I Heard You're Hard To Chase - Chapter 20 Part 2
Jiang Xu: “…”
The two looked at each other for a few seconds. In the end, Jiang Xu was defeated first, and then slowly started to eat.
This was not the first time that Xie Huai encountered Jiang Xu skipping lunch. If this continued, Jiang Xu would definitely get stomach trouble.
Xie Huai said calmly: “Jiang Xu, remember, you must eat three meals a day from now on, otherwise you will easily get stomach problems.”
“I don’t allow it, so you have to take good care of yourself for me.”
Xie Huai knew he might be overly worried, but he had read reports indicating that over a million people worldwide died from stomach cancer each year, and one-third of all stomach cancer patients were affected due to eating habits.
He didn’t want Jiang Xu to suffer from stomach problems.
Jiang Xu understood what Xie Huai was thinking. He held Xie Huai close and promised, “Okay, I promise you. I’ll eat properly and stay healthy.”
Xie Huai’s eyes welled up with tears again. He turned his head and rested on Jiang Xu’s shoulder. Even a brief moment like this was comforting.
Jiang Xu ran his hand through Xie Huai’s soft and fluffy hair.
After leaning on Jiang Xu’s shoulder for a while, Xie Huai suddenly realized that this was not Jiang Xu’s home, but a school.
He immediately sat up straight and looked around, but luckily there was no one there.
Jiang Xu smiled helplessly: “No one saw us.”
Xie Huai lowered his head to check the time. They had fifteen minutes left before the next class.
“Do you want to lean in for a while longer?” Jiang Xu’s voice was very low. Xie Huai blushed every time Jiang Xu used this teasing tone, and he found it impossible to refuse.
“Yes.”
So Xie Huai rested against Jiang Xu’s shoulder for another five minutes. It wasn’t until the time for next that the two of them slowly walked back to the classroom.
This afternoon when Lu Yi came to see Xie Huai to play ball, Xie Huai did not refuse this time.
“Let’s go to the basketball court.” Xie Huai stood up.
Jiang Xu frowned: “You can’t…”
Lu Yi interjected in confusion: “What can’t?”
“I won’t play,” Xie Huai smiled, “I’m just going to watch them play. Is that not still not okay?”
“Brother Huai, aren’t you going to play?” Hao Xeuxi was also stunned.
“My ankle isn’t completely healed yet, so I’ll just watch,” Xie Huai replied nonchalantly.
Xie Huai thought that his ankle had been cured for a long time, but the one thing that could not be cured was the bone cancer.
Since Xie Huai was going, Jiang Xu would definitely go too. Not long after arriving on the basketball court, the surrounding spectator seats were filled with people, most of whom came to see Jiang Xu and Xie Huai.
Lu Yi was quite surprised by this turnout. In the past, when he and Hao Xuexi played basketball with their friends, there were hardly any spectators. Was this the difference between worlds? The contrast was astounding.
However, Xie Huai didn’t step onto the court. Instead, as Jiang Xu entered the court, Xie Huai stood on the sidelines, eagerly watching.
This basketball game was quite intense, and they played together with Class 4.
Every time Jiang Xu touched the ball, he almost always scored, earning rounds of applause from the spectators.
Xie Huai didn’t seem excited at all on the surface. He looked exceptionally calm, as though he didn’t care about the outcome, but in fact he was very excited inside.
See, this is my boyfriend.
Xie Huai couldn’t help but think this.
After one intense game, several players were exhausted. However, Jiang Xu strolled over to Xie Huai’s seat as if he were completely uninvolved.
There was a bottle of lemonade on the side. Jiang Xu didn’t even glance at it as he picked it up and took a sip. His prominent Adam’s apple moved up and down, a sight that left onlookers feeling a bit flushed.
“Jiang Xu, your water is here,” Xie Huai suppressed his agitated mood and handed another bottle of lemonade in front of him, “I’ve already had a sip from the one in your hand.”
Jiang Xu bent down and whispered in Xie Huai’s ear with a playful smile, “I’ve already kissed you with my tongue, and you still care about this?”
Looking at Xie Huai’s increasingly reddened ears, Jiang Xu straightened up with satisfaction and returned to the game.
Jiang Xu’s previous act surprised the spectators on the other side of the stands. Several girls were holding hands, their faces adorned with doting smiles, a sight even Xie Huai couldn’t ignore.
But Xie Huai didn’t understand the doting smiles. He remained nonchalant and continued to watch Jiang Xu and the others play basketball.
During evening self-study, there weren’t many students in the classroom. With the school sports day just around the corner, many of their classmates were called to practice on the field, so there were only a few people in the classroom.
Since the teachers didn’t feel like giving lessons with only a few people, they allowed the students to self-study.
Xie Huai was more straightforward and slept through two classes.
If it weren’t for Jiang Xu waking him up, he felt like he could have slept until the next morning.
As soon as they got home, Xiao Huaihuai circled around the two of them. He was probably hungry. Xiao Huaihuai was also a little bigger than when he first brought him home.
Xie Huai picked up his son and gave him a pat, while Jiang Xu went to take a shower.
“Xiao Huaihuai, your dad might not see you often from now on. You have to listen to your other dad, okay?” Xie Huai spoke with deep sincerity to their little dog, as if giving an important instruction. “You have to be good and grow up happily, so your dads can rest assured.”
As he spoke, Xie Huai’s nose began to feel sore.
Tonight might be the last time Xie Huai slept beside Jiang Xu. Every time he thought about these “last times,” he couldn’t help but feel sad.
When Jiang Xu came out of the bathroom, Xie Huai went up and hugged him tightly.
“Jiang Xu, we can’t go to school and go home together starting tomorrow.” Xie Huai was particularly reluctant to leave Jiang Xu, but he had no choice. “I can come to school every day this month, but I have to go back to the hospital in the afternoon. After this month, I will have to stay in the hospital every day.”
Jiang Xu’s fingers gradually tightened. He had long known that such a day would come, and this was the only way to keep Xie Huai alive longer.
He pursed his lips and hesitated for a moment before leaning down to give a soft kiss on Xie Huai’s earlobe. He whispered softly, “It’s okay. I can go to the hospital to accompany you.”
“Okay,” Xie Huai closed his eyes and smiled.
“Jiang Xu, I want to kiss you,” Xie Huai raised his head slightly.
Jiang Xu kissed him fiercely as soon as he said this, breathing heavily, their lips meeting with intensity, leaving Xie Huai’s cheeks flushed.
At some point, Xie Huai had already fallen on the bed. Afraid of injuring Xie Huai’s bones with his strong desire, Jiang Xu placed his hands on either side of him and leaned down to kiss him.
The sound of their lips and tongues intertwining filled Xie Huai’s mind, and he felt like he was drowning in the gentle kiss of Jiang Xu.
Xie Huai’s chest was heaving intensely due to the long kiss. Then he felt something and suddenly slowed down his breathing, and his face and neck turned red instantly.
Jiang Xu was also a little embarrassed. After kissing him…
“I’m going to wash my face.” After saying that, Jiang Xu got up and walked into the bathroom.
Hearing the sound of water running from the bathroom, Xie Huai turned away with a blushing face.
No wonder Jiang Xu reacted, Xie Huai himself had some reactions, but Jiang Xu didn’t seem to notice.
Fuck, Xie Huai couldn’t help but cursed in his heart.
Xie Huai hasn’t taken a shower yet tonight, and Jiang Xu has been in the bathroom for half an hour. It doesn’t take much to figure out what Jiang Xu was doing in there.
As soon as Jiang Xu came out, Xie Huai picked up his pajamas and went directly into the bathroom.
There was only a faint scent of grass and woods in the bathroom, a smell that Xie Huai was very familiar with.
When Xie Huai went out, he saw Jiang Xu sitting by the bed and looking at his mobile phone. He walked over and asked, “What are you looking at, so fascinated?”
“Your moments.” Jiang Xu turned the screen to show Xie Huai, like a well-behaved husband whose wife checked his phone.
“…” Xie Huai coughed slightly and stuttered a little, “Um, what, there’s really nothing interesting in there.”
There was really nothing interesting to see, and Xie Huai rarely posts on WeChat Moments. The most recent post was on the day when he announced that Xiao Huaihuai was his son.
Jiang Xu read it back and forth many times, but felt it was not enough and wanted to read it again.
“What is this painting?” Jiang Xu’s eyes stayed on the background picture of Xie Huai’s moments.
Xie Huai went over to take a look and explained: “This is Daocheng. When we were strolling through the market, the shopkeeper said if I liked something, I could take a picture to remember it, so I did.”
“Daocheng?” Jiang Xu had heard of this place, but was not very familiar with it.
“Jiang Xu, I want to go to Daocheng Yading with you.” Xie Huai looked at him with bright eyes.
Jiang Xu resisted the urge to kiss Xie Huai and asked in a low voice, “Why do you want to go there?”
Xie Huai smiled and nodded, “To run away with you.”
Jiang Xu closed his eyes and said, “Xie Huai, this is something you brought upon yourself.”
Question, what is the result of flirting with your boyfriend before going to bed.
Xie Huai replied, he will be kissed until pass out.
The next day, as they were leaving, Xie Huai poured some food into Xiao Huaihuai’s bowl, and petted its head before following Jiang Xu to school.
Leaving the neighborhood, Xie Huai stopped and looked back at the entrance for a moment. After a few seconds, he turned and walked away.
He probably wouldn’t have much time to come back in the future. It was really hard to say goodbye.
Xie Huai will go to the hospital at four o’clock in the afternoon, so he does not need to attend the last self-study class in the afternoon.
After Lu Yi knew that Xie Huai would take leave every afternoon from now on, he couldn’t help but ask: “Brother Huai, what are you going to do when you take leave every afternoon?”
“Nothing special,” Xie Huai replied casually. “My mom has enrolled me in a TOEFL course, so I have to attend classes every day.”
“Oh, I see,” Lu Yi suddenly understood.
Xie Huai packed up his desk, stood up, patted Lu Yi’s shoulder, and said, “See you tomorrow.”
He stopped for a moment, bent down and smiled brightly at Jiang Xu: “See you later, deskmate.”
Jiang Xu wanted to hold Xie Huai’s hand, but in the end he didn’t move. He lowered his eyes slightly and replied, “Hmm… alright.”
The driver’s car was parked at the school gate. When he saw Xie Huai, he immediately opened the door for him to get in.
It wasn’t until the car entered the hospital that Xie Huai snapped out of his thoughts.
Mrs. Zhao was standing at the door of the hospital. When she saw Xie Huai coming, she quickly ran forward and hugged Xie Huai: “Huaihuai.”
“Mom.” Xie Huai called her.
After entering, the doctor conducted the usual examination of Xie Huai’s body. In the end, Xie Huai looked at his hand with two intravenous needles inserted.
The pain relief from this was obviously much better than the slow-release ibuprofen capsules.
Then he fell asleep until the evening, but his sleep was very light. Whenever there was any movement, even if someone walked by outside the ward, he would wake up. Without Jiang Xu, he couldn’t sleep soundly at all.
He was lying on the bed with his eyes open, and the cell phone on the cabinet next to him suddenly vibrated.
Xiie Huai opened it and saw that it was a message from Jiang Xu.
Jiang Xu: Is there anything you want to eat?
Xie Huai: Are you going to cook for me?
Jiang Xu: Yes.
Xie Huai thought for a moment. He couldn’t eat greasy or spicy food right now, and just thinking about it made him feel like he had lost a lot of happiness. He replied with a message:
Xie Huai: Something light is fine, I’m not picky.
Jiang Xu: Okay, I got it.
Xie Huai: Thanks, boyfriend QVQ.
Xie Huai looked at the cell phone for a long time. Since Mrs. Zhao was not in the ward now, he directly dialed Jiang Xu.
Jiang Xu answered almost instantly.
“How are you doing?”
Jiang Xu’s voice came over. He seemed to be outside, with the sound of the wind in the background..
He realized that he hadn’t seen Jiang Xu or heard Jiang Xu’s voice for only a few hours, but he already missed him so much.
“I’m fine, don’t worry, I just… miss you.”
Xie Huai turned his head and looked out of the floor-to-ceiling window on his right. In the distance, LED billboards on tall buildings were displaying various advertisements. The surroundings were illuminated by vibrant neon lights. When he looked up, he could see the hazy night sky with the moon and stars twinkling. It was a view that made one want to capture the beauty of this night and keep it in their pocket.
Jiang Xu remained silent for a while, and Xie Huai thought he had hung up. He checked his phone and found that the call was still connected, but he couldn’t hear any sound from the other end.
The next moment, the door to his hospital room was pushed open.
Xie Huai thought it was Mrs. Zhao coming back and turned to look at the door.
He froze.
“Jiang Xu?”
“Yeah, I’m here.”
Xie Huai didn’t tell him which ward he was in. As soon as he thought about it, he knew that Mrs. Zhao must have told Jiang Xu.
Still, he was pleasantly surprised.
At night, Jiang Xu continued to hold Xie Huai in his arms as they slept. Breathing in Jiang Xu’s scent, Xie Huai finally managed to sleep soundly.
For the next month, Jiang Xu visited the hospital every evening to accompany Xie Huai, and during the day, he went to school with him. Their classmates didn’t even bat an eye when they held hands; they were already used to this “old married couple” routine.
For a whole month, Xie Huai took medication every day, either in pill form or through IV drips. Although the pain would quickly subside, it would return with even greater intensity whenever it flared up.
Until the day before the school’s sports day.
Xie Huai looked at Mrs. Zhao and spoke slowly, “Mom, I want to run the three thousand-meter race tomorrow.”
Mrs. Zhao clearly didn’t want Xie Huai to participate, and she was very worried about him. “Huaihuai, you can’t engage in such strenuous activity. You still have acute heart failure, do you know?”
“Mom, after the sports day, it will be mid-term, and I… won’t be able to go to school anymore. I haven’t had a chance to say a proper goodbye to my friends,” Xie Huai said, his voice choking up as he continued, “Mom, please, I’m begging you.”
The next day, Xie Huai went to school.
He bought a whole pack of lollipops for Lu Yi. Lu Yi’s eyes lit up when he saw it, and he was very touched: “Damn it, Brother Huai, did you buy this for me?”
“I promised to give it to you on the first day of school.” Xie Huai said, draping his arm around Lu Yi’s shoulder.
At that time, Lu Yi said that he wished him an early escape from being caught by Jiang Xu and skipped classes. Xie Huai had promised to give him a lollipop if he managed to do so. Now that Jiang Xu was his boyfriend, he certainly wouldn’t be catching him skipping classes anymore. So, it could be said that he had succeeded.
But one lollipop wasn’t enough, so he bought a whole bag.
Lu Yi was not the only one. Xie Huai bought things for all the students in the class, including the teachers of each subject. Not a single person was left out.
After the morning self-study session, the opening ceremony of the autumn sports day officially began.
First, the school principal delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the autumn sports day. Then, it was the vice principal’s turn, and his hour-long speech nearly bored everyone to death.
There were a total of forty-eight classes in the first and second years combined, and four classes from each grade were selected by drawing lots to perform at the school’s sports day. Xie Huai’s class was among the lucky ones chosen.
Several girls took the stage for their performance, and while Xie Huai couldn’t quite tell if it was K-pop or jazz dance they were performing, he applauded enthusiastically when they finished and was grabbed by Jiang Xu.
After the performance was over, the sports meeting began.
Jiang Xu sat next to Xie Huai. He knew that Xie Huai was going to compete today. While the three thousand-meter race might not have meant much to the previous Xie Huai, for the present one, it posed some challenges.
Xie Huai wasn’t just dealing with bone cancer, but also had acute heart failure.
Jiang Xu had only learned about it the previous day, and when he did, he felt intense heartache, yet there was nothing he could do.
It was Xie Huai’s turn to compete, and Jiang Xu helped him change into his athletic attire. He hugged Xie Huai tightly and whispered in his ear, “If you can’t take it, stop. Don’t push yourself too hard. Baby, promise me.”
“Okay, I promise.”
But I promised that I would get first place for you, and I’ll definitely do it.
Xie Huai stood at the starting line, and as soon as the starting gun fired, he dashed forward.
Lu Yi immediately stood up and shouted, “Xie Huai! Go for it!!!”
All the students in the class stood up, and cheers burst out instantly.
Hao Xuexi also shouted: “Xie Huai! You are the most handsome boy in the school!!”
The surrounding students stared at Hao Xuexi in silence for a moment: “…”
Then they shrugged and continued cheering for Xie Huai.
During the first lap, Xie Huai had already surpassed the second-place runner by half a lap. In the second lap, he widened the gap to a full lap.
Jiang Xu’s heart raced; Xie Huai was running at an incredible speed, one that his legs might not be able to sustain.
By the later laps, it was evident that Xie Huai’s pace was slowing down.
Second place was catching up, and the spectators held their breath, watching the last lap unfold.
Jiang Xu descended from the stage, positioning himself near the finish line. Xie Huai spotted him in the distance and suddenly accelerated, running against the wind towards the finish line. The wind rushed past him as he crossed the finish line and fell into Jiang Xu’s arms.
Xie Huai’s chest heaved violently, and he said in his heart, ‘Take that, heart failure and bone cancer. I still managed to win the three thousand meters!’
After a few seconds, the audience burst into violent cheers.
Three thousand meters!!! Xie Huai had completed it in 10 minutes and 52 seconds, breaking the school’s three thousand-meter record!
Lu Yi: “Damn, Brother Huai is awesome!!”
The other students in Class 1 were wide-eyed and stunned, “Holy crap!!”
Storyteller Springforyou's Words
Hello, Spring here to springkle some BL energy~ Please refrain from Re-posting/Sharing it on any other platform/Social Media as you risk it being taken down!
Comments for chapter "Chapter 20 Part 2"
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