ACBAM 31: Acting

Su Shijin saw that Gu Weiyang was still staring at him blankly without reacting. Thinking he hadn’t fully woken up yet, he reached out again to gently block his line of sight and said softly, “Aren’t you tired from staring like that? Take a break.”

Gu Weiyang blinked quickly twice, suddenly realizing that the other thought there was something wrong with him.

But it was probably the first time Gu Weiyang had ever been coaxed so gently by Su Shijin. He subconsciously pressed his lips together and said nothing.

Seeing that he didn’t respond, Su Shijin blocked his gaze for a moment, then withdrew his hand.

Gu Weiyang was still staring at him with that same intense look. Su Shijin let out a sigh, realizing that he might’ve already gotten used to that gaze. Being stared at like this, he could now face it calmly.

Habit really is a scary thing.

Gu Weiyang watched as Su Shijin lowered his head and continued looking at his phone, occasionally reminding him to blink and rest his eyes, but he never left his side.

Gu Weiyang thought back to what had happened earlier when he wasn’t fully awake and felt embarrassed by his reaction. Losing control was embarrassing, suddenly calming down the moment he saw him was embarrassing, and even staring at him was embarrassing.

But since he had already embarrassed himself, Gu Weiyang shamelessly kept staring at him.

This was the first time Gu Weiyang had looked at Su Shijin this closely while fully awake.

The omega had great skin, delicate and beautiful features, long, curled lashes that hung down, and lips that were a soft pink—they looked very kissable…

As Gu Weiyang stared at those pale pink lips, his throat itched with a shameful urge.

He wanted to kiss him.

Gu Weiyang stared at his lips and lightly licked his own.

He hadn’t expected that moment to be caught in Su Shijin’s peripheral vision. The omega put down his phone and looked at him. “Thirsty?”

Gu Weiyang was so startled he nearly choked on his own saliva and his pupils even contracted slightly.

Fortunately, the omega didn’t think much of it. He had no idea Gu Weiyang had been staring at his lips, wanting to kiss him so badly it made his mouth go dry. He just assumed he was thirsty. So he reached over, picked up the cup of water and a cotton swab, dipped the swab in the water, and gently touched it to his lips.

“The doctor said it’s easy to choke if you drink water while you’re still out of it, so let’s make do with this for now. Once you’re fully awake, you can sit up and drink properly, alright?” Su Shijin murmured smoothly to himself as he gently moistened Gu Weiyang’s lips with the cotton swab.

In less than an hour, Su Shijin had already gotten the hang of talking to an unresponsive Gu Weiyang. He had even said more to him like this than he ever did when Gu Weiyang was fully awake.

Maybe it was because he knew the other wasn’t conscious, so he didn’t have to hold back. Whatever came to mind, he just said it.

But then again, once Mr. Gu wakes up, will he remember what happened while he wasn’t conscious?

Su Shijin paused for a moment as he dabbed water onto his lips with a cotton swab, thinking that, well, it did seem possible.

But after recalling what he had said earlier, it had all been quite normal. There’s nothing strange so he didn’t worry too much. At most, he was just helping the doctor collect some data. If it could be of help to Mr. Gu’s condition, then saying a few words wasn’t a big deal.

“Alright, this is the best we can do for now to quench your thirst.” Su Shijin put the cup back in its place, tossed the cotton swab into the trash, and took a moment to observe Gu Weiyang’s complexion. He seemed a lot better than when he first came in. He was no longer pale, and his eyes weren’t as red.

…Wait a second.

Why did it look like his face was getting redder and redder?

Su Shijin frowned slightly, carefully scanning Gu Weiyang’s face up and down. It really did seem like his face had gotten a lot redder.

“Your face is really red. Are you feeling hot? Should I ask them to turn down the air conditioning?” Su Shijin glanced at the straitjacket wrapped tightly around him, thinking he looked like a silkworm cocoon. Just looking at it made him feel warm.

Before Gu Weiyang could respond, Su Shijin raised his hand and gestured toward the glass window.

Director Luo was probably no longer there. The one who replied was the nurse in charge of monitoring the data, “Do you need something?”

“Could you turn the air conditioning down a bit?” Su Shijin asked.

“Of course.” The other party responded, and not long after, the airflow from the air conditioner in the room noticeably cooled down a bit.

Su Shijin wasn’t dressed very warmly and even felt the temperature was a bit cold, but the patient came first, and he could still tolerate it.

The problem was, while Su Shijin could handle it, Gu Weiyang couldn’t.

The alpha looked at the omega in front of him, who was clearly shivering a little from the cold, and couldn’t keep up the act any longer.

He shifted slightly on the bed, let out a couple of soft groans, then closed his eyes—only to slowly open them again and meet Su Shijin’s gaze.

“Su… Doctor?” Because he hadn’t spoken in a while and his throat really was parched, Gu Weiyang’s voice sounded tired and raspy, like someone who had just woken up.

That half-dead tone of his had him silently applauding his own acting in his heart.

Su Shijin looked a bit surprised. “Mr. Gu, you’re awake?”

He quickly pressed the nearby call button to summon the doctors and nurses.

Director Luo came in with several nurses, pushing medical equipment, and gave Mr. Gu a full check-up from head to toe.

Ten minutes later, Director Luo smiled at Su Shijin and said, “Mr. Gu is basically stable for now. Mr. Su can try feeding him a bit of food and water. He’s currently in an unstable susceptible period and it’s hard to say whether he’ll lose control again in a few hours. Getting some food in him will at least make sure he has enough energy to keep struggling.”

Su Shijin nodded, indicating he understood.

Since he had already taken the afternoon off, he wasn’t in a hurry to leave. Once the nurses unfastened Gu Weiyang’s restraints and removed the straitjacket, he maneuvered his wheelchair forward and poured a cup of water for him.

“Would you like some water first?” Su Shijin held the cup out in front of him and asked softly.

Gu Weiyang was drenched in sweat after getting out of the straitjacket. The white T-shirt underneath was soaked and clung tightly to his body, faintly revealing his abs and chest muscles.

He instinctively reached out to take the water Su Shijin was offering, but the moment his hand moved, his brain slammed the brakes. His hand, which had just lifted a little, suddenly dropped back to his side as if drained of strength.

“S-Sorry, I don’t really have any strength in my hands right now,” Gu Weiyang leaned back against the raised headboard, looking somewhat apologetic as he gazed at Su Shijin.

Su Shijin held the cup in his hand, caught in an awkward moment, neither offering it forward nor pulling it back felt quite right.

Gu Weiyang even deliberately licked his dry lips and let out a few light coughs, making his already sickly appearance look even more pitiful.

Su Shijin hesitated for a moment, then gently extended his arm and brought the cup to his lips, speaking softly, “If you don’t mind, would it be alright if I fed you like this?”

Gu Weiyang’s hand, resting at his side, trembled slightly. He felt like this was something even his dreams wouldn’t dare conjure—Su Shijin feeding him water. It was like fireworks were exploding in his chest, crackling wildly, and even his breathing grew a little heavier.

Su Shijin keenly noticed the pheromones in the air seemed to stir a little and asked, “Are you feeling unwell again?”

“No, I’m fully conscious right now.” Afraid that Su Shijin might pull his hand back, Gu Weiyang quickly lowered his head to touch the rim of the cup, letting Su Shijin carefully feed him a few sips of water.

Whether intentional or not, Gu Weiyang drank a little too quickly. Su Shijin, seated in his wheelchair and not able to adjust easily, accidentally let some water spill from the corner of Gu Weiyang’s mouth and trail down to his neck.

Once he finished drinking, Su Shijin quickly set the cup down on the nearby table, pulled out a few tissues, and handed them to him. “Wipe your neck.”

Gu Weiyang ‘tried’ hard to lift his hand to take the tissue, but his arm seemed completely drained of strength, muscles tense and unmoving.

Left with no choice, Su Shijin quietly said, “Pardon me,” then carefully reached out and wiped the water off his neck.

“There’s some under the collar too,” Gu Weiyang lied shamelessly, his face calm while his heart pounded wildly.

Su Shijin couldn’t see anything, but still pulled out two more tissues, gently tugged open Gu Weiyang’s collar, and wiped the area around his collarbone.

Gu Weiyang was the one being wiped, yet it was Su Shijin’s ears that inexplicably turned red.

“All done.” Su Shijin pulled his hand back and tossed the tissues into the trash, feeling a little embarrassed to look up at him.

This was the first time in his life he had ever reached into an alpha’s collar and his face was slightly flushed.

Seeing that shy little look on his face, Gu Weiyang felt an itch stir deep in his chest.

But fortunately, he was still in a clear-headed state, with his rationality intact. Knowing that too much could backfire, even though he was tempted to tease him a little more, Gu Weiyang shut his eyes and forced the impulse down hard.

Take it slow. Take it slow.

With his eyes closed, Gu Weiyang kept repeating it to himself—he had to take it slow.

Once the restless gland at the back of his neck finally calmed down, Gu Weiyang let out a quiet breath and opened his eyes to look at Su Shijin.

Su Shijin was sitting beside him, peeling an apple. The same hands that were so skilled with a scalpel handled the fruit knife with equal dexterity. The apple skin curled smoothly into a long spiral, falling neatly into the trash bin.

He found a disposable paper cup, cut the apple into bite-sized pieces, and placed them neatly inside. Then he took a fresh cotton swab, used the end of it to skewer a piece of apple, brought it to Gu Weiyang’s lips, and asked, “Would you like some?”

What a joke.

Could Gu Weiyang possibly say no?

He opened his mouth and took the piece of apple in without hesitation.

Gu Weiyang swore, this piece of apple was the sweetest thing he had ever tasted in his entire life.

Gu Weiyang swore, the water he drank today was the sweetest he’d ever had in his life.

And that bite of apple today, it was the sweetest apple he had ever tasted.

Su Shijin was patient when it came to taking care of people. It felt just like tending to the animals hospitalized at Anshi—feeding him bit by bit. When he saw Gu Weiyang finish the whole apple, he even felt a kind of satisfaction, like he had finally finished feeding him.

If it were a little animal in front of him, Su Shijin would probably reach out and pat its head, praising it for being so well-behaved.

Since it was Mr. Gu sitting there, all Su Shijin did was ask, “Want some more?”

Gu Weiyang didn’t want to eat anymore.

But what could he do, it was Su Shijin feeding him.

So he nodded and shamelessly said, “One more.”

Su Shijin peeled another apple for him, cut it into small pieces, and fed it to him in a disposable cup.

Gu Weiyang used to think that apples were probably one of his least favorite fruits.

But starting today, apples had suddenly become his number one favorite fruit—no competition.

After happily finishing the second apple, Gu Weiyang couldn’t bear to ask Su Shijin to peel another, so he said he was full.

Hearing that, Su Shijin let out a breath of relief, put the fruit knife away in the drawer below, and looked over at Gu Weiyang.

The hospital room suddenly fell into a strange silence. Su Shijin’s lips moved slightly, but for a long while, he didn’t know what to say.

Fortunately, Gu Weiyang didn’t let the silence drag on. He was the first to speak. “What time did you get here?”

“Noon. It’s been a while,” Su Shijin replied.

Gu Weiyang asked, “Have you had lunch yet?”

Only then did Su Shijin remember. “Not yet.”

Gu Weiyang frowned. “I’ll have someone bring some food in.”

As he spoke, he tried to reach out to press the call button, but just in time, he suddenly remembered his arms were too weak. His hand dropped back onto the bed with a soft thud.

He looked at Su Shijin with a ‘weak’ expression and said, “You press it. Have them bring lunch in. We’ll eat together.”

Su Shijin had originally wanted to say it wasn’t necessary, but when he heard “we’ll eat together,” he thought Gu Weiyang might still be hungry after the two apples, so he pressed the call button and asked someone to bring food in.

The nurse came in quickly, bringing a meal packed from the hospital cafeteria. It was still hot. She placed the food on the tray table and then left.

Su Shijin opened the meal box, broke apart the disposable chopsticks, then paused for a moment and asked, “Your hands… should I feed you?”

Gu Weiyang took a slow breath and shook his head with some effort.

“You eat first. I’m almost recovered, I can eat on my own.”

Pretending his arms were too weak just to have Su Shijin feed him—Gu Weiyang wanted to, but his conscience couldn’t quite handle it.

Who knew Su Shijin would think he was just feeling embarrassed, and with a look of complete understanding said, “It’s fine. Your body’s still weak right now, totally understandable. We don’t know when you might lose control again, so let me feed you for now.”

The moment the rice touched his lips, Gu Weiyang felt that even if he died right then and there, it would’ve been worth it.