Good Night, Liang Xiao

Content warnings: Suicidal thoughts, needles

Liang Xiao’s claim about reacting negatively to needles was not a joke. At this moment, Ye Ji’an was feeling a little ashamed due to his previous doubts.

“Are you all right?” he asked from the side.

“I don’t know,” Liang Xiao replied with a low tone, his face pale. He was looking through the window, his gaze almost glued to the cotton swab in the nurse’s hands.

Disinfecting alcohol had already been applied to the area. Due to the pressure applied from the rubber tube, the veins near the crook of his elbow were clearly defined, showing an obvious green colour. Ye Ji’an could see that this guy was shaking slightly.

This was rather unusual. Liang Xiao had never been nervous to this degree before, not even when the president of the company had ferociously headed to their department to scold people.

On the contrary, he would occasionally stand up and say a few sentences of his own, not guaranteeing that he would not reduce the president to speechlessness. 

At this moment, Ye Ji’an, as a “regular” of this hospital, and more so as an elder brother and a new friend, could not watch any longer. He did not wish to see this enthusiastic guy, who was usually so domineering, look so conflicted. Even the nurse was alarmed, constantly checking to see Liang Xiao’s reactions, afraid to perform the injection.

“How about this? Stop looking at it, and focus your attention on something else instead,” Ye Ji’an said.

“Like me.”

As if he had met a saviour, Liang Xiao immediately turned his face over. 

“May I?” 

Before he even started speaking, his eyes were already looking this way.

“Just don’t laugh,” Ye Ji’an looked at him peacefully. 

From the corners of his eyes, he paid attention to the nurse who was taking the opportunity to press on the vein. 

In his heart, Ye Ji’an thought: Please hurry up, there’s a couple more needles to go. 

Then, Ye ji’an thought again: Maybe striking up a conversation is better, but what is there to talk about? Work? Am I actually the devil?1Explanation: Imagine being scared of needles and needing a distraction, then your boss proceeds to talk about how you performed this month…

Liang Xiao, on the other hand, seemed to have a lot to say. 

“Oh right, Senior,” Liang Xiao started, his face no longer as pale as before.

“I’m actually—”

The needle stuck in.

Liang Xiao’s words were also cut off in the middle.

That was because Liang Xiao had immediately turned his head back. In that same moment, he also struggled. Though his movements were small, they were effective and even caused him to bleed a little.

The little nurse on the other side of the glass window was so scared that she held up the “accident-causing” needle and dared not move. The remaining party, Ye Ji’an, was simply staring at the scene without blinking.

“Sorry,” Liang Xiao said, standing up after staring for two seconds. 

He tried his best to speak clearly, so his words came out perfectly. 

“Conditioned reflex, I’m always like this.”

“Take some time to recover first,” Ye Ji’an said, placing an alcohol pad at the site of injection, then dragged him to an empty medical bed, pressing down on his shoulder forcefully to make him sit down.

“Are you dizzy?” Ye Ji’an asked.

“It’s okay,” Liang Xiao replied, raising his head. The sleeves of his jujube-red2Jujube’s a fruit, has a more maroon colour? jumper were pulled up high, messily piled up on his arms, almost reaching his shoulders. Inexplicably, Ye Ji’an felt that it was a little childish-looking3In english “childish” generally has negative connotations, but in chinese it’s not always the case. In this case, I think Ye Ji’an probably just finds it silly and cute, maybe even a little pitiful.

“Don’t worry, senior, I don’t need to drink sugar water.” 

What he said was also childish.

Ye Jian laughed. He was not originally in a hurry. Though the queue for drawing blood was slowly getting longer, he did not think much of it. At most, he would just go to the back and queue. After all, he had no strenuous work on the agenda for the whole day today.

Liang Xiao had specifically joined him today just to exchange a “secret” with him, so he felt that there was even less reason to be in a hurry. Compared to going home earlier and sleeping for a long time, Ye Ji’an felt that the present was a rarer moment.

As for Liang Xiao’s negative reaction to needles, Ye Ji’an classified it as a physiological reaction and did not link it to words such as “courage”. Therefore, there was no need to overcome it. 

Overcoming instinct was excruciatingly painful, and who didn’t have a strange phobia? For example, he was afraid of cats himself, and would feel his scalp tingle and goosebumps rise all over his body whenever he saw one.

Ye Ji’an was like this now, and was worse off in his youth. Due to his inability to provide a reason for his fear, he was unable to convince his parents against buying that kitten as a birthday present for his little brother, to be raised in their home. 

However, he had truly hoped to be understood by someone. He had been waiting his entire adolescence for someone who believed him to come along.

Of course, he now lived alone and had a lot of freedom. There were only a few feral cats in the community as well, so there was no longer any need to think of the past. 

“What were you trying to say just now? You actually…?” Ye Ji’an started the conversation.

The small talk was, as expected, useful. Liang Xiao’s face regained more colour. His lips regained colour the fastest—when he opened and closed his mouth, they seemed exceptionally red. 

“I actually have RH negative blood. That so-called ‘giant panda blood type’4Because this blood type is as rare as giant pandas haha.”

Ye Ji’an was stunned for a moment, then rubbed his face.

“What a coincidence.”

Liang Xiao narrowed his eyes and said, “Senior too?”

“Well,” Ye Ji’an started, sitting down beside him.

“Calling it ‘panda blood’ in chinese is usually enough. I’m also blood type AB on top of that. If something goes wrong, every single blood bank in the country will have to send me blood packs.5His blood type is too rare, blood banks don’t have much stock, a few blood banks won’t be able to provide enough blood

“Oh? That’s not necessary,” Liang Xiao spoke, full of confidence.

“There’s a live one next to you,” he continued. Afraid that his words were not clear enough, he hurriedly added, “A blood bank that can both ensure the freshness of the blood and refresh its stock.”

Ye Ji’an was amused. Something so improbable could actually happen to him.

“Are you also AB?”

“Yeah! Senior and I are definitely supposed to get acquainted,” Liang Xiao spoke, seemingly elated. His joy was spontaneous. He even stood right up, running to the line outside the door. 

Grabbing his down jacket, Ye Ji’an hurriedly followed behind, only to see that Liang Xiao was still high in spirits, determined to prove his professionalism as a “blood bank”. He was definitely not a half-assed person who dared not face a needle!

Although Ye Ji’an remained encouraging and would talk about reports and holidays from time to time to relax the mood, he thought in his heart that even if he were to have a mishap, he would not let this child donate any blood.

Indeed, he was actually seriously considering this situation that was jokingly brought up, though he understood clearly that it was a joke.

He was originally someone who wanted to die on a daily basis, and there was no need to go this far for a colleague. Even friends did not have the obligation to go this far for each other. Ye Ji’an thought that he was someone who had a good understanding of what he should or should not do. 

Liang Xiao’s fighting spirit burned until they arrived at the window of the blood collection counter. Ye Ji was standing behind him, and he sat at the seat once more. 

This time, the nurse across the counter had been changed to a middle-aged woman who seemed to be very experienced.

“You’re already so old, calm down and take it easy.” 

She tied the rubber tube with great strength. Red marks appeared on the white arm.

Ye Ji’an signalled to her to not prepare the needle first. Patting Liang Xiao on the shoulder, he asked, “How about… I cover your eyes? Will this make you more nervous or more relaxed?”

“I want to try it out,” Liang Xiao replied, taking the initiative to close his eyes.

Ye Ji’an tried to imagine it. If one’s eyes could only see pitch darkness and there was a needle that would pierce into your arm at any moment, how could anyone be at ease?

Ye Ji’an increasingly felt that he had done something stupid. However, the man whose eyes he was covering really quietened down. His blinking lashes tickled the centre of Ye Ji’an’s palms. 

Ye Ji’an could feel Liang Xiao’s strained breathing. He also had a layer of sweat on his forehead. However, outside of these, nothing else happened. The needle entered the vein smoothly and extracted a tube of dark red blood.

Liang Xiao didn’t speak until he stood up, his expression a little indifferent and a little strange.

“Are you feeling ok?” Ye Ji’an asked. 

In any case, they had crossed this mountain6Referring to Liang Xiao extracting blood. Now, it was his turn. The blue disinfection pad was replaced and he submitted his form, before sitting on the stool that Liang Xiao had offered up.

“I want to watch Senior,” Liang Xiao said, standing at the side.

“It’s just a matter of minutes for me,” Ye Ji’an said, amused. 

True to his words, he drew four tubes of blood quickly, and the remaining check-ups after that were also done straightforwardly and efficiently. 

Liang Xiao obediently followed behind him, squeezing through the crowded medical examination building. 

As for the check-ups that would cause Ye Ji’an to reveal his tattoos, he was no longer squeamish about it. On the contrary, it was Liang Xiao who would take the initiative to avoid them, though Ye Ji’an could not figure out why.

They agreed to meet up and collect Ye Ji’an’s medical report together. In the end, the two did not eat the bread. It was already meal time when they left the hospital. 

Walking on the sidewalk, Ye Ji’an suddenly remembered that just now, when he was drawing blood, the person beside him had been staring at his arm, focused to a point of fascination. He also seemed a little vexed.

Did people who reacted badly to noodles dislike watching others get jabbed? Ye Ji’an did not understand. 

However, at this moment, Ye Ji’an looked sideways at his energetic colleague again. The wind had cleared up the air and dappled sunlight seemed to dance on that young face. Ye Ji’an figured that his previous thoughts were probably wrong. 

Liang Xiao even asked him, “Can I call Senior Gege7Elder brother?”

“Ge8Shortened from ‘gege’. Much more commonly used. Can be used in many situations—between friends, between colleagues, between couples etc. works too,” he said, looking pitiful. “I’ll call you by that occasionally and only when we are not working. Because it feels very close.”

“Alright, call me whatever you’re used to,” Ye Ji’an responded, covering his face with the turtleneck of his sweater. 

“I have a younger brother at home. Although he wasn’t very willing to call me Ge before, I am still someone who’s used to being called that.”

Liang Xiao had a face full of doubt.

“He wasn’t willing to call you Ge?”

Ye Ji’an smiled but did not respond. Bringing him over to the overpass, he pointed towards a cluster of reddish brown high-rise buildings not far away. 

“My house is over there, the third building.”

Liang Xiao was in high spirits and looked carefully. 

“Is the lighting okay? What floor is it?”

“Nineteen. I usually get a lot of sunlight and the view is good too.”

“Oh, so the only downside is that it’s very far from work.”

“I’ll just get up earlier. The subway is very convenient.”

Ye Ji’an huffed warm air into his hand, then continued, “The first train is not that crowded, the queue will not extend out of the platform.”

Liang Xiao nodded earnestly. The two chatted with each other all the way, leisurely walking into the community. By the time they got to the entrance of his house, Ye Ji’an had already decided on what to cook for lunch. 

He had already bought the food last night, prepared to show off his cooking skills and give this picky colleague a good meal. However, Liang Xiao abruptly stood up and spoke in a seemingly truthful manner: “Senior, I’ve bothered you greatly today.”

Ye Ji’an was stunned silly.

“Huh?”

With a face full of reason, Liang Xiao said, “Now that I’ve sent Senior home, I should head back too. I’ll try the subway that Senior mentioned.”

“Not coming up? How about leaving after dinner?”

“I’ll decline,” Liang Xiao said, shaking his head. 

“I haven’t prepared today. It’s not polite. I’ll find some other time to make an official visit.”

Ye Ji’an felt that his expression must be quite strange and unconsciously touched the corner of his mouth. 

“…Okay, goodbye. Be careful on the road.”

Liang Xiao nodded and walked away with a smile on his face and his hand in his pocket. Looking at his back, Ye Ji’an felt that his steps looked light and airy. Liang Xiao even looked incredibly leisurely.

After a few steps, Ye Ji’an saw Liang Xiao turning back with a step. 

“Have an early rest today, Ge!”

After he finished speaking, he spun in a circle and headed back.

Still in this dazed state, Ye Ji’an returned home and cooked himself a bowl of noodles. As expected, he was not in the mood to cook properly when he was eating alone. Young people now have strange, extraordinary brains, he thought to himself. 

The workload after the New Year’s Day holiday was, of course, hellishly increased. Not long after, on a rest day after twelve consecutive days of overtime, late at night, Ye Ji’an finally had the time to go home. 

Throwing down his bag, he collapsed onto the sofa without even having the time to take off his shoes. Right before he fell asleep, what he had in mind was: The vegetables in the fridge are all wilted, I still haven’t managed to eat them in time.

However, when he woke up, it was to the incessant ringing of the doorbell. Someone was actually ringing the door. Ye Ji’an did not recall himself buying anything online that was to be delivered. The sky outside was already bright. He sluggishly staggered over to open the door, his hands resting on the door frame. 

Looking up, he met Liang Xiao’s big, energetic eyes.

Both his hands were full of paper bags and he was smiling from ear to ear.

“Officially visiting,” Liang Xiao said. “Senior, we’ll be neighbours from now on.”

TN: Only 1 this week, sorry, down with fever, hope there’s no glaring errors, I will proofread again after I’m recovered and make slight corrections if necessary

Also, power move from Liang Xiao right there 

1

Explanation: Imagine being scared of needles and needing a distraction, then your boss proceeds to talk about how you performed this month…

2

Jujube’s a fruit, has a more maroon colour?

3

In english “childish” generally has negative connotations, but in chinese it’s not always the case. In this case, I think Ye Ji’an probably just finds it silly and cute, maybe even a little pitiful

4

Because this blood type is as rare as giant pandas haha

5

His blood type is too rare, blood banks don’t have much stock, a few blood banks won’t be able to provide enough blood

6

Referring to Liang Xiao extracting blood

7

Elder brother

8

Shortened from ‘gege’. Much more commonly used. Can be used in many situations—between friends, between colleagues, between couples etc.