Cai Lang was discharged just before sunset.
The doctor repeated the instructions twice no sudden movements, no strenuous activity, no stress.
Cai Lang nodded through all of it with practiced patience, but Suo Ran listened like every word was a rule that could save a life.
"I'll take him home," Suo ran said immediately.
Lian Ziho paused.
"I can do it," Lian ziho said instead, casual on the surface. "You should rest, Suo ran. You've barely slept."
Suo ran shook his head. "I'm fine."
"You're not," Lian replied gently. "You stayed up all night."
"I said I'm fine."
Cai Lang glanced between them, sensing the tension.
"Suo ran doesn't need to "
he began.
"I'm staying with him,"
Suo ran cut in quietly, but firmly. "Until he's okay."
Lian ziho's s jaw tightened just a little.
"I said I can handle it,"
Lian ziho repeated. "You don't have to worry about Cai Lang."
Suo ran finally looked at him. "I do worry."
That landed heavier than anyone expected.
The hallway went quiet.
Lian ziho forced a smile. "You worry too much."
"Maybe," Suo ran said. "But I'm not leaving."
Cai Lang didn't speak.
He only watched Suo ran how resolute he looked, how tired, how unwilling to step away.
"…Fine," Lian ziho said after a moment. "Do whatever you want."
He turned away before anyone could see his expression.
Cai Lang's apartment felt different this time.
Not colder.
Not darker.
Just… occupied.
Suo ran moved slowly, carefully, making sure Cai Lang sat down before he did anything else. He arranged pillows, brought water, checked the bandages like he knew what he was doing.
"You're hovering," Cai Lang said.
Suo didn't deny it.
"You're injured."
"I'm not fragile."
"You almost died."
Cai Lang fell quiet.
Suo ran softened. "…Don't scare me like that again."
Cai Lang looked at him for a long moment, then nodded. "I'll try."
It wasn't a promise.
But it was close.
They ate quietly simple food, nothing fancy.
Cai Lang winced once when he moved wrong, and Suo was there immediately, hand hovering uselessly, anxiety written all over his face.
Cai Lang caught his wrist gently. "I'm okay."
Suo ran pulled back, embarrassed. "Sorry."
"Don't be."
The apartment settled into an unfamiliar calm.
Cai Lang had insisted he was fine that the injury was minor but the image of blood on his hands refused to leave Suo Ran's mind.
"I'll… get something from my place," Suo Ran said quietly.
Cai Lang glanced at him, as if wanting to say more, but only nodded.
"Don't take long."
Suo Ran forced a small nod and turned away.
Inside Suo Ran's Apartment__
The room was dim.
Unmoved.
Silent.
As if time had paused while he was gone.
He didn't turn on the lights.
Instead, he walked straight to the bathroom, flicked on the small overhead lamp, and braced both hands on the sink.
The mirror reflected a face he barely recognized.
Pale.
Exhausted.
Eyes rimmed red.
For a long moment, he just stared.
Then his fingers tightened against the porcelain.
"…It's my fault."
The words came out as a whisper.
The mirror did not argue.
If he hadn't gotten involved with the scroll…
If he hadn't pulled Cai Lang into this…
If he had left sooner…
Cai Lang wouldn't have been bleeding.
Jun Wei wouldn't be hiding.
Lian Ziho wouldn't be dragged into danger he never asked for.
His breath hitched.
"…I ruin everything," he said, voice breaking.
The sound of his own confession echoed faintly off the tile walls.
His shoulders began to shake.
He tried to stop it pressing his lips together, squeezing his eyes shut but the tears came anyway, silent and relentless, sliding down his face and falling into the sink below.
No one saw.
No one heard.
He covered his mouth with his hand to keep the sound inside.
Because he didn't deserve to be comforted.
Because this was the truth he would never say aloud:
If anything happens to them…
It will be because of me.
His knees nearly gave out, but he forced himself upright, gripping the sink harder.
After several minutes, the tears slowed.
He washed his face in cold water, watching the redness fade into something easier to hide.
By the time he stepped back, the man in the mirror looked composed again.
Almost steady.
Almost convincing.
But his eyes still carried something fragile — a crack he could not seal.
When Suo Ran stepped back into the hallway, he paused outside Cai Lang's door.
He lifted his hand.
Hesitated.
Lowered it.
Then knocked anyway.
Because no matter how much he believed this was his fault…
He still couldn't walk away.
The knock was soft.
Almost hesitant.
Cai Lang opened the door within seconds, as if he had been standing there the whole time.
Suo Ran stood in the hallway, a small paper bag in his hand bandages, antiseptic, things he didn't really need to buy but needed an excuse to leave for.
"You took long," Cai Lang said.
His tone was neutral.
But his eyes were not.
They moved once quick, sharp over Suo Ran's face.
Red rims.
Faint swelling.
Skin still damp near the temples.
Cai Lang noticed.
He always noticed.
Suo Ran shifted slightly. "The pharmacy was crowded."
A lie.
A poor one.
Cai Lang stepped aside to let him in.
"I didn't ask for an explanation," he said.
Suo Ran paused at that.
Inside, the apartment lights were low.
The curtains half drawn. The quiet felt different from before heavier, like something unspoken had settled between them.
Suo Ran set the bag on the table and began taking items out one by one, focusing too carefully on arranging them.
Cotton.
Tape.
Antiseptic.
His hands were steady.
Too steady.
Cai Lang watched him for a moment, then sat down on the couch.
"You're putting them in size order," he said.
Suo Ran froze.
He hadn't realized.
He let out a small breath and stopped moving.
Silence stretched.
Cai Lang leaned back, eyes half-lidded.
"You only do that when you're trying not to think."
Suo Ran didn't look at him.
"…You're imagining things."
Another lie.
Cai Lang didn't argue.
Instead, he said quietly, "It wasn't your fault."
The words landed like a stone in still water.
Suo Ran's fingers curled slightly against the table.
"You don't know what I'm thinking," he replied.
"I know enough."
Silence again.
Not hostile.
Not comfortable.
Just full.
Suo Ran finally turned, meeting Cai Lang's gaze for a brief second before looking away.
"You should rest," he said. "The doctor said—"
"The doctor said I'll live," Cai Lang interrupted. "Stop acting like I'm dying."
Suo Ran's jaw tightened.
"That's not what I "
"You're hovering," Cai Lang said. "Like if you step away, something will break."
Suo Ran didn't respond.
Because it was true.
Cai Lang watched him for a long moment, then sighed not annoyed, not frustrated. Just… tired.
"If something breaks," he said quietly, "it won't be because of you."
Suo Ran's throat tightened.
He looked up really looked and for a second, the walls he had built showed cracks.
But only for a second.
He turned away again, picking up the antiseptic bottle.
"You're bleeding through the bandage," he said.
A deflection.
Cai Lang allowed it.
He extended his arm.
Suo Ran stepped closer to clean the wound, movements careful, almost reverent. The scent of antiseptic filled the small space between them.
Neither spoke.
But the silence was different now.
Not empty.
Not accusing.
Just fragile.
Elsewhere, Lian Ziho sat at a crowded table, surrounded by noise.
Music thumped. Glasses clinked. His friends laughed too loudly.
"You've been quiet," one of them said, pushing a drink toward him. "Drink.
Lian did.
Then another...
And another...
Someone asked about work, Someone joked about dating,Someone mentioned Suo's name without thinking.
Lian ziho laughed too sharp.
"Don't."
His friends exchanged looks.
"What?" one asked.
Lian ziho leaned back, eyes unfocused. "I just don't like it."
"Like what?"
"When he worries about Cai Lang," Lian ziho said, voice slurring slightly. "I don't like that he looks at him like that."
Someone chuckled. "You jealous?"
"No," Lian ziho said immediately. Too fast.
"He's my friend."
The word friend felt thin.
His phone was lifted somewhere across the table.
A red light blinked.
Lian ziho didn't notice.
"I just…" he muttered. "I don't want him to get hurt again."
He slumped sideways, words fading into sleep.
The recording kept going for a few more seconds.
Back at the apartment, night fell quietly.
The fear.
The way caring felt dangerous now.
Cai Lang spoke again, voice lower. "My father came to see me."
Suo ran looked up sharply. "What?"
"He knows about you," Cai Lang said. "Or at least… enough."
Suo's chest tightened. "Is that why he told you to stay away?"
Cai Lang didn't deny it.
"…I'm sorry," Suo ran whispered.
Cai Lang reached out, stopping him. "Don't say that."
"But if I wasn't "
"If you weren't here," Cai Lang interrupted, "I'd still be in danger. This isn't about you existing."
Suo ran swallowed hard.
They sat there in silence, the city humming outside.
Cai Lang broke it softly.
"I'm glad you stayed."
Suo nodded. "Me too."
For the first time in days, Cai Lang slept easily on the couch, bandaged and exhausted, with Suo sitting nearby, reading quietly, making sure he didn't wake in pain.
Healing didn't feel dramatic.
It felt like this.
Quiet, Careful,Intimate.
Across the city, Lian Ziho slept with his phone buzzing beside him.
A recording saved.
Words said he hadn't meant to hear himself.
And feelings he still refused to name.