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Chen Yuzhi and Jiang Yuelou had met about three weeks ago and were going out for the fourth time that evening. They didn't know much about each other yet, as their busy work schedules left them little free time, but both men felt the strong attraction the other had for him.
On the way home, Chen Yuzhi suddenly began to rummage nervously in his bag and cursed quietly. Something was buzzing in the inside pocket of his coat. He stopped digging through his bag for a moment, reached into his coat and shortly afterwards the buzzing stopped.
"Are you okay, Yuzhi?" Jiang Yuelou sounded a little worried.
Chen Yuzhi rummaged in his bag again.
"Damn, where...?"
"Yuzhi, what's wrong?"
"Crap."
"What's wrong?" Jiang Yuelou again asked.
He was worried that Chen Yuzhi looked so nervous. Beads of sweat appeared on the latter's forehead, even though the temperature was slightly below zero, and even in the diffuse light of the street lamps, Jiang Yuelou could see how pale Chen Yuzhi had become.
"I need to sit down for a moment."
The only possible place to sit was a low wall a few meters away. However, the snow on it was more than just unfavorable. Jiang Yuelou took off his leather coat, walked to the wall and laid it on top. It would do for a while.
Normally, Chen Yuzhi would have protested and told Jiang Yuelou to put his coat back on, but he didn't have the energy right now and urgently needed to sit down.
"Sorry, Yuelou, I don't want to burden you with this but, do you have anything sweet, some glucose... no probably not. I'm a doctor. That’s just unreasonable."
Jiang Yuelou now rummaged in his bag, but only found some chewing gum.
"Does that help?"
"Better than nothing."
Chen Yuzhi smiled embarrassedly.
"Stay here, Yuzhi. I have an idea. I just need a minute. Can you stand it that long?"
Chen Yuzhi nodded, but he looked a little absent-minded.
"I'll hurry."
Jiang Yuelou ran off and came back about three minutes later, completely out of breath, with two bottles of cola in his hand.
"Here, I'm sure this will help," he said, handing him one of the bottles, the lid of which he had already screwed off.
"Thank you," Chen Yuzhi replied and took the bottle.
His condition seemed to have worsened somewhat in the short time since he could no longer concentrate properly and his hand was shaking a little more. His voice sounded like he didn’t even had enough energy to talk, like saying those two words exhausted him extremely.
He greedily took a few sips, but then stopped drinking.
"I... I've never been a fan of cola. Eww."
Jiang Yuelou laughed and gently stroked Chen Yuzhi's head.
"But you’ll have to go with it for now my dear."
Chen Yuzhi smiled and drank the rest of the bottle.
After just a few minutes, he seemed to have recovered somewhat, as his gaze seemed focused again and he was no longer trembling.
Jiang Yuelou had sat down next to him, on a part of his coat. The cold started to creep underneath his thin jacket but he couldn’t care less right now.
"Better?"
"Mh. Now I feel like chocolate or a piece of cake."
There was a rustling beside him as Jiang Yuelou reached into his pocket.
"Did you...?" Chen Yuzhi looked quite puzzled and surprised.
"Here. I didn't know which was better, and the vending machine had both."
He held a wrapped piece of apple pie and a chocolate bar in his hand.
"My savior in need, mh," Chen Yuzhi said, grinning and taking the chocolate bar from Jiang Yuelou's hand.
Jiang Yuelou looked at him and had a warm, affectionate smile on his lips.
"Even though I'm very flattered by this, I'd prefer if we don't experience situations like this so often in the future, although I know it can't be completely avoided..."
Chen Yuzhi chuckled. "I'd prefer that too. You seem to know what's wrong with me."
"Hm, my ma is diabetic too. I know situations like this and I know about the cravings. What happened, why is your blood sugar level that low?"
"I guess I misjudged a bit with the insulin earlier. I thought the food would have had more carbohydrates."
"It happens to my ma sometimes too. Fortunately not very often."
"It can happen to even the most experienced diabetic, but it's irresponsible that I don't have any glucose with me. If I had been alone right now..."
"Fortunately, you're not."
"Hm, fortunately."
"When did you inject the insulin? Not when I was there, I would definitely have noticed."
"When you went out for a few minutes to make a phone call."
"Didn't you want me to know?"
"Well, there are people who see it as a flaw."
"Chen Yuzhi, look at me."
When Chen Yuzhi turned his head to him, Jiang Yuelou put a hand on the back of his neck.
"You're flawless, Yuzhi."
Chen Yuzhi chuckled and averted his eyes, a little embarrassed.
"We haven't known each other long enough for you to judge something like that."
Jiang Yuelou grinned, stood up and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his suit jacket.
"I'm sure I'm right."
"You seem to be good at sweet talk."
"I hope so."
Chen Yuzhi squirmed a little.
"I'm drenched, I should go home as fast as possible."
"Good thing that we are almost neighbors. Let's get you home, Yuzhi."
"Thank you, Yuelou. You really are my savior," Chen Yuzhi replied and took Jiang Yuelou's outstretched hand.
"Now I just have to find someone who wants this terrible cola and the apple pie," Jiang Yuelou remarked with feigned annoyance while putting on his coat.
Shortly after they left, Jiang Yuelou turned his head to Chen Yuzhi.
"Shouldn't you check your blood sugar?"
"Indeed I should, although measuring blood sugar isn't really the exact term."
That's when the doctor in Chen Yuzhi came through. Jiang Yuelou, however, furrowed his eyebrows at this answer.
"What do you mean?"
"May I show you?"
Jiang Yuelou nodded.
Chen Yuzhi unbuttoned his coat a little and rummaged in the inside pocket. Then he took out a small device. Jiang Yuelou was familiar with such devices. A blood glucose meter. To his surprise, Chen Yuzhi had not stopped but kept on walking.
"I'm really looking forward to your explanation," Jiang Yuelou said because he still didn't understand.
Chen Yuzhi pressed the small button to turn on the device and the screen came on. Nothing special. What caught Jiang Yuelou's attention was the fact that the device clearly displayed a blood sugar reading.
"Is that the last reading? Pretty low."
"It's the current reading."
Jiang Yuelou raised his eyebrows questioningly.
"Really? How does that work?"
Chen Yuzhi smiled. He was pleased that Jiang Yuelou was so curious.
"It's a small sensor on my arm. It's connected to the device via Bluetooth. It doesn't measure blood sugar, but the sugar content of the surrounding tissue. It's not quite as accurate as a blood sugar reading, but it's very practical. Nevertheless, I need to check the blood sugar level as soon as I got home."
"You'll have to explain that to me in more detail."
"When we get home, alright? I'm a bit exhausted right now and I'm quite cold."
"Are you feeling good enough to walk right now or do you think it’s better to rest for a few more minutes?"
"I can still manage the short walk home, but it's still good that you're here. Can I maybe give you my key? Just in the unlikely event that it gets worse again."
"Sure."
"Thanks. Here."
Chen Yuzhi had taken his key out of his pocket and held it out to Jiang Yuelou. The latter took it and stowed it safely in his coat pocket.
"I'd really like to know more about the device. I want to tell my ma about it. It really seems very practical."
"Would you like to come in for a cup of tea? Then I can explain it to you."
"I'd love to."
Chen Yuzhi's heart was still beating quite fast, and he knew very well that it wasn't just because his blood sugar level was still quite low.