20

Soft sniffling sounds could be heard from Ye Ran who was beside Ruo Chen who was still trying to catch his breath after climbing so many stairs. Ruo Chen gave Ye Ran a side way glance to see that tears freely streaming down his chubby cheeks and felt that he was not unlike that of a sulking child, with the small pout and all.

So just what caused this shift? Ruo Chen could not imagine the lord crying like this, maybe after being reborn into his child body he regained some of childishness?

Ruo Chen then got down from the couch and crouched down in front of Ye Ran to carefully examine his face. Ye Ran avoided Ruo Chen's eyes and stared at the ground.

"What's wrong hm?" Ruo Chen asked in the most gentle voice he could muster as he still was still in shock that Ye Ran would suddenly have such a drastic change in behaviour.

Ye Ran did not speak and only continued sniffling. Ruo Chen was now at a lost of what to do as he had never comforted someone before but he remembered how his parents would care for him so he decided to try it out himself.

Ruo Chen took hold of Ye Ran's hands and held it with his own as he rubbed the back of Ye Ran's hands. This would sooth him when he was still Ming Ze and he figured it might work for Ye Ran as well.

This calmed Ye Ran down a bit as the sniffling stopped and he was able to look Ruo Chen in the eyes.

His turbulent blue eyes held every emotion he felt but Ruo Chen was none the wiser as he patiently waited for Ye Ran to say what was wrong.

"Why did you abandon me?" Ye Ran mumbled as he squeezed Ruo Chen's hands.

"Abandon?" Ruo Chen asked in confusion. When did I abandon you? 

"When you left for the booths without me..." Ye Ran added in a louder tone.

"That was because I thought you wanted some time alone to think about something. You looked to be in deep thought." Ruo Chen explained but felt like there was something else that make Ye Ran feel so miserable.

Ye Ran who was indeed in deep thought at that time could not refute Ruo Chen's explanation but he still was not happy.

"You should have dragged me along anyway." He retorted with a furrow of his brows.

Huhhhh? Is he seriously sad over that? Ruo Chen groaned in his mind at Ye Ran's unreasonable argument. How could he just drag him along when he looked so absorbed in his mind and with the unstable personality of Ye Ran, who knew if he would suddenly blast Ruo Chen away or just let himself get dragged?

"There must be something else that is plaguing you." Ruo Chen sighed as he tried to force out the real reason for this sadness and distress.

"You... you... were so happy without me...with that girl you were smiling so bright..." Ye Ran said hesitantly as he felt tears well up in his eyes again.

Oh my sweetness. So this idiot was just jealous all along?! Who knew that this jealousy was enough to bring the all powerful terror to tears?!

Ruo Chen felt defeated as this realization came upon him but he reminded himself that Ye Ran never had friends before so he probably thought that Ruo Chen abandoned him for a new friend.

"When am I never happy to be with you? You are the joy of my life!" Ruo Chen assured Ye Ran as he pulled him in for a hug.

"Really?" Ye Ran asked into Ruo Chen's shoulder. He was always called the scourge of the world and a monster so this confirmation meant a whole lot to him.

Ruo Chen patted his back as he hummed a short tune. He felt as if he was comforting a child. 

But now that he was really thinking about it, maybe Ye Ran was a child stuck in an adult's body. He never got parental love and was always treated as an abnormality and was forced to hide everything under that cold hard mask when he reached adulthood.

This made Ruo Chen unconsciously hug Ye Ran tighter.

Ye Ran felt himself relax in Ruo Chen's embrace and he felt fatigue take over as he slowly slumped in his arms.

"Crying then falling asleep..." Ruo Chen muttered as he slowly carried Ye Ran in his arms before setting him down on one of the beds. 

He was about to leave when he felt something tugging at his shorts.

"Don't leave." Ye Ran said softly in his sleep and his hands clung onto Ruo Chen's shorts.

Ruo Chen paused in his movement before sitting at the side of the bed, the bed was way too small for two people and they would have to squeeze to fit. He knew that this soft moment would end as Ye Ran would go back to his cold and distant personality when he wakes up.

Oh how he wished that Ye Ran's personality would stop changing whenever.

He too was feeling tired and was too lazy to move to the next room and just let his body lay down next to Ye Ran. Ruo Chen observed his sleeping face once again and felt the urge to kiss his cheeks like how a parent would.

But he stopped himself from doing so as he remembered the murderous look Ye Ran had given him when he found out that he was with Sage.

He quickly turned around so that his back was facing Ye Ran but that turned out to be a bad idea as he felt arms loop around his waist. Of course, Ye Ran just had to turn out to be someone who liked to hug things in his sleep. Ruo Chen tried to get out of his grasp as this felt way too intimate between friends but he just could not free himself.

Technically he could use some skill to get out but he did not want to hurt Ye Ran and just accepted his fate.

I'll let it go, just this once.

***

They had slept at around 6pm so Ye Ran had woken up in the middle of the night. His personality had indeed changed back to the cold and distant on of the lord and when he realized what was going on, he immediately snatched his hands back.

This sudden action make Ruo Chen stir in his sleep but he did not wake up. Ye Ran looked at Ruo Chen in anger as if he was not the one who pleaded for Ruo Chen to stay. 

But you couldn't really blame Ye Ran as his memory was always cloudy after a change. He wanted to push Ruo Chen off the bed but that would be too rude and he felt that he did not want Ruo Chen to get hurt.

While Ye Ran was stumped on what to do, Ruo Chen turned over at the loss of contact and in one swift motion, pulled Ye Ran into his arms and rest his chin on his head.

Ye Ran was instantly enraged by this bold move and wanted to resist but he found himself slowly relaxing under the warmth. He soon calmed down and felt that this was not as bad as he thought it would be.

A moment later and he remembered that he was actually the one to hug Ruo Chen first and could not help but blush at that thought.

Why did I do that? Ye Ran thought to himself as he buried his face into his palms.

Ruo Chen sensed this movement in his sleep and hugged Ye Ran tighter in an attempt to stop the movement.

But this was the breaking point for Ye Ran as his face was in Ruo Chen's chest. He felt his body heat up and sent a blast of energy into Ruo Chen. This immediately created space between the both of them and Ruo Chen also woke up as a result.

"The heck was that for?" Ruo Chen groaned at the loss of warmth and hugged himself.

Ye Ran did not say anything and his face was now fully red but thanks to the fact that it the middle of night, Ruo Chen did not notice his flustered expression.

Ruo Chen realized that Ye Ran did not talk so he must have changed back to the aloof personality, so he did not even bother to say anything more and left the room after saying 'good night'.

With this, Ye Ran was finally able to have some space to breathe as he slowly felt his heart rate slow down. He did not know why he was so worked up over this and he just laid back down on the bed to try to force himself to sleep.

Ruo Chen who was now in the other room was also confused as to why Ye Ran was so worked up as it wasn't like as if they have not slept next to each other before. But Ye Ran was impossible to figure out so he just went back to sleep.

So one slept soundly while the other was battling things out in his mind.