For half a second, Cheng Huanzhen’s gaze froze, clearly caught off guard by the sudden smile and movement.

But he reacted quickly. His face flushed red with anger, and his eyes widened slightly.

His voice came out extremely hoarse, like every word was squeezed out of his throat. “If the car accident is fake, then how do you explain all these tubes on you, Little Uncle? How do you explain the changes in your vital signs? Are you going to say even those are all ‘acted’ too, Little Uncle?”

He raised his hand and clamped it tightly over the one resting on the back of his neck.

Those pitch-black eyes were full of pain as he asked sorrowfully, “How much did Uncle Wen and Aunt Wen pay you to make you do this, Little Uncle? Was it them who told you to do it?”

Lin Chen could tell at once that Cheng Huanzhen’s guesses had gone completely off the rails.

He sighed lightly, pressed his fingertips a bit more firmly, and said simply and softly, “Not taking it off? Then come here and kiss me.”

That only made Cheng Huanzhen angrier and more hurt—

Did his worry and heartache not even deserve to be coaxed?

He was already this upset, so why wouldn’t Little Uncle explain anything?

The more he thought, the worse he felt. He lowered his head, wanting to bite hard into Little Uncle’s shoulder.

But when his lips actually touched skin, he was afraid of hurting someone already so weak.

So, hurt and angry, he kissed Little Uncle’s eyes, kissed his forehead, kissed his earlobes, kissed his collarbones, then deliberately tugged down the hospital gown to kiss his shoulder.

Silently, Lin Chen slid his hand from the back of his neck into his hair. The not-so-soft strands slipped between his fingers.

His fingertips came to rest against the young man’s scalp, gently stroking his head as he tilted his own slightly, giving him more access to his neck.

The kiss did indeed fall to his neck.

But along with it came damp, trembling eyelashes that brushed against his skin and tickled.

Lin Chen lowered his eyes in silence.

From this angle, he couldn’t see Cheng Huanzhen’s expression. But he could see the sorrow between his brows, could see the unease trembling on those downcast lashes.

He sighed softly again and patted his head, signaling him to look up.

“Take off my oxygen mask,” Lin Chen said. “Let me kiss you.”

But Cheng Huanzhen wasn’t coaxed so easily.

He lifted his head, lips pressed into a hard line, his dejected gaze full of wordless accusation—why still no answer to his questions?

Lin Chen softened his voice. “I’ll answer you after you kiss me.”

After a brief silence, Cheng Huanzhen rasped, “But Little Uncle, that’s dangerous. I can’t do that.”

Lin Chen sighed. “I already said, I don’t actually need this oxygen mask. Relax. It’s not like you met me yesterday. How could I risk my life over something like this?”

Cheng Huanzhen said nothing.

He thought: hadn’t Little Uncle just risked his life and gone through a car accident for some order worth who-knows-how-many tens of millions?

Seeing him unwilling to move, Lin Chen simply let go of his head and pulled off the oxygen mask himself.

Cheng Huanzhen’s eyes snapped up, shoulders and back tensing, ready at any second to put the mask back if something went wrong.

But Lin Chen just casually set the mask aside, then laid his hand back on the back of his neck, patting lightly. “Come here.”

Cheng Huanzhen’s lips remained tightly pressed, his neck stubbornly refusing to bend.

So Lin Chen gently kneaded the back of his neck and said even more softly, “Come here.”

Once, twice, three times. At last, the air went out of Cheng Huanzhen’s resistance.

Eyes downcast in misery, he bent over, and a feather-light, cautious kiss landed on Lin Chen’s lips.

“Little Uncle…” he whispered hoarsely.

Lin Chen didn’t speak. His hand slid from the back of his neck up to his head again, gently pulling him down, drawing him closer.

Then he tilted his head up and wound his tongue around his.

Cheng Huanzhen’s tongue remained stiff, not daring to move.

So Lin Chen took over, setting the entire pace. Unfortunately, he truly had little strength right now; even the hand at the back of his head was only resting there for support. Naturally, his movements were gentle and slow.

Drip.

Drip.

Something warm suddenly landed on his cheek.

Not much. Two drops.

But when Lin Chen lifted his eyes, Cheng Huanzhen’s eyes were already completely red.

Finally, he wasn’t that stiff anymore.

Arms slipping beneath Lin Chen’s neck, he took the lead this time, kissing and kissing with aching care.

Then he called again in that hoarse voice, “Little Uncle.”

Lin Chen felt helpless. “You really don’t believe me at all?”

A muffled reply: “I don’t.”

Troubled, Lin Chen said, “But look, I took off the oxygen mask and nothing happened.”

After a short pause, Cheng Huanzhen said in a low voice, “But Little Uncle, your voice doesn’t sound the same as usual.”

His tone sank even lower. “…If you were really fine, your voice would be stronger than this. And when I won’t come close, you’d be holding me a lot tighter than you are now.”

Lin Chen blinked slowly twice and, for a moment, didn’t answer.

Lowering his gaze again, Cheng Huanzhen brushed another kiss over his lips—barely there, like a dragonfly touching water, never trying to deepen or steal his breath.

He looked utterly heartbroken.

Hoarsely, he said, “Just tell me, Little Uncle. Just coax me.”

Lin Chen stayed quiet for a while—longer than before.

Cheng Huanzhen knew that, in the end, Little Uncle would always soften toward him.

Sure enough, Little Uncle finally sighed and said, “Let’s not talk about this time. At least, I won’t use this method again next time. I promise, alright?”

In a muffled voice, Cheng Huanzhen said, “So Little Uncle, you really did get into a real car accident this time… You clearly promised me a few days ago.”

Face calm and pulse steady, Little Uncle answered with complete composure, “But you also promised not to come looking for me, didn’t you? See? You broke your promise. We’ll call it even.”

Then he shifted the topic lightly and smiled. “But today’s promise is real. I definitely won’t do this again next time. Trust me, hmm?”

Cheng Huanzhen stared at him for a moment, gaze dark.

Then said in a low voice, “There’s one more thing. You said before that there are other people in your studio. But I tried to find them and couldn’t find anyone! I even asked Uncle Jingming, and he said he’s never known a single person from your studio besides you.”

Perplexed, Little Uncle tilted his head slightly on the pillow. “That’s because I handle all external matters for the studio. It’s perfectly normal that none of you know them, isn’t it? What, you want to hold that against me too?”

For once, Cheng Huanzhen didn’t let himself be kissed into confusion.

Unhappy, he said coolly and seriously, “But Little Uncle, you’ve been in the hospital for three days, and not a single person from your studio has come to see you… Even if they put on makeup and used a fake identity or a random excuse, no one came. I stayed here for three days and not one of them showed up!”

The more he spoke, the angrier he became. “Aren’t they worried at all that something might really have happened to you? You’re the core of the studio — everything goes through your hands. Do they not care about you at all?!”

Lin Chen was taken aback, then suddenly burst out laughing, which made his injured organs throb painfully, the laugh twisting into a grimace.

The momentum Cheng Huanzhen had just built up shattered instantly.

He jumped up in alarm. “I’ll get the doc—”

Seeing him go for the call button again, Lin Chen immediately grabbed his arm, pressing it back to the bed with a smile.

“They can’t come,” he said. “It’s not that they don’t want to.”

Softly, he added, “If you keep worrying like this, I’m going to feel so guilty my insides will hurt. So… don’t hold this against me anymore, alright, A-Zhen?”