I Don't Want To Be Hated By Everyone. - Chapter 2

“I said, if I were not worried about you, I would not be sitting here.” Noticing that Cheng Shuoning seemed a bit strange, Han Tian assumed he had not heard him due to his injury, so he patiently repeated himself.

Cheng Shuoning stared at him, unmoving, and shook his head. “That is not what I meant.”

Han Tian looked slightly puzzled. “I did not say anything else.”

Cheng Shuoning went silent.

The remarks about him being troublesome and a “delicate princess” had sounded rather hazy before. Thinking back on them now, they certainly did not sound like things that would come out of Han Tian’s mouth.

Could it be auditory hallucinations from the fall?

His thoughts were in a mess. Cheng Shuoning clutched his forehead, unable to figure it out after thinking for a long time, and a dull ache began to throb in his head.

There was no restroom in the hospital room, so he had to get out of bed, pick up his IV bag, and head toward the door. “I am going to the restroom.”

“I will go with you; you cannot go alone.” Han Tian stood up, intending to help him carry the IV bag.

Cheng Shuoning recoiled almost reflexively, dodging his hand. “No need. I can go by myself.”

An eerie silence suddenly descended upon the room.

Cheng Shuoning looked up and saw Han Tian slightly frowning, looking displeased. “I want to go alone,” Cheng Shuoning explained.

He turned and walked out of the room.

The corridor was bustling with people, and the sound of chatter was loud. Cheng Shuoning leaned his back against the cold wall, slightly lowering his eyes to look at his hospital gown, feeling somewhat dazed.

He was afraid that he had damaged his brain, causing him to hear those voices, yet he was also afraid that he was perfectly fine, meaning those voices were real.

Regardless of the outcome, neither was what he wanted.

After spacing out for a while, Cheng Shuoning finally went to the restroom.

He turned on the faucet, carefully washed his hands, and looked at himself in the mirror. His face was pale and sickly, and he looked unfocused—nothing like his usual self.

Cheng Shuoning exhaled, deciding that he could not keep thinking about where that strange voice was coming from. He had known Han Tian for so long and knew for a fact that Han Tian was not the type of person to badmouth him behind his back.

As he returned to the room and was about to open the door, he heard muffled voices coming from inside.

“Yeah, I have to stay with him at the hospital.”

“Stop it, it is just one night. Li Shengfei will be back tomorrow. When he returns, I will have him come over, and then I will head back to stay with you.”

“I keep my word. Even if Li Shengfei does not come, I will still head back. Of course, you are the most important; how could he possibly compare to you?”

“He really is quite troublesome, but there is no helping it. Who told him to be so unlucky? He managed to get into an accident just from going to see a movie.”

Cheng Shuoning did not catch the beginning of the conversation, only the last sentence, as the volume was higher, laced with impatience and irritability.

He lowered his eyes to look at the doorknob, his long, curled eyelashes trembling, shielding the emotions in his eyes.

Han Tian had never called him troublesome before. This was the first time.

After Han Tian finished his call, Cheng Shuoning pushed the door open.

Han Tian, who had been facing away from the door, put his phone away upon hearing the sound, turned around, took the IV bag from Cheng Shuoning’s hand, and hung it back up.

Cheng Shuoning sat on the hospital bed, watching Han Tian pour him water and peel a banana. “Do you have someone you like?”

“The person I like most is Ningning, right? Do you not know that?” The sudden question made Han Tian keenly aware that something was wrong. He sat down, took hold of Cheng Shuoning’s hand, and leaned in to kiss the back of his hand.

Hearing this before might have made Cheng Shuoning’s heart flutter, but looking at Han Tian’s gentle, smiling expression now, he felt nothing but awkwardness—so much so that he pulled his hand away immediately.

Han Tian’s face stiffened, but he quickly returned to normal. He looked up and said, “I have asked for a week of leave for you. Just focus on healing your wounds at the hospital before going back to class. I will help you catch up on the missed lessons, so do not worry. As for the person who hit you, I have already sent people to find him. I will never let anyone who dares to hurt Ningning go.”

His tone was incredibly gentle, and his expression was full of doting, yet as Cheng Shuoning looked into his eyes, he heard a voice that completely contradicted the surface: ‘What is he throwing a tantrum for now? Such a high-maintenance ancestor. When will he stop being so troublesome?’

It was that voice again.

Cheng Shuoning felt as if the blood in his veins had frozen; he did not speak for a long time. It was easy to tell from the furious tone that Han Tian mistakenly thought he was throwing a tantrum and was unhappy. He wanted to convince himself otherwise, but he could not.

“Ningning? Why does your complexion look so bad? Is your head hurting?” The prolonged silence made Han Tian uncomfortable. He quietly observed Cheng Shuoning and, seeing his face grow paler, became worried.

Cheng Shuoning shook his head, his voice raspy. “I am fine. Han Tian, you should go back. I can stay here by myself.”

“How could I leave you here alone? Just lie down and sleep for a while. I will stay here with you and will not go anywhere,” Han Tian said while looking at him.

Cheng Shuoning should have looked away, but he felt as though he were frozen, staring straight back at Han Tian. He saw the worry in Han Tian’s eyes, but he also clearly heard the words left unsaid in his heart: ‘I am the only one who dotes on you like this. Who else has my patience? If you had any self-awareness, you would not be giving me the cold shoulder. I am here taking care of you; you should at least put on a smile, even if you are not grateful.’

Cheng Shuoning’s lips moved; he wanted to smile but could not, and he wanted to explain, but he could not open his mouth.

In the end, he lay down helplessly, covering himself with the blanket. He did not want to see Han Tian anymore, nor did he want to hear those voices that were driving him to the verge of a breakdown.

“You should go first. I want to be alone here.”

The overly distant tone made Han Tian panic. He pulled back the blanket, looked at Cheng Shuoning, who was curled into a ball, and grabbed his shoulders. “Ningning, what is wrong? Are you in pain and hiding it? I will go call the doctor. Ningning? Ningning!”

‘Is he just acting pitiful to trick me? Pretending to let me leave while playing hard-to-get? Tsk, what a pity he is not as good as Cheng Meng. Cheng Meng’s pitiful look is the one that actually makes people’s hearts ache.’

His shoulders were being gripped too tightly. Cheng Shuoning opened his eyes, finished listening to those unexpectedly laughable words, turned his head to the window, and asked somewhat numbly, “Are you and Cheng Meng close?”

Although he and Cheng Meng were biological brothers, their personalities were completely different, and others’ attitudes toward them were worlds apart. Han Tian was the one who disliked Cheng Meng the most among their group; he found Cheng Meng annoying and was always short-tempered with him.

Later, he had talked to Han Tian, asking him to change his attitude toward Cheng Meng. After that, Han Tian simply shifted from hostility to ignoring Cheng Meng altogether.

Hearing Han Tian think about Cheng Meng like that was truly rare.

The abrupt question caused Han Tian, who had just been thinking about Cheng Meng, to change color. He stared at Cheng Shuoning for a long time before holding his hand, saying softly, “Of course not. You know that, I hate him. If it were not for your sake, I would not even want to be in the same room with him. Ningning, what is wrong with you today? You seem to have some grudge against me. Did I do something to upset you?”

The youth lying on the bed did not pull away, allowing him to hold his hand. Even while sick, his face remained beautiful enough that one could not look away.

Han Tian’s heart, which had been hanging because of the strange behavior, finally settled.

“No,” Cheng Shuoning finally opened his mouth after a long while.

He glanced at the IV bag and pulled his hand back. “Call the nurse to change the medicine.”

What was happening was too bizarre; he needed to confirm something.

The nurse came in quickly, her eyes smiling. She seemed to be in a very good mood and asked if Cheng Shuoning felt any discomfort while changing the medication.

Cheng Shuoning shook his head and suddenly asked, “Are you going to eat barbecue with your colleagues after your shift?”

The nurse was surprised. “How did you know?”

Cheng Shuoning said, “I heard it when I went to the restroom earlier. I wanted to ask which barbecue place nearby is good.”

Nurse: “Dongjia Barbecue is pretty good.”

The owner was very fierce and had a bad attitude, but the flavor was superb.

“The owner is very fierce, right? And has a bad attitude?” Cheng Shuoning looked at the nurse.

“Right, right!” The nurse was shocked at how he seemed to know what she was thinking.

Cheng Shuoning curved his eyes and smiled as he said, “Thank you.”

The nurse left with a flushed face.

Han Tian had been left out from start to finish and felt a bit frustrated, but he did not throw a tantrum. Once the nurse left, he poured a cup of hot water for Cheng Shuoning. “Ningning, do you want barbecue? You cannot eat it now, but when you are discharged, we will go eat it together.”

Cheng Shuoning did not take the cup.

The voices he heard were not hallucinations; they were the real thoughts in other people’s hearts.

So, while Han Tian said those sweet things, he actually considered him a burden.

Thinking that Han Tian might have been like this for all these years left Cheng Shuoning’s hands and feet cold.

Why not just say it if you have such a big opinion of me? Why pretend to like me and act like you are good to me? If he had said it, he would not have gotten close to him and caused trouble.

What is this? A way to build me up just to tear me down?

“Ningning?” Getting no response after calling him several times, Han Tian tightened his grip on the cup.

Just as he abruptly stood up, nearly unable to control his anger, Cheng Shuoning turned his head to look at him. Those black-and-white eyes were clear and pure, shaking Han Tian to his core, causing all his anger to vanish.

Han Tian sat back down and said in a conciliatory tone, “Ningning, if there is something wrong, we can talk it out, okay? Do not ignore me; it will make me sad.”

Cheng Shuoning took the water, finished it, and placed it back on the table. “Thank you.”

He did not say a single extra word.

Han Tian was left speechless by that “thank you.” After a long while, he said, “You are not allowed to say thank you to me. What is our relationship? There is no need for thanks.”

“You have your own matters to attend to. You do not need to stay with me,” Cheng Shuoning said calmly.

“Nonsense,” Han Tian said gently. “Ningning, do not try to send me away. No person or matter is more important than being with you.”

His mouth tasted bitter, and Cheng Shuoning did not feel like talking. After a while, he said, “Okay. I want to eat lemon slices…”

“I will go buy them for you.” Before he could finish, an overly excited Han Tian agreed.

‘See, he still needs to be coaxed before he gives a pleasant look. Such a big temper; it is disgusting.’

Cheng Shuoning lowered his long lashes. He recalled the many times in the past when he mentioned wanting to eat something and Han Tian would proactively volunteer to buy it. At that time, he had been full of emotion, feeling that Han Tian was so good to him, and he wanted to be even better to Han Tian. So, after finding out what Han Tian liked, he spent months of pocket money to buy it for him.

Did the Han Tian of that time also think he was short-tempered and disgusting, just like now?

Han Tian left.

The world was finally quiet. Cheng Shuoning closed his eyes and drifted into sleep. He had many dreams in his muddled state, but upon waking, he could not remember a single one.

Outside the window, the sky had already darkened. A bag of lemon slices sat on the bedside table. Cheng Shuoning glanced at it and looked away, noticing the IV was finished; there were clear marks from the needle on the back of his hand.

Han Tian pushed the door open and walked in, saying the person who hit him had been found.

A bruised and battered man walked into the hospital room, trembling while carrying a basket of fruit. He looked fierce, but his body would not stop shaking as he kept apologizing to Cheng Shuoning.

“Forgive me, please forgive me. I—I do not want to get beaten anymore.”

“I know I was wrong, I really know I was wrong.”

“I was wrong, boohoo, I really know I was wrong, you have to forgive me.”

After speaking, he gave a loud thud and knelt down, knocking his head against the floor several times, while slapping himself across the face repeatedly.

Cheng Shuoning was afraid he would continue with the strange actions while in the room, so he accepted his apology and let him leave.

“Did you have people beat him up?” Once the man had left, Cheng Shuoning looked at Han Tian, feeling that the man looked more like someone who had been beaten into submissively apologizing.

“No. I sent people to find him and did not find him, but he came on his own,” Han Tian explained.

A ringtone sounded. He glanced at his phone, smiled at Cheng Shuoning, and walked outside. “A call from my mom, I am going to take it.”

It was clearly a WeChat voice call, yet he called it a phone call.

There was no reason to tell such a lie, unless Han Tian intentionally did not want him to know who was calling.

Thinking of this, Cheng Shuoning picked up the phone from the table and looked for Han Tian’s mother’s WeChat account, only to find her profile picture was entirely black, whereas the one who had just called Han Tian was a blue avatar.

And Cheng Meng’s profile picture happened to be a blue sky.

Cheng Shuoning got out of bed, put on his shoes, and left the room. Seeing Han Tian standing by the window at the end of the corridor, he slowly walked over.

The closer he got, the clearer Han Tian’s voice became:

“Missing me that much? Even calling me on video.”

“I will not tell him, even if you do not want me to, just endure it.”

“I am just teasing you. When the time is right, I will definitely tell him.”

The doting, gentle tone was the same as when he spoke to him. Cheng Shuoning’s footsteps paused. Afraid of being discovered by Han Tian, he did not walk any further. He turned his back to Han Tian, and after making sure he would not be noticed, he listened silently.

A few minutes later, the surroundings grew quiet. Cheng Shuoning heard the voice of the person who had called Han Tian—a voice so familiar it made him turn around to look.

Just at that moment, Han Tian held his phone high, pointing the camera at himself so the other person could see his body, while whispering teasing words, “Do you miss me more, or do you miss my body more? Why else would you suddenly want to see my body? Tell me, is it my body you miss more?”

Although he had already guessed it, when he really saw the delicate, familiar face of the youth on the screen, Cheng Shuoning stood frozen in place.

It was Cheng Meng.