Campus Alliance-Never Fall North Star

"I'm Lu Yan!" Lu Yan almost yelled, his eyes instantly red, "Don't you recognize me? We went through the alliance together, shot together at the shooting range, were in the Borderless together, faced rumors together, and you even snatched the braised pork from my bowl... Have you forgotten?"

Xiang Haichen's headache suddenly exploded, as if countless needles were drilling into his temples.

The person in front of him had red eyes and cold sweat on his forehead. The anxiety and pain on his face were too real, making him inexplicably panicked.

Some blurry fragments came to his mind - camouflage uniforms, the smoke from the shooting range, the laughter and noise of people fighting for food in the cafeteria... and the person in front of him, who seemed to always be secretly watching him during training, and when he was discovered, he would stiffen his neck and turn his head away, but the tips of his ears would be very red.

"Don't make noise..." He raised his hand to press his head, his face as pale as paper, "Headache..."

"Sun, look at me!" Lu Yan shook his arm, and the infusion needle that was not pulled out cleanly on his arm moved. A little red appeared on the tip of the needle, like a tiny blood flower. "I am Lu Yan!! You are my little sun, have you forgotten?"

"The sun?" Xiang Haichen was stunned. The strangeness in his eyes loosened a little, and was replaced by deeper confusion. "I..."

Before he finished speaking, Lu Wei suddenly saw the shallow scar behind his ear - it was caused by a floating wooden board during the flood relief. At that time, Lu Wei held him and struggled in the flood, yelling at him to hold on, but he smiled and said, "Lu Wei, don't shake, I'm fine."

All restraint broke down at this moment.

Lu Yan suddenly pulled the man into his arms with such force that it seemed as if he wanted to rub him into his bones and blood. His hot tears splashed on Xiang Haichen's shirt, leaving dark marks.

"You stinking sun..." He choked with sobs, his voice trembling with the feeling of surviving a disaster, "It's great that you're alive..."

Xiang Haichen felt suffocated in his embrace, and his chest felt inexplicably tight.

The man's embrace was hot, with a mixture of the smell of gunpowder and disinfectant, which was both strange and familiar.

He wanted to push away, but his limbs felt like they were filled with lead. He could only let the other person bury her face in his neck. Her hot breath brushed against his skin, bringing a slight shudder to him.

"Have you said enough?" He finally found his voice, cold as ice, "If you have, get up."

Lu Yan's movements froze.

This cold tone was like a basin of ice water, pouring from head to toe.

He slowly loosened his hand and looked at Xiang Haichen's pale face, the light in his eyes dimming little by little.

Yes, it has been seven years. He has suffered so much and forgotten so many things. How could he still be the same as before...

But just as he was about to step back, Xiang Haichen suddenly stared at the bandage on his chest and his lips moved.

Those broken images came flooding back to him again - the blood on the helicopter, the body temperature on the rocks, and the bloodstained camouflage uniform of the man before him as he fell into his arms...

"Brother Wei..."

The two words were as light as a sigh, but they sounded like thunder in Lu Yan's ears.

He looked up suddenly and met Xiang Haichen's eyes filled with confusion and pain.

"Hey... I'm here! I'm here!" Lu Yan's voice broke instantly, and tears flowed out without warning, falling on their clasped hands.

He wanted to say something else, but his throat seemed to be blocked, so he could only repeat over and over again, "I'm here, I'm here... I'll never let you get lost alone in the future..."

Xiang Haichen looked at his red eyes from crying, and his headache became even worse, with black spots appearing in front of his eyes.

He wanted to raise his hand to wipe the man's tears, but as soon as his fingertips touched the man's cheek, his body went limp.

"Haichen!" Lu Yan caught him quickly and felt that the person in his arms was as light as a feather.

Xiang Haichen's head rested on his shoulder, his breathing was weak, and there was still some moisture on his eyelashes.

Lu Yan held him in his arms and turned to walk towards the ward, his steps staggering.

The wound on his chest had completely split open due to the force just now. The warm blood soaked through the bandage and flowed down the lapels, mixing with the marks on Xiang Haichen's shirt that were wetted by his tears.

He looked down at the pale face of the person in his arms, and suddenly smiled, but his tears fell even more violently.

It's not like he hasn't thought about giving up over the years.

Ren Qifeng had advised him countless times that Xiang Haichen was most likely dead; the military file had long been marked as "sacrificed". He also tried to convince himself to put the shiny nameplate into the iron box, but every late night, he would always feel a pang of anger in his heart - if he let go, everything would really be gone.

He thought that this would be his life, guarding the figure of that person in his hallucination until he died of old age.

But after going around in circles, on such an afternoon with falling leaves, he hugged this person again.

The person in his arms suddenly moved and unconsciously shrank into his arms, like a cat afraid of the cold.

Lu Yan lowered his head and gently placed a kiss on the top of his head, his voice so soft that only the two of them could hear:

"This time, I will never let go."

The light from the corridor fell on them, stretching their shadows very long.

Lu Yan's steps were steady. He stepped over the bloodstains and tear marks on the ground one step at a time, as if he had stepped through seven long years, and finally walked towards the dawn that had been lost and regained.

A young man came running to the hospital. He was in his early twenties and wearing a washed-out blue shirt. When he saw Lu Yan carrying Xiang Haichen and trying to leave, his face turned red. He rushed forward and blocked their way, with his arms outstretched like an old hen protecting her chicks.

His eyes were red, his voice was trembling, but he stiffened his neck and refused to move: "You can't take him away! He is my brother! For the past seven years, my mother and I have carried him back from the mountains and fed him with porridge and medicine! What gives you the right to take him away just like that?"

Lu Yan looked down at Xiang Haichen, who was sleeping in his arms. There were still some tears on his eyelashes, and his breathing was as weak as a candle in the wind. The blood in his chest was still oozing, and the pain made his fingertips numb, but his eyes were as cold as ice. When he glanced at the young man, he had the oppression of being in a high position for many years: "Because I am his lover, because I lost him back then."

"Lover?" The young man was stunned for a moment, then became even angrier, "When my brother was unconscious, he kept shouting 'Lu Yan'. So it was you?"

He gritted his teeth, his eyes sparkling with frightening brightness, "What were you doing earlier? Where were you when he had a high fever and was talking nonsense in the mountains? Where were you when he was rolling around in pain from a dislocated leg bone?"

Lu Yan's heart seemed to be cut by these words, and he groaned in pain.

Xiang Haichen in his arms seemed to be startled, frowned, and shrank into his arms unconsciously.

Lu Yan instantly softened his movements, and gently smoothed his sweaty hair with his fingertips. His voice became deeper: "I know you've been working hard. He needs the best doctor right now. If you're worried, just come with me."

After saying that, he didn't look at the young man again, and walked straight to the inpatient department with Xiang Haichen in his arms.

The young man bit his lip, looked at Lu Yan's back, his fists clenched until his knuckles turned white, but finally he stomped his feet and followed.

The red light outside the operating room was blindingly bright, like an eye staring at someone.

Lu Yan leaned against the wall, the warmth of Xiang Haichen's neck still lingering on his fingertips, but his palms were ice-cold.

He asked for the best military doctor to come, and he stood guard outside the door, listening to the occasional sound of instruments colliding from inside, each sound seemed to hit his nerves.

The clock in the corridor was ticking slowly, as if it was burning oil.

Lu Yan counted the seconds, but his eyes were shaking uncontrollably——

"Captain Lu."

The medic's voice brought him back to reality.

Lu Yan looked up suddenly and saw a little blood on his white coat. The red stung his eyes. He stumbled forward, his hands shaking so much that he could hardly hold the report.

"The left ear has moderate hearing loss, caused by long-term noise stimulation and impact." The military doctor pointed to one of the pages and said in a very serious tone, "The left tibia has an old fracture. Look here--" He pointed his fingertips on the film, "The bone has grown crooked, like a twisted wire. It's obviously grown without being reset. Now the joints are all adhered."

Lu Yan's breathing suddenly stopped.

He remembered how much Xiang Haichen loved running before. He was always first in the company in the five-kilometer cross-country race. When Xiang Haichen crossed the finish line, he would always look back and wait for him, smiling proudly. But now...

He looked down at his hands. These hands, which used to be able to hold up a rifle steadily, could not even hold a thin report now.

"And here." The military doctor turned to the next page and spoke even more quietly, "There is a hematoma the size of an egg on the back of his head, which is compressing the nerves. This is why he has amnesia and headaches. The most troublesome thing is his arm. The humerus is dislocated and the nerves are damaged. Whether he can lift it up in the future... is hard to say."

Every word was like an icicle, piercing into Lu Yan's temple.

He suddenly remembered that just now when Xiang Haichen tried to push him away downstairs, he raised his arm so slowly and with so much effort - it turned out that it was not that he didn't want to move, but that he couldn't move.

"He..." Lu Yan's voice was hoarse as if it had been rubbed by sandpaper. "How did he live these years?"