Doctor Gu’s Orange Cat Boyfriend - Chapter 24

That evening, a topic quietly trended on a certain social media platform.

#HowToHelpYourSociallyAnxiousFriendPursueTheirCrush#

The “Qinghua” blogger (Su Wanqing’s account name) anonymously shared a “fan submission”:

「Help! I have a friend (seriously, not me) who’s severely socially anxious and has a crush on this dreamy neighbor. The neighbor is super nice to him, dropping hints left and right—practically has ‘I like you’ written on his face. But my friend just doesn’t get it, scared out of his wits. I gave him a couple’s hot spring voucher to encourage him to make a move, but now he’s just sitting at home with it, too scared to ask. Girls, what should I do? Waiting online, super urgent!”

The moment the post went up, the comments section exploded.

【LOL, this is basically me!】

【Sis, just drug him and carry him off. It’s a done deal!】

【Officer, the person above did it!】

【Drugging him is too harsh! Pretend you won a lottery prize and insist you’d be wasting it if you didn’t go & drag him along!】

【Or just stage a whole drama! Fake getting dumped by a jerk, cry and scream about needing a hot spring to drown your sorrows, get a friend to tag along, then “run into” your crush. Make up a stomachache excuse to slip away! Perfect!】

Su Wanqing excitedly screenshotted these “sneaky tricks” and sent them to Lin Mucí.

Lin Mucí watched the bizarre suggestions, his mouth twitching.

【What the hell is this nonsense?】

【Are any of these online jokers actually reliable?】

【Pretend to win a lottery? Does my luck look like I’d ever win anything?】

【Act? My acting skills would probably be exposed in a second!】

He weakly replied to Su Wanqing with a few “speechless” emojis before tossing his phone aside.

Forget it. Best to just let things take their course.

The next day, Lin Mucí struggled all morning but still couldn’t muster the courage to knock on his neighbor’s door.

He decided to take a roundabout approach.

[First, transform into a cat to test the waters!]

[See how he’s feeling today. If he’s busy, I won’t bring it up.]

Resolved, he shifted his thoughts and smoothly transformed into a plump orange cat.

He slipped silently from the balcony into Gu Chaoyu’s home.

Yet today, Gu’s residence was unusually quiet.

The living room was empty, and the study door stood open with no one inside.

Lin Mucí circled the house once before realizing Gu Chaoyu wasn’t home at all.

Feeling a bit disappointed, he returned to his own place, transformed back into human form, and pulled out his phone to check Gu Chaoyu’s clinic app.

On the appointment page for Dr. Gu’s clinic, a prominent notice stood out: [Closed Today].

Gu Chaoyu didn’t return all day.

Lin Mucí sat by the window, glancing over at the neighbor’s house every so often, his heart racing with anxiety.

[What’s going on? Did he go out on a date?]

[No, no, if he had a date, my cousin would have figured it out.]

[Is there some emergency at home?]

[Did something happen to him?]

All sorts of negative thoughts swirled in his mind. The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. Finally, unable to resist, he sent Dr. Gu a WeChat message.

[Dr. Gu, are you not at home today? It seems you weren’t at the clinic either.]

After sending the message, he waited a long time for a reply.

Lin Mucí clutched his phone, pacing back and forth in the living room.

After what felt like an eternity which was so long he’d given up hope of a reply, his phone finally lit up with a soft “ding.”

It was Gu Chaoyu.

【Something came up. Don’t worry.】

Those six simple words did nothing to ease Lin Mucí’s mind. Instead, they made his heart race even faster.

【That tone… so cold…】

[Is he upset because of what my cousin said yesterday?]

[Oh no, my cousin must have scared him off.]

Lin Mucí hugged a pillow, rolling back and forth on the sofa, utterly frantic.

Late into the night, when silence finally fell outside the window, Lin Mucí heard the faint sound of a key turning in the lock down the hallway.

It was next door!

He sprang up from the sofa, losing one slipper in the rush, and dashed barefoot to Gu Chaoyu’s door.

He took a deep breath to steady himself before gently knocking.

The door opened almost immediately.

Gu Chaoyu stood inside, his shirt slightly wrinkled.

He seemed to freeze upon seeing Lin Mucí before stepping aside to let him in.

Stepping inside, Lin Mucí noticed only a warm, small lamp in the entryway was lit.

The air was thick with the scent of alcohol.

Gu Chaoyu didn’t turn on any lights or speak. He walked straight to the sofa and sat down, his entire figure sinking into shadow.

Lin Mucí stood frozen in place, feeling somewhat at a loss.

[He… he’s been drinking?]

【Did something upset him?】

In the faint glow from the entryway, he saw Gu Chaoyu pull a photograph from his pocket.

It was an old, worn photo, its edges faded and whitish.

The picture showed a gentle, beautiful woman holding a chubby little boy. The boy’s eyes and brows bore a slight resemblance to Gu Chaoyu.

Gu Chaoyu’s fingertips gently traced the woman’s face in the photograph. His usually straight back now slumped slightly, and the eyes that always sparkled with smiles when he was with Lin Mucí were now quietly brimming with tears.

Lin Mucí watched with a heavy heart.

He recalled the quiet, withdrawn older brother from his childhood, the one who had lost his mother.

He recalled the words he had once spoken to him.

Instinctively, he stepped forward and crouched beside Gu Chaoyu, asking softly,

“Doctor Gu, do you miss your mother?”

“My mother once said that if I miss her, I can just touch my belly button. That place is forever connected to her.”

Gu Chaoyu’s entire body trembled.

He abruptly turned his head to look at Lin Mucí crouched beside him.

The warm yellow light outlined his soft hair and worried expression, his clear eyes filled with heartache.

The childhood memory of that tiny figure in a little yellow duck raincoat, comforting him with a babyish voice and those tender, warm words slowly merged with Lin Mucí’s worried face before him.

Twenty years of longing and remembrance found their home in this single moment.

Gu Chaoyu felt his eyes sting and his throat tighten.

He set the photo down and pulled Lin Mucí into his arms.

Burying his face in the crook of Lin Mucí’s neck like a child who’d finally found a harbor, he murmured hoarsely:

“Yeah, I did.”

Just as this tender, intimate moment reached its peak.

“Meow!”

A jealous, discontented cat cry pierced the air.

Orange (Number Two), neglected all day, saw its two owners embracing with no room for it. It was having none of it.

It launched itself forward, landing precisely between the two. Its fluffy body stubbornly tried to squeeze into the gap, its round head rubbing against Gu Chaoyu’s chest while its tail swept back and forth across his face.

The atmosphere was instantly shattered.

Lin Mucí’s face flushed crimson in an instant, overcome with embarrassment. He abruptly wriggled free from Gu Chaoyu’s embrace and scrambled to his feet.

“Well… that… you… you should get some rest!”

With that, he fled in disarray, dashing back to his own home.