Heartbeat Command - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: You didn’t even help me when I was being held hostage…

After taking his medicine and sleeping, Gu Yue felt much better when he woke up. His constitution wasn’t that weak; the severe fever yesterday was mainly due to the exhaustion from traveling and not resting well.

It was just dawn, and with the curtains drawn, the room was still dim. Gu Yue picked up the phone on his nightstand to check the time. The first thing that caught his eye the moment the screen lit up was a message from Jiang Luo sent ten minutes ago.

Jiang Luo: Senior, how are you feeling? Jiang Luo: Has the fever broken?

Gu Yue stared at the screen for a moment before typing a reply: It has.

Jiang Luo replied instantly: You’re awake so early! Jiang Luo: Did it really break? Jiang Luo: Did you check your temperature?

Gu Yue: No.

Jiang Luo: Check your temperature, just to be safe. There’s an infrared thermometer in your medicine kit. Jiang Luo: Tell me once you’ve checked it. I’m going to wash my face first.

Gu Yue got out of bed to get the thermometer and checked his temperature; the fever had indeed broken. He sent a message back to Jiang Luo: It’s gone.

Jiang Luo: Good, good. Jiang Luo: As long as it’s broken.

Gu Yue went to the bathroom to freshen up. By the time he returned to his room to change, there were a few more messages from Jiang Luo.

Jiang Luo: Senior, which evening are you free this week? Jiang Luo: I want to treat you to a meal. Jiang Luo: I don’t mean anything else by it, I just want to thank you. Jiang Luo: Thanks for hiring me to feed the cat.

Jiang Luo had been wanting to treat him to this meal for a while but hadn’t found the right opportunity to bring it up.

Gu Yue: No need.

Jiang Luo: Yes, there is! Jiang Luo: How about you just consider it me wanting to treat you to a meal purely out of goodwill? Jiang Luo: It’s fine for a junior to want to eat with his senior, right?

Jiang Luo sent a puppy meme looking wronged.

Jiang Luo: Can I? Senior?

Gu Yue replied: Sure.

Jiang Luo: Great!

Just as Jiang Luo was about to ask which day, Gu Yue suddenly replied: I’ll treat.

Jiang Luo: Huh?

Gu Yue: I can’t just eat your ‘birthday noodles’ for free.

Jiang Luo: Hahaha. Jiang Luo: Wouldn’t I be taking advantage of you then? Jiang Luo: My birthday noodles were so… hard to describe. Jiang Luo: That won’t do.

Jiang Luo was collecting socks on the dorm balcony and couldn’t spare his hands to type, so he sent a voice message: “We agreed I’d pay. I was the one who asked first, Senior.”

Gu Yue replied with a voice message too: “Save your meal for next time. I’m paying this time.”

Jiang Luo pressed the record button, wanting to say something, but received another voice message from Gu Yue. He clicked to listen, and Gu Yue asked: “Any objections?”

Jiang Luo had once again been outmaneuvered. He laughed and replied: “Alright, no objections.”

Jiang Luo went inside. His roommates were all still sleepy, so it wasn’t convenient to send voice messages, so he switched back to typing: Then which day should we pick?

Gu Yue: Do you have tutoring tonight?

Jiang Luo: No. [Spinning emoji]

Gu Yue: Then today.

Jiang Luo: Okay.

They set a time. Jiang Luo only had two classes that afternoon, so he could make it to the appointment early.

This semester, their school team was participating in the ICPC national regional contest, which would be around November or December. At noon, the team captain, Qin Yifan, posted a notice in the group chat asking members to attend a short meeting at the school team lab at 5:30 PM to discuss preparations for the regionals.

Jiang Luo and Gu Yue had originally planned to meet at 5:30, but because of the meeting, they pushed it to 6:00. Usually, the meetings were short and finished within half an hour. Who knew the coach would go on and on today? With it nearing 6:00 and no sign of the meeting ending, Jiang Luo quickly sent a message to Gu Yue: Senior, I’m still in a meeting at the lab. I might be a little late. Why don’t you head over first?

They were supposed to meet at the school’s North Gate. Gu Yue had just come out of his advisor’s office and was walking toward the school gate.

Gu Yue asked: Where is the meeting?

Jiang Luo: I’m at the School of Computer Science.

Gu Yue: Got it. Gu Yue: I’ll come find you.

Jiang Luo: No, you go ahead. I’ll come over as soon as the meeting ends.

Gu Yue: We’ll go together. Gu Yue: Send me your location.

Jiang Luo: Nani?

Gu Yue: Nani what? Location.

Jiang Luo: Oh, oh.

Gu Yue found the School of Computer Science using the location Jiang Luo sent. Jiang Luo had just finished the meeting, carrying his backpack as he hurried down the elevator. He was frantically running out of the building while typing a message to Gu Yue, only to be grabbed by the collar by Qin Yifan, who had followed him out: “Where are you running off to so fast?”

Gu Yue stood a few paces outside the building and saw Jiang Luo being held in a headlock by a guy. The two were very close, talking.

“I was wondering why you were so absent-minded during the meeting just now. So your heart had already flown away,” Qin Yifan asked Jiang Luo with a smile. “What’s the rush? A date? A partner?”

Jiang Luo hadn’t really heard what Qin Yifan said; his mind was elsewhere. Since Gu Yue said he would come find him, he subconsciously looked outside the building.

At that exact moment, he locked eyes with Gu Yue standing not far away.

Seeing Jiang Luo silent, Qin Yifan let out a “Ho!”: “Did I really hit the nail on the head?”

Jiang Luo finally came back to his senses and turned to look at him: “Hmm?”

“Hmm what?” Qin Yifan poked his forehead. “Look at how distracted you are. Are you seeing someone?”

Jiang Luo smiled helplessly: “Captain, how can you just start spouting nonsense?”

Qin Yifan was strong; Jiang Luo was stuck in the headlock and couldn’t break free, and his attempts to pull at his arm didn’t work.

“Spouting nonsense again? I saw you check your phone at least ten times in the last half hour of the meeting.”

“Captain, I’m in a rush. Can you let me go first? My neck hurts from you strangling me.”

Qin Yifan still didn’t let go: “The contest is in less than two months. I’m telling you, this state of yours won’t do.”

“I’m really not seeing anyone…” Out of options, Jiang Luo glanced at Gu Yue in the distance.

Gu Yue was watching them, his face expressionless.

Jiang Luo stopped caring and called out for help: “Senior, save me!”

Qin Yifan paused and looked up in the direction of his gaze, loosening his grip. Jiang Luo took the opportunity to duck out from under his arm.

Jiang Luo ran over to Gu Yue with his backpack, joking: “Senior, you didn’t even help me when I was being held hostage.”

Gu Yue glanced toward Qin Yifan, then looked down at Jiang Luo: “Who?”

“Hmm?” Jiang Luo looked back. “Oh, he’s the captain of my competition team.”

“What competition team?”

“Algorithm contest.” Jiang Luo smiled. “I’m a Computer Science major.”

Qin Yifan walked over, looked at Gu Yue, and asked Jiang Luo: “Luo-zai, this is…?”

“He’s a senior I know.” Jiang Luo specifically emphasized the word “Senior.” “No need for me to explain now, right, Captain?”

Qin Yifan chuckled: “I guess I jumped to conclusions.” He smiled at Gu Yue and greeted him: “Hello.”

Gu Yue gave a nod in response.

“Yeah.” Jiang Luo nodded. “Exactly, you jumped to conclusions—all the way to the North Pole.”

Qin Yifan smiled and flicked his forehead: “So what if I jumped all the way to the South Pole?”

People were coming out of the building one after another. As they passed Jiang Luo and Qin Yifan, they greeted them and glanced curiously at Gu Yue.

“Alright, I’m heading off.” Qin Yifan said to Jiang Luo. “See you later.”

“Goodbye, Captain.”

“Let’s go, Senior.” Jiang Luo walked to Gu Yue’s side.

Gu Yue asked nonchalantly: “Do you really need to explain to your competition team captain who you’re eating with?”

Jiang Luo turned to look at him.

“What exactly needed explaining?” Gu Yue walked forward as he spoke. “Tell me.”

Jiang Luo realized what he meant and laughed: “I kept checking my phone during the meeting and was in such a rush, he thought I was going on a date. It’s a good thing you were there in person; otherwise, I never would’ve been able to clear my name.”

Jiang Luo suddenly tilted his head to look at Gu Yue’s face.

Gu Yue met his gaze: “What are you looking at?”

“Checking your mental state.” Jiang Luo asked him: “Has the fever really broken? How do you feel? Still feeling uncomfortable anywhere?”

“Should I have brought an infrared thermometer to check you?”

“Hahaha, I think that would’ve been good. If I had known, I would have had you bring one.”

Someone behind them greeted Jiang Luo. As he turned back, the back of his hand accidentally brushed against Gu Yue’s. Gu Yue’s hand was quite warm, and Jiang Luo subconsciously felt that his fever hadn’t broken. He widened his eyes and asked: “Why are your hands so hot? Did your fever really break?”

“Do you want me to go back and get the thermometer for you now?”

“Stop joking, Senior…” Jiang Luo frowned.

Gu Yue honestly hadn’t expected him to be so serious about this, so he said in a low voice: “I said it’s broken, so it’s broken.”

Jiang Luo was still frowning.

Gu Yue said: “If there’s no thermometer, there are still hands. If you’re really worried, you can use your hand to check.”

“Then I will.” Before he finished speaking, Jiang Luo stepped in front of Gu Yue and placed his hand on his forehead, acting very quickly. When his brother Jiang Chen used to get a fever, Jiang Luo would always get nervous, especially if the fever didn’t break, which would make him panic. It was a bit of a reflex.

Jiang Luo looked up, his brow furrowed, his hand resting on Gu Yue’s forehead for a few seconds to gauge his temperature.

The evening breeze blew by, and the hair on Jiang Luo’s forehead lifted slightly.

Gu Yue’s eyes lowered, gazing at him in silence.

The temperature on his forehead was normal. Jiang Luo’s heart settled, and his furrowed brows relaxed.

“Relieved now?” Gu Yue asked.

Jiang Luo pulled his hand away and let out a chuckle: “Relieved.” He glanced at Gu Yue’s hand hanging at his side: “Why are your hands so hot? I really thought you hadn’t broken the fever.”

“It’s because your hands are cold,” Gu Yue said.

It was an overcast day and the temperature had dropped; Jiang Luo’s hands were indeed a bit cold.

The two were having barbecue today, which Gu Yue had let Jiang Luo choose. Jiang Luo thought Gu Yue might not like the strong flavors of hot pot, and stir-fry wouldn’t be worth it for just two people, so he chose barbecue.

They didn’t go far, just a very popular barbecue restaurant near the school.

As soon as they entered, a waiter enthusiastically led them inside and chose a window seat for them. Jiang Luo put his backpack on the chair next to him, and Gu Yue glanced at it—a simple black backpack with several fluffy plushie keychains hanging from it.

Jiang Luo handed the tablet used for ordering to Gu Yue, but Gu Yue didn’t take it, saying: “You order.”

“Alright. Do you have any dietary restrictions?”

Gu Yue had too many restrictions to list them all, so he just said: “Just order what you want to eat.”

“Do you eat beef?” Jiang Luo asked.

Gu Yue nodded.

“How about lamb?”

Gu Yue shook his head.

“Pork?”

Gu Yue picked up his glass to take a sip of tea and said: “Are you planning on reading the entire menu to me?”

Jiang Luo laughed.

“Like I said, just order what you want. Don’t ask me.”

Jiang Luo nodded: “Okay.”

It was Gu Yue’s treat, so Jiang Luo didn’t order too much—just a few things he loved, and for the rest, mostly beef, because Gu Yue ate beef.

Once they started eating, Jiang Luo realized just how extensive Gu Yue’s dietary restrictions were. According to his observations, Gu Yue didn’t eat onions, cilantro, potatoes, lettuce, mushrooms, or offal. He only dipped his meat in sauces without scallions, ginger, or garlic, and he only drank unsweetened beverages.

Gu Yue also ate very delicately, quietly and slowly.

Jiang Luo was getting a bit full. He rested his chin in his hands, sipping his cola while watching Gu Yue intently, then suddenly let out a laugh: “Senior, the way you eat is so nice to watch.”

Gu Yue had just taken a small piece of beef. He looked up at him upon hearing this.

“You don’t look bad eating, either,” Gu Yue replied.

Jiang Luo chuckled: “I’m serious. It’s very pleasant to watch you eat. It feels like watching one of those ASMR videos, but live.”

Jiang Luo took a long sip of his cola, then bit down on the straw, adding: “But mostly, it’s because you’re good-looking.”

The “natural professional booster” was always sweet-talker, and his eyes were very honest when he praised people, looking straight at Gu Yue in such a forthright way.