First-Class Lawyer

his germs when he hadn’t gotten better yet.

When the aroma of porridge diffused into the air, Gu Yan obediently left the kitchen. 

Yan Suizhi watched him walk in the direction of the dining room, then shifted his gaze away.
He huffily turned off the switch under the stone pot.
Fortunately, the porridge wasn’t overly mushy, just hovering on the borderline, and still smelled fine when the lid was lifted.
The broth and ingredients were simmered inside, rich and fragrant.

He took a ladle, skimming the surface to fill two bowls.

But when he turned his head over, he saw Gu Yan walk over from the staircase, take the two bowls of porridge, and set them on the dining table.

“You went upstairs just now?” Yan Suizhi sat across from him, mixing the glutinous soft porridge, asking casually. 

Gu Yan hummed without elaborating, his attention on drinking the porridge.

Yan Suizhi tasted a bit.
Although he didn’t do this often, he felt that his own cooking skills were still passable.

Not a peep came from Gu Yan; despite being unwell, he was still fastidious about table etiquette.
After the last spoonful, he glanced at Yan Suizhi and said, “It tastes very good.”

At first listen, his words were atypically tolerable.
But to people with high fevers, food would taste bland no matter what was eaten.
They couldn’t taste shit; what was he going on about, please. 

Yan Suizhi played along with his lie, and said half-seriously as he arched an eyebrow, “Really? Then eat more.”

“…”

The distinguished Lawyer Gu silently stared at him for a moment, but still ended up getting up to get another serving.

Some people had poor appetites when they were sick, and due to the blandness of the palate, would only eat a little, which wasn’t conducive to recovery.
It was rare for Gu Yan to fall sick, but when he did, he was one of those people, barely eating anything the entire day.
But now, he had met someone who would keep an eye on him, making sure he ate. 

However, Yan Suizhi himself wasn’t a big eater either; his appetite was better suited for smaller but more frequent meals.
He only ate half a bowl of porridge, even eating exceptionally slowly, spending more time keeping pace with the person seated across from him.

When Gu Yan set down his spoon, Yan Suizhi had just finished his last bite as well.

The decontaminating dishwashing cabinet in the kitchen was actually segregated into different compartments.
Under most circumstances, there was no need to be too particular, but Gu Yan carefully kept the two people’s utensils in two separate compartments.

Yan Suizhi glanced at it and didn’t speak of it, only urging Gu Yan to return to his room and rest, and let the medicine take effect. 

He followed Gu Yan up the stairs, and, sensing their movement, the sensory lights in the kitchen and living room downstairs went out one by one behind them.

After walking up a few stairs, Yan Suizhi felt like something was niggling in his mind, but was just out of reach.
He didn’t come to at first, but after another few steps, when he glanced at the corner of the wall next to the staircase out of his peripheral vision, he suddenly thought of it—

The luggage that he had readied and put over there had disappeared.

He froze momentarily, and when he walked up to the third floor, he discovered that his luggage had already been returned to his room.
Only then did he understand why, when he was boiling porridge, Gu Yan had not walked over from the dining room but from the staircase. 

Yan Suizhi looked at his luggage for a while, and, suddenly feeling an itch to tease him a bit, unhurriedly walked down to Gu Yan’s bedroom and knocked on the door.

The door wasn’t tightly shut; these knocks nudged it open.

Gu Yan was drinking water by his bed.
At the sound, he looked over.

He had a tall figure.
When turning over slightly like this, the folds of his shirt perfectly silhouetted the musculature at his arms and his waistline in an aesthetically pleasing visual. 

“Student Gu.” Yan Suizhi casually leaned against the door frame, sweeping a glance over him, a knowing lilt in his smile as he asked, “When did you secretly collect my luggage?”

“…” Lawyer Gu set the glass down on the nightstand, his face calm as he flatly denied, “I didn’t.”

“If it wasn’t you, could it have grown legs and hopped up by itself?”

Gu Yan indifferently said, “I didn’t do it secretly, I did it in passing.” 

As he spoke, he walked to the bedroom door.

However, Yan Suizhi had come also only to poke fun at him with this one sentence and didn’t have much else to say.
So he lifted his chin at him.
“If you say so.
Wash up and go to bed, I’m heading up now.”

Gu Yan’s fingers, hanging down by his sides, lifted, as if he wanted to do or say a little something, but again, lowered with slight hesitance.
In fact, he had been this way all night, deliberately angling his head away by a tiny margin when speaking, and was, even at his most impulsive moments, taking care to not pass his fever and cold to Yan Suizhi.

And Yan Suizhi had carefully taken in all of his subtle attentiveness. 

In the end, Gu Yan didn’t do a thing, only saying in a low-pitched voice, “Goodnight.”

It was a simple, singular word, yet Yan Suizhi’s gaze jolted, as though lost in thought for a split second.

Perhaps it was the lowlight of Gu Yan’s bedroom, that was at just the right dimness; perhaps it was the various minute details that grazed across his heart, imbuing it with some indescribable emotions; perhaps it was also because he hadn’t heard someone tell him goodnight in many, many years…

Yan Suizhi looked at him for a while.
Then, his eyes suddenly curved and he beckoned a finger at him.
“Lower your head, I have something to ask you.” 

Gu Yan subconsciously lowered his head a little, a hand pressed against the door frame.

Yan Suizhi said, “I might not be too good at it, so just bear with this for now.”

“What?” Gu Yan couldn’t make sense of it, his tone questioning.

And with the fading of his voice, Yan Suizhi leaned over to kiss him… 

“Your teacher’s immune system is pretty good; I won’t fall sick from just this.” When Yan Suizhi spoke, his breaths fell gently next to Gu Yan’s lips, sweeping away the last remnants of his restraint.

Gu Yan averted his head by a tiny angle, turning back in the next second, his thumb stroking Yan Suizhi’s lower jaw, their breaths intermingling.
Then, he kissed him, even more deeply.