DA chapter 73

Yan Xu quickly understood what was going on. Most likely, the cat had caused trouble while Lin Jia was taking his medicine. However, when Lin Jia said it, it sounded like a kind of coquettish complaint.

When had the infamous former captain of the Inspection Team ever been addressed in such a way? He froze on the spot.

Lin Jia looked at him and asked, “Did Captain Yan come here just to see me?”

Yan Xu was still lost in thought about Lin Jia’s coquettishness and, for a moment, let his guard down. “Mm.”

But he reacted immediately . “Just passing by. Isn’t Xiao Yao one of your people? I was passing by and thought I should let you know.”

Lin Jia lowered his gaze, resting on the kangaroo pocket of Yan Xu’s clothes. It was obvious that a medicine box was bulging out of the pocket.

He stepped aside without saying anything to let Yan Xu in, but did not close the door. He took a clean cup and filled it with hot water.

He stood in front of Yan Xu again, holding a cup of hot water in one hand and stretching out his other hand flat, as if asking for something.

Yan Xu looked at the hand in front of him. “What?”

Lin Jia sighed, “Medicine.”

Cold wind poured in from the hotel corridor. Only then did Yan Xu remember that Lin Jia was still a patient. He walked in and closed the door.

Then he took out one box, two boxes… four boxes, five boxes… seven boxes of medicine from his pocket.

Lin Jia looked at the different boxes of medicine. Yan Xu rubbed his hair and said uncomfortably, “I didn’t know your exact symptoms, so I bought a little bit of everything.”

“Coughing?” Yan Xu asked, fiddling with the boxes and reading the instructions.

Lin Jia leaned against the cabinet edge, lazily holding the cup. “No.”

Yan Xu tossed a medicine aside and asked again. “Dizzy?”

Lin Jia: “It’s okay.”

Yan Xu selected several boxes and asked again. “Vomiting?”

Lin Jia: “No.”

Yan Xu picked through them: “Fever?”

After a while, when he still hadn’t heard an answer from Lin Jia, Yan Xu turned his head and saw that the corners of Lin Jia’s eyes were red and that his cheeks had a sickly flush, like a sickly beauty wearing rouge.

Lin Jia probably wasn’t sure if he had a fever. Without thinking much of it, Yan Xu reached out to touch Lin Jia’s forehead.

Just as the back of his hand was about to touch the forehead, the sick beauty leaned back slightly, gently avoiding it and leaving Yan Xu’s hand hanging in midair.

“37.8°C.” Lin Jia parted his lips.

He understood tension and relaxation too well—when to tease and provoke and when to restrain and distance himself. All of these decisions were made by him alone.

Since entering the Fish Belly, he had given rewards, sweet words, and naked concern. After leaving the Fish Belly, he took the initiative to invite Yan Xu and went over himself.

The teasing was already enough; it was time for the pushing away and distancing stage.

Lin Jia took a medicine box and took out two fever pills.

“Thank you, Captain Yan, for coming to see me.” Lin Jia took the medicine, planning to use the water to see the guest out.

But when he looked up, he saw Yan Xu awkwardly withdrawing his hand. This person had probably also realized that his action was abrupt. His hand didn’t know where to go and, in the end, simply went into the kangaroo pocket.

Then, with one touch, Yan Xu took out two mint-flavored throat candies.

As if remembering something, Yan Xu stretched out his hand and placed the candies on the table. Knowing that Lin Jia had already discovered his intention of coming to visit him, Yan Xu was annoyed with his own performance and finally stopped pretending. “I saw them selling it at the pharmacy, so I bought them. If you think the medicine is bitter, keep one candy in your mouth after taking it.”

Lin Jia was silent for a moment.

“Captain Yan, want to have dinner together?” he asked.

Since he had opened his mouth, Lin Jia didn’t give Yan Xu a chance to refuse. “But you have to wait for me a while. I need to shower first.”

Covered in medicine and feeling bitter, Lin Jia had reached his limit.

On his way to the bathroom, he kicked the cat, counting it as revenge.

Lin Jia closed the door.

Assuming Yan Xu was still waiting, he turned on the showerhead, planning to simply rinse off the smell of medicine.

Yan Xu waited in the room for Lin Jia. Since he had nothing else to do, he gathered the scattered medicine boxes together neatly. After some thought, he took out the fever medicine that Lin Jia had taken and placed it on the outermost layer.

Lin Jia really was the one who knew best how to enjoy things. This was a suite with a clearly separated living room and bedroom. Yan Xu did not wander around. He sat on the sofa and waited for Lin Jia to finish showering.

When Yan Xu sat down, the cat that had been lying on the sofa jumped away in disgust and jumped onto the desk, rubbing the spot where Lin Jia had kicked it.

The cat also refused to play with him. Bored, Yan Xu took out his phone.

Since he had no games on his phone to pass the time and no one to contact, he put his phone back down.

Feeling really bored, he saw the remote on the coffee table and turned on the television.

There weren’t many channels in the Underwater World. Most of the channels carried cloud-layer information. Yan Xu scanned every channel and, as expected, did not see any information related to J0001.

It looked like the Administration had reached an agreement this time and was determined to hide the news.

Thinking of this, Yan Xu quickly realized there was a gap in his reasoning. Since the administration intended to hide it, how did Lin Jia know about the J0001 cloud layer’s existence?

Like a gust of wind blowing away part of the fog, Yan Xu suddenly understood Lin Jia’s intentions.

There had always been rumors in the administration that J0001 was connected to the real world. Each time J0001 became active, more people entered the Underwater World.

If Lin Jia had heard these rumors, then his actions made sense: Lin Jia wanted to leave the Underwater World; he came to extract information.

This motive could not be called hateful or even unreasonable, yet Yan Xu could not muster any pleasure from seeing through Lin Jia’s motive.

He raised his head, his gaze fixed on the bathroom.

It was quiet in that direction.

Yan Xu looked at the wall clock. Half an hour had already passed since Lin Jia had entered the bathroom.

This long?

Yan Xu could shower in ten minutes, but for Lin Jia, taking this long to shower did not seem unusual.

This person definitely had to wash himself completely.

Yan Xu waited a little longer and then realized something was wrong. The suite was not small, but it was not so large that not even the sound of water could be heard.

He stood up and called out toward the bathroom. “Lin Jia.”

No response.

Yan Xu saw the cat jump down from the desk and head toward the bathroom. He followed it a few steps away and saw it paw at the bathroom door.

Still no response.

Yan Xu crossed over in two or three steps and knocked on the door. “Lin Jia.”

“Lin Jia.”

“Lin Jia.”

Yan Xu frowned. Lin Jia had a fever—could he have fainted while showering? He turned the doorknob and found that it was locked from the inside.

He knocked hard twice and called out, “Lin Jia.”

Whether because the door was too thick or because Lin Jia had really fainted, a disturbing stillness remained inside the bathroom.

“Toast.” Yan Xu lowered his head and said to the cat by the door, “Move aside a bit.”

The cat could tell that Yan Xu wanted to break down the door. Worried that Lin Jia had really fainted inside, it quickly jumped away to make space for Yan Xu.

As soon as the cat moved aside, there was a bang behind it—

Yan Xu crashed the door open with his arm.

His shoulder was like iron. The lock was knocked out of shape. A piece of decorative glass on the door fell at his feet, cracking.

Yan Xu stepped over in one stride and raised his head into the hot steam before Lin Jia could react.

Lin Jia was leaning against the edge of the bathtub, looking at the intruder with a complicated expression.

“What are you doing?” Yan Xu walked over angrily and stood in front of Lin Jia like a mountain. “Why didn’t you answer when I called you?”

Lin Jia sighed and explained hoarsely: “No strength.”

Because of his condition and the heat in the bathroom, he felt dizzy and weak. He could only turn off the shower and lean against the bathtub to rest.

But before he had fully recovered, Yan Xu barged in with great force.

Lin Jia raised his hand and pointed at the hanger. He said helplessly, “Sorry to trouble you. Get that for me.”

Although Yan Xu meant well, Lin Jia really had no way to thank him at that moment. There was a bathrobe on the hanger—he needed to put something on first.

After Lin Jia said this, Yan Xu and the cat finally realized that Lin Jia wasn’t wearing anything. The cat let out a cry and ran out, leaving Yan Xu’s ears to turn red little by little.

Pulling the bathrobe from the hanger, Yan Xu turned his head sideways and handed it over.

Lin Jia reached out, but before he could touch the bathrobe, Yan Xu let go.

The bathrobe fell to the ground and was quickly soaked by the wet floor.

Lin Jia looked at Yan Xu, speechless. Yan Xu picked up the bathrobe. “I’ll get you another one.”

When he left the bathroom, he stepped on glass, which cracked underfoot. He soon returned with a clean bathrobe.

This time, he only let go once Lin Jia had a firm grip.

As Lin Jia pulled the bathrobe around himself, he watched Yan Xu, who was alternating between putting his hands on his hips, holding his forehead, and rubbing his hair.

The scene in the bathroom had been an accident, and Lin Jia hadn’t meant to tease him. He said lightly, “I’m not dizzy anymore. Captain Yan can wait outside. It’ll be quick.”

Yan Xu glanced at him. He did not dare to look away, his gaze landing only on Lin Jia’s face. After confirming that Lin Jia’s complexion was fine, he said nothing and turned to leave.

Lin Jia watched Yan Xu leave, then lowered his head to tie his belt. By the time he finished and walked out of the bathroom, Yan Xu had already left the hotel room.

Only the cat holding the phone remained.

Lin Jia looked at the cat, giving it a questioning look.

The cat pushed the phone under its paw, cleared its throat, and read Yan Xu’s message: “Something came up. Dinner next time.”

After reading it, the cat said gloatingly, “You’ve probably never seen such a fragrant scene. You scared it off. Who would have thought that the Inspection Team captain, who is like a mad dog, is actually this pure? Oh, he sent another message telling you not to forget to take your medicine. Huh, it’s like dating.”

Lin Jia said nothing as he picked out a set of clothes from the wardrobe and changed.

The cat covered its eyes. “They already said the date is canceled. Why are you still changing clothes?”

Lin Jia glanced at the cat and sneered.

A capitalist never does business at a loss. Yan Xu saw something he shouldn’t have, and he had to take something back from Yan Xu.

On the other hand, Yan Xu was driving so fast that the wheels were almost sparking.

He burst into his home, grabbed ice water from the fridge, and gulped it down. But it didn’t ease the dryness in his throat. The scene in the rising steam still lingered in his mind.

“Damn.”

Yan Xu cursed a few times, crushed the empty bottle, and took out another bottle of ice water.

He downed the entire bottle. His stomach turned cold, but his heart still pounded wildly—like rabbits jumping around.

What the hell was wrong with him? He was a grown man seeing another man’s body. Why was his heart beating like this?

Heart disease.

No.

It was—damn, I think I like men.

Yan Xu had never thought about his sexual orientation before. Discovering for the first time that he might be gay, he was shocked and frightened.

It wasn’t like Yan Xu hadn’t seen men before. The Inspection Team had a bathhouse, and he had bathed with more than ten men before. Sometimes they would even help each other scrub their backs.

But never before had he experienced this kind of blood-boiling situation.

“I…” Yan Xu rubbed his hair, falling into self-doubt. “Do I even like men?”

He took out his phone, planning to call his brothers from the Inspection Team to bathe together.

But when he thought of past group bathing scenes, his heart calmed. Yet, when he thought of that bathroom scene, it was like a nest of rabbits had been stuffed into his chest—thump, thump, thump.

The answer floated up with the steaming water, and Yan Xu hurriedly pushed it back down.

How could it be? He knew clearly that Lin Jia was hooking him like a big fish. Not only did he not avoid it, he even hung his heart on the hook.

Was he that easy to catch?

That… shallow?

The call went through. The voice of his subordinate, who was also his brother, came from the receiver: “Captain Yan?”

Sure enough, there was no desire at all.

Yan Xu couldn’t help but think of how Lin Jia always called him. His voice was light and shallow, like feathers brushing past his ear.

Yan Xu: “…”

Yan Xu took a deep breath to stop the endless thoughts in his mind. “Get me a copy of the J0001 information.”

His brother said, “Captain Yan, what’s wrong?”

Talking about J0001, plus hearing his brother’s rough voice, helped Yan Xu control his emotions. Yan Xu regained some rationality. “I’ll tell you later.”

Brother: “Alright.”

Yan Xu thought of something and added, “Do it quietly. Don’t let anyone know that you’re looking up J0001 information.”

Brother: “Okay.”

Yan Xu: “Thanks.”

After hanging up, Yan Xu’s emotions finally calmed down.

“Don’t overthink it. Don’t think nonsense.” Yan Xu warned himself. “You’re not Lin Jia’s opponent.”

At this age, it was easy to have wild thoughts after encountering stimulating scenes. As long as he kept his distance from that person, he would be fine.

He was no match for Lin Jia. If he couldn’t dodge Lin Jia’s hook, he could just swim farther away.

Knock, knock, knock.

Knock.

The door was knocked on. The rhythm was three heavy knocks, followed by one light knock. The rhythm was not rushed, but unhurried and slowly advancing.

Yan Xu paused, staring at the door: “…Who?”

“Lin Jia.” That feather-light voice came through the door.

It was like a heavenly song, like a spell.

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