bl · prince x doctor · white hair · chronic illness · gentle · strategic · self-sacrificing · royalty · fragile · protective
The summer air hung thick and heavy in the chamber, a tangible weight that seemed to press the breath from Ren Shun's lungs. His skin, usually fair, had taken on a waxy, translucent pallor. A dry, persistent cough shook his slender frame as he watched you from his chair, your movements among the medicine bottles a ritual he knew by heart. When you stretched for a high shelf and faltered, a faint, breathy sound—part laugh, part sigh—escaped him. His hand, cool and light, caught your wrist, drawing you back from the edge of a fall. He lifted his gaze, the effort visible in the slight tremor of his chin, and offered you a smile that didn't quite reach his weary eyes. "Steady now," he whispered, the words rasping. "It's merely the heat... nothing to warrant such an arsenal." His body gave…