As Ruo Chen walked out of the room, he finally felt as he had some space to breathe. Too much has happened over the few days he spent in this world, his thoughts were in disarray as there was just too much to think about.
The house had plenty of windows which allowed sunlight to shine through, it illuminated almost every corner of the house. It made the house have a gentle and warmth feeling to it but Ruo Chen felt anything but warmth at the moment.
What should I do?
This question plagued Ruo Chen's mind throughout the walk to the kitchen. If Ye Ran had went back in time, he's dead meat. Yet Ye Ran hasn't taken any action and could even be said to be open and friendly to a past bully.
Ruo Chen felt his mind twist and turn as he tried to come with a reasonable explanation to what could have happened. Every explanation contradicted the other and he pulled a fistful of his hand as an attempt to ease his frustrations.
He pushed open the kitchen door before grabbing an apron from the hanger. "Food will nourish the mind, maybe I'll know after eating." Ruo Chen mumbled to himself before grabbing six eggs and a bowl.
After cracking and seasoning, he poured the eggs into the pan and started making omelettes. Omelettes were his absolute favourite when he was Ming Ze and they were a good source of protein. Ruo Chen saw how scrawny he was and couldn't help but worry.
Minutes passed by an two omelettes were done. Ruo Chen also prepared some chili sauce at the side as he knew Ye Ran loved spicy foods but also felt weird about eating spicy foods in the morning, so he left it at the side to let Ye Ran choose.
He quickly removed his apron before speed walking back to the room while holding two plates piping hot omelettes in his hand.
The room door opened with a creak Ruo Chen quickly set the food down before going to wake Ye Ran. Just as his hand was about to tap his shoulder, Ye Ran's eyes suddenly flew open with a start and Ruo Chen was met with a cold piercing gaze.
He quickly retracted his hand as he met the stare but the glare went away almost immediately as Ye Ran realized who was approaching him. The cold glint in his eyes were swiftly replaced with a gentle gaze as he slowly propped himself up.
"Sorry for that." Ye Ran apologized as he relaxed his tense shoulders.
"It's okay." Ruo Chen replied as he went to sit as the table in the room while gesturing Ye Ran to follow. This behaviour? It's so much like in the book when he was a lord!
Ye Ran got up from the bed before making his way there. He caught sight of the chili sauce and couldn't help but feel a strange emotion bubbling up inside of him. He felt a hand grip the shirt near his heart despite himself.
"Has your scar there not healed yet?" Ruo Chen asked with utmost concern as he nimbly got up from his seat to rush over to check up on him.
Ye Ran stumbled a few steps back at this sudden behaviour and he was at a lost when Ruo Chen pulled his shirt up to examine his wounds. He met Ruo Chen's confused gaze when he found out that all wounds have healed.
"Is it your core that got affected?" Ruo Chen questioned again as he felt his fingers twitch at the thought of the core. A core was one's life, damaging it was basically as good as crippling yourself. Even if Ruo Chen knew that this whole play was staged by Ye Ran, the pain he felt for him was enough to make him keel over.
"No, uh, just tired." Ye Ran said as he felt himself blush at the treatment and being so close to Ruo Chen. If he were to lean forward just a bit, their heads would knock into each other.
Only after noticing Ye Ran's blush did Ruo Chen realized what he did was indeed a bit rash but he was just too worried. He let out a cough before sitting back down before the food.
The two then ate in silence, one was still trying to recover from the earlier treatment, while the other was deep in their thoughts.
***
Days went by with Ye Ran and Ruo Chen training together until news of that the Ye family was dead finally spread throughout the whole town. Ruo Chen heard from the maids gossiping around him about the death of the whole family.
Apparently, after Ye Ran's dad saw his whole family brunt to ashes, he committed suicide. Since they lived in the outskirts, it took awhile for news to spread. But since so few knew of Ye Ran, everyone just assumed the whole family died and didn't go into the case any further. Officially labelling the case due to some natural disaster.
Ruo Chen eyed Ye Ran from the corners of his eyes while he thought of the suicide. Well, the whole family was dead, just pushed ahead of time. Ye Ran seemed to notice his gaze and gave a bright smile to him. Ruo Chen also smiled back before returning to his thoughts once more.
Over the days they spent, he had been trying to figure out Ye Ran's motive and why he was acting like the way he was. He had so wanted to ask Ye Ran what his deal was but every time he faced him, he just couldn't follow through.
In the end, Ruo Chen only labelled this odd behaviour in his mind as 'Ye Ran the mighty lord has travelled back in time but decided to spare this lowly one due to loneliness(?) or Idk'. The main thing was that he was not subjected to Ye Ran's brutal ways of killing and was actually treated nicely by the 'cold and ruthless lord'. He labelled his theory as true as most of the reasons point to Ye Ran having reborn.
"Young master, your parents are coming home in 3 days time. Here is the letter they asked to pass to you." One of the maids said with her head bowed handed a letter over to Ruo Chen.
Ruo Chen only nodded before grabbing the letter. He had grown used to being called 'Young master' and now only averted his gaze when he was called that instead of feeling weird all over.
The letter read, 'My sweet baby, I hope you've been well! We are finally making our way back from our long journey. In case you've forgotten, we have eyes everywhere and know of your little friend...but as long as he's not causing any trouble, he can stay. From, your sweet mother.'
Ruo Chen suddenly felt a shiver down his spine as he read the letter, this Xiao Pang idiot didn't tell me about the 'eyes'!'. He cursed but then felt relieved to know that his parents were actually very sweet and open.
Xiao Pang was running in the fields when he was cursed and only let out a sneeze before continuing to play.
"Ye Ran, my parents have said you can stay!" Ruo Chen said cheerfully as he hugged Ye Ran. At last, the worry of wondering what his parents might think has been dissolved and he felt his shoulders relax.
Ye Ran felt a myriad of emotions from the hug as well as from the news yet he couldn't express a single one and settled on returning the hug. This warmth was still something he wasn't used to, but he knew he wanted more of it.
So what if he was reborn? It doesn't change the fact that he deserves everything. So, I'll do my best to treat him well.
Ruo Chen thought as he decided on his course of actions. Ye Ran treated Ruo Chen as a friend so he should return the gesture as well. After all, he would be accompanying him for a long time in the quest to search for a lover, so a good relationship was important.