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“Where am I?” slurred a voice next to him.
Shen Jiu straightened up from where he was hunched over his phone, focused on his game (curse his younger brother for getting him to play one of his stupid gacha games, now he was addicted). It looked like Liu Qingge was finally awake.
“You’re at the hospital.”
He even managed to (mostly) hold back the snark in his voice, despite the question being incredibly stupid. And people said he was physically unable to be nice.
He took the glass of water he had prepared earlier, pressing on the button to call a nurse at the same time, and gave it to his husband. The man took it without a word, fumbling a little bit, before slowly drinking it. He hadn’t stopped staring at him for a second ever since he woke up, which was a bit intense even by Liu Qingge’s usual standards.
“What is it?”
“Who are you?”
He froze, taken aback. “Have you lost what little brain cells you had?”
Liu Qingge frowned, the confusion obvious on his face.
“I don’t remember anything, I think.”
“You think? What do you mean, you think?” He didn’t know whether to be worried or annoyed. How could anyone not be sure of whether or not they had forgotten fifteen years of their life?
Before the conversation could go any further, the nurse entered the room. He zoomed in on her and, not giving her any time to say anything, shared the news.
“He’s awake but he’s amnesiac. He says he doesn’t know who I am. How is that possible?”
She didn’t seem too surprised by the news, keeping a professional smile in place.
“It can happen to some patients, it’s a side effect of the anesthesia. His memories will come back once his body has gotten rid of the medicine, don’t worry.”
He wasn’t worried! What if his brutish husband had forgotten their relationship? He would have figured something out. They were married anyway, it’s not like Liu Qingge would be allowed to leave. He proceeded to glare at the nurse while she was asking different questions to her patient, but she didn’t even have the decency of looking intimidated. After a few more minutes of checking on him, she left with a few more recommendations.
“You didn’t reply. Who are you?”
Now that he knew for sure the amnesia was temporary, he had no issue humoring the man.
“I’m Shen Jiu.”
“I’m Liu Qingge. You’re very pretty.”
He snorted, definitely amused now, and tried to ignore the warmth on his face at the sudden compliment. “I know.”
After a few seconds of silence he decided to take out his phone from his pocket, ready to resume his game to pass the time, but it seemed like Liu Qingge wasn’t actually done yet.
“Do we know each other?”
“No, I was bored so I decided to visit your hospital chamber for fun”, he deadpanned.
Maybe he had indeed lost all of his brain cells. Didn’t he just say a few minutes ago to the nurse that it wasn’t normal for Liu Qingge to have forgotten who he was, thus implying they knew each other? Was the disorientation from waking up that strong, or had he forgotten how stupid the man actually was after not speaking to him for a few hours?
“Oh”, simply replied his husband.
He glared at him, offended. Not only he didn’t realize he was being sarcastic, he went as far as to believe it? Did he think he was the kind of person to go into random hospital rooms to watch strangers sleep? Was this the first impression he had gotten of him?
“You have a ring.”
He glanced at his finger by reflex, and felt himself soften despite everything. He deeply treasured that ring, the physical representation of Liu Qingge choosing him out of everyone to spend the rest of his life with.
“I’m married.”
He looked up to see absolute devastation on his face, and raised an eyebrow. What was wrong with him, this time?
“You’re married? So you’re not single?”
“Married people are usually not single, no.”
Something disappointed flashed in his husband’s eyes, and he couldn’t feel more confused.
“Do you love your husband?”
Ah, so he did remember some things, he noted quietly in a part of his brain. The rest of his brain was too focused on overheating from embarrassment, but he still pushed through. He wouldn’t lie about this, even if it was hard to actually say it.
“I do, yes. I’ve been married for 6 years, after all, and I haven’t had time to get bored of my husband yet.”
To his alarm, Liu Qingge’s eyes suddenly filled with tears. What was wrong with him? Liu Qingge wasn’t sentimental, and he could count on one hand the number of times he had seen him cry. He knew the medicine was scrambling his brain, but that was such a dramatic reaction for the usually stoic man! Shen Jiu reached forward, his hands hovering over his face and hands, unsure of what to do to comfort him in this state.
“Why are you crying?” he almost shouted, panic evident in his voice.
“You’re taken! I wanted to ask you out on a date!” cried his husband, sounding genuinely heartbroken.
All of a sudden, his worry was overtaken by anger. That was the issue? That idiot!
“I’m married to you, you imbecile!”
Liu Qingge’s eyes widened in surprise, and he stared at him. He hated that he still looked unfairly beautiful, even with a bed head and tears on his face.
“We’re married? Together?”
“Yes, together.”
“I’m your husband?” he asked with a wide smile, awe obvious in his voice.
He blushed, feeling still mostly annoyed but a bit touched as well by how happy he sounded from learning of their marriage. While he had gotten mostly used to seeing his smiles, it was very rare for him to smile that brightly.
“You’re my husband”, he repeated.
Suddenly, his smile fell. What was it this time, he almost groaned.
“But my ring…”
“You had to take it off for the surgery, dumbass.” He rummaged into his pocket until he found said ring. “You gave it to me before you left, here it is.”
Liu Qingge simply held out his hand, fingers apart in an obvious request. He huffed at the spoiled brat, but generously slid the ring down his finger.
“We’re married…” he said once again, staring at his ring with stars in his eyes.
It was almost embarrassing honestly, but he couldn’t say he didn’t enjoy the awe. His gaze moved back onto him, and his husband gave him a shy smile.
“Can I still take you on a date?”
He chuckled, feeling impossibly fond. He never would have expected him to behave in such a silly way under anesthesia, and he promised himself to never let Liu Qingge forget it once he was back to normal.
“Let’s wait until you remember everything and you can leave the hospital. I refuse to go on a date with you if you wear that outfit.”
He nodded, looking far too serious for that simple request.
“I’ll wear my nicest outfit for our date. And I’ll do my best to get my memories back as fast as possible.” Then he added softly, sounding like he was speaking to himself. “I want to remember our wedding…”
He had truly married the most ridiculous man, he thought, linking their hands together and settling in for the wait.