A Bad-Hearted Doctor is Unbearably Beautiful - Chapter 38

“Shen Zhao!”

By the faint, flickering light of the laboratory, Lu Xiao spotted Shen Zhao lying on the floor.

Shen Zhao jolted awake at the sound of his name. A flash of panic crossed his pale face, followed immediately by a frantic realization. He scrambled to sit upright, hurriedly stuffing a tattered old newspaper behind his back to hide it.

Lu Xiao closed in, his expression unreadable and darkening under the dim light. “You’re not at the hospital. What the hell are you doing here?”

Shen Zhao’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he forced out a few cold words: “None of your business.”

Lu Xiao took two large strides forward, his voice dropping to a frigid edge. “Fine. Then why don’t you tell me what you were just trying to hide?”

Shen Zhao pressed his lips together in silence. The hem of his coat was wrinkled and coated in dust from the floor.

Lu Xiao’s voice grew lower, vibrating with a mixture of forced patience and simmering fury. “I’d really love to know what kind of blow it takes to make a doctor—one with such a severe obsession with cleanliness—collapse onto a filthy floor.”

Shen Zhao looked up, his eyes flickering with wariness. “What are you even doing here?”

“You didn’t answer your phone,” Lu Xiao replied, his voice tinged with resentment.

A heavy air of confrontation filled the room, a tension that reminded Shen Zhao of the very first time they met—that high-spirited, furious Lu Xiao in the hospital corridor…

Right, Shen Zhao thought. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him like this.

“Your tone is… strange today,” Shen Zhao remarked quietly.

Lu Xiao paused, letting out a cold, sharp laugh. “Is it? I just don’t understand what you’re constantly hiding. Shen Zhao, if you want me to help you investigate this case, can’t you be a little more sincere?”

Shen Zhao looked away, his gaze indifferent. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Dongxi Town,” Lu Xiao sneered. “When Tang Jin mentioned that place, why didn’t you say a single word?”

At the mention of Dongxi Town, Shen Zhao’s eyes instantly dropped, his hands instinctively clenching at his sides.

“What did you find out?”

“What did I find out? Why can’t you just tell me yourself! Shen Zhao!” Lu Xiao snapped, slamming the printed photograph down in front of him.

At a single glance, Shen Zhao’s eyes seemed to recoil as if burned. He physically flinched away from the image of the welfare home.

“Why do you have this? Where did it come from!” Shen Zhao’s voice trembled uncontrollably, his gaze now entirely guarded.

Ignoring Shen Zhao’s near-total emotional collapse, Lu Xiao pointed at the figure in the corner of the photo. “The person in this picture… is that you?”

Shen Zhao remained silent. The stillness in the room became suffocating.

“Are you really not going to say anything?” Lu Xiao demanded, staring him down.

“What does this have to do with the case?”

Lu Xiao barked his knuckles against the table, struggling to suppress his rage. “Nothing to do with it? This photo was on Zhang Dalong’s USB drive! The hitman organization is likely looking for this exact image!”

Shen Zhao’s eyes widened. He looked closer at the man in the photo; indeed, it was Zhang Dalong’s profile.

Had I already met Zhang Dalong as a child? Fate felt like a cruel joke.

“And do you know what the password for that drive was?” Lu Xiao continued. “It was Wen Yu’s name.”

Shen Zhao’s mind felt as though it were being shredded. A sudden, violent headache surged through him.

“What?” he whispered, his voice thick with shock.

“Can you explain why Wen Yu was involved with Zhang Dalong? Why are you in this photo? What was the connection between Zhang Dalong, you, and Wen Yu? And just what did you do in Dongxi Town!”

Lu Xiao’s aggressive interrogation forced Shen Zhao to stumble back. The name Wen Yu was the final straw, pushing him toward the brink of a breakdown.

How could Wen Yu be linked to this case? What is happening?

Shen Zhao’s lips curled into a cold, hollow smirk. “I have nothing to say. If you suspect me, bring me evidence. If you don’t want to help me with the case anymore, then we can stop right here! We can act like we never met!”

Lu Xiao froze, wondering if he had misheard. Stop right here? Like we never met?

“Is this guy insane?” Lu Xiao thought.

He lunged forward, grabbing Shen Zhao by the shoulders and forcing him to face him. He hissed through gritted teeth: “Shen Zhao, do you even realize what you’re saying? Do you?”

“I do. We stop here. I said, stop here,” Shen Zhao replied with absolute, icy finality.

Lu Xiao’s grip tightened until his knuckles turned white. He stared into Shen Zhao’s eyes, a genuine, burning anger finally erupting within him. He was furious at the secrecy, the coldness, the way Shen Zhao pushed everyone away—and he was furious at that name he didn’t even want to utter: Wen Yu.

The tension snapped. The restraint Lu Xiao had maintained for days finally broke.

In the next heartbeat, Lu Xiao’s right hand clamped onto the back of Shen Zhao’s neck, and he kissed him—violently, desperately.

The sheer force of the impact sent Shen Zhao crashing back against the reagent rack. The glass containers rattled and clattered with a sharp, jarring sound.

It was a punishment. Driven by a loss of control and raw fury, Lu Xiao bit and tore at him, forcing his way past Shen Zhao’s defenses. It was an overwhelming display of dominance, as if Lu Xiao intended to consume him entirely, to break him until there was nowhere left to run.

“Lu Xiao!”

Shen Zhao fought with every ounce of strength to break the hold, but Lu Xiao was too strong. Their breaths mingled—hot, jagged, and frantic.

Lu Xiao was like a wolf that had lost its mind, mauling its prey.

The moment his guard was breached, Shen Zhao’s expression turned fierce. In the middle of a ragged gasp, he bit down hard on Lu Xiao’s tongue.

“Sss—!” Lu Xiao recoiled, the sting of the bite sharp and sudden.

“What the hell are you doing!” Lu Xiao snarled.

“I should be asking you that!”

Shen Zhao’s voice was hoarse, carrying a faint, jagged edge of a sob.

He delivered a powerful kick to Lu Xiao’s chest, forcing the other man back a few steps. The physical distance allowed a flicker of sanity to return to Lu Xiao. Only then did he see Shen Zhao’s lips—bitten, bruised, and swollen.

“I’m sorry… I just…” Lu Xiao stammered, his words failing him.

He couldn’t even explain his own irrational behavior. Was it the threat of “stopping here” that triggered him? Or the look of pure guardedness in Shen Zhao’s eyes that had cut him so deep?

It had driven him to a point where he simply wanted to pin Shen Zhao down, to possess him, to capture him…

Shen Zhao’s chest heaved as he struggled for air. “Get out. Get the hell out.”

Regret flooded Lu Xiao’s eyes. His fists were clenched, his palms sweating. He had come here to talk, to figure things out—how had it spiraled into this?

“I just couldn’t accept you saying we’re done. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Shen Zhao. I shouldn’t have… I don’t know what came over me.”

“Leave,” Shen Zhao whispered, sucking in a deep breath as he fought for composure.

His lips burned with pain, and his vision began to blur. The world started to tilt and spin…

“Shen Zhao! Shen Zhao!”

As his eyes slipped shut, he heard the muffled, panicked voice of that madman.

“Dammit… he’s got a fever.”