Chapter Text
The first time it happens, Shen Yuan is delirious, drugged up on so many different medications that he’s nearly out of his mind, dazed and fading in and out of consciousness intermittently. He’s fresh out of another relapse and it was likely the first of many nights he’d spend in the hospital. Shen Yuan had been alone when the relapse began, clinging to the porcelain throne in his brother’s luxurious condo for dear life. Said brother was out on a date with his live-in boyfriend, Yue Qingyuan- the first they’d gone on in the years since Shen Jiu became Shen Yuan’s primary caretaker, mind you- and Shen Yuan simply could not bring himself to call Shen Jiu for help. Shen Yuan desperately didn’t want to ruin that for them like he’d done for so much else in their lives. Shen Jiu deserved at least a single night of peace after everything- so when the searing pain blossoming in his chest and the dry heaving in his throat became nearly unbearable, he called an ambulance over for himself and begged the paramedics to get him help, but to not call his emergency contact, Shen Jiu.
Let him enjoy his night, he begged, throwing away what little face he’d had left. He’s given up so much for me. Let him have this. I’m okay going alone.
Shen Jiu would of course have his head when he came back to an empty home (and an … absolutely destroyed toilet) but Shen Yuan would deal with the backlash as it came. His brother deserved to be happy for at least a single night, even if that meant Shen Yuan would spend the night alone in the critical care unit.
So here he was- alone, high rise buildings gleaming outside his window under the crest of the soft lit moon. Under his drugged gazed, the city lights almost looked like fireflies, glimmering in and out of existence. The pain is no longer a question- whatever they gave him gave Shen Yuan much needed respite and he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to enjoy it.
Pretty, he thinks. I wish I could see them better- in person. When was the last time I went out into the city? Huh. What a pathetic life he led, not even able to remember the last time he ventured into the bustling city life below. As a bachelor in his prime (freshly twenty! one!) Shen Yuan should be living the best years of his life. But instead, he is more often than not bound to the four walls of his elder brother’s luxury condo; condemned to living his life vicariously through the experiences of others while he spends his own bedridden. Though he’d rather die than admit this out loud, it’s mainly through the characters of whichever trashy web novel he can get his hands on he finds his best respite. It’s easy to lose himself in overused tropes and trashy writing, forget the condemned life he’s stuck with and compartmentalize via avoidance.
Ah… too depressing, too depressing! Shen Yuan momentarily wonders if he can get his hands on his phone- he’d started feeling sick mid chapter of a new isekai style novel he’d picked up; maybe that would get him out of this funk of a mood.
It is in this daze that he doesn’t notice the steep decline in temperature and a dark mass of some unidentifiable … energy, sizzling ominously from across the room. The lights flicker, plunging the room into momentary darkness. Shen Yuan groans drowsily- was the hospital having a power outage or was he really that out of it? For a moment the machines around him give way to complete silence, only the sound of bustling city goers below filling the room. Shen Yuan briefly questions whether he should yell for a nurse, but the decision is made for him when the lights flutter back on.
Shen Yuan groans once more. So Bright, so bright. His poor eyes can't take it and he almost immediately starts feeling the effects of his long lasting vertigo. Swallowing back bile as his stomach lurches, Shen Yuan reaches for his glasses. If he’s going to have an episode due to this outage, he (or more likely his Jiu-ge) will certainly have a word with whoever maintains this building. What kind of high end privatized hospital has a power outage like that?
With his glasses now on, his vision slowly adjusts as the room comes into sight. Now no longer visually impaired, Shen Yuan immediately realizes there’s a rather… large man standing at the foot of his bed. Staring. With a long sleek sword in his hand. A big sword. A big, sharp sword. And if Shen Yuan were to describe the expression on the man’s face in a single word, he’d say menacing. Terrifying. Intense.
Huh.
If it weren’t for his bed bound state, maybe Shen Yuan would have yelped, called for help, done something, anything. But alas, his arms and legs feel like pure lead, so all he could do was gawk stupidly.
Perhaps if he weren’t, you know, fearing for what little was left of his life, he’d wax poetry about how this man is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. He literally looks like he’s carved from jade, a god among men with those…. hm, exposed pectorals of his, but you know. He’s got a stupidly big sword in his hand and is slowly walking towards the bedridden Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan is on the verge of shitting his pants, he thinks. He’s always known he’s going to die young, but he didn’t think he’d be going out like this.
“Shizun.”
So this guy’s voice definitely matches his appearance. If Shen Yuan was a woman, or any less of a straight man really, he’d be swooning. The way it rings into the empty hospital room sends shivers down his spine. But Shen Yuan is one hundred percent heterosexual, in spite of his brother and Shang Qinghua’s (that bastard)- accusatory denial of this. This man was just …. Beautiful. Exceptionally beautiful in an unreal sort of way. The way he manages to look ethereal under the harsh hospital lights is beyond Shen Yuan. Why is his hair so shiny? Maybe it’s the drugs talking, but Shen Yuan is compelled to reach out and touch it. It looks fluffy, soft to the touch and obviously well maintained. Was this man some kind of super model? How is he even real?
The model-not-real-man takes another step towards the bedridden Shen Yuan. He’s hovering over him now, outrageously beautiful and quite literally terrifying, if that intense look in his crimson (?!?!) eyes is anything to go by.
Shen Yuan is caught in between literally pissing his pants, having a heart attack, and cursing at how long the stranger’s eyelashes are. How is it even possible that he looks so pretty yet scary at the same time?!
“Shizun looks … different.”
Huh. Shen Yuan might be having heart palpitations at the moment (totally unrelated to how attractive this guy is! Shen Yuan is just Sick Like That!!), but, respectfully, holy shit! The baritone quality of his voice sends shivers down Shen Yuan’s spine and makes him want to quiver under the ragged intensity of it.
Suddenly, he feels really warm- like, insanely warm. Had his fever returned? This stranger is standing way too close to him, calling him Shizun(?!) and he’s… otherworldly. Gorgeous in the most heterosexual way posssible. Shen Yuan’s having a crisis here, heart rate all out of whack as shown on the various machines he’s attached to- yet no one has come to check on him. He’s going to die here, isn’t he?
“None the matter. Shizun is Shizun, this Lord would know him in any universe, in any life. Though this Lord cannot take him now, Shizun should know that he will come back for him.” The man moves to close on him for real this time, one of his hands moving to grab at his face. Shen Yuan can't help but shut his eyes tight, in what probably looks like the most ridiculous facial expression known to man, but listen! If this guys going to crush his face with that absurdly large hand of his, Shen Yuan doesn’t want to see his ridiculously attractive face while he does it! On second thought, maybe going out while seeing a face as beautiful as that wouldn’t be bad-
Tentatively, a calloused palm makes contact with his face, dwarfing Shen Yuan's rosy right cheek. It startles him badly in spite of how gentle the touch is, but Shen Yuan can't help but zero in on the way the calloused pad of his thumb caresses his cheekbone so intimately. The man is holding his face in a move so tender Shen Yuan wants to cry at the absurdity. He hasn’t quite opened his eyes yet, holding his breath in silent awe at the startlingly gentle yet ludicrous gesture. But based on the way he can feel the man’s breath tickling his face, he assumes the man has absolutely no regard for personal space.
“Wait for me, Shizun.”
It is with that note that Shen Yuan promptly passes out with, the ghost of a caress on his lips and the pungent taste of iron heavy on his tongue.