Shameless brat

Ying Yue sat in the living room, watching television. Doing so gave her a sense of déjà vu – a familiar feeling that she couldn't quite pinpoint. However, she felt that it was only natural for her to do so – to lounge there like she had no responsibilities.

The door on one side opened, and the boy who came out looked at her with his eyebrows furrowed. His hair was wet from having just taken a shower, and he started drying his hair with a white towel. "Xiao Yue, you're already watching television? Have you finished your homework?"

"Of course, I have! Homework is a piece of cake for a genius like me, brother Shen." Ying Yue's lips moved instantly, and words she didn't think about came out naturally. Wait—wasn't this a dream? Or was it a memory?

She wasn't so sure, but for some reason she felt like her mind didn't belong there. No, that was impossible. Her mind was probably just muddled right now. Yes, that was it.

The eighteen-year-old Ying Shen smirked at her reply, like he always did when she was being snarky. The towel he used to dry his hair hung around his shoulders as he strode over and sat beside her. And then he placed a warm hand on her head and messed up her hair.

"Brother Shen!"

"Shameless brat," he chuckled.

"It's not being shameless if it's true!" She pouted and then added, "And I'm not a brat! I'm an excellent person who's going to top her class in university and run her own business one day."

"Mmm."

"Earlier, during class, the math teacher told us to…" Ying Yue started talking about stuff that went on in school, and although she felt like she'd said these things before, she prattled on anyway. "Since tomorrow's a Saturday, are we going to train as usual?"

She didn't receive a reply from her brother, so she turned her head towards him only to see him gazing at her with a deep, complicated look.

She raised her eyebrows at him. ���Brother?"

"You should go back, Ying Yue."

The eyebrows that were lifted sunk down in confusion. "Go back where? I live here with you, brother. You're not sending me to grandpa's place, are you?"

Ying Shen's expression didn't budge. He opened his mouth and closed it back again, as if he didn't know how to explain things to her. "You don't belong here. You should move on."

Ying Yue was taken aback. What in the world was he talking about? "Huh?"

"You should live…" He whispered.

Her vision became blurred and some sort of haziness overtook the room, flipping it over, making Ying Yue's head spin. She forced her eyes shut and groaned as her surroundings seemed to spin. And when she finally opened her eyes, she was in a bedroom. The room was dim; only the lamp in the corner was turned on – emitting yellow light that made her feel uncomfortable.

Ying Yue became confused, and an overwhelming feeling of sadness weighed on her at that moment. She tried to recall what happened before opening her eyes to this room, but she couldn't remember anything before that. Was she sleeping? Did she dream about her family?

Right now, she knew nothing but the pain of having lost Ying Shen. He had let her run as he stayed back to protect her – and that put an enormous amount of guilt, anger, and pain on her. She rubbed her eyes and found them swollen and puffy, and before she knew it, tears started welling up again.

There was a knock on the door, and Ying Yue automatically curled up in a ball in a defensive manner.

"Ying Yue?" A voice of a not-so-stranger filtered in from the other side of the door. "You have to eat something."

"I'm not hungry," came her voice. And then she frowned. This situation seemed familiar.

She heard a tsk coming from behind the door. "That won't do." There was jingle of keys being pulled out from someone's pocket, and then the sound of the bolt getting unlocked.

The door then creaked open slowly, and Ying Yue reflexively pulled up the blanket all the way up to her chin.

A man came in and gave her a small, sad smile. In his hands was a tray bearing a small cut of salmon, some rice, and soup. It was the guy that Ying Shen had left her to. "You haven't eaten anything today. Eat this much, at least," he said gently.