The sickly one in F4 was the group's darling.

But this can't go on.

Shen Tinglan opened her eyes, turned her head to look at Bai Ci's door, took out her phone from her pocket, and dialed Ji Huaizhou's number.

"Shen Tinglan? What's wrong?"

"Bai Ci isn't feeling well." Shen Tinglan's voice was extremely low, as if squeezed from the depths of her throat. "Coughing, shortness of breath, there's probably something else. I can't go in, can you come here?"

"Okay, I'll be right there," Ji Huaizhou said.

As soon as she finished speaking, Shen Tinglan heard a very soft notification tone from Ji Huaizhou's end. She took the phone away from her ear for a moment, and when Ji Huaizhou's voice came again, his tone was more complex and difficult to decipher.

"Bai Ci called too."

Shen Tinglan's hand holding the phone paused slightly.

Almost instinctively, he turned his head to look towards Bai Ci's room. There was still no light under the door, but this time, he seemed to see Bai Ci curled up in the darkness, turning on the screen and dialing that number.

He chose Ji Huaizhou.

Shen Tinglan closed her eyes, slowly suppressing the inexplicable tightness in her chest.

"Okay," he said. "You can go in now, I'm going back to my room."

Ji Huaizhou didn't ask any further questions.

"it is good."

The phone hangs up.

Shen Tinglan didn't move. He leaned against the wall in the empty corridor, slowly taking his phone away from his ear; the screen's light had dimmed. Darkness enveloped him again, turning him into a silent shadow.

He heard Ji Huaizhou's door open and footsteps coming from the other end of the corridor.

He neither dodged nor deliberately avoided. When Ji Huaizhou reached Bai Ci's door, he glanced at him very lightly, said nothing, just nodded, and then knocked on the door.

Shen Tinglan watched him go in. The door closed gently, turning the warm yellow light back into the room. He stood there for a while, until he heard Ji Huaizhou's low voice asking a question from inside, before slowly turning around and walking towards his own room.

The tube of ointment in my hand had cooled down sometime during the day; it felt like a warm stone that had been squeezed for a long time.

He pushed open the door and went inside without turning on the light. Only after he was completely in the darkness did he realize that the dozen or so steps from Bai Ci's door to here felt like a long trek.

-

Bai Ci heard Shen Tinglan's footsteps fade into the distance.

He slowly lifted his face from the pillow; half of his face was burning hot, but the back of his head was still cool, as if it had been immersed in cold water. He blinked, his vision blurred by a layer of physiological moisture, and everything appeared double.

He turned his head and pressed his forehead against the cold wall, trying to calm the throbbing in his temples. But it didn't help. His heart was still racing, his chest felt tight and heavy, his limbs were as cold as if their bones had been removed, and he felt terribly weak.

He recalled Shen Tinglan's words before she left, "Then I'm leaving," so softly, so steadily, as if she were truly gone. Yet Bai Ci always felt that the person hadn't gone far. He couldn't explain why. Perhaps it was because even the air in the corridor still retained a faint scent of pine, or perhaps it was because he was too familiar with the sound of Shen Tinglan's footsteps before she left—those footsteps weren't going back to her room, but stopping somewhere.

He dared not think about it.

Thinking too much will only make my head hurt more.

He rolled over, lying on his back, and reached for his phone on the bedside table. The screen was blindingly bright; he squinted, found Ji Huaizhou's name in his contacts, and hesitated to press the dial button. He stared at those three words, his mind a jumble, and suddenly felt a surge of emotion, like he wanted to cry.

He didn't actually want to call anyone.

But he also knew that he couldn't just tough it out in his current state. He'd been exposed to the wind and frightened during the day, and then he'd been on edge ever since. Now, with a headache and heart palpitations, if he kept pushing himself, he might really get a fever again. He'd promised Bai Yanzhi that he wouldn't bear things alone. He'd also promised Bai Luochen that he wouldn't secretly suffer alone anymore.

As for Ji Huaizhou, he was the person his elder brother had entrusted to him. Regardless of how many things his elder brother was hiding, at least in this matter, Ji Huaizhou was truly and consistently protecting him. If something really went wrong in the room, the responsibility for "not keeping a close eye on him" would ultimately fall on Ji Huaizhou's shoulders.

He can't do that.

Bai Ci closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and pressed her fingertips down.

The phone rang once, then twice.

"Bai Ci?"

Bai Ci called out weakly, "Senior Ji."

"I have a bit of a headache. I'm also feeling a little anxious, and my hands and feet are cold. I'm sorry, I might have to trouble you."

"Besides headache and heart palpitations, have you experienced nausea, blurred vision, or shortness of breath?"

"I feel a little nauseous... My vision isn't completely black, but things are a bit blurry."

"When did it start?"

"After going upstairs, I kept feeling intermittent, thinking that lying down would help."

"Okay." Ji Huaizhou didn't ask any more questions. In the background, he could hear the soft sound of a door opening and closing, followed by quick and steady footsteps in the corridor. "I'll be there soon."

Footsteps soon sounded outside the door.

"Bai Ci, I'm coming in." There was a gentle knock on the door.

"Um."

The door opened, and Ji Huaizhou turned on the light.

Ji Huaizhou first touched his forehead, then moved down along his ear and gently pressed his neck.

"No fever, give me your hand."

Bai Ci stretched out a wrist from under the covers. Ji Huaizhou placed three fingers on it. He lowered his eyes and didn't speak. Bai Ci could feel her pulse pounding rapidly and erratically beneath the other's fingertips, as if being chased by something.

But for some reason, Bai Ci suddenly glanced very lightly at the door, not even knowing what he was looking at, and there was nothing there.

"Did you forget to take your medicine on time today?"

"I forgot about lunch."

"Have you forgotten, or do you not want to eat?" Ji Huaizhou asked.

Bai Ci remained silent.

"I know even if you don't say it." Ji Huaizhou withdrew his hand, picked up the thick coat hanging by the bed, and neatly draped it over Bai Ci's shoulders. He then helped Bai Ci up a little from under the covers. "Put your clothes on first. You can't recover from this state on your own; it's easy for it to relapse."

Bai Ci nodded obediently without saying a word. His head was throbbing badly; even moving the back of his head felt like being hit. He lowered his eyes, letting Ji Huaizhou drape his clothes over him and brush away his sweat-dampened bangs.

"Senior Ji," he suddenly called out in a very soft voice.

"Um."

"Have I... caused you trouble again?"

Ji Huaizhou paused, not looking at Bai Ci, but picking up the thermos by the bedside and pouring out half a cup of warm water: "No," he said, his voice flat and even. "It's only natural for patients to cause trouble for doctors. I'm glad you're alright."

"But I feel..." Bai Ci's voice softened even more, "It seems like I always leave you to clean up after me. It was the same at noon today. You were busy, and you still had to take care of me. I clearly promised you that I would listen to you."

"You did promise," Ji Huaizhou said, "but your body won't get better just because you want to. Your headache is because you were exposed to wind and fright during the day, plus your emotional fluctuations. This isn't something you deliberately did, nor is it your fault. Don't take the blame on yourself."

He helped Bai Ci lean against the headboard: "Wait here, your second brother had someone send over the medicine this afternoon, I'll go get it."

"it is good."

Ji Huaizhou looked down at Bai Ci. Even in the dim light, he could see that the boy was trying hard to keep his eyes open so as not to appear too uncomfortable.

"Bai Ci".

"Um."

Bai Ci looked up, her eyes glistening with a thin layer of tears.

"It's good that you'll call me," Ji Huaizhou said. "Keep it that way from now on. No matter what you think of me, don't try to handle your health issues on your own."

Bai Ci's eyelashes trembled, and her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she only managed to squeeze out a very soft and hoarse "hmm" from her throat.

Ji Huaizhou turned and walked out the door.

Bai Ci leaned against the headboard, listening to the footsteps heading towards the stairwell. He closed his eyes briefly and called out softly in his heart.

"Xiao Qi".

Xiaoqi's voice was soft and gentle, as if afraid of startling him: "Bye-bye, I'm here."

"I'm a little homesick," Bai Ci said.

Xiaoqi was silent for a few seconds before asking softly, "Which home are you talking about?"

Bai Ci did not answer.

He didn't know either, he just... kind of wanted to.