TSBDRA 11: I Need To Get A Check Up

Xu Xishuang picked at his food distractedly through the entire meal. Xiao Wang thought he just had no appetite and offered to make him some light late-night snacks when they got back, but Xu Xishuang turned him down.

Across the table, both Yan Yushan and Chi Siyuan noticed something was off. Chi Siyuan brought his glass over and clinked it against Xu Xishuang’s, using the gesture as an excuse to lean in and quietly ask what was wrong.

Xu Xishuang looked at Chi Siyuan’s innocent face: …

How was he supposed to say it? “I think I might be carrying your canon love interest’s baby”?

His scalp tingled. He made an excuse about not feeling well, got up from the table, and declined Xiao Wang and Chi Siyuan’s offers to walk him back. He took a mask out of his pocket and carefully covered most of his face before leaving the hotpot restaurant.

He deliberately took a few detours to avoid being seen, then headed straight to the same pharmacy where he had bought the morning-after pills last time.

The pharmacy clerk remembered the “scumbag with pretty eyes” vividly. When she saw him now buying a pregnancy test, she immediately guessed the pills hadn’t worked, and shot him a sneaky eye-roll behind the counter, cursing him out in her heart.

Xu Xishuang, who caught the eye-roll: …

He was so wrongly accused, truly. 

Like a thief, he slipped back into the hotel with the test hidden in his pocket, locked his room door, snuck into the bathroom, forced himself to read the instructions through the shame, then followed each step to the letter.

Three minutes later, Xu Xishuang stared at the two bold lines and fell into a long, stunned silence.

He had a thousand curses in his head but found himself unable to utter a single word. He just sat there on the toilet lid, numb, hands trembling.

After a long while, Xu Xishuang let out a low, broken laugh, covering his face.

…Fuck.

He slowly lowered his hand and looked at his reflection in the mirror. It had the same familiar features but it was no longer the same body, and this wasn’t his world anymore. There was no going back.

The original plot hadn’t changed. Even after taking the pills, he was still pregnant.

Expressionless, Xu Xishuang recalled the novel. It was from Lüjiang, and he remembered the backlash in the comments when it was revealed the main couple’s child wasn’t theirs biologically. Readers had flooded the author with complaints, questioning if the character of Xu Xishuang even needed to exist, accusing the author of adding him just to disgust people. The author had replied—

【Sorry, sweethearts. It’s too late to change the character now but don’t worry—Xu Xishuang will definitely exit the story after giving birth.】

Exit… So he would die after giving birth. That part of the plot was set in stone?

Xu Xishuang clenched his fists. That feeling of being sentenced to death was unbearable. It felt like a fire was burning in his chest, filling him with fury. He stared at himself in the mirror, the anger finally breaking loose. He raised his arm and slammed a fist straight into the glass.

With a loud crash, the mirror shattered. Shards of glass sliced into Xu Xishuang’s pale fingers, and bright red blood seeped from the cuts, dripping onto the sink like scattered red plum blossoms.

The pain pulled him back to reality. Xu Xishuang looked down at his injured hand, slowly pulled it away from the broken shards, then returned to the room, bandaged it up himself, and called room service.

Someone arrived before room service did—Chi Siyuan.

He had originally planned to come over to run lines with Xu Xishuang that night, but after hearing that he wasn’t feeling well, had scrapped the idea. Still, he couldn’t sleep. Tossing and turning in bed, he finally decided to check on him.

He thought Xu Xishuang would be asleep by now, and he would be making the trip for nothing but when the door cracked open and he saw Xu Xishuang with an injured hand, his eyes widened. He forced his way in and tried to drag Xu Xishuang out to see a doctor.

The commotion was loud enough to rouse other guests. Xu Xishuang couldn’t fight Chi Siyuan’s strength, and before he knew it, he was being pulled into the hallway. Doors creaked open all around them as people peeked out, asking what was going on.

Yan Yushan, who had been reviewing footage in his room, heard their voices and shot up from his chair. He stepped out and looked down the hallway.

He saw Chi Siyuan dragging Xu Xishuang forward, and clearly stumbling, not going willingly. Yan Yushan immediately frowned and barked, “What are you doing?!”

Xu Xishuang jerked his head up.

He saw Yan Yushan’s gaze fixed on the point where he and Chi Siyuan were touching, his expression unreadable. Something in Xu Xishuang snapped. After everything tonight, the last people he wanted to see were the novel’s main couple. Call it pettiness if you want but they were the last people he could tolerate right now, and yet here they were, parading themselves in front of him. Even a saint would lose their temper.

He yanked his hand out of Chi Siyuan’s grip. Chi Siyuan looked utterly stunned.

Biting back his emotions, Xu Xishuang suddenly remembered the pregnancy test still sitting on the bathroom sink. He panicked but kept a straight face, explaining to the others. “I accidentally broke the mirror in the bathroom and cut my hand. It’s nothing serious.”

Chi Siyuan tried to say something, but Xu Xishuang shut him down coldly. “I’m not feeling unwell, the cut’s already been treated. I’ll go to the doctor tomorrow. Please, everyone get some rest—we have a shooting tomorrow. Sorry for the trouble.”

Yan Yushan opened his mouth to speak, but Xu Xishuang shot him a glare so sharp and annoyed that he fell silent. He could only stand there and watch as Xu Xishuang walked back into his room and shut the door firmly in his face.

…

Xu Xishuang didn’t sleep a wink that night. He lay there, thinking over and over about how to avoid this seemingly inescapable fate. He came up with dozens of ideas—only to reject them all.

The next morning, with dark circles under his eyes, he texted Yan Yushan asking for a day off to see a doctor.

Yan Yushan quickly replied and agreed, even offering to send someone with him. Xu Xishuang declined, left Xiao Wang at the hotel, and went alone.

The cuts on his hand weren’t serious. It’s just a few small scrapes that looked worse than they were. They would heal in three or four days but that wasn’t why he was going out.

He needed to find out if he was really pregnant.

He still held on to a sliver of hope. Maybe he wasn’t. Maybe the pills worked. Maybe he could avoid the death flag in the plot. He wanted to live—he wanted nothing to do with the protagonist couple’s romance.

Male pregnancy was so absurdly impossible that he couldn’t just walk into a public hospital for an exam. If he really was pregnant, the news would explode. What if they treated him like a lab rat?

After a lot of hesitation, he realized there was only one doctor he could trust: Dr. Xu.

From the start, they’d signed a confidentiality agreement. Dr. Xu was bound to protect all his private information and would use all means necessary to treat him. Any health issue Xu Xishuang had could be brought to him, and all costs were covered by Yan Yushan.

So Xu Xishuang headed to Dr. Xu’s private clinic. As a VIP patient, no appointment was necessary.

Dr. Xu wasn’t surprised to see him. Calm and professional, he motioned for Xu Xishuang to sit down and got straight to the point. “Have you made up your mind?”

“…Huh?” Xu Xishuang blinked.

“Letting me name your rare spontaneous-blood-coughing condition after you,” Dr. Xu said gently.

Xu Xishuang: …

“No,” he replied.

“Got it.” Dr. Xu nodded. Then, back to business. “Have you been feeling any better lately? Any issues?”

“I think there might be something wrong with my body,” Xu Xishuang said seriously. “Dr. Xu, do you believe men can get pregnant?”

“No,” Dr. Xu replied without missing a beat. “That’s not scientifically or anatomically possible.”

Then he hesitated. “That said, if technology advances enough, I suppose it might be possible in the future but under normal conditions, no. Why do you ask?”

Xu Xishuang didn’t answer that question. Instead, he asked, “Would you be interested in researching it? Or willing to start?”

“No,” Dr. Xu replied with finality. “I’ve studied gynecology, but that’s not my specialty.”

Xu Xishuang gave a small nod of relief. He straightened his posture, placed both hands on his thighs, and said with forced calm.

“Dr. Xu, I think I might be pregnant.”

Dr. Xu’s pen froze over the chart. His brain lagged for two seconds but he was a seasoned doctor. He recovered quickly, scribbling notes while mumbling under his breath, “The patient appears to be experiencing mild psychosis due to prolonged stress…”

Xu Xishuang: …

“I really might be pregnant,” Xu Xishuang repeated. “I need to get checked.”

Dr. Xu stared at him for a moment, then stood up and said, “Alright. Come with me.”