Falling In Love Inside An Urban Legend — Chapter 2.2

original novel: 在都市怪谈里谈恋爱[快穿]

author: 小生不知

mtl’d and edited by dogpotato. please leave a comment if there are any questions or errors!

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Chapter 2.2, Arc 1: Strange Sounds in the Morgue

Yao Ye deeply felt that thinking he could leave early tonight was a typical case of celebrating too soon. 

He sighed wearily. An Ling, who had been anxiously peeking at Yao Ye, immediately sat up straight, his reddened face turning pale and his voice carrying a slight tremor. It was unknown what he was afraid of, but he kept repeating, “I’m sorry, Dr. Yao, I’ve delayed your off-hours… I’m so sorry…”

An Ling knew that Dr. Yao had actually been very tired recently, and here he was wasting Dr. Yao’s precious rest time because of a trivial matter. It was a heinous crime.

He even… he even had physical contact with Dr. Yao, it must have been very disgusting…

Thinking of this, An Ling lowered his head, not daring to look into Dr. Yao’s clear and beautiful eyes. He fell silent, the line of his mouth tight.

The sight of this 1.9 meter-tall man huddled up in the office chair was quite pitiful.

Yao Ye turned and was greeted with the sight of a huge guy like An Ling pulling a ‘bullied young wife’ expression. Hurriedly he waved his hand and explained, “Ah no, no, this was all my fault, how can it be considered a delay? Mister An, you really don’t have to apologize, I’m the one who should be apologizing to you…”

Yao Ye continued to repeat the apology he had said so many times already. He felt a rare headache coming on.

Although he knew that this lonely security guard had a very fragile heart of glass, he never expected it to be this fragile.

A 1.9-meter man, with his head shrunk down between his shoulders all day, who apologizes first no matter whether it is his own fault or not; although he can understand, it’s still a little worrisome.

Facing the dejected An Ling, Yao Ye was helpless. After comforting him for a while and seeing An Ling’s mood improve, he speedily got up, grabbed his suitcase, and said his goodbyes.

He had to go; it was already half past twelve, and this hospital was on the wrong side of town. If he didn’t leave now, he won’t even be able to get a DiDi[1] ride home.

“Mister An, make sure not to get the area wet and remember to always keep it wrapped. In a few days, I’ll give it a look. If there’s nothing else, then I’ll go first, okay Mister An?”

His mood eased, An Ling saw Yao Ye stand up and quickly followed, hunching over slightly as if it would make him appear like less of a giant next to Yao Ye.

He gazed at the gentle expression on Yao Ye’s face. His fingers dangling at his side curled up timidly.

He nodded solemnly. “Okay, Doctor Yao, I understand.”

Upon seeing this, Yao Ye sighed with relief, smiled, and waved goodbye, “Then I’ll go first. See you tomorrow, Mister An!”

“Okay, see you tomorrow, Doctor Yao.” An Ling responded with shining eyes. The corners of his mouth rose, revealing a childlike smile.

Against this smile, it seemed that even the black birthmark that covered most of his face was not so glaring.

He practiced how to smile for a long time, just to make his face look less hideous and ugly.

He had never liked to express his emotions freely before, because it would make his unsightly face even more repulsive, and because no one in this world wanted to see him smile.

But now, he hopes that he could smile at Doctor Yao, whom he respects and admires, because Doctor Yao once showed him such a gentle smile, and he wants to show him the same gentleness in return.

Even though a smile is worth nothing, it is the only thing he can give back.

However, it was a pity that Yao Ye, who was anxious to go home, had already walked too far away to pay attention to whether An Ling was smiling.

Yao Ye entered the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor. He poked at the sore on his inner cheek with the tip of his tongue as the elevator descended.

He had been too busy these days. He forgot to take the medicine he bought, and the surface of the ulcer was expanding. He also wasn’t able to drink water just now and his dry mouth made it even more painful.

He rotated his ankle again and found that the injury from when he collided with Mister An just now was not a major problem, but he felt a slight twinge of pain when he put too much weight on it. It should be a twisted tendon.

Really, ‘a leaky house lets in the wind and then the rain comes overnight’. 

Yao Ye was helpless.

Ding—

The elevator arrived. Rubbing his aching temples, Yao Ye walked out of the elevator, past the ward with the lights on and the service desk with only one dozing nurse on duty. At long last he could finally leave this hospital that stunk of disinfectant. 

As soon as he walked out of the hospital, Yao Ye felt the chill of the late autumn breeze. Goose bumps appeared on the back of his neck and the fine layer of hair all over his body rose in the cold. 

“Hiss—was it this cold?” Yao Ye shrank his neck into his shoulders. He had just come out of an air-conditioned building and couldn’t stand such a huge drop in temperature. His teeth chattered.

Taking out his phone and placing an order for a taxi, Yao Ye stared directly at the DiDi app on his phone. After waiting for five or six minutes in the cold wind, no one took the order.

This was very strange. It was normally possible to get a taxi at this time. Usually, it only took a minute or two to wait for a driver to confirm the order, but now it had become an order that no one picked up.

After waiting so long, he was afraid that it was likely no one would take the order. Yao Ye was now so cold that the snot dripping from his nose had almost frozen on his face where he was standing. He could only accept that he was unlucky, cancel the order, and start walking home.

Fortunately, the apartment he was renting was relatively close to his place of work, but it was still a 20-minute walk in the cold.

The wind was getting more and more bitter every night. Yao Ye clasped the buttons of his coat and walked feebly. He was so tired that he couldn’t wait to just lie down and sleep, his eyelids drooping.

There was a crossroads not far away on his path. He rubbed his sleepy eyes and spotted flickers of light and smoke in front of him.

Huh? Was there a fire ahead?

Yao Ye felt a burst of energy, and after another look, he found that the lit fire had disappeared. It was not until he got closer that he saw traces of embers remaining at the turn of the intersection.

Whoosh— 

In the night, the cold wind rustled, blowing the unburned joss paper on the ground far away.

It seemed that someone had been burning the paper for changing fortunes at the crossroads. The unfinished blaze was still emitting the last remaining heat. 

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The author has something to say: Regarding the treatment of burns, I checked Baidu (t/n: Chinese Google). If it does not meet the emergency measures of the hospital, please forgive me QAQ 

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[1] Chinese ride-hailing service, like Uber

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thoughts of dogpotato: yao ye just can’t catch a break today, huh (;´Д`)

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