Worthless

Fire.

There was a fire burning in Jian Yu. 

It felt like being cooked alive, not from the outside, but inside. His breath quivered in short, quick gasps every time he inhaled, his lungs having no choice but to painfully and rigidly take in the chilled air around him. 

His body ached. It burned from somewhere inside him. 

He couldn't seem to stop shaking either. Sometimes it was rough, other times he could manage, but every time he'd get close to sleep, a new spell of violent shaking would force him awake. 

An unsettling chill ran down his spine and made his arms crawl. He attempted to calm down by taking in a huge gasp of air only to choke. 

'Fever?' 

Jian Yu's last thought before he blacked out completely was that now he was more worried than ever.

XXX

Jian Yu swam slowly back to consciousness. He was lying down, he mused. The surface beneath him was sturdy and cold, it wasn't his bed. 

He bolted upright and his head throbbed at the sudden movement. The pain felt like someone had stabbed a knife into his skull multiple times. He leaned his head against the palm of his hands. 

Squeezing his eyes shut, he willed the pain to go away. The rest of the world became detached, all he could concentrate on was the pain rooted deep in his head.

When the pain subdued, he wondered. What had happened? 

He remembered writing a letter then… 

He fell asleep?! Just like that?

The room was dark and the curtains were opened. The half-crescent moon outside cast its silver glow to flood the chamber with a soft light. 

He made a move to stand before halting his movements. He felt sticky. Frowning, he glanced down and finally noticed that he was drenched in sweat. It soaked the clothes on his back like a map of some foreign land.

Why the hell was he sweating so much? Oh God, he hated sweating very much. Even though he sweats a lot during training, he took a bath right away which usually caused him to be sick. But he never cared. 

Damn. How long had he been sleeping with these sweats? Imagining about it made him shuddered in disgust. 

Unbuttoning and stripping himself off the white shirt he was wearing, he made a beeline to the bathroom and took a quick shower. Taking extra care to avoid his wound. 

He then dried his hair while continuing to write the letter. Folding and putting it inside the envelope, he sealed it properly before slipping it inside the outfit he prepared for the next day. 

Brilliant gold and orange hues filled his room. He stared into the rising sun, its rays burning his eyes. He didn't look away. Eyes are glued to the beautiful pink and orange color the sky was. 

'Pretty.'

He had never watched it like this. He never noticed its beauty.

'Guess I am gonna start early today.' 

Jian Yu made himself useful again in the kitchen, chatting up with the head chef and helped with the preparation. 

Everything was normal. 

He accompanied Lady Clement to college. Skipping a class to drop the letter at the General Post Office. Everything was fine except the occasional headaches hitting him out of nowhere. The same crushing pain just on one side of his head that came and went in a pattern.

He was in the hallway, staggering back to class. The sunlight that pierced through these floor to ceiling windows made his head hurt even more. 

He stopped walking, palming his own head in hope to reduce the pain. One eye had teared up on the painful side. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the pain to go away, but a familiar deep voice made him jump.

"Are you okay?" 

Jian Yu whirled around and came face to face with jade eyes. Again, those set of eyes seemed like it had its personal agenda which was apparently drilling holes into him. 

Awkward at the attention, Jian Yu bowed respectfully. "Good afternoon, Sir Roderick." 

However, he was suddenly ȧssaulted by the strong Alpha pheromones emitted from Zeke and the headache returned tenfold. It caused him to waver but he managed to stand his ground with a little help from Zeke. 

'Too close.'

Zeke was standing in front of him, too close for his comfort. 

"Hey, you okay?" 

"A-- ah, yes, Sir. Thank you for your concern, but I am totally fine," Jian Yu pulled himself away from Zeke, carefully so it didn't seem rude. 

"Stop being so formal. I think you need to go to the nurse's office, you are looking too pale," Zeke moved to place his hand on Jian Yu's shoulder. "There is an emergency unit inside the office so you can rest."

"I am totally fine, Sir Roderick. You shouldn't concern yourself with a mere servant's health," Jian Yu whispered through gritted teeth. He wasn't sure if Zeke had purposely let his pheromones go haywire or not, but it was pressing him down and he hated it. 

Nausea overwhelmed him and he tried his best to not vomit in front of Zeke. 

Zeke looked surprised at his answer and blinked owlishly before realizing. He put both of his palms up in an act of surrender. "O--oh, I'm sorry. It's just that… you are a Beta, I forgot to control my pheromones. Please forgive me." 

Seeing Jian Yu nodded, Zeke sighed in relief. 

"Let me walk you to the nurse's office. You look like you are going to fall over any minute," Zeke offered. 

Another intense wave of nausea hit Jian Yu again and he tried to force down the bile which he failed miserably. Feeling that he wouldn't be able to hold it down any longer, he covered his mouth and made a run to where he ȧssumed was the direction of the restroom.

Yet, he was too late. 

Blegh!