Over in the dragon realm, Hua Lin Yu had no idea that he had done something wrong but he did notice that Xin Lan seemed a little more distant lately. He had trouble recalling from when this had started but even when he asked, there was nothing to get out of the dragon. It really wasn't easy.
For the next few days, they stayed at Xin Lan's estate. While he was unhappy, he still hadn't forgotten what his task was for now. Thus, he made an effort to get closer to Hua Lin Yu and cement their relationship. Unfortunately, this wasn't an easy task either.
After all, half of the time, Hua Lin Rong with them, making any attempts at making a move on his younger brother impossible, and the rest of the time, Hua Lin Yu would inadvertently — or maybe it was actually intentionally — move out of his grasp as soon as he started to try and take off his clothes. It really was maddening.
At the end of the first week, Xin Lan's mood had gotten so bad that the two humans had no trouble perceiving it.
Hua Lin Rong turned to his younger brother and raised his brows, trying to get something out of him when they were alone for once. "Did something happen between the two of you? Or do you know why he is behaving like this?" He couldn't explain it himself so he felt that the only reason could be something that had to do with his younger brother.
Hua Lin Yu slightly raised his brows as well and looked out of the window to the small pavilion in the garden where Xin Lan sat, a jar of wine in his hand. "Who knows?" He turned away as if he didn't care but he couldn't help but think about the past few days.
A week wasn't much and definitely not enough time to get to know somebody. But it was enough to find out a few things. For one, he had noticed that Xin Lan didn't seem to take his promises all that seriously. He was actually a bit miffed when he thought about it.
The words he had spoken back when Hua Lin Yu was a child had obviously not been given much thought. In fact, he had even admitted to thinking about breaking them. Now, he had promised his father that he would only marry him when they returned from the dragon realm but here they were, not even a week into the journey and he was already trying to make a move on him.
Considering what he had said about weddings in the dragon realm, it seemed that he was once again saying one thing but doing another. It was a little difficult to trust him like this.
Hua Lin Rong looked at his younger brother who refused to explain and then scratched his head. This seemed to be a lover's tiff? And even the first one these two had. It had to be difficult for Xiao Yu. Then as his older brother, he should probably help him out a bit. "You know, I would totally be up to give you some relationship advice."
Hua Lin Yu looked over his shoulder and hooked up the corners of his mouth. "Big brother, I wonder where that relationship advice comes from? After all, as far as I know, there hasn't been any relationship in your life. Actually, maybe you'd rather want me to give you some advice on how to find a good man?"
Hua Lin Rong was taken aback and could only stutter. Had he just said something wrong? It seemed that both the people he was currently living with were somehow angry. This really wasn't how he had imagined his journey to the dragon realm.
He sighed and then waved at his brother. "Alright, alright, I understand already. You lovebirds don't want somebody else to meddle in your affairs. Just clear it up among yourself then. I'll just go and cultivate." He hurriedly left the room, not even giving Hua Lin Yu a chance to respond.
His younger brother gazed after him and then sighed to himself, turning back to the window. "It looks like I was a little too harsh on him." He just couldn't help it though. He was really angry. Why was Xin Lan doing this to him?
He hesitated for a moment but then opened the door and went outside, slowly walking over to the pavilion and finally sitting down next to him. He didn't give him the time of the day though and instead just sat next to him, looking out at the garden that was growing pretty freely. "We should get somebody to take care of this kind of thing."
Xin Lan glanced at him, and then looked at the garden himself, finally nodding. "You're right. I'll do that."
Hua Lin Yu's gaze flitted toward him before moving back to the garden and couldn't help but speak up. "Are you going to do that just as you were only going to marry me after we returned from our journey to the dragon realm?"
Xin Lan raised a brow and put down the jar of wine, finally turning toward Hua Lin Yu. He rested one arm on top of the table while the other was kept on his leg, his fingers lightly drumming on his knee. "What do you mean?"
Hua Lin Yu almost wanted to snort. This guy was really still pretending! But being passive-aggressive wouldn't get them anywhere. And even though he was unhappy with how Xin Lan was behaving, it didn't change the fact that he liked this person. "I'm angry, alright? You told my father that you would only marry me after we got back. You agreed to his conditions. But now … I feel like you don't want to keep your word. I don't like that."
Xin Lan opened his mouth to deny it but then stopped himself at the last moment. Obviously, Hua Lin Yu had somehow caught onto what he was doing. Naturally, it wouldn't help at all to just say it wasn't the case. After all, then he would place him being a liar even higher on the list of things he disliked about him. So in the end, there was nothing he could do besides coming clean.
"I did. It's because I was angry as well. Which … was a stupid thing to do."
Hua Lin Yu turned to him with some surprise, unsure how he should react. He had thought that he was the only one with a reason to be angry but it seemed that he had really missed something. "Then what's the matter? You should just tell me. Then … we can work it out somehow."