Hot flashes

Song Yu's eyelids twitched a few times, and he slowly opened them a crack.

The incandescent light from the hospital room shone down from the ceiling, the light so bright that his pupils contracted sharply before slowly dilating.

His gaze went from blurry to clear. First, he saw the halo of light from the ceiling lamp, and then—Chen Jingyi, her eyes red-rimmed, her face showing a tired look, yellow and dull from staying up all night.

"Xiaoyu! You're awake!" Chen Jingyi's voice came through, filled with joy.

She hurriedly picked up the glass of water from the bedside table, inserted a straw, and carefully brought it to Song Yu's lips.

Song Yu's lips moved slightly as he took a sip of water. As the water slid down his throat, it brought a dry, abrasive sensation, as if he hadn't swallowed in a long time.

He tilted his head and made a muffled sound, like sandpaper scraping against a wooden board.

Chen Jingyi put down the water glass, gripped his arm, and her voice, which had been filled with joy, turned into an urgent urgency tinged with long-suppressed anger: "Xiaoyu, you're finally awake. What happened to you? Did that bastard hit you?"

Her grip on Song Yu's arm tightened, her knuckles turning white: "Now that he's climbed the social ladder, he dares to lay a hand on you."

Song Yu lay on the bed, his gaze shifting to Chen Jingyi's face. His voice was hoarse, as if scraped from sandpaper, when he spoke: "...Gao Zhi?"

Chen Jingyi's lips curled slightly, a contemptuous smile playing on her lips, as if she had just heard something that made her uncomfortable: "You don't know, do you? That bastard—is a homosexual."

Song Yu's pupils contracted for a split second.

Chen Jingyi didn't notice the change in his expression. She turned her head, picked up the glass of water from the bedside table again, and held it to his lips: "Don't worry, he won't be smug for long. How could someone from a family like that possibly take him seriously?"

She paused, as if recalling a scene that pleased her, and the contemptuous smile on her lips deepened. "It won't be long before I kick him to the curb."

Song Yu's breathing suddenly became heavy.

He coughed violently, his voice dry and strained, as if he were trying to cough up all the air from his lungs.

Chen Jingyi quickly patted his back, her hands flustered, her voice high-pitched with nervousness from being suddenly startled: "What's wrong? What's wrong? Don't panic—Mom's here—"

Song Yu coughed for a while before stopping.

His chest was still heaving violently, his lips were slightly parted, his gaze was fixed on Chen Jingyi's face, and his voice was urgent as it squeezed out of his hoarse throat: "What do you mean... How did you know?"

Chen Jingyi looked at him, seemingly surprised by his reaction. She paused for a moment before speaking, "He brought that man to the hospital with him."

Song Yu's fingers tightened suddenly on the bed sheet.

Chen Jingyi continued, "Right in front of our whole family, he admitted it himself—it's his boyfriend."

She chuckled softly, "And yet, you were still showing off in front of us."

Song Yu's eyes suddenly turned red.

Chen Jingyi did not notice his change.

She was tilting her head, her gaze fixed on the direction of the ward door. Her voice came from that angle, sharp with anger: "Last night, taking advantage of the fact that no one was in the ward, you came to take revenge on me again..." As she spoke, her eyes darkened, and her voice lowered, "Don't worry, I will definitely not let that bastard get away with it."

Song Yu's breath hitched for a split second. He lifted his head from the sheets, his eyes still red, and stared at Chen Jingyi's face: "What do you want to do?"

Chen Jingyi was slightly taken aback by his tone. She turned to look at Song Yu, her lips moving slightly.

Song Yu stared at her: "Don't get involved in this. He didn't do it. It has nothing to do with him."

Chen Jingyi's expression froze for a moment: "...What did you say?"

Song Yu looked away.

Chen Jingyi frowned: "How could it be nothing? There were only the two of you in the house—who else could it be but him?"

Song Yu looked at her, his voice hoarse as he forced out, "I wasn't talking about him."

Chen Jingyi's fingers tightened on the cup.

She stared at Song Yu, and the light in her eyes changed in that instant, as if something in her mind had suddenly turned in a different direction, stirring up the fragments she thought had been neatly arranged.

Her face paled slightly. She opened her mouth, and when her voice came out, it had a quality that she was trying hard to keep steady but whose edges were still trembling slightly: "...Didn't you always hate him? Why are you speaking up for him now?"