We Are Not Dating! - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Tooth Marks

An hour ago, with people coming and going in the outpatient building, the doctor’s low-voiced concern wouldn’t have been heard clearly by anyone outside.

Unfortunately, the surrounding environment was now too quiet. Jiang Zhiyu even suspected that the last sentence would leave an echo.

He had never been this humiliated—being reminded by a doctor that he had encountered the wrong person and that his taste in men was likely poor.

Jiang Zhiyu remained sullenly silent, secretly observing the situation behind him out of the corner of his eye.

“By the way, other parts of the outpatient department are closed. You can go to an outside pharmacy to fill the prescription.”

The doctor finished printing the forms and gave careful instructions: “The dosage and frequency are written on here.”

Jiang Zhiyu withdrew his attention. Actually, his specific trip to the hospital wasn’t just because of the swelling and bite marks. He then subtly mentioned whether he should take any risk-blocking measures (PEP).

The doctor caught on immediately: “You didn’t use a condom?”

Jiang Zhiyu couldn’t stand such a blunt word, especially since the user of said item was standing not far away.

He was nearly having a mental breakdown. Because the other person’s presence was so strong, his cheeks flared red, the color spreading all the way to the tips of his ears.

“I think we used them,” Jiang Zhiyu responded numbly, wishing he could find a corner to vanish into. His volume grew weaker: “But the whole process was a bit chaotic. Whether we remembered to use them every time… my memory is a bit blurry…”

After saying that, Jiang Zhiyu couldn’t help himself again and glanced toward the doorway.

At the end of the bright, spacious corridor, Qi Shu stood there, impeccably dressed. He was at least 1.87m tall, his clothes without a single wrinkle, his buttons fastened to the very top—he looked somewhat ascetic.

This figure was burned into Jiang Zhiyu’s eyes; he could still clearly recite the man’s measurements. However, enduring the soreness at the base of his thighs, he had no heart for appreciation.

The “dog man” looked perfectly composed, showing no sign of losing his cool. Jiang Zhiyu’s gaze was a bit cold, wanting to scrape this person clean like a bone-shaving knife.

Beside him, the doctor didn’t understand why this patient had suddenly developed a murderous aura. Combining the circumstances, the doctor came up with a terrible hypothesis: “By the way, do you need to call the police?”

Jiang Zhiyu snapped back to reality, his fire instantly extinguished as he felt embarrassed again. Regarding the cause of this accident, it was more likely the other party should be the one calling the police.

Seeing him shake his head without hesitation, Qi Shu thought of his frantic escape this morning and didn’t suppress a slight movement. It sounded like a laugh, but it was laced with a bit of schadenfreude.

This made Jiang Zhiyu throw a tantrum. He hummed and lifted his chin, intentionally putting on a haughty front.

The two were losing their tempers across the distance, while the doctor remained professional.

“So, does the sexual partner have any positive infection indicators? Does it meet high-risk criteria?” he asked.

Facing the doctor, Jiang Zhiyu became honest instantly. “The physical exam report was very healthy, but I’m still not quite at ease,” he said properly, his back turned toward Qi Shu.

The doctor was surprised: “It’s not a big deal. Why don’t you confirm it with him? Or grab him and bring him here for a test, so you don’t have to guess behind his back.”

Since childhood, Jiang Zhiyu had been very well-behaved at hospitals, cooperating with treatments without fuss. Nurses used to be amazed at such a sensible little patient. Now, with a grown body and a mature mind, he stood there with his head down, hesitating.

“We aren’t close enough. I don’t have the guts to grab him, so I came to see a doctor.”

The doctor found it bizarre: “You just slept together last night and he tossed you around like this—don’t tell me he’s vanished into thin air already?”

Although the one who ran was himself, Jiang Zhiyu took on the air of a victim and nodded with a face full of innocence.

The doctor was experienced and could deduce the general situation. He hit the nail on the head: “You kids are so unreliable. What kind of ‘not close’ is this? You don’t know his real name, you don’t know his background, you just know how handsome he is?”

Jiang Zhiyu: “.”

The doctor told him to be more careful in the future, prescribed a swelling-relief ointment, and directed him to a nearby institution for risk screening. A rapid test could yield results in half an hour; whether to take blocking medication would be determined then.

Jiang Zhiyu thanked him politely. The doctor then looked toward the door and felt confused. “Why are you leaving too?” he asked Qi Shu.

Qi Shu said, “My situation is similar.” He paused: “And I was forcibly stuffed with a large stack of money. I feel like the person I encountered is even less of a ‘good person’.”

Doctor: ???

Was this a joke? Who was so bold as to ‘solicit’ a Chief from an investment bank?

He let out a sigh of deep sympathy: “Good heavens, how did you both run into scumbags?”

Jiang Zhiyu: “…”

He couldn’t help but glare at the man beside him. Qi Shu turned his head slightly and slowly curled the corners of his mouth, looking very much like a gentleman. Through this movement, Jiang Zhiyu saw clearly that Qi Shu had two canine teeth, which added a bit of a wicked vibe to his smile.

The tooth marks hidden by his clothes still throbbed slightly; Jiang Zhiyu felt a reflexive tingling in his spine. He felt something was off—like prey sensing a trap—and quickly moved a bit further away.

But no matter how far he moved, where could he run? They had to go to the screening institution together; they couldn’t be separated yet.

Jiang Zhiyu hadn’t recovered from being handled so roughly; he was barely holding himself up, pretending everything was normal. Meanwhile, he cautiously observed Qi Shu. This man must usually be very efficient; he walked faster than most people. At first, Jiang could keep up, but his pace gradually became a bit staggered.

At that moment, Qi Shu received a call. Jiang Zhiyu saw the contact name was “Mom.” He perked up his ears out of curiosity, and the other man didn’t seem to intend to avoid him. A woman’s voice came through the phone.

“Have you had dinner?” she asked. “A-Shu, have there been many social engagements lately?”

Jiang Zhiyu cleverly caught the information: So this man is called A-Shu at home.

“Not yet, just got off work. I’ll eat in a bit,” Qi Shu replied faintly.

Mother Qi said, “Those drinking parties people ask you to go to—push them off if you can. The atmosphere at those tables is foul. You’re better off coming home for some clean, hot home-cooked food.”

“Mm, I know,” Qi Shu said.

Mother Qi laid the groundwork and then suggested, “Since you’re still hungry and alone, why don’t you come over? We made extra dishes today.”

Qi Shu expertly fabricated an excuse: “I have a small matter to attend to here; I probably won’t make it.”

Hearing that his tone was unusual, Mother Qi whispered, “Is someone with you?”

“Yes,” Qi Shu didn’t lie this time.

Mother Qi spoke very softly afterward, so Jiang Zhiyu couldn’t hear. After seeing Qi Shu hang up, he immediately began to play with his tone.

“A-Shu? Your nickname sounds better than ‘Alfred.’ Is there a ‘tree’ (shu) in your real name?” he probed.

“Coincidentally, no,” Qi Shu told the truth. Then, he gave as good as he got: “I also know what your family calls you.”

Jiang Zhiyu didn’t believe him: “You’ve never even entered my front door. Please don’t spread rumors.”

Qi Shu mimicked his sarcastic tone: “When I was about to enter the door this morning, your grandmother happened to send you a voice message.” He paused for half a second. “Rongrong?”

When his grandmother said it, it was mixed with Suzhou dialect. Qi Shu pronounced every word clearly, with an additional teasing intent.

Jiang Zhiyu was usually sharp-tongued and wouldn’t be silenced by a tease; he immediately refused to admit it. “Nonsense. I’m warning you, don’t call me that. Please call me Mr. Fannar.” He used the English name to create distance.

On the other side, Qi Shu found his request particularly hilarious. He said, “Mr. Fannar, you’re quite good at using honorifics now. Unlike yesterday when you were cursing in front of me.”

Jiang Zhiyu recalled for a moment; the man before him indeed wasn’t lying.

Wasn’t it just bad-mouthing the big-shot client a bit?

Why remember such a small thing so clearly? Why not mention that in the middle of the night, he was insatiable and carried him to the window?

Stop. If he kept thinking, the memories would resurface.

Jiang Zhiyu closed his eyes and said willfully, “So what? Go find that guy named Qi and report me then.”

After this bickering, Jiang Zhiyu suddenly felt something was off—he wasn’t walking with as much difficulty now. He took a closer look; the other person had unknowingly slowed down, seemingly matching his pace on purpose.

Jiang Zhiyu froze for a moment, then turned his head away and continued to mutter. “Actually, I’ve never met President Qi. It’ll be hard for you to complain. His office is on the highest floors of the building. To see him, you need to book half a month in advance.”

Qi Shu asked, “You want to see him?”

“I don’t,” Jiang Zhiyu said without any hesitation. He blinked: “We’re from different worlds. Our companies are just collaborating. I might not necessarily come into contact with him… and as far as I know, he’s not someone to be trifled with.”

Qi Shu glanced at him, feigning surprise: “Really?”

“Why would I lie to you? Finance workers are all trouble. Their competitive environment is too intense; they are the ultimate egoists. They only have themselves in their eyes and can’t see anyone else.” Having said this, Jiang Zhiyu stopped himself: “I’m not willing to offend someone like him.”

Qi Shu wore a look of “lesson learned.” He was long used to being kept at a distance, so he didn’t offer any explanation.

The facts were as Jiang Zhiyu stated. Even if the two companies collaborated, as long as Qi Shu didn’t care about such details, there would be no intersection between them. Jiang Zhiyu didn’t want to be involved with Qi Shu, and Qi Shu didn’t intend to create extra complications—wasn’t this just mutual non-interest?

They had slept together by mistake, a chance encounter. Qi Shu didn’t think he was that pure-hearted as to dwell on it unilaterally.

At the CDC, the two quickly finished their checks. The results were both “nothing to worry about.” Jiang Zhiyu stretched, relieved it was a false alarm.

He was a bit stiff when he stood up. Qi Shu, standing nearby, could sense that his body must be very uncomfortable.

His private car was parked under a tree. Subconsciously, he wanted to drive Jiang Zhiyu back, but as the words reached his lips, he always felt something was inappropriate. Or rather, Qi Shu didn’t know how to do such a thing.

In his usual interactions with the outside world, others always surrounded him like stars around the moon, while his sense of boundaries was very distinct. He had few friends and distant family ties; he had never done anything similar for anyone. He was the complete antonym of “warm-hearted.”

But no matter how one looked at it, he had also made a mistake in this relationship. He was just taking responsibility for the consequences; it had nothing to do with being warm-hearted, let alone losing his sense of propriety.

Jiang Zhiyu’s brain was working well now that he was sober. Hopefully, he wouldn’t read too much into it.

“I’ll drive you back. Where do you live?” Qi Shu believed his action was perfectly reasonable, born entirely from natural kindness.

Jiang Zhiyu hadn’t had a good rest yet—he had already fallen asleep once while waiting—and at this moment, he really wanted to go back quickly to apply the medicine. He didn’t act coy and gave an address: “Is it on your way?”

“Very close to my home,” Qi Shu answered truthfully.

As the words fell, both froze simultaneously. Their gazes met briefly before quickly darting away. This was clearly a very ordinary answer, but in their situation, it carried a sense of ambiguity. Both felt it, and both felt uneasy because of it.

“I live in Yifeng Shangdi. It’s only two streets away from your apartment.” Qi Shu felt it was better to be clear; there was no need to leave room for imagination. “I don’t mean it as an invitation to spend the night.”

Jiang Zhiyu used this to change the subject: “Housing prices around here are very expensive. How much is your monthly rent?”

Qi Shu had bought his large flat in full. He didn’t intend to explain more to anyone, only saying he didn’t pay much attention to that aspect. Jiang Zhiyu didn’t really want to know the answer either; this interlude was tacitly turned over.

A McLaren was parked by the road. Jiang Zhiyu remembered the first time they met—this car had appeared then too. At that time, the other man was supporting a tall man, disdainfully stuffing him into the back seat…

Recalling this, Jiang Zhiyu was very self-aware and proactively moved toward that spot. Anyway, he was slender; it wouldn’t hurt to squeeze in.

However, seeing his stance, the other party said: “The back is not a place where people can sit.”

The design of this supercar only had two seats. There was a little space in the back, mostly used for putting accompanying items. Jiang Zhiyu found that he didn’t mind him being in the passenger seat. After buckling his seatbelt, he proactively opened the navigation. He still needed to fill the prescription from the doctor; the destination was the pharmacy next to his apartment, only a few steps away from each other.

On the way, Jiang Zhiyu studied the car. A McLaren cost at least 2 million. For the income of the vast majority of people, this didn’t fit normal consumption logic, did it? He pondered.

“The car was a graduation gift from my stepfather. Spending money to make my mother happy,” Qi Shu suddenly said.

Jiang Zhiyu had his thoughts read again. This time he looked listless and began studying the prescription form. Because he was pretending so seriously, Qi Shu thought he had a problem.

At the pharmacy, Qi Shu asked politely: “Do you need help?”

Jiang Zhiyu didn’t catch on, saying blankly: “What?”

“You look like you can’t read this form. You’ve held it and scanned it several times,” Qi Shu said. He partially mimicked Jiang Zhiyu’s performance at the hotel: “I can recognize Chinese characters. If there’s something you don’t know, you can ask directly.”

Jiang Zhiyu: “…”

He didn’t plan to endure it and struck back on the spot: “If you really want to help, find some effective fever-reducing medicine. I forgot to have the doctor add it in.”

Qi Shu asked: “Did you catch a cold?”

“No,” Jiang Zhiyu said. “I feel a tiny bit of a low fever. Don’t you know the reason in your heart?”

Qi Shu paused slightly, then said: “Sorry. I forgot my strength yesterday.”

Back at the doctor’s, there was actually a question Jiang Zhiyu hadn’t told the truth about. Regarding condoms. Last night, they really weren’t used the entire time.

At this moment, he looked at Qi Shu’s face, his fingertips pinching his palm.

“Alfred,” Jiang Zhiyu said. “You’re more than just that. You did something even more out of line.”

Qi Shu listened: “How so?”

Jiang Zhiyu hated his cool, detached posture and said, “You think you performed well that night? Actually, in your confusion at the end, you forgot the most basic thing.”

As he spoke the last half-sentence, Jiang Zhiyu successfully noticed that this man froze for a moment in surprise. Without giving him time to buffer, he continued wickedly.

“I should have made you come help at noon. I should have called you while soaking in the bathtub, telling you to see how terrible you are.” Jiang Zhiyu intentionally lost his temper. “Those should have been yours to wash.”

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