JOH CH91: Clenching His Teeth

Su Yiran remembered that back in middle school, he and Ting-ge had once accidentally run into a stray kitten by the roadside near school. The kitten looked like a little orange furball, rubbing weakly against his leg—pitiful yet adorable, and very friendly toward people.

He liked it the moment he saw it. For two days, he and Ting-ge fed the kitten together, and after getting his parents’ permission, he brought it home and adopted it.

Since it looked like a fluffy little ball, they named it “Furball.” Every day after school, Su Yiran would rush home eager to cuddle with Furball. The kitten was very close to him—whenever it saw him, it would circle around his legs, meowing for pets. Holding that soft, warm Furball, he could hardly bear to let go.

However, just a few days after they adopted it, Ting-ge fell ill—sneezing and coughing non-stop, with itchy skin and red rashes. That’s when Su Yiran learned that Ting-ge was allergic to cat fur.

With someone in the family allergic to cats, Furball couldn’t stay. For Ting-ge’s health, Su Yiran discussed with his parents and decided to find the kitten a reliable new owner. After asking around his classmates, he finally chose their warm-hearted and kind class monitor, sending Furball to her home.

After that, they never kept cats again. One of Su Yiran’s small joys became “cloud cat-owning”—watching cute cat videos online, which was enough to make him happy.

But now… Su Yiran looked doubtfully at Ting-ge, who was holding a cat in his arms without showing a single allergic reaction. It felt strange.

Gu Yuanting stood stiffly in place. The soft fur of the cat in his arms felt like tiny needles pricking him—not because of discomfort, but because of Su Yiran’s questioning gaze. His heart climbed into his throat; he felt short of breath. Holding the cat felt wrong, but putting it down also felt wrong.

He wasn’t the original owner of this body, so he naturally didn’t know about the cat allergy. But he couldn’t explain himself either.

Would Ranran… would Ranran discover that he wasn’t the original? The thought sent a wave of panic through him, and dizziness began to creep into his head.

Su Yiran, seeing Ting-ge frozen and silent, grew even more suspicious. Worried that allergic symptoms might have already started but weren’t visible yet, he quickly took the cat from Ting-ge’s arms and gently placed it on the floor. Then he leaned in to carefully check Ting-ge’s neck and arms. Seeing no rash, he finally let out a breath of relief.

Still uneasy, he quickly asked, “Do you feel itchy anywhere? How’s your nose?”

Gu Yuanting replied instinctively, “Itchy.” Then he realized and immediately played along—scratching his arm at the right moment, sneezing, rubbing his nose with just enough force to make it red, then sneezing again.

Seeing this, Su Yiran grew anxious. He had the butler call the family doctor and led Ting-ge back to the living room to wait.

While waiting, he softly scolded, “Why don’t you take better care of yourself? You just went and held the cat. An allergic reaction is so uncomfortable.”

Gu Yuanting found an excuse: “I forgot about the allergy for a moment.”

Su Yiran could only sigh. Thankfully, Ting-ge’s symptoms weren’t severe—maybe because he had only held the cat briefly, the reaction was mild.

Seeing that Ranran believed him, Gu Yuanting finally relaxed—until something struck him.

The original owner was allergic to cat fur, but right now, his body showed no allergic symptoms at all. Just earlier, he’d been too focused on acting allergic to avoid suspicion, forgetting that this body was the original’s body—there was no need to pretend.

Had the allergy been cured? Or… had the original owner lied to Ranran?

Thinking of the original owner’s twisted behavior in the past, and remembering the look of pure joy in Ranran’s eyes when he held the kitten just now, Gu Yuanting suddenly understood—and clenched his teeth in fury.

That pervert. That liar.

The family doctor soon arrived. The butler had already explained the situation—“Mr. Gu is allergic to cat fur.” After greeting them, the doctor began his examination.

But the more he checked, the more doubtful he became. These symptoms… didn’t seem like an allergy. The redness on the neck wasn’t allergy-related at all. In fact, there were practically no symptoms.

Su Yiran, seeing the doctor take longer than expected, grew nervous again. “Doctor, how is Ting-ge?”

The doctor hesitated, glancing at Mr. Gu. Just as he was about to speak, Gu Yuanting caught his look. Forcing himself to play along with the original owner’s lie, he said calmly, “My symptoms are very mild. Just prescribe me some medicine, right?”

The cold glint in his eyes made the doctor shiver. Realizing something, the doctor nodded quickly. “Y-yes, I’ll just give you some medicine.”

He had brought several kinds in advance, but since things were different from what he’d expected, he handed over something harmless, just in case.

After writing the prescription, the doctor left in a hurry, almost tripping at the door.

Su Yiran didn’t notice—his attention was all on Ting-ge. He poured him a glass of water and watched him take the medicine. “You need to be careful from now on. Don’t be so careless again.”

Gu Yuanting nodded. “Mm. I feel much better now. Let’s go?”

Seeing that Ting-ge had stopped sneezing and the redness on his nose and neck had faded, Su Yiran relaxed. “Let’s go.”

They got in the car and headed to the airport.

The matter was over for now, but a shadow lingered in Gu Yuanting’s heart.

The truth—that he was not the original owner—sat on him like a dormant volcano, ready to erupt at any moment. Today’s incident had been a false alarm, but it was also a warning. Next time, he might not be able to hide it.

He looked out the plane window at the dark clouds outside. Taking a deep breath, he turned back to Ranran, who was sleeping with his head on his shoulder. He tightened his arm around him and gently kissed his forehead.

He would never lose him.

---

That night, after ten o’clock, they arrived home.

Knowing they’d be back late, Su’s mother worried they might be hungry and had prepared a late-night snack. Greeting them warmly at the door, she urged them to eat something.

“Hungry? Go eat a little to fill your stomach,” she said with a smile.

Su Yiran had already eaten on the plane, but not wanting to waste her kindness, he ate a little more. Gu Yuanting accompanied him.

“Is the baby sleeping?” Su Yiran asked, looking toward the second floor when he didn’t see the child on the first floor.

Su’s mother nodded. “Sleeping in the room. Aunt Qian is with him.”

After eating, Su Yiran hurried upstairs to the nursery. It had been ten days since they’d left, and while most things were the same, the baby had grown a little.

Aunt Qian greeted them and then left, giving the small family time together.

Su Yiran hadn’t realized how much he missed the baby until he saw him, sleeping adorably with little bubbles at his mouth. Unable to resist, he picked him up and kissed his cheek.

Gu Yuanting came over, wrapping both Ranran and the baby in his arms. He kissed Ranran, then the baby, resting his forehead against Ranran’s as they gazed at their child together.

They talked softly about the baby’s changes. The warm moment was interrupted by the baby’s cries—it was time for a night feeding.

Gu Yuanting quickly went to prepare formula while Su Yiran checked the diaper—still dry. Once the bottle was ready, Su Yiran fed the baby, who instantly stopped crying and drank happily, clutching the bottle with tiny hands.

Su Yiran and Gu Yuanting exchanged a smile.

After putting the baby back to sleep, they returned to their room, bathed, and got into bed.

Just before sleeping, Su Yiran remembered his plan to take Ting-ge to a psychologist. He felt it shouldn’t be delayed—tomorrow would be best.

Holding him, Su Yiran said, “Ting-ge, let’s go to the hospital tomorrow and see Dr. Sun, okay?”

Dr. Sun?

Gu Yuanting, about to drift off, felt his heart lurch. Carefully, he asked, “Why? Why suddenly see Dr. Sun?”

Dr. Sun was a top psychologist in the field. Back when he’d had postpartum depression, it was Dr. Sun who had treated him. But that was long cured. Why would Ranran want him to go now?

Once again, Gu Yuanting felt tension coil inside him. Could it be that Ranran had noticed something—that he wasn’t the original?