After the Beautiful Omega Was Targeted by His Straight Roommate - Chapter 4

Finally, it was noon.

Upon returning to the dormitory, Tao Ran made a point to check very carefully. No one was there. Qi Yuxiao’s bed was empty as well. Everyone must have gone to class.

That was the nature of a mixed dorm; because everyone had different majors, their schedules varied greatly, sometimes to the point of being completely offset.

From the moment he woke up today, Tao Ran had felt unwell, but the feeling had been suppressed by a busy morning of coursework. Now that he had relaxed, the discomfort came roaring back. His head felt heavy, his nose was congested, and he had difficulty breathing.

Tao Ran thought he must have a cold. The day before yesterday, he had soaked in cold water for over an hour in the bathroom and then stayed in the air-conditioned room. Yesterday, fearing he would wake Qi Yuxiao, he hadn’t dared to use the hair dryer. He must have caught a chill then.

Fortunately, his previous experiences with colds meant he kept medicine on hand. He found the cold medicine and took it with some plain water. The effects kicked in quickly, and drowsiness washed over him. Tao Ran could hardly keep his eyes open. After changing into his pajamas, he climbed into bed, lay down, and drifted off to sleep without realizing it.

When he opened his eyes again, his first sensation was a splitting headache. His throat was parched, and his nose was so blocked that breathing was a struggle. Tao Ran rubbed the bridge of his nose. His symptoms had not subsided with medicine and sleep; on the contrary, they seemed to be worsening.

Did I take too little medicine?

He lay there like a corpse for a while. Once his head stopped throbbing so intensely, Tao Ran struggled to sit up and pulled back the bed curtain. Only then did he realize the sky outside was dark. The dormitory was still very quiet.

Someone’s desk lamp was on, its faint, warm yellow light dimly illuminating the room. His first thought was: Is someone back?

His brain was already protesting and idling just from thinking about this. Tao Ran couldn’t ponder deeply. He pulled back the quilt and climbed down the ladder with extremely slow movements. Once standing, he realized the person who had returned was Qi Yuxiao, who was looking at him with a heavy gaze.

Was it his imagination, or had the frequency of Qi Yuxiao’s visits to the dorm increased lately?

“You are back,” Tao Ran greeted him uncomfortably. But as soon as he spoke, he was startled by his own raspy voice.

Qi Yuxiao seemed to notice it too. He frowned and asked, “What is wrong with you?”

“Just a bit of a cold. I will be fine after taking more medicine,” Tao Ran said, sniffing. He opened a drawer to rummage for the cold medicine.

But even though it was something he had put away not long ago, he couldn’t find it this time. Tao Ran bent over and searched repeatedly. His things were becoming a mess as he unconsciously muttered to himself, “I just put it right here. Why can’t I find it now?”

“Did I remember incorrectly?”

When a person is sick, their emotions are always exceptionally fragile. Tao Ran felt a wave of unprovoked grievance. He grew more anxious as he searched, eventually acting like a headless fly. He decided to open his wardrobe to see if his confused brain had misplaced it there.

But just as he touched the wardrobe handle, a hand reached out and grabbed his arm, stopping his movement. That palm was hot, and the fingers were long and powerful, easily encircling his arm. Tao Ran looked up blankly to find Qi Yuxiao standing right beside him.

In the dim light, Qi Yuxiao’s eyes were as dark as thick ink. He gently pulled Tao Ran’s hand down and then used the back of his own hand to touch Tao Ran’s forehead.

This sudden action caused Tao Ran’s already lagging brain to short-circuit completely. His heart began to pound for no reason. A few seconds later, Qi Yuxiao withdrew his hand and told him in a very flat tone, “You have a fever. Cold medicine is useless.”

“A fever?” Tao Ran clearly hadn’t realized it. He touched his own forehead; it did seem quite hot. He looked bewildered and asked softly, “Then… should I take fever reducers?”

Qi Yuxiao did not answer. Instead, he walked over to turn on the main dormitory light. The bright light was difficult for Tao Ran to adjust to. Once his eyes adapted, he saw Qi Yuxiao hold up a small mirror he had grabbed from somewhere.

Tao Ran saw himself in the mirror. His face had an abnormal flush, and his gaze was vacant and unfocused. Because he couldn’t find the medicine earlier, his eyes were slightly red and misty with unshed tears. Due to his difficulty breathing, his lips were instinctively parted as he panted out hot breaths.

Tao Ran was startled by his own reflection. Was he really this visibly ill?

The person in front of him seemed to vanish as Qi Yuxiao pulled the mirror away. While Tao Ran was still lost in surprise, he heard the other man say in a cold voice:

“Let’s go to the hospital.”

There was a top-tier hospital near the school. The two of them arrived in about ten minutes by taxi. After entering, Qi Yuxiao handled everything: making the appointment, checking the queue, and finding the doctor. Tao Ran followed along in a daze the entire time.

It wasn’t until he sat on the cold stainless steel chair in the emergency room with an IV needle in the back of his hand that he began staring blankly at the liquid dripping from the bag. Seeing that one bottle was about to run out, Tao Ran craned his neck to look around. Qi Yuxiao had gone to the first floor to pay the fees, so Tao Ran had to find a nurse to change the IV bag himself.

“Little brother, don’t move around,” a nurse in white said as she walked over. Her movements were practiced and swift as she replaced the empty bottle with a new one.

“Let’s take your temperature first.” She smiled and pulled a thermometer gun from her pocket, aiming it at Tao Ran’s forehead. She glanced at it. “38.5 degrees. It was nearly 40 earlier, so the fever is starting to break. Be patient.”

“Okay,” Tao Ran nodded slightly.

He hadn’t even had time to change out of his pajamas; he had simply thrown on a jacket before Qi Yuxiao brought him out. The loose clothes were crumpled on his body, making him look thin and sickly.

The nurse was immediately moved to pity. “Oh, what a poor thing.”

“Is your high school workload very stressful right now?” the nurse asked with concern. “After this bottle is finished, your fever should be gone. It shouldn’t affect your classes tomorrow.”

Tao Ran froze and explained, “I am not a high school student. I am already in college.”

“Oh?” The nurse seemed to have misunderstood something. “Then the handsome guy who came with you is…”

“My roommate.”

The nurse realized. “I thought it was an older brother taking his high school younger brother to the doctor. So it is a roommate.”

“As expected, handsome guys hang out with other handsome guys,” the nurse remarked as she looked at Tao Ran’s face.

A while after the nurse left, Tao Ran’s phone vibrated. He opened it to find a message from Su Jialiang.

Su Jialiang: [Tao Ran, why aren’t you back in the dorm so late?]

Su Jialiang: [And Qi Yuxiao isn’t back either. Where did you two go?]

With one hand restricted by the IV needle, Tao Ran didn’t dare move too much. He could only type with one hand.

Tao Ran: [I have a fever. I am at the hospital for an IV.]

Su Jialiang: [What???]

Su Jialiang: [When did you get a fever?]

Su Jialiang: [Is it serious???]

Tao Ran tried to type a reply slowly, but he couldn’t keep up with Su Jialiang’s rapid-fire messages.

Su Jialiang: [Are you alone? Do you want me to come and keep you company?]

Seeing the latest message, Tao Ran deleted what he had been typing and sent a new one.

Tao Ran: [Qi Yuxiao brought me to the hospital.] Tao Ran: [I have finished one bottle of medicine. I feel a bit better now.]

After a while, Su Jialiang replied.

Su Jialiang: [You poor child…] Su Jialiang: [Voice Message]

Curious as to why he suddenly sent a voice message, Tao Ran tapped it. Zhuo Qiang’s voice came through, filled with deep remorse:

“Xiao Ran, I am so sorry! It must be because I forgot to turn up the AC the other day and made you sick again. I am guilty! I am a sinner! When you are better, I will treat you to the best tomato and beef rice noodles in the first canteen as an apology, okay?”

Tao Ran: [Okay @v@]

After Zhuo Qiang finished wailing, the two roommates finally realized something.

Su Jialiang: [Wait, you said Qi Yuxiao took you to the hospital??!!]

But Tao Ran thought the conversation was over and had already turned off his screen. As if sensing something, he looked up and saw Qi Yuxiao returning from paying the fees. The young man was wearing a simple black T-shirt and jeans. Under the cold white lights of the hospital, his aura seemed even more stern.

Tao Ran hadn’t expected that Qi Yuxiao would be the one to bring him here and handle all the tedious hospital procedures. Only yesterday, he had been worried about making him angry by accidentally waking him up.

Qi Yuxiao stopped in front of Tao Ran’s seat, looked down at him, and asked, “Do you feel better?”

“I feel much better.” Tao Ran nodded and said gratefully, “Thank you for coming to the hospital with me.”

“It’s nothing,” Qi Yuxiao said flatly, sitting down in the seat next to Tao Ran.

The atmosphere became silent. Tao Ran stopped looking at his phone and boredly watched the IV tube, estimating it would take quite a while to finish. He felt a bit embarrassed to keep wasting Qi Yuxiao’s time.

“Um…” Tao Ran lowered his head and hesitated for a moment. “My fever has broken. I should be able to handle the rest on my own.” He suggested softly, “It is getting late. Why don’t you go back first?”

Qi Yuxiao didn’t answer. Instead, he asked, “Are you hungry?”

Tao Ran was momentarily stunned. Now that he mentioned it, Tao Ran had been so rushed to take medicine after class that he hadn’t eaten dinner. He had been empty-stomped until now. He really was a bit hungry.

Qi Yuxiao stood up again, leaving behind a sentence: “I will go buy something to eat.”

Ten minutes later, Qi Yuxiao returned with a bowl of millet porridge and a cup of hot soy milk.

“Thank you.” The smell of food awakened Tao Ran’s hunger. He stopped being polite, took the food, and began eating in small bites. The warm porridge flowed into his empty stomach, greatly easing his physical discomfort.

After finishing the last of the soy milk, Tao Ran stuffed the trash into a plastic bag and tied it in a knot. Suddenly, a hand stretched into his field of vision. The palm was facing up, showing healthy color, and the knuckles were long and distinct.

Tao Ran looked at Qi Yuxiao’s face in confusion.

Qi Yuxiao: “Give me the trash.”

“Oh, okay.” Tao Ran realized and tied the bag into a double knot before handing it over. Qi Yuxiao carried the trash to a bin nearby.

Tao Ran’s vision blurred slightly. He rubbed his eyes and looked at Qi Yuxiao’s back again. He still had that cold, “do not approach” appearance, but for some reason, Tao Ran felt as if a holy, golden angelic light was radiating from behind him.

Did Qi Yuxiao intend to stay and accompany him? It didn’t seem like he planned to leave.

After confirming this, a warm current flowed through Tao Ran’s heart. At the same time, he conducted a deep self-reflection. He had previously thought Qi Yuxiao was cold, fierce, and difficult to get along with. He had been judging a book by its cover!

Qi Yuxiao was clearly a great person with a cold exterior but a warm heart!

Support After the Beautiful Omega Was Targeted by His Straight Roommate