To My Pretender [BL]

[7] - Overthinker

Wu Jie lifted his eyelids, thinking they wouldn't even open at all, however, he was greeted with the view of an unfamiliar white ceiling.

The rushing sensation of nausea took over his stomach again, and the throbbing headaches came back in inconsistent pulses.

Where am I? What... happened to me?

He started touching the unfamiliar clothes and realised these weren't the clothes he wore last night. In fact, he didn't even know whose bedroom he was in. Despite still being slightly dizzy, he propped his body up and lifted up the blanket.

The black pants he wore were too large for him that they slipped down to the end of his bottom, probably from tossing and turning in this large bed.

Still stuck in a daze, he rubbed his head and looked out the window that carried in the calming breeze. Apartment buildings stood tall from the distance, bathed in the light of the sun, while a couple of shorter buildings floated white in the distance like an elegant ocean liner sailing the night sea.

He went to the reunion dinner last night, but what happened? No matter how hard Wu Jie tried to think of last night, his memories failed him. All he could remember was drinking a lot with his high school classmates, and then passing out.

Right... he also went to the toilet.

Just then, he recalled that voice that carried through the rest of his delirium, the palm that continued patting his back, and the shoulder that he grasped hold on to.

"Don't worry."

"You're safe with me."

"I won't go anywhere."

He vaguely remembered seeing Shen Xiaoyun in the bathroom, but after that it was blank. Did Shen Xiaoyun leave him? Multiple people went into the bathroom and their eyes all glued onto him.

"Breathe slowly."

He sat in silence, and his brain buffered.

That voice.

As if a light bulb flashed inside his dark and hollow brain, his mouth slowly gaped. It wasn't a stranger who helped him, and it wasn't the ambulance either.

Slowly, he remembered who that voice belonged to.

Even though he was still stuck in a sleepy state, Wu Jie blushed from his neck to the tip of his ears. Luckily, there was no one around him, or else they would think he got a fever or some sort of cold.

"How embarrassing..." Wu Jie mumbled and rubbed the back of his head.

Finally, the forgotten memories pieced themselves together. Out of everyone, it just had to be Shen Xiaoyun that witnessed him in such a shameful state.

Did it mean he was currently at his house? It was neater than he expected it to be.  There were many artworks on the wall, and drawings of simple designs scattered across the table. He would've never taken him to be some sort of artist or have an interest in art at all.

The surrounding air was fragrant, as if packed with the aroma of flowers and newly picked fruits. It was only then did Wu Jie find out it was seeping from the clothes he wore and the pleasant scent of the blankets.

He sighed in distress.

After realising Shen Xiaoyun had dealt with his burden, he was fully awake. Wu Jie examined the spacious and clean room he slept in.

A neat, white table was situated near the corner, and on the left was the wardrobe with the sliding door mirrors. The glass window reached from the floor to the ceiling, leading to a balcony if opened, though half of the window was covered by an opaque curtain.

He tried to look for his phone, but to no avail, he couldn't find anything. Looking around, he noticed many documents stacked on the table, with some of them being echocardiograms (ECG) and scans of someone's heart structure. The increased thickness of the myocardium and the presence of a scar were prominent, but there was nothing else much he could see.

Seeing these documents, his heart turned sour. It was none of his business, so he immediately looked away.

Is Shen Xiaoyun here?

Struggling to even walk straight, he left the room to the best of his ability.

When he saw the familiar tall figure with the broad back, it forced his heart to stop for a moment.

Shen Xiaoyun was in the kitchen, cooking. Since he wore a black shirt, he could clearly see a snake tattoo coursing throughout his toned arms as it reached all the way to his neck, overlaying with another pattern.

He really was at his home. Last night, he didn't even look at Shen Xiaoyun for more than a couple of minutes that he never noticed how different his physique had become.

When he stepped out, Shen Xiaoyun turned around with a spatula in his hand.

Wu Jie blinked twice and scratched the back of his head. He held onto the waistband of his pants since they would immediately fall if he didn't.

"...Shen Xiaoyun?" Wu Jie said in his shaky, unclear voice.

Wu Jie's hair was still a mess with strands sticking out here and there, and the collar of the shirt was too wide for his shoulder, exposing his collar bones to the morning wind.

Tightening his grip on the spatula, Shen Xiaoyun's expression remained the same: filled with a sense of haughtiness.

He walked towards Wu Jie and leaned in. In spite of his usual scornful reflection, Shen Xiaoyun was now looking at him cheerfully, almost with hints of mischief, as though he was suddenly set free from a terrible burden.

"The great cardiac surgeon is finally awake," Shen Xiaoyun said.

"What...?"

Wu Jie stood in his spot, eyes widened that they couldn't shut at all.

How did Shen Xiaoyun know?

It's been one year since he stopped working as a surgeon after the damages inflicted upon him by his former hospital Director, and he never spoke about it to anyone at all, let alone to people who he hadn't seen for 14 years.

"Wu Jie, do you think you can run away from me? Who is going to take care of you? Those voices that corrupt your head... I'll make all of them go away. All you need to do is be mine. Do you really think anyone is willing to help you after what you've done? Anyone who is kind to you only wants to get a taste of you. They don't care about you at all. In this life, you only have me, Dr Wu. You only have me."

Stop.

Stop.

Stop.

His heart started pounding. Did Shen Xiaoyun know because of the media? But even so, he shouldn't be that famous that it would reach the ears of the majority. Or could it?

Could it?

Could it not?

Maybe those involved in the medical community, but definitely not those outside and in China. Unless, sometime during the height of the rumours, it also reached the ears of the people here, and Shen Xiaoyun—perhaps even more—knew everything about him? Or, what if he said something while he was drunk?

There were so many possibilities, that Wu Jie started feeling nauseous all over again.