Running Towards You - Chapter 17

Ji Yin walked with quick, small steps all the way back to the parking lot.

“Get in, I’ll take you home,” Lu Jiahe said.

“No need to trouble yourself. Yanzi messaged earlier saying she’d come to pick me up. She should be here soon,” Ji Yin replied.

Lu Jiahe glanced at the time, then at Ji Yin’s flushed face from drinking, and felt uneasy leaving her alone. “Then I’ll wait with you for her,” she said.

“That’s really too kind of you, hehe,” Ji Yin grinned so widely her face might split.

The two stood by the roadside chatting for a while when a motorcycle suddenly zoomed over, coming to a steady stop right in front of them.

Dong Xiang and Yanzi had both arrived.

Yanzi, sitting on the back seat, spotted Dr. Lu and quickly took off her helmet, trotting over eagerly. “Dr. Lu, what a coincidence!”

“Mhm,” Lu Jiahe nodded. “Your sister’s had a bit to drink. Take her home quickly.”

“Got it. What about you, Dr. Lu? Do you need us to drop you off too?”

“I didn’t drink. I drove here. I’ll head off now,” Lu Jiahe said.

“Goodbye, Dr. Lu!” Yanzi waved.

Just then, Ji Yin suddenly burst out singing, “Ah goodbye, my friend, ah, goodbye, my friend.”

“Sis, have you lost it from drinking?” Yanzi turned to stare at Ji Yin.

“You’re the one who’s lost it.” Couldn’t she even recognize the words “my friend”?

Ji Yin rolled her eyes and watched as Lu Jiahe got into her car.

As the car passed by them, Ji Yin stretched out her arm and waved vigorously. “Ah, goodbye, my friend ”

The corner of Lu Jiahe’s mouth lifted slightly as she drove past them.

“She’s really lost it,” Yanzi shook her head. “Do you even remember where you parked your car?”

“Of course.” Ji Yin tossed the car keys to her and turned to walk toward her own car.

“Rare for you to drive out today instead of riding your bike,” Yanzi waved at Dong Xiang, signaling for him to ride off on his own first.

“Dr. Lu told me to ride less,” Ji Yin said.

“Tch, seems like you’ll only listen to the experts, huh? If the doctor says ride less, you ride less. If I say it, it’s just hot air.” Yanzi snorted and started the car. “By the way, why was Dr. Lu here too? She was just shopping at the supermarket earlier.”

“Was she?”

“Yeah, she came with her parents. They looked like such a happy family. Dr. Lu was like a little girl around them, you could tell she’s someone who’s been loved.”

Ji Yin glanced at her, then leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes to rest.

Yanzi didn’t say anything more, lost in her own thoughts, when suddenly she heard Ji Yin murmur as if in a dream, “That’s why it’s hard not to want to get closer.”

Lu Jiahe returned home, took a shower, and was about to go to bed when her phone suddenly pinged with a message from an unknown number.

[Do you have a girlfriend?]

Lu Jiahe looked at the number but couldn’t recall who it belonged to. Yet the tone seemed somewhat familiar, so she replied: [Who is this?]

There was no response for a long time.

Had it been sent to the wrong person?

Whatever. Time to sleep.

As she closed her eyes, the song she’d heard at the bar tonight inexplicably played in her mind.

The band at the bar had been pretty good, setting just the right mood. The music had been like a teasing scratch, tickling the audience’s hearts relentlessly, almost pulling her into the ambiguous atmosphere of the moment.

That evening, she had several intimate moments with Ji Yin. Although they were all accidental, that suffocatingly tight embrace and the sudden, unexpected kiss had left her a little dazed.

When Ji Yin said she could kiss her, she had a momentary lapse of focus, almost giving in to the impulse and actually doing it.

People are prone to crossing boundaries under certain circumstances.

Luckily, she snapped out of it in time. Seeing Ji Yin’s increasingly flushed face, she knew she couldn’t take advantage of the situation.

Ji Yin didn’t understand any of it, treating it all as just fun, but she wasn’t like that.

With such an imbalance of awareness, it would’ve been taking advantage.

But, but.

She licked her lips, unable to stop herself from wondering, what would Ji Yin’s reaction have been if she had kissed her? And what would her own reaction have been?

She exhaled, thinking to herself that she must’ve been single for too long if she was starting to yearn for a proper kiss.

But that thought vanished completely by the next day.

The cold operating room could suppress all emotions right now, she was nothing but an unfeeling surgical machine!

After a full day of surgeries, she dragged herself home, exhausted in both body and mind. She grabbed a late-night snack at her parents’ place and didn’t get back until midnight.

Before bed, she checked her unread messages, replying to each one, then casually scrolling through her feed, only to see that Ji Yin had posted a photo just a minute ago.

A picture of a supermarket warehouse.

Lu Jiahe commented:

[Still working?]

Ji Yin replied:

[Yeah, so busy during the holidays 😁]

Still not off work at this hour, yet so cheerful? Was it because of the triple pay for the holiday?

Just as she was about to put her phone down and sleep, a few messages popped up.

[Ji Yin]: Dr. Lu, you’re still awake too?

[Ji Yin]: We’ve got a New Year’s sale going on want to grab a set? [New Year’s gift box image]

[Lu Jiahe]: No need. I’m spending the holiday alone no use for that much stuff.

[Ji Yin]: You’re spending New Year’s alone?

[Lu Jiahe]: Yeah.

[Ji Yin]: What a coincidence me too!

[Lu Jiahe]: What about your sister?

[Ji Yin]: She’s going back to her hometown to meet Dong Xiang’s parents.

They chatted a bit more after that, but Lu Jiahe, unable to fight off her drowsiness, went to sleep first.

When she woke up in the morning, she saw that Ji Yin had sent her another photo taken after leaving the warehouse at past two in the morning.

[Lu Jiahe]: Do you work in three shifts?

[Ji Yin]: Nope, just two.

[Lu Jiahe]: ????

[Lu Jiahe]: It’s only seven did you just wake up, or did you not sleep at all?

[Ji Yin]: Of course I woke up!

[Lu Jiahe]:

Lu Jiahe got ready and headed out. Once in her car, she saw that Ji Yin had sent her another photo.

A bowl of wontons.

[Ji Yin]: Time for breakfast~

Lu Jiahe usually ate at the breakfast stall outside the hospital for convenience, she’d gotten used to it after eating there every day. But seeing this bowl of glistening, broth-rich wontons suddenly made her crave it.

[Lu Jiahe]: Are they good?

[Ji Yin]: Yeah, we eat here all the time.

[Lu Jiahe]: Send me the location.

Ji Yin sent the address, and she immediately set her GPS, driving straight there. But as she parked, she suddenly regretted not asking Ji Yin to order a bowl for her in advance, she could’ve eaten as soon as she arrived.

Glancing at the time, she hurried into the shop only to see someone waving at her.

She took a few quick steps to Ji Yin’s table and sat down, noticing a steaming bowl of wontons placed right in front of her. “Whose is this?”

“It’s for you. I thought you might be in a hurry, so I ordered a bowl of minced pork wontons first. You can eat this filling, right?” Ji Yin said.

“Yes, thank you!” Lu Jiahe wasted no time and buried herself in breakfast.

After finishing the entire bowl, meat and all, and even taking a few sips of the broth, Lu Jiahe let out a satisfied sigh. When she looked up, she noticed Ji Yin had been staring at her the whole time.

“Dr. Lu, you eat with such relish,” Ji Yin remarked.

Lu Jiahe felt a bit embarrassed. “I have surgery today, who knows if I’ll even get lunch on time.”

“Ah, that’s tough. Why don’t you just come work with me instead?”

Lu Jiahe chuckled. “I couldn’t handle your all-nighters.”

“Staying up late isn’t a big deal. Just be more careful in the next life,” Ji Yin said.

Lu Jiahe laughed. “I’ve got to go now. Bye I’ll transfer you the money for the meal later.”

“No need, it’s on me.”

“That’s not right.” The thought of Ji Yin working late last night made Lu Jiahe feel guilty, and she insisted on paying.

“Go ahead and transfer it, but I won’t accept it,” Ji Yin said firmly.

As they stepped out of the shop, Lu Jiahe glanced around and spotted a pharmacy nearby. She walked in, bought a box of calcium tablets, and without a word, shoved them into Ji Yin’s hands. “Take one of these every day. Don’t forget.”

“Huh?” Ji Yin was baffled. “I treat you to wontons, and you treat me to calcium supplements?”

“Mm. I’ve got to get to work now. Bye.” Lu Jiahe hurried off to the hospital. After stepping out of the elevator, she checked her phone and saw a message Ji Yin had sent earlier.

[Ji Yin]: Forgot to mention, Dr. Lu, you look really nice today. Green suits you.

Lu Jiahe glanced down at her outfit. Where was the green?

[Lu Jiahe]: You must be mistaken. I’m not wearing any green.

[Ji Yin]: The hair tie is green. I didn’t miss it.

Lu Jiahe instinctively touched her hair. She’d tied it up carelessly with a hair tie for the surgery today and hadn’t even noticed the color.

“Dr. Lu, you seem to be in a good mood today,” a passing nurse remarked with a smile.

“Maybe it’s because I look a little nice today,” Lu Jiahe replied, tucking her phone away with a faint smile.