I MARRIED MY SOON-TO-BE GROOM

CHAPTER 20

Elsewhere, Zhan was still asleep on a hospital bed, alone. Last night, he had fallen asleep after taking his medicine but woke up around 1 AM with excruciating stomach pain. At first, he thought he just needed to go to the bathroom, but the pain grew worse by the minute. He knew the noodles he ate had caused it, and he was immensely grateful when Ren Min finally picked up his call after several rings, as Zhan couldn’t stand from the pain. Though Ren Min was reluctant to take him to the hospital, he was ultimately persuaded by Zhan’s threat: if he didn’t help, Zhan would use all his power and money to shut down Ren Min’s father’s company. "And if you end up poor, you won’t be able to go shopping anymore,” Zhan added.

Frustrated, Ren Min stormed over. “They’re right; you really do have a bad attitude. I let you stay in our house, and now you’re threatening me,” he complained. “Are you going to help me or not?” Zhan asked, taking his phone from his pocket, ready to intimidate Ren Min further.

“Fine, Xiao Zhan, but I have one condition—can we get back together? When everyone knows you’re my boyfriend, they treat me like a princess and follow all my orders,” Ren Min suggested.

“If you don’t stop talking and you won't take me to the hospital, you’ll start your next semester bald,” Zhan snapped. Before he could finish, Ren Min rushed over and helped him to the car, staying silent all the way to the hospital out of fear of Zhan’s threats.

Back to the present.

Zhan was alone in the hospital since Ren Min hadn’t returned after dropping him off. He didn’t call any of his friends, not even his husband. Luckily, his condition was caught in time—it turned out he was allergic to the noodles. In his anger at Yibo the night before, he had completely forgotten about it. He couldn’t understand why Yibo’s words hurt so much. It made him feel as though no one could truly put up with him.

Meanwhile, Yibo woke up around 9 AM, so he decided to attend class later in the afternoon, knowing he could go anytime without any issues. Sitting in his usual spot, he found himself wondering where Zhan had gone. With nothing else to do, he headed to Zhan’s classroom, but only saw Haoxuan and Jili there. “Maybe his foot hurt, so he didn’t come in,” Yibo said, turning to leave just as Haoxuan and Jili came out.

“How’s Zhanie?” Haoxuan asked.

“Why are you asking me? Am I his babysitter? Why don’t you ask his girlfriend?” Yibo replied sharply, surprising Haoxuan and Jili. They had asked Yibo politely, but his response was unexpectedly cold, and before they could ask more, Yibo had already walked away.

“What’s his problem? Since when does Zhan have a girlfriend?” Haoxuan asked Jili, who just shrugged.

“Why don’t you try calling him?” Jili suggested.

“Good idea,” Haoxuan agreed, pulling out his phone, though he raised an eyebrow when he couldn’t get through to Zhan. He tried several times but still couldn’t reach him.

“Where could he have gone?” Jili wondered aloud. “Try calling Yibo’s friends. Maybe they know something,” Jili suggested, and Haoxuan did just that. “No answer,” he reported. “Let’s go find them,” Jili said, tugging Haoxuan toward Yibo’s classroom.

“That explains why they didn’t answer; they’re in class,” Haoxuan noted, seeing Jiyang’s teacher inside. As soon as Jiyang and Woodz spotted them, they excused themselves from the teacher and stepped out.

“What’s going on?” Woodz asked.

“Aren’t Yibo and Zhan together?” Jili asked, prompting Woodz and Jiyang to exchange glances.

“We don’t know. Yibo didn’t come to class this morning, and we haven’t seen him since this morning. I doubt Zhan would be able to come in with his injured foot,” Jiyang said, now looking at Jili and Haoxuan.