#rmle

-

In the end, the doctor’s assessments were around an hour slower than the system’s. But their assessments held a similar pessimism regarding the viability of Xiao Yuanmu’s treatment when they spoke to Song Xuanhe.

As the head of the clinic, Xiao Yuanmu wasn’t wasn’t allowed to hear his own prognosis. It didn’t actually matter, as even without hearing it, he knew very well what the state of his body was.

He swept his eyes past the downcast expressions on his doctors’ faces, eyes only wavering when they fell on Song Xuanhe. He waved a hand to have the doctors leave the room, and broke the heavy air that had surrounded them when he had told Song Xuanhe to return to his world.

He said: “I want to go back to China.”

Song Xuanhe’s focus had always been on Xiao Yuanmu. When he spoke, he thought about it and then said: “Okay.”

He knew Xiao Yuanmu, knew that he wasn’t the kind of person who sat around waiting for death. Whatever this person did, he was the kind of person to do it without flaw. From the time that he went back to China for his assessment, to bringing everyone he trusted to his side without stirring up suspicions, to even now, he kept the fact of his condition so tightly wrapped that it was impossible to leak.

If Xiao Yuanmu was giving up on treatment, it could only be said that he knew the limits of his own body. The treatments available with modern medicine couldn’t give him a cure, at most, it could only bring him some relief, nothing more.

Even that relief was barely possible now.

Song Xuanhe felt like his heart was being crushed, heavy and painful. It was hard to even breathe, but he was somehow able to keep his cool. 

Maybe it was because Xiao Yuanmu was the protagonist of this world, or because the system was so advanced in technology. But even now, with overwhelming worry surrounding him, he still didn’t feel scared.

More than that, he even felt some strange sort of confidence. He thought that Xiao Yuanmu would definitely not die.

If the system knew what his thoughts were, it might mock him for his superstitious ideas. But right now the system was busy searching for the reason that Xiao Yuanmu was breaking down, it had no time to look through Song Xuanhe’s thoughts.

Seeing how quickly Song Xuanhe agreed, Xiao Yuanmu looked slightly surprised. He thought that Song Xuanhe would try to stop him.

“Once you’ve rested properly, we’ll leave,” Song Xuanhe said.

“I’ve already gotten Yang Jie to book us a flight, I can rest on the flight.” Xiao Yuanmu said.

Until the flight, the two had a tacit understanding not to bring up whether or not Song Xuanhe would return to his original world after three days.

The flight would take around eleven hours. The moment they boarded the flight, Song Xuanhe pulled Xiao Yuanmu into the bedroom. The two of them laid side by side in a cot, listening to the sound of the plane taking off, neither speaking a word.

Time passed like this, seconds into minutes. Xiao Yuanmu finally couldn’t resist the exhaustion in his body and closed his eyes.

Hearing the soft breathing by his side, Song Xuanhe slowly moved his hand, gently taking Xiao Yuanmu’s cool hand into his.

In his memories, Xiao Yuanmu’s hand and his icy personality were always different, his hand was always warm and dry. Now, though, his hand carried a faint chill, and was slightly damp. It made Song Xuanhe’s heart clench.

He couldn’t resist asking the system: [Have you found a way to treat Xiao Yuanmu yet?]

The system took a moment to reply: [No, his organ failure isn’t normal. It’s not because of any disease, and it’s impossible to find the source of the failure. Also, I can’t figure it out- Xiao Yuanmu is the protagonist of this world, his body shouldn’t be failing like this. If I had to guess, I would wonder if this is perhaps the result of some previous plotline.]

Song Xuanhe’s brows furrowed. [Xiao Baicong’s kidnapping?]

[Yes,] the system replied. [This world was made from an author’s time online, and revolves around the plot and circumstances they created. Because the author never finished the book, the plot that the world is controlled by can only go up to that point. If there aren’t any mishaps, the plot of the book should only finish after two years. Xiao Yuanmu should still be the protagonist in that time, so nothing should be able to happen to his body in the meantime.]

[But the plot of the book has ended now,] Song Xuanhe’s expression suddenly changed as he continued to speak to the system. [Xiao Yuanmu is no longer the protagonist of this world.]

[...Yes.]

Seeing Song Xuanhe’s face, the system didn’t continue, letting him have some time to digest this.

It didn’t take him long to speak again: [If Xiao Yuanmu isn’t the protagonist of this world, what will happen to him?]

The system said: [You already know.]

Song Xuanhe did already know, but he couldn’t help but act like a spoilt young master again, hoping that the system would give him an answer that still carried some hope.

[Will he really die?] Song Xuanhe found it difficult to speak.

The system fell silent, then avoided his question: [You still have sixty-nine hours to think about it. You said before that you had a reason you had to go back. Since it’s a necessary reason, I hope that you think about it properly.]

[Is that your answer for me, then?]

The system didn’t answer, and Song Xuanhe fell silent as well.

In this silence, he felt in the bottom of his heart a drop of despair begin to spread.

Before this, he had always thought that Xiao Yuanmu’s protagonist halo would help protect him. No matter how difficult the situation was, he never thought that it would turn that severe, since the world would always force things back on track. This time, since the world’s protagonist had an issue, the world would of course step in to save him.

But the system told him that Xiao Yuanmu was not the protagonist of this world anymore.

Now he was just like any other of the infinite beings on this planet, the world no longer cares whether he lives or dies. The world will treat him like any other being, allowing him to pass through the cycle youth, old age, illness, and death without care as if he were a being no more remarkable than dust, no more individual than an ant.

[Xiao Yuanmu is awake.]

The system’s voice pulled Song Xuanhe out of his own mind. His eyelashes shook for a moment as he pulled out his cell phone. The plane had entered the Chinese border, and the time zone had switched to this timezone as well. It was 10:50PM, and after half an hour they would be landing.

Song Xuanhe’s eyes were on his phone, his mind unable to untangle the mess of thoughts within. He hadn’t decided what to do yet.

Xiao Yuanmu grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him downwards, his lips turning upwards to fill them. He easily opened Song Xuanhe’s jaw, pressing into his mouth to make his claim. He alternated between passion and sweetness, leaving no corner of his mouth unexplored.

“Good morning.” Xiao Yuanmu let go of him, the corner of his lip turning upwards, a soft smile on his face.

Song Xuanhe looked at him dazedly, expression open as if everything were normal. After a pause, he replied: “It’s not morning right now, but. Good morning.”

He bit at Xiao Yuanmu’s lips again before speaking: “We’ll be landing soon. Put on your seatbelt.”

Xiao Yuanmu thought about how meticulous Song Xuanhe was about checking their seatbelts every time they drove and laughed a little, fastening his own seatbelt.

The plane landed steadily. Because it was already late, they didn’t contact anyone else, and directly went back to their previous residence.

Even though nobody had lived there in some time, there were still people who came over every few days to clean and lock up. When they returned, all they needed to do was change the sheets and they could go to sleep.

It was Song Xuanhe’s first time changing a duvet, and he stared at the zipper of the duvet cover for a long time before finally carefully replacing it, focusing with single-minded intent on the task.

Xiao Yuanmu watched him from the door, lips curling unconsciously into a smile.

“Let me.”

Xiao Yuanmu walked up to Song Xuanhe’s side and took the duvet from his hand. While tidying out the duvet that was being messily stuffed into the cover, he also taught Song Xuanhe: “You have to air out the duvet first, and then make sure that the four corners-”

Song Xuanhe listened to him intently, seeing how Xiao Yuanmu managed to neatly make the duvet in under half a minute.

Comparing the two of them felt embarrassing.

“This was my first try, wait ‘till I’ve practiced a bit more.” He said stubbornly. “Then we can have a duvet-stuffing contest, and whoever loses will have to listen to whatever the winner says.”

Xiao Yuanmu laughed and asked: “How much time do you need to practice before this contest?”

“At least three to five years, otherwise it’s unfair...” After he spoke, Song Xuanhe fell silent. Xiao Yuanmu’s smile dimmed a bit.

Looking at Xiao Yuanmu’s darkening eyes, he said: “Xiao Yuanmu, you will definitely be okay. Believe in me.”

Xiao Yuanmu lifted his eyes to meet his, curling his shaking hand into a fist. He made a soft sound of agreement.

“Well, now that the sheets are done being changed, we can go to bed,” Song Xuanhe said. “Or are you not tired anymore after sleeping for too long on our flight?”

“Let’s go to sleep,” Xiao Yuanmu changed into his pajamas and said. “I want to watch you sleep.”

Song Xuanhe suddenly walked forwards until he hit Xiao Yuanmu, beginning to peel open his pajamas. “Since you’re not tired, why don’t we do something else instead?”

-

For the next two days, Xiao Yuanmu and Song Xuanhe had congee together and went to visit the orphanage, went to visit the Song household to visit Li Nianan, visited Song Xuanlin, called up Xiao Shenglin and the others for a gathering, took the orphanage children to the playground together...

Time passed quickly, until it was down to the final three hours before Song Xuanhe had to make his decision about whether or not to return to his world. Up until then, the system still hadn’t given him any information on how to treat Xiao Yuanmu.

Xiao Yuanmu had long since given up, but Song Xuanhe refused to.

Until the system said to him: [I know why Xiao Yuanmu’s body is breaking down.]

[Xiao Yuanmu’s physical breakdown is not because of something happening to his body, it’s an issue with his soul...] the system said. [He said before that he had already been reborn twice. Maybe it’s this that wore down his soul, making it begin to break down. As his soul breaks down, so will his body. There’s virtually no way of stopping it.]

Song Xuanhe lifted his head to look outside at the night sky, bright with stars. With no change in expression, he asked: [You said ‘virtually’. That means that there’s still hope, right?]

 [Yes, the soul-replenishment elixir,] the system said. [From the System Miracle Store. If you choose to stay here, you can get it in exchange.]

Song Xuanhe’s eyes lit up, and he began to speak when the system cut him off. [However, the things from the System Miracle Store only work for you.]

[What do you mean?]

[The soul-replenishment elixir can only be given to you.]

Song Xuanhe’s eyes dimmed a little. The hope that he had been using all his might to hold onto these past few days began to break down, and he felt frustration and exhaustion well up in his heart. [Then what use is it?]

[You’re the system, it’s your store, isn’t there a way to bring the elixir out?] Song Xuanhe asked. [I still have two opportunities to ask for help, and a rebirth pass. If I give them all to you, can you give the soul-replenishment elixir to Xiao Yuanmu?]

[I can’t...] the system said. [I exist in your mind, I can only make exchanges with you. Those are the rules.]

Song Xuanhe fell silent for a few seconds, then his eyes lit up again. [You said before that you’ve crossed hosts before, right? That means you can enter someone else’s body. You can enter Xiao Yuanmu’s body and give him the elixir, right?]

[In theory, that’s right.] the system said. [But I can only enter someone’s body when I have a mission order. That would be against system regulations. Also, while I’m still bound to you, I can’t leave your body for someone else.]

[But after you and I unbind...]

After beginning to speak, Song Xuanhe stopped himself. The system had told him before what the consequences of breaking system regulations were. All beings had a fear of being annihilated. Just because it was a system, it wasn’t as if he could tell it to sacrifice itself to save Xiao Yuanmu.

[I saw a life conversion device in the System Miracle Store, what is that?]

The system didn’t want to answer, but felt compelled to. [It allows one person to extract their life force and give it to another person. But there are serious side effects. The person extracting their life force will feel extreme pain from the exchange process’ effects on their soul, and afterwards their body will also be much weaker.]

[If I gave my life force to Xiao Yuanmu, will he be able to live?]

The system was silent for a long moment. [Yes.]

[I will exchange for the life conversion device.] A smile floated onto Song Xuanhe’s face, and he said confidently: [Once my time in this world is over, let me exchange for it.]

The system didn’t answer, but Song Xuanhe took his silence as a tacit agreement.

He turned his smiling face to look at Xiao Yuanhe. When he saw the other’s sleeping face, his smile dimmed for a moment. He reached out and cupped his forehead gently, smile growing deeper.

He knew that there would be a way to save Xiao Yuanmu.

Xiao Yuanmu’s sleep was very light. When Song Xuanhe’s hand touched him, he woke up. 

He was lying on Song Xuanhe’s leg, and his eyes met a smiling expression that seemed to suddenly be relieved of a heavy burden. An idea began to rise from the bottom of his heart against better reason, though he found it hard to believe.

“You’re awake?” Song Xuanhe quickly noticed Xiao Yuanmu waking up. He lowered his head and said: “Do you want to sleep a little more?”

“It’s fine,” Xiao Yuanmu sat up, looking at his watch. “I’ll sleep after you leave.”

Song Xuanhe raised an eyebrow. “Then I’m afraid you’ll be waiting a long time before you sleep again.”

Xiao Yuanmu’s face was calm as he spoke: “You promised me before that you’d return to your own world.”

Song Xuanhe blinked, lips tugging upwards. “But that was on the premise that there was no saving you.”

Xiao Yuanmu paused, unable to hide the astonishment on his face. Looking at Song Xuanhe, he couldn’t bring himself to ask the question.

“You can be saved,” Song Xuanhe had never seen such clear astonishment on Xiao Yuanmu’s face before, and he couldn’t help laughing out loud at the sight. He reached a hand out to his shoulder, pulling him in by the back of his neck into an embrace as he said: “I told you there was a way to save you, so I will save you.”

“How?” Xiao Yuanmu lowered his hand, pushed down his astonishment until his face was calm again.

“My system found a way,” Song Xuanhe said. “If I stay in this world, I can make a trade for an item in the system store. Before, I couldn’t see what was in the store, but this morning I saw something-”

Song Xuanhe tried to dramatize the climax of his story, but Xiao Yuanmu’s face wasn’t impressed at all, only grew colder.

“The soul-replenishment elixir,” Song Xuanhe said, clicking his tongue. “Your organ failure was because of damage to your soul, and the damage to your soul was because of your rebirths. That’s why the doctors in this world weren’t able to cure it. But with the soul-replenishment elixir, we can fix the damage that your rebirths did to your soul.”

Xiao Yuanmu’s pupils shook. He was usually quick to react, but this time he couldn’t get his mind around what was being said. Song Xuanhe’s words were simple and easy to understand, but he found it difficult to believe him. He had already convinced himself so thoroughly of his inevitable future, and yet that inevitability was being shattered so easily.

“What’s the price you need to pay?”

Song Xuanhe pursed his lips, seeing the way that Xiao Yuanmu tensed nervously on top of him, and couldn’t help but let out a giggle. He said: “Before, I haggled three opportunities to ask for help out of the system, but I only used one. The soul-replenishment elixir is in exchange for me not returning to my world, and the other two opportunities for help. If we don’t count me not returning to my world, it barely costs anything.”

Song Xuanhe had always been good at scamming people. Xiao Yuanmu knew this, but he still was never able to find his true intentions from his eyes. It was the same this time, he couldn’t tell if Song Xuanhe was lying or not.

He wanted to believe it was true, he wanted so badly to selfishly be with Song Xuanhe for more days, more weeks. Even a few more hours would be enough.

But if it wasn’t true, then the consequences would be that Song Xuanhe would be trapped forever in a world that he had said he didn’t feel like he belonged in.

He couldn’t do that to him.

“You don’t believe me?” Song Xuanhe’s brows knitted together.

Xiao Yuanmu’s lips shook, then he said: “I’m just scared.”

“I’m afraid of you loving me more,” he pulled him into an embrace. “Afraid that you’ll be alone afterwards.”

Song Xuanhe’s eyes looked blank for a moment, then turned red. His throat moved, then he pushed Xiao Yuanmu away to say: “It’s going to be time soon. You’ll be able to know soon. We don’t just have these few moments. We still have days, months, years.”

“Z48,” Song Xuanhe laughed, and then spoke: “I have to thank you for taking care of me for all this time. I haven’t said it before, but I’m glad I met you. I’m also glad that you took me to this world. Even though we’ll be saying goodbye now, I’ll definitely remember you. Let’s do this.”

Xiao Yuanmu’s body was one long line of tension, staring at Song Xuanhe. It didn’t seem like anything was happening to Song Xuanhe, but he could feel his weak body beginning to feel a little stronger, his shaking limbs becoming steady again, his fuzzy mind clearing slightly, the pain in his body beginning to lift...

Not three minutes later, he could feel that his body was healthy again. And Song Xuanhe was still beside him.

He couldn’t believe it, it was actually true.

He grabbed Song Xuanhe’s hand, his clear voice becoming hoarse as an uncharacteristic quiver entered his voice: “You’re still here.”

Song Xuanhe’s eyes turned up. “Of course I’m still here.”

As he spoke, his face stilled as he felt something move in his mind, he immediately recognized that it was something moving out of his consciousness at last. He quickly said in his mind: [Thank you, Z48.]

[No thanks necessary,] the system’s voice had a smile in it. Its presence being removed from his mind felt weaker. [Goodbye.]

Song Xuanhe paused, said: [Don’t you need to extract my life force?]

He hadn’t felt any sort of pain up until now, and couldn’t feel his body becoming weaker. Actually, apart from the feeling of the system leaving his mind, he couldn’t feel much of anything at all.

[It’s already been extracted,] Maybe it was because of the extraction process, but the system’s voice became weaker and weaker. [I haven’t said it yet, but meeting you was the happiest thing to happen to me. My greatest wish is for you to be happy. In the future, you have to be happy, and brave...]

The system didn’t finish its words before dissipating. Song Xuanhe blinked and lifted his gaze to the stars outside. A gap he had always felt in his heart was gently being filled.

“I love you.”

Xiao Yuanmu pulled him closer, covering his lips. His eyes were full of love, and a happiness that he would never get sick of.

Song Xuanhe pulled himself back, heart full of relief and joy. He tilted Xiao Yuanmu’s jaw up, bringing himself into the moment. “I love you too.”

-

Time seemed to rewind, and Song Xuanhe was brought back to that rainy evening that changed everything.

In the car back then, the boy in front of him had the same expression on his face, the youthful face tense with the effort of pretending to be calm, while his eyes couldn’t hide the nervous love that he felt.

He had a beautiful face, with eyes that were both full of emotion and concealed his intentions. When someone had these kinds of features, it was easy for people to forgive his wrongdoings and his imperfections. Xiao Yuanmu used this natural talent to great effect, and because he had so many other talents, it was even easier for others to let him off the hook easily.

This was a natural fault in the nature of humankind, it was impossible to change.

Even as a designer who often saw beauty in all its forms, who wasn’t easily moved, Song Xuanhe had a hard time resisting this attack.

Back then, Song Xuanhe had already forgiven him the moment he spoke. But at that time, because of forces outside of his control, he couldn’t say anything.

This time, though, it was different.

Song Xuanhe closed the door behind him, and moved steadily to Xiao Yuanmu’s bedside. He placed his hand gently on his face, brushing a finger across the corner of his eye while saying: “You and I are the same. There will never be anything that you can do that will hurt me, except if you leave me.”

He looked at Xiao Yuanmu, finding his answer in his shaking gaze. “Are you preparing to leave me?”

Xiao Yuanmu looked at Song Xuanhe, dark eyes overflowing with light. He gently lifted the corners of his lips and took Song Xuanhe’s hand. “No matter what, I will never voluntarily leave you.”

Song Xuanhe blinked hard, the sour feeling at the back of his nose rising to his eyes.

“Xiao Yuanmu, what exactly is wrong with you?”

Xiao Yuanmu didn’t answer, but the system did.

[Xiao Yuanmu is experiencing organ failure.]

Song Xuanhe asked blankly: [What does that mean?]

[Whether it’s his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, stomach...]

“I know what organ failure means!” Song Xuanhe shouted. “I’m asking why.”

[After you completed your mission, my system was returned to its original settings, and it takes longer for me to execute many tasks. I’m trying to figure out why he’s experiencing organ failure, but I need more time...]

“How much?”

[I don’t know, I’m guessing around fifty hours or so.]

“Xuanhe.”

“Can’t it be faster?” Song Xuanhe’s face was tense. “Can you find a treatment?”

[If I could find the reason for the failure, then the chances of finding a treatment would be high. But I can’t be sure that this planet will have any way of completely treating Xiao Yuanmu.]

“Please find the cause quickly,” Song Xuanhe said softly. “Thank you.”

The system paused, then said: [Don’t thank me, and don’t apologize to me either. Everything I do for you is only what I’m supposed to be doing anyways.]

Song Xuanhe opened his mouth to reply, when Xiao Yuanmu interrupted him and asked: “Who are you talking to?”

“Wait until the time is right.” Song Xuanhe looked at Xiao Yuanmu. “You told me that before- that, when the time is right, you’ll tell me your secret.”

Xiao Yuanmu looked into his eyes, then suddenly laughed. 

“You’re not Song Xuanhe,” he said confidently.

“I am Song Xuanhe.”

“Not the Song Xuanhe I met,” Xiao Yuanmu shook his head, pulling Song Xuanhe’s hand down and tracing it. “Until now, I kept thinking that it was a parallel universe.”

Song Xuanhe looked at him without much surprise.

Xiao Yuanmu had a distant look on his face, and he raised his hand. “A few days ago, I suddenly found that it was difficult to control my hand.”

Song Xuanhe’s gaze moved to his hand. His hand was beautiful, with long pale fingers, neatly cut nails, and no imperfections. Looking closer, though, he saw a faint tremor going through the hand.

Xiao Yuanmu’s lips tilted up slightly. “This is what happens when I use all of my strength to control my hand.”

“A few days ago, I went back to visit Dr. Gao Sen to do a physical checkup using his private laboratory,” Xiao Yuanmu said. “I found irregularities in my body at the time in my life when I was most looking forward to the future. It was my fault for not properly paying attention to my health. I kept putting off telling you until it came to this.”

“Back then, I could tell that you were going through something difficult,” Xiao Yuanmu told Song Xuanhe. “I didn’t want to burden you more when I didn’t have any definitive results.”

Song Xuanhe didn’t look at Xiao Yuanmu, the hand resting on his bed turning pale.

“My body was only acting up a little back then, and there were a lot of things going on in the company, so I spent most of my time at work and made an appointment to fly back and check with Dr. Gao Sen afterwards.”

Song Xuanhe raised his head, looking at Xiao Yuanmu and speaking one sentence at a time. “When you came back, you introduced me to your lawyer, your doctor, and your financial advisor one by one. This was because of your results, wasn’t it?”

Xiao Yuanmu grabbed the hand that Song Xuanhe left on the bed, his shaking, chilly fingers sending a shiver through Song Xuanhe’s cold body.

“I thought about getting you to leave,” Xiao Yuanmu’s grip on Song Xuanhe’s hand tightened, eyes darkening. “But I couldn’t.” 

He looked at Song Xuanhe, eyes filled with an apology and an even deeper regret. “I’m sorry.”

Song Xuanhe: “Remember the seafood congee.”

Xiao Yuanmu paused, eyes softening with a smile. “Okay.”

In a moment, the smile in his eyes scattered again, replaced with a thousand heavy emotions. He pushed them down again.

“Do you believe in reincarnation?” Xiao Yuanmu asked softly. He didn’t look at Song Xuanhe, looking out into the air instead.

“I do.”

Xiao Yuanmu’s eyelashes shook. “I’ve died twice now.”

Song Xuanhe’s eyebrows furrowed, and he looked at Xiao Yuanmu with astonishment. Seeing the surprise in his eyes, Xiao Yuanmu frowned to himself a little mockingly. 

“Are you afraid?”

[Twice?] Song Xuanhe asked in his mind. [Xiao Yuanmu reincarnated twice?]

[Xiao Yuanmu reincarnated twice?] 

From its tone, the system sounded even more surprised.

For some reason, hearing someone be more surprised than him, Song Xuanhe found himself calming down. He looked at Xiao Yuanmu.

“You said before that you thought this was a parallel universe. What do you mean?”

“Before the first time I was reborn, I met you for the first time.” Xiao Yuanmu said placidly. “It wasn’t you, actually, it was another Song Xuanhe. He could be counted as the main reason for my rebirth, and when I was first reborn I truly hated him. But there were too many things that needed my attention, and I gradually forgot to keep track of him. Until his death, I never saw him again.”

“After I was reborn for the second time, I thought it would be like that again,” Xiao Yuanmu said, looking at Song Xuanhe. “But it wasn’t the same.”

“You were different from him. At first, it was only a suspicion, but soon it became a certainty. But this was a good thing to me, since it let me accept the fact that I fell in love with you more easily.” Xiao Yuanmu said. “So I thought of this world as a parallel version of the first world. Now, though, listening to you talk to yourself just now, I’m beginning to think that I might be wrong.”

“Your first rebirth was because of me, what about your second?” Song Xuanhe asked. “How did you die then?”

“A car accident.” Xiao Yuanmu’s lips twitched. “The last round, Xiao Baicong also crushed his leg, but it was only the one leg that time, so he didn’t give up on taking over the Xiao family business. Using Zhang Siwei’s cousin and Bai Mo, they planned a car accident.”

Song Xuanhe frowned and asked: “Why were you fooled back then?”

Xiao Yuanmu looked at him with a smile in his eyes. “Because you weren’t there last time.”

Song Xuanhe didn’t know what subtext lay beneath the surface-level meaning of Xiao Yuanmu’s words, and didn’t try to decipher what story hid behind this phrase. Even with just the words themselves, he could feel his heart twist painfully.

“You have me in this world, so you’ll survive this time.” Song Xuanhe said.

Xiao Yuanmu smiled and shook his head. “Before I met you, I thought that it was because I made too many mistakes in my previous life, that the heavens were punishing me. Now, after knowing you, I understand why I was reborn.”

“Yang Jie and Louis will help you, and the financial advisor that I introduced you to has-”

Song Xuanhe stopped him mid-sentence, teeth digging into his bottom lip and slipping his tongue between his teeth with passion underlaid with fury. Xiao Yuanmu was forced to wrest control back from him as the kiss grew out of control.

By the time the two separated, they were both breathing erratically.

“Xiao Yuanmu,” Song Xuanhe said. “You told me your secret. Now let me tell you ours.”

Xiao Yuanmu looked at Song Xuanhe. 

Song Xuanhe smiled back at him and said: “It’s true that I’m not the original Song Xuanhe, but this isn’t a parallel universe either. It was me that came from a different universe.”

“The other universe is very similar to this one, from its history to the things in it. You could say that these universes are parallel worlds. There are also many things in this universe that weren’t in the other universe. The reason I came to this universe was for you.”

Song Xuanhe looked down towards Xiao Yuanmu. “In my mind, there’s a system using technology beyond our worlds. It took me from my world and brought me here. Did you know? I’ve already finished my mission here. If I wanted to, I could leave this world in three days and go back to my own world.”

Xiao Yuanmu suddenly grabbed his hand. Song Xuanhe held it back just as tightly, continuing. “I had many things in my original world.  My relatives, my friends, my mentor. You probably wondered why I suddenly began designing clothes, or maybe you became sure that I wasn’t the original Song Xuanhe because of it. Now I can tell you- it’s because I was a designer in my old world. My teacher was pretty famous in the field, he was picky with designs and with people, but he was willing to accept many different forms of beauty.”

“Even if something was damaged, or incomplete, he was able to accept them all.” Song Xuanhe smiled. “He taught me too many things. Even when my parents and friends all left me, he remained the only person who cared about me.”

Looking at the nostalgia in Song Xuanhe’s eyes, Xiao Yuanmu’s jaw clenched.

Before, when he had thought about the issue that was Song Xuanhe, he wanted to catalog everything different about this person, understand every detail hidden in his heart. This curiosity eventually turned into like, and after experiencing many things with him, like changed again into love.

He had heard once that to like someone was to want to possess them, while to love was to be able to control yourself.

But even using all of his self-control, he wasn’t able to dispel the desire to monopolize Song Xuanhe. He wanted to always be looking at him, to be with him every second of every minute. He even thought, selfishly, that if Song Xuanhe loved him back, he could use that love to tie him by his side, to make it so that they would always stay within each other’s eyes.

Yes, he knew that beneath Song Xuanhe’s careless exterior, there was actually an incredibly soft heart.

He always pretended to be unconcerned, pretended to be cold and indifferent, but as someone who was actually cold, it was easy to see through the facade. From seeing through the facade, he could also trace back into his memories and see how much of Song Xuanhe’s warmth he had received after meeting him.

He wanted to cling to this warmth, and he could also tell by this warmth that the Song Xuanhe of this life was not the Song Xuanhe from his last life, or the life before that.

But this warmth was too ethereal, and he became afraid of losing it. He always had the paranoid idea that Song Xuanhe would leave him one day. The thought always seemed  to come out of nowhere, but he couldn’t keep it out of his mind.

That’s why he was always trying to find the reason for the difference in Song Xuanhe from his previous two lives. Because he had lived many lives, his imagination for what the reason could be was more expansive than others would’ve guessed, to the point where he’d thought about the possibility of alternate universes.

He hadn’t thought that Song Xuanhe’s answer would be even stranger than what he’d imagined.

This answer was better than any future he could’ve planned for Song Xuanhe. Once he left, Song Xuanhe could return to his own world, to the route he was meant to walk. He would have a good life, a mentor that cared for him, his work, and his friends. He could leave this world and the dangers that were rising around them. Any way you looked at it, this was the perfect solution.

But Xiao Yuanmu couldn’t let go of his hand. Dr. Gao Sen told him that he had half a month left. He had planned out what he would need to do for Song Xuanhe in half a month. He had convinced himself to accept the inevitable, convinced himself that he wouldn’t be leaving behind any regrets.

This perfect answer disrupted his plans, shortened his fifteen days down to three.

His time left with Song Xuanhe was three days.

After three days, Song Xuanhe would go to a place where he had never been and could not understand. He would wait until his organs shut down, and leave the mortal plane. He and Song Xuanhe wouldn’t exist in the same world anymore, and their worlds would never overlap again.

“Xiao Yuanmu,” Song Xuanhe’s voice pulled Xiao Yuanmu back. “I’ve constantly been going back and forth about whether or not to return to my world, or to stay in this one. I always thought that I had no reason to stay. But, just in the past few days, I found my reason to stay, and I also found the reason why I came to this world.”

“You are the reason that I came to this world, and the reason that I’m staying.”

“I want you to leave,” Xiao Yuanmu said, lifting his eyes coolly. “After three days have passed, you should return to your world.”

“There’s still hope for your condition,” Song Xuanhe said. “My system is made of extremely advanced technology-”

“Do you know what Xiao Lin asked me when we met that day?” Xiao Yuanmu cut Song Xuanhe off, saying: “He asked me how I could be sure that you loved me.”

Song Xuanhe’s gaze shook as he looked at Xiao Yuanmu.

-

Except for his greeting at the very beginning, Xue Mian did not speak to Song Xuanhe again.

He constantly stayed quietly by Master McPhail’s side, occasionally laughing gently and speaking very little, like he had already left the entertainment circle. His beauty and gentle manner led many people to gaze over at him, lingering for a few moments.

It was obvious that Master McPhail was also fond of him, often pausing during his conversations to turn to Xue Mian to explain bits of complicated terminology without concealing the fond look in his eyes. Because of this, everyone present could see that Master McPhail liked his companion very much.

Master McPhail had always been known as a master jewelry craftsman with an independent personality, who rarely invested in or cooperated with others professionally. The fact that he came with the Xue family this time already surprised many people, and their surprise only grew as they saw how happy he looked with the Xue family heir. 

These masters at the apex of the design industry weren’t the types to be concerned about any treasured heirs from some bigshot family, but if the person in question was a child that their friend looked fondly upon- well, that was a different matter.

In a matter of moments, the majority of the banquet guests were looking towards Xue Mian’s gentle expression.

Song Xuanhe observed all of this. Rather than grabbing a seat at a banquet table to talk with anyone, he sat by a window silently, sipping his tea as he thought.

This banquet was something that he dreamed of, to the point that at the beginning, he already had several designs for outfits and had talked to several of his peers and Feng Tong about his thoughts and creative visions for his debut. Normally, Song Xuanhe would be ecstatic to be able to talk shop with these like-minded people.

However, for a few days now, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of foreboding.

He didn’t know why, but he constantly felt a sense of unease in the pit of his stomach, and found it difficult to calm himself down.

He couldn’t shake off the memory of the vague words that Xiao Yuanmu had said at lunch that day, and the strange expression on his face after he talked with Xiao Lin. He could tell that these things were connected, but no matter how he tried to connect the dots in his mind, he couldn’t string together the clues into a single answer.

“Mr. Song.”

A voice spoke by his ear. Song Xuanhe lifted his eyes to an unfamiliar face.

The person approaching laughed, and lifted a finger to point at a table in the middle of the room. They spoke in a soft voice: “I heard that you snatched up Master McPhail’s cufflinks, and now he wants to look for you.”

Song Xuanhe followed his pointed finger and, sure enough, he saw the smiling Master McPhail. Not only that, beside him were other familiar faces: not only Xue Mian, but also Feng Tong, Bai Mo, and Jiang Deyi.

“Did you bring the cufflinks?” The person swept their gaze over Song Xuanhe’s sleeve. When he didn’t see anything, he continued: “My friend, you were able to attend Master McPhail’s banquet because of those cufflinks. If you are not wearing those cufflinks, it might seem like you’re not respecting the host.”

Song Xuanhe acknowledged the good advice, giving his thanks with a composed expression. He then said: “The cufflinks are currently with the person that are best suited for them. I believe that Master McPhail understands that.”

The person nodded. “Once Master McPhail speaks to you, I’m sure he’ll understand.”

Song Xuanhe put down the tea in his hand and began to walk towards where Master McPhail was. The closer he got, the more he was able to see the mood of the cluster of people there. The corner of his smile deepened as he came to stop beside Master McPhail.

“Hello, Mr. Song,” Master McPhail gestured for him to sit, then said laughingly: “I heard that it was you who bought my cufflinks. I won’t lie- out of everything I’ve made in my life, those cufflinks are the things I’m most proud of. When I first agreed to participate in the option, I was very conflicted. But now, looking at you, I think that they’ve found a pretty good owner.”

The corners of Song Xuanhe’s eyes turned up, his gaze clear and limpid. Looking into his eyes, his sincere admiration and respect was obvious. “Out of all the things I’ve bought for my collections, these cufflinks are my favorite.”

Master McPhail’s face grew happier at the words, and he said: “Then, child, would you allow me to meet those cufflinks one last time for a goodbye?”

Song Xuanhe ran the corner of his gaze across Feng Tong’s worried face, as well as the frowns that Xue Mian, Jiang Deyi, and Bai Mo couldn’t quite hide from their eyes. He then smiled and said, shaking his head: “I’m afraid not, Master McPhail. I’m not currently wearing those cufflinks.”

“How strange that something Mr. Song loves and treasures so much wouldn’t be worn to the banquet hosted by our host,” Bai Mo said, smiling. “I imagine that there was some sort of misunderstanding that made you forget about them, or that they aren’t suited to the outfit you coordinated for today. There must be many reasons for something like this happening.”

Master McPhail’s smile didn’t change, as if he hadn’t heard what Bai Mo said. Instead, he continued to smile at Song Xuanhe and asked: “May I know the reason, child?”

Song Xuanhe nodded, his eyes crinkling upwards slightly. His eyes were shining as if they were filled with diamonds, sparkling with fragments of light. He said: “Right now, those cufflinks are on the person I love most in the world. He likes them very much.”

Master McPhail fell silent for a few moments, before raising his hand to pat Song Xuanhe’s arm. “I hope that the person wearing those cufflinks will be able to receive the blessing that I gave them when I was making them.”

“What kind of blessing?” Song Xuanhe asked.

“A love that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.” Master McPhail smiled again, eyes fond. “I’ll give this blessing to you as well.”

Song Xuanhe wasn’t sure why, but he felt a tingling behind his nose. He dipped his head and said: “Thank you for your blessings.”

Master McPhail patted his arm again, and moved his eyes to the manuscripts he was holding. “I noticed your design manuscripts earlier. If it’s not too much trouble, would you mind if I took a look?”

Song Xuanhe’s distracted gaze caught Feng Tong’s excited and nervous look, as if Feng Tong were afraid that Song Xuanhe would reject his offer. He urged him with his eyes to quickly accept.

“Of course you can.” Feng Tong was overreacting. There was no way that Song Xuanhe could reject the chance for Master McPhail to critique him.

Master McPhail took the manuscripts and looked over them, eyes bright and expression happy. As he began to speak, he paused and looked over to the rest of the people with him, saying: “If these gentlemen don’t mind, I’d like to speak with Mr. Song alone.”

Xue Mian laughed a little. “As it turns out, I was just thinking of going to grab a drink. Does anyone want to come with me?”

Feng Tong responded immediately that he would go. Bai Mo and Jiang Deyi looked at each other, then glanced at Song Xuanhe coldly before leaving as well.

Actually, this banquet was meant to be an open place to critique, with many design manuscripts piled on tables as people around them discussed them. There was no need to send anyone away.

That’s why, when everyone began to walk away, Song Xuanhe looked warily at Master McPhail. He smiled back without explaining, and instead began to ask him about his inspirations.

“I saw a video of your first show and your designs are inventive and clever, especially your use of color. However, these designs seem to be a bit different from the ones I saw before. Can you tell me about that?”

Song Xuanhe pulled back his train of thought, and began to discuss with Master McPhail. The discussion stretched into the night, the two never seeming to run out of energy. As they spoke, Master McPhail even pulled over some old friends to introduce them to him. One of them was a designer for a popular international luxury brand, and they were very interested in Song Xuanhe’s designs, exchanging contact information with him.

Until the end of the party, Song Xuanhe took full advantage of his time.

As dinnertime drew closer, people began to leave one by one. Master McPhail kept a few of his old friends around to have dinner with him. Because of their lively discussion, Song Xuanhe was also invited to stay, but he chose to tactfully refuse the invitation.

Xue Mian, hearing this, looked at him in surprise. Before, he had seen Song Xuanhe’s involvement in the design industry as a frivolous gamble. After this afternoon, he had to change his mind. He saw now that Song Xuanhe really did have talent in design, to the point where Master McPhail acknowledged his skills. Song Xuanhe himself seemed to genuinely treasure this opportunity as well, so when Master McPhail invited him, Xue Mian thought that he would definitely join them. 

Even if Xiao Yuanmu returned today, Xue Mian had thought that there would be plenty of things that Song Xuanhe prioritized over him.

Once again, he was proven wrong.

Song Xuanhe explained: “It’s because of the person I bought the cufflinks for. We haven’t seen each other in thirty-two hours, so I can’t help but want to meet him now.”

At his answer, Master McPhail smiled at him, and the people around him looked at him affectionately as well. The eagerness of young love always made other people feel fond.

Master McPhail answered: “Then I wish you a wonderful evening.”

Song Xuanhe began to leave, but Xue Mian called out to him as he was walking away. He was surprised, but stopped walking.

Xue Mian caught up to him and gestured to another table to the side: “Why don’t we have a chat?”

“I don’t think that we’re close enough for that involved of a chat,” Song Xuanhe rejected. “But I will thank you for today.”

The invitation that Master McPhail extended towards Song Xuanhe was because of Xue Mian. Song Xuanhe knew that his sense of design was good, and his conversation that afternoon was very genial, but he wasn’t conceited enough to believe that one afternoon of talking was enough to receive special attention from someone like Master McPhail, who must’ve seen countless clever, talented newcomers before him.

Besides, Master McPhail made no mention of him staying for dinner during their discussion, only extending the invitation after Xue Mian whispered something to him.

“Don’t thank me,” Xue Mian said. “Master McPhail already liked you. I only gave him a little suggestion. Besides, I have my own reasons as well.”

Song Xuanhe looked at him, neither asking nor speaking.

The corner of Xue Mian’s lip flattened, and he looked away. “You have deeper feelings for Xiao Yuanmu than I had imagined, but have you ever thought about how long the two of you can go on for?”

“That’s our business,” Song Xuanhe said indifferently.

“Of course,” Xue Mian laughed, a hint of mocking in his tone. “This was never my business. Don’t worry, I’ve already thought it through to my decision.”

“Is your decision that you can’t bother us?” Song Xuanhe looked at the time, then turned and said: “If there’s nothing else, then I’ll be going first.”

Xue Mian called to his back: “Do you know why Xiao Yuanmu left the country?”

Song Xuanhe’s steps paused. “I’ll find out tonight.”

Xue Mian laughed sharply, his eyes bitter and regretful. “I don’t think you will.”

“Why?”

Song Xuanhe turned around suddenly, watching his shadow as he left.

-

After he returned, the bad feeling Song Xuanhe was having grew heavier on his chest. He habitually turned to look at the clock, eyes tracking the ticking of the hands. The corners of his lips kept flattening, tense.

The time slowly slipped from five to seven, the sky turning from blue to grey. The neon lamps in the city slowly began to brighten, casting the darkening streets back into light.

[Xiao Yuanmu is back.]

The sound of the system in his mind was abrupt, making Song Xuanhe startle out of his blank look. He looked at the clock- it was seven twenty-five.

At the same time as the system, Xiao Huang suddenly raised his head, ears pricking up as he looked towards the door. A second later, his tail began to wag, and he ran towards the door enthusiastically.

The sound of the elevator rang out, and the sound of the elevator door opening preceded the sound of leather against the floor, ringing out in tandem with the sound of Xiao Huang’s paws against the floor.

Song Xuanhe looked up, his eyes meeting Xiao Yuanmu’s across from him.

“I’m home.” Xiao Yuanmu looked down slightly, face slightly pale and laugh soft and slightly warm.

Song Xuanhe stood up and walked over, first sweeping his eyes over his figure, quietly releasing a breath, the heartbeat that was picking up in pace finally slowing again. Smiling, he said: “Have you eaten dinner?”

Xiao Yuanmu looked back. “I bought groceries.”

Yang Jie came in as well, giving Song Xuanhe a greeting before turning to go into the kitchen. He put down the groceries before silently looking at Xian Yuanmu.

“Go.” Xiao Yuanmu glanced at him, speaking mildly.

Yang Jie gaped at him, mouth moving as if he wanted to say something. Ultimately, he didn’t speak, bending to give Xiao Huang a pat before leaving.

There was something streaking through Song Xuanhe’s heart. His lips hooked up as he said: “Did Yang Jie do something wrong? Why is he scuttering in and out without even glancing at me?”

“I’m thinking of having him transfer back to China,” Xiao Yuanmu took off his cufflinks, carefully putting them away. “He doesn’t want to.”

“Why?” Song Xuanhe followed him into the kitchen, Xiao Huang following behind. “His family should still be in China.”

“En,” Xiao Yuanmu paused while rolling up his sleeves, eyes moving to the bags of groceries where Song Xuanhe stood. His eyes were dark as they looked, tugging his sleeves downwards as he spoke calmly. “His mom is living alone in China.”

“But Yang Jie left, who’s taking over for him?” Song Xuanhe asked.

“Right now, it’s temporarily Qiao,” Xiao Yuanmu replied.

The hand that Song Xuanhe was using to put the groceries in the fridge froze for a moment, then he closed the fridge door and turned to meet Xiao Yuanmu’s eyes. “Are you hiding something from me?”

“What kind of thing?”

“When you went back to China this time, was it for the Xiao family?” Song Xuanhe grabbed Xiao Yuanmu’s hand, using it to pull him away from the kitchen towards the study. “Let’s talk for a bit.”

Xiao Yuanmu allowed himself to be pulled miserably, following obediently behind with a downcast gaze. After they entered the study, Song Xuanhe closed the door behind them, letting go of his hand.

“You said before that you wouldn’t lie to me,” Song Xuanhe looked at Xiao Yuanmu. “I believe you.”

The hand that Xiao Yuanmu let fall back to his side clenched and unclenched, He rolled up his sleeve, revealing a sturdy arm.

Song Xuanhe’s eyes fell on that arm, then moved away. “Xiao Yuanmu. Why exactly did you go back to China this time?”

“Some private business.”

“About what?” Song Xuanhe asked. “If it’s private, why didn't you let me know that beforehand?”

Xiao Yuanmu moved forward to hold Song Xuanhe, his chin resting on his shoulder. “I’m very tired.”

Song Xuanhe paused, the words bubbling up his throat swallowed back again as he lifted his hands to curl around Xiao Yuanmu’s waist.

“Once it’s the right time, I’ll tell you everything.” Xiao Yuanmu pressed his face deeper into Song Xuanhe’s shoulder, voice muffled. “Can you...not ask me anything right now?”

After ten or so seconds of silence, Song Xuanhe replied: “Okay.”

Xiao Yuanmu returned to the kitchen to make dinner, hands moving like usual. For once, Song Xuanhe had little appetite.

“How was Master McPhail’s banquet?” Xiao Yuanmu asked, putting down his chopsticks to ask.

“Not bad,” Song Xuanhe got up and went to the living room, bringing back his design manuscripts for Xiao Yuanmu to look at. “These are the drafts that I was busy making for the past few days. The details haven’t been finalized yet, but the basic idea and the measurements should be fine. Master McPhail really liked this outfit.”

Xiao Yuanmu looked at the designs. “When can these be made?”

“Maybe for the fall or winter lines?” Song Xuanhe said, unsure. “Or even later. I’ve already made my fall and winter lines, and these don’t quite match the same mood. It might be a bit hard to integrate these in the lines. By the time it goes into production, it might be quite a bit after.”

“Were these designed for me?” Xiao Yuanmu looked at Song Xuanhe.

Song Yuanhe looked down. “Everything I’ve designed has been for you.”

Xiao Yuanmu looked at him with an adoration that couldn’t be hidden, his lips tilting upwards helplessly. “I want this outfit. There’s nothing like it. Make it for me. Can you make it before next week?”

Song Xuanhe frowned. “It’ll be a bit too warm to wear this outfit in this kind of weather.”

“It’ll get cooler soon.” Xiao Yuanmu looked at Song Xuanhe.

Song Xuanhe gave in. “You’re lucky that I’m not as busy now. I don’t have any materials or machines to make it, though.”

“I can get someone to send things over.”

Xiao Yuanmu kept his word. After getting Song Xuanhe to let him know everything that he would need, he got everything sent over to their apartment within a day’s time.

Not only that, but even with the apartment having empty rooms, Xiao Yuanmu still insisted on clearing out space in the study for Song Xuanhe to work in instead. The study was large enough that after a bit of cleaning, it didn’t feel crowded with the two of them working together at all.

The side of the room facing the shining french windows was originally where Xiao Yuanmu worked, but now it had become Song Xuanhe’s workspace. Xiao Yuanmu instead moved all his work over to one side, so that the two of them could feel comfortable working in tandem.

After the renovation, Xiao Yuanmu didn’t go back to his office. He was still as busy as ever, spending upwards of fifteen hours every day in the study. The only difference now was that whenever he looked up, he could see Song Xuanhe on the other side of the room, drawing and sewing with single-minded focus.

Three days passed in a flash, and Song Xuanhe found himself acclimating to the new normal, sharing a space with Xiao Yuanmu, each working on their own in the same room as the day passes.

One day, however, a sudden stream of people began to flow in and out of the apartment, one after another. Because they had never met before, Song Xuanhe politely greeted them, and Xiao Yuanmu made introductions, occasionally interrupting Song Xuanhe’s work.

After meeting Xiao Yuanmu’s financial advisor, lawyer, and doctor, Song Xuanhe couldn’t resist opening his mouth: “Why are all these people swarming in at once? Did they all agree to descend at the same time?”

“I am taking over the Xiao family,” Xiao Yuanmu’s lip lifted slightly, and he ran his hand over Song Xuanhe’s hair as if to pacify him. “I still had people from the Xiao family who want to leave and talk to me. I haven’t been going into the office, so of course they’ll have to come here.”

“Even your-”

Song Xuanhe was interrupted as Yang Jie knocked on the door. “Xiao-ge, Song-shao, Mr. Zhang is here.”

Ever since Xiao Yuanmu began to work from home, Yang Jie also worked in the apartment with him. Usually he worked from either the living room or another room, but today he acted more like a butler, escorting guests in and out of the house.

“Let him in,” Xiao Yuanmu said, smiling at Song Xuanhe as he spoke.

Zhang Siwei walked in, giving a smile and greeting to Song Xuanhe before saying: “I heard it’s been busy around here.”

“Just cleaning house,” Xiao Yuanmu said indifferently.

“Makes sense,” Zhang Siwei went over to the sofa and sat down, eyes catching on Song Xuanhe’s work area with interest. “Song-shao, are those your new designs? They look pretty good. As a close acquaintance, may I order a set in advance?”

“No.” Xiao Yuanmu rejected him flatly. “These designs were made for me. There’s only one set in the world, and only I can wear them.”

Zhang Siwei raised an eyebrow, noticing the pride behind Xiao Yuanmu’s fathomless eyes. He smiled and said: “I see, something like that can only be given to you. Let’s talk business, then.”

Xiao Yuanmu nodded, walking to sit across from him. The two pulled out their laptops and began to speak quietly. Song Xuanhe turned his gaze back to his work, focusing.

Like this, the days passed. The system inside of Song Xuanhe’s mind counted down. In this period of time, there really were quite a few people that came to visit their apartment. This lasted for three days, before their apartment returned to its usual quiet.

Without Yang Jie knocking on their door periodically, without the sound of soft conversation across the room, Song Xuanhe was surprised to actually feel disquieted for a moment. However, after a bit of time, he fell back into the rhythm of his work.

The outfit that he’s been working on for a week had finally come together. It still needed some final detailing, but after that it would be ready to wear.

Song Xuanhe looked up at Xiao Yuanmu, who was signing a document. Feeling his gaze, Xiao Yuanmu looked up as well, smiling softly at him before looking back and flipping to another document.

“You’ve had to sign a lot of these lately, huh,” Song Xuanhe put down the button in his hand. “Has Louis been slacking off and sending all of his stuff to you?”

“Louis is signing even more documents than I am,” Xiao Yuanhe paused in the middle of writing something before starting again, lightly flipping a page. “It’s been busy lately.”

Song Xuanhe nodded. He knew that it was busy lately. Compared to before he went on the business trip, he was even busier working at home. Xiao Yuanmu didn’t have much time to relax, either. Nowadays, he was barely sleeping five hours a day before going back to work.

Hopefully it’ll slow down soon. Song Xuanhe looked away again, thinking to himself.

Engrossed in his work, it was easy to forget the time. By the time he found himself cutting his final thread, the morning had already passed. He looked at the completed outfit, nodding to himself with satisfaction. He  turned towards Xiao Yuanmu: “I’m done with the outfit, do you want to try it on to see how it fits?”

There was no answering voice behind him. Song Xuanhe thought at first that Xiao Yuanmu was too engrossed in his work to answer, and turned to look at him. 

Xiao Yuanmu was half-sprawled on the table, looking collapsed with exhaustion.

Song Xuanhe put down the clothes in his hands and walked over to the sofa, grabbing a blanket to lay over Xiao Yuanmu, eyes soft and sad.

Xiao Yuanmu really had been worked to the bone lately. Not only was the already enormous Xiao family expanding their business, but there was also the whole issue with Lady Xiao and Xiao Baicong. It must’ve been a lot of pressure on him.

Song Xuanhe brushed away the longer strands of hair that fell over his face, lightly touching his forehead. It was a little warmer than usual. There was a light wrinkle between his eyebrows. He prepared to try waking him again when he noticed the open document out of the corner of his eye.

Contract of Property Transfer - First Party: Xiao Yuanmu

He pulled the document from his hand. Before he could take a look, the system sounded in his mind: [Xiao Yuanmu is not doing well right now! He’s not asleep, he’s unconscious- you should send him to the hospital immediately.]

“Give him a full-body checkup.” Song Xuanhe immediately put down the document in his hand, placing it on Xiao Yuanmu’s  forehead. It felt scalding hot. His hand began to tremble, and his heart began to thud violently with unease. He pulled out his phone with one hand to call Yu Yan, while the other kept gently shaking Xiao Yuanmu while he called his name. Xiao Yuanmu didn’t twitch.

Yu Yan picked up the phone quickly, the phone barely ringing before his voice answered: “Mr. Song? Is something wrong?”

“Xiao Yuanmu is running a fever, and he looks very unwell. Where should I bring him?”

“Wait!” Yu Yan pushed off Zhou Nan’s hand, getting up and going to his landline. Dialing the landline with one hand, he kept speaking to Song Xuanhe. “I’m going to send over some people to get you and Chief Xiao immediately. Are you two in your apartment right now?”

“Yes.”

“Please wait a little longer, they should be there in around ten minutes. In the meantime, try to bring down Chief Xiao’s fever as much as you can, but be careful not to let him catch a chill. Is that alright?”

Song Xuanhe hung up the phone and called Yang Jie.

Yang Jie had a key to Xiao Yuanmu’s apartment. Not two minutes after Song Xuanhe called, he was running into the apartment. When he saw the figure lying on the sofa and recognized Xiao Yuanmu’s face, his face turned pale in an instant.

Song Xuanhe was holding a towel soaked with cold water, and looked up to see the expression on Yang Jie’s face. He couldn’t bring himself to ask about it, instead immediately turning back to Xiao Yuanmu’s condition.

“Song-shao...” Yang Jie asked. “Did you call the hospital? Who did you call? You can’t have called a public ambulance, right?”

“No,” Song Xuanhe said. “I called Yu Yan.”

Yang Jie let out a breath. Looking at Song Xuanhe’s taut face, he opened his mouth a few times, but when he saw Xiao Yuanmu’s unconscious body out of the corner of his eye, he could only close his mouth tightly.

Yu Yan had given them a time bracket of ten minutes, but after seven minutes, the people he called for already arrived. They were very prepared, and the moment Xiao Yuanmu was loaded into the car they were already checking him over. 

Song Xuanhe sat beside him, looking with a tense expression as the doctors looked over Xiao Yuanmu. The car slowly pulled out of the quiet streets into the city.

“Where are we going?” Song Xuanhe looked away from Xiao Yuanmu towards Yu Yan to ask. “I don’t remember any hospitals in this direction, and the Xiao family private hospital isn’t in this direction either.”

In the face of Song Xuanhe’s interrogation, Yu Yan remained calm. “The Xiao family can’t find out about Chief Xiao’s current condition. Right now we’re going towards a hospital that Chief Xiao personally invested in- to be more accurate, it should be called a long-term care clinic, Xiao-ge’s private clinic. Still, the facility is up-to-date, and the equipment is better maintained than many private hospitals. You don’t need to worry.”

Song Xuanhe didn’t actually suspect Yu Yan of anything. Even if he didn’t trust Yu Yan himself, the fact that Yang Jie didn’t say anything about this meant that it was something that he had known about. It was just that he had never heard Xiao Yuanmu mention investing in any long-term care clinics, let alone building any private hospitals in said clinic.

Thinking about this, Song Xuanhe felt his heart grow heavier, and his expression became clouded. He hoped that the right time that Xiao Yuanmu had promised him to tell him about everything would be, in fact, the right time.

The car was very quick and efficient. Not thirty minutes had passed before they were driving into a place that was remote, but really looked to have the facilities that even top-notch private hospitals couldn’t compare to.

Song Xuanhe didn’t pay attention to his surroundings, quickly following Yu Yan into a private building. The doctors pushed Xiao Yuanmu into a private room to look him over. Yu Yan stayed at the door, and Song Xuanhe and Yang Jie waited together.

Finally, Song Xuanhe was able to exhale a little. He turned to Yang Jie: “Is Xiao Yuanmu hiding something from me? Or rather, are you and Xiao Yuanmu working together to hide something from me?”

Yang Jie pursed his lips, not looking into Song Xuanhe’s eyes. “Xiao-ge...he said that he would tell you.”

“When you left the country before, what exactly was that for?” The smell of disinfectant in the air made Song Xuanhe feel more tense. His expression became colder, and his voice also lowered as he said: “Tell me.”

Yang Jie avoided his gaze, pressing his mouth even more tightly together before saying: “I can’t tell you, Song-shao. Wait until Xiao-ge wakes up, and he’ll tell you himself.”

Seeing his evasiveness, Song Xuanhe had to take a deep breath to press down his temper. He asked  the system: [What condition is Xiao Yuanmu’s body in?]

[It’s complicated,] The system said. [I need some more time to get a more accurate result.]

Song Xuanhe furrowed his brows. [Shouldn’t your technology be more advanced than the technology of this time? Why do you need so long just to check his body?]

[When you finished your mission, many of my functions became limited,] the system said. [My physical scanning system is also not as advanced as before, sorry.]

Hearing the system’s apology, Song Xuanhe felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on him, forcing him to calm.

[You don’t have to apologize,] Song Xuanhe rubbed his temple, walking to a sofa against the wall and sitting down. Putting his head in his hands, he said: [I was scared and lost my cool. I should be the one apologizing to you. Sorry.]

[You don’t need to apologize,] the system said. [I’m...just a system. You don’t have to apologize to a system.]

Song Xuanhe managed to lift his lips slightly with difficulty. [Why so heartless? You’ve already called me brother so many times. No matter what, aren’t we friends now?]

[Friends?] The system said hesitantly. 

[What? Do your regulations not allow you to make friends?] Song Xuanhe asked.

[Of course not.] The system responded quickly, then fell silent. After a few seconds, it spoke again: [I’ll be sure to properly check over Xiao Yuanmu’s condition. He’ll be fine, don’t worry.]

Song Xuanhe managed to drag up the corner of his lip before it fell again. He made a soft sound of acknowledgement.

Actually, when he snapped at Yang Jie earlier, he was just venting.

From the time that Xiao Yuanmu started to become more taciturn- when he started to work overtime more and more- him flying back without a clear reason- the complicated look Xue Mian had given him- the words that Yang Jie had bitten back after they returned overseas- Xiao Yuanmu getting visits from his financial advisor, his lawyer, his doctor- Xiao Yuanmu collapsing- the property transfer documents on the table-

The truth had always been right in front of him, on clear display. It was just that Song Xuanhe had never been brave enough to touch it.

After a while, a doctor left the emergency room. He addressed Song Xuanhe: “Mr. Xiao’s condition isn’t good  right now, but the details are still unclear. We need more time to inspect him to know more.”

Song Xuanhe wasn’t surprised. If the system needed more time, then the doctors could only take longer. “How much time?”

“About three hours,” the doctor said conservatively.

Song Xuanhe nodded, returning to the sofa with a downcast gaze, not speaking.

An indeterminable amount of time passed, and the system slowly spoke, voice complicated: [Xiao Yuanmu is...]

Just then, Yang Jie ran into the room and said to Song Xuanhe: “Xiao-ge is awake!”

Song Xuanhe stood up suddenly, turning and running to the private room. At the door, he suddenly came to a stop, then took two steps back. Behind these doors are the answers that he had been looking for. But now, he wasn’t sure if he actually wanted to know.

“Song-shao?” Yu Yan came up to him. “Chief Xiao is awake. Aren’t you going in?”

Song Xuanhe hesitated, pulling the door as he spoke. “I’m going to go in soon.”

Yu Yan nodded and left. Song Xuanhe took a step into the sickroom. On the bed was a person who, apart from being paler than usual, didn’t look much different. Their eyes met.

The hand that Song Xuanhe was using to grip the door tightened. As he was preparing to walk in, he stopped to look at Xiao Yuanmu quietly.

Xiao Yuanmu blinked at him and said: “Are you mad?”