only pay closer attention to Jiang Qi's needs.
When school ended, only the two of them remained in the classroom. Jiang Qi was much slower packing because of her hand injury. Su An waited, dawdling along.
"Jiang Qi." Su An mustered her courage and called out to him.
Jiang Qi stopped and turned around.
Su An took a small cartoon bandage box out of her schoolbag and handed it to Jiang Qi. The box was light blue with cute cloud patterns printed on it.
“This…” Su An’s cheeks flushed slightly, “It might be a little more waterproof, and the design… is quite cute.”
Jiang Qi stared blankly at the cartoon bandage handed to him. He looked down at the plain white gauze on his hand, then looked up at Su An, whose cheeks were flushed.
After a few seconds of silence, he extended his uninjured left hand and took the small box. His fingertips gently brushed against Su An's palm.
"Thank you." Jiang Qi's voice was low and hoarse. He gripped the box tightly, his gaze fixed on Su An's face, his deep eyes seeming to hold falling starlight.
Su An's cheeks burned even hotter under his gaze, and she hurriedly lowered her head: "No, you're welcome... Good luck in the competition!" After saying that, she grabbed her schoolbag and rushed out of the classroom.
Jiang Qi stood there, watching Su An's retreating figure, then looked down at the light blue bandage box in his hand, a smile involuntarily creeping onto his lips. He carefully removed the white bandage from his hand, took out a bandage with a small star pattern from the box Su An had given him, and carefully applied it.
Yes, it looks better than the original. It's also much warmer.
All of this was witnessed by Jiang Zhao, who secretly returned through the back door to retrieve the fallen homework and was forcibly pulled aside by Lin Jun to "watch".
"Did you see that?! They gave us Band-Aids! And they even have star patterns on them!" Jiang Zhao grabbed Lin Jun's arm excitedly, his voice barely audible. "My brother actually accepted them! He even smiled! He actually smiled!"
Lin Jun looked at Jiang Qi's slight upturn of her lips as she looked at the band-aid, then at Jiang Zhao beside her who was so excited he was about to jump up, and couldn't help but laugh: "Yeah, I saw it. Your 'injured player assist method' is not bad either."
"Of course!" Jiang Zhao said smugly, then suddenly remembered something and clutched his stomach. "Ouch, Brother Jun, I feel a little unwell too. I might have caught it..."
Lin Jun raised an eyebrow, reached out and expertly felt Jiang Zhao's forehead; the temperature was normal. Looking at Jiang Zhao's feigned expression, he suddenly felt like teasing him. He slid his fingers down and gently pinched Jiang Zhao's cheek, chuckling softly, "Where do you feel unwell? Hmm? Let me see."
Jiang Zhao was taken aback by his sudden affectionate gesture. His cheeks flushed red, even his ears turned red, and he stammered, "N-nothing! I'm suddenly fine! Let's go, let's go home!" He then walked out almost simultaneously.
Lin Jun chuckled softly as she watched his flustered appearance and slowly followed him.
The classroom finally fell completely quiet. Jiang Qi stroked the little star on the back of her hand, feeling as if the tiny bump was warm, soothing the softest part of her heart.
So this is what it feels like to care for and be cared for. And some seemingly noisy companionship has already become an indispensable habit without us even realizing it.
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