Dr. Shen's Patient Relationship

[What sparks will fly between a gentle, kind doctor and an insecure, slightly unhinged puppy-like young man?]

The puppy was seven when he met his guiding light. After being taken in, he became a clingy little dog. When Shen Chengmo was about to get married, the puppy ignored him and even planned to go abroad.

After seven years of ups and downs overseas, he shed his unruly disguise and became the hunter. “Brother Shen.” Xie Jin’s voice was lower than it had been during the day, still hoarse with sleep, but every word was clear. “Can I borrow something?”

Shen Chengmo stepped aside to let him in. His nose caught the scent of disinfectant mingled with smoke again, though tonight there seemed to be something else, too: the earthy smell after rain, carrying a damp, invasive edge. “It’s so late. What do you want to borrow?”

“Sugar.” Xie Jin’s gaze swept over the room and came to rest on the open medical textbook on the bedside table. “I cooked something and forgot to buy sugar.”

Shen Chengmo didn’t think much of it. He turned toward the kitchen. “You really know how to make a fuss in the middle of the night.”

He had only just reached the kitchen doorway when the man behind him followed. The kitchen light was motion-activated. He raised a hand and tapped it, and warm yellow light spread at once, illuminating the faint glimmer in Xie Jin’s eyes.

--He used revenge as bait, and the other found clarity as he sank deeper. But who can say there wasn’t a shred of genuine feeling in all this madness?

When the ashes finally settle, is the door of the cage a shackle, or a place to call home?