The Inconceivable Flame: A Fallen Angel's Disguise

However, before he could confront her for this, someone chose to ruin this moment.

"Bro, I brought the finest breakfast as promised." Ji Syaoran announced while grinning but when he saw the vein on Xiao Zhiren’s face twitching, he added, "Why so cold, guys? I might get frostbite at this rate." He was trying to lighten up the mood but from the expressions of the two people in the room, it clearly wasn’t working very well.

Ru was the first one to react as she walked past him and left the room not before bumping into Ji Syaoran’s shoulder intentionally. Poor guy almost lost his balance and fell on his buttock again.

"Ow!" he was rubbing his sore shoulder as he mumbled, "That guy has some insane strength in that seemingly thin body."

"What did you do?" Xiao Zhiren asked.

"What do you mean?" Ji Syaoran retorted in confusion.

"Clearly you must have done something for he... him to act like this." Xiao Zhiren had to remind himself to keep calling Ru as him and not her. But since now that the nature of his interaction with Ru had changed, it was really difficult to keep track of when to address her as a male and as a female. How tricky!

"I didn’t do anything." Ji Syaoran denied as he opened the thermos and poured some soup for Xiao Zhiren before offering it to him.

"Don’t lie. There is no way that little chili would react without any rhyme or reason." Xiao Zhiren obviously had grown accustomed to Ru’s behaviors. It wasn’t hard to know that she wasn’t an unreasonable person. At least, not with others. Her unreasonable nature was reserved just for him.

"You don’t have faith in your brother?" Ji Syaoran asked in a disappointed manner.

"It’s not that I don’t trust you. But... I know that troublemaker well." Xiao Zhiren claimed.

Ji Syaoran looked at his brother’s face for a second longer before sitting down on his bedside and said, "I called him paranoid last night. But he’s petty. He’s still holding a grudge over that small thing."

Xiao Zhiren chuckled. "Oh, tell me about it. Pettiness is embedded in his soul. As for grudges... Haiz! His temper is also a wonder."

Ji Syaoran didn’t understand his meaning and didn’t plan on doing so either. He kept pushing food to Xiao Zhiren while he stood to watch. And whenever Xiao Zhiren said he was done, Ji Syaoran would threaten him with, "I’ll tell grandmother that you have a fever. Do you want that?" Obviously, Xiao Zhiren didn’t have any desire to listen to his grandmother’s nagging for hours or days. It could possibly go on for weeks as well.

Ji Syaoran didn’t stop until every bit of the food was fed to his brother. He felt proud of himself. He was becoming a good blackmailer. Er... Negotiator. Well, it’s the same thing anyway. Who cares!

"How’s Yuan? Did he call you?" Ji Syaoran inquired after a while.

"Last I heard, he was boarding his flight. Next, he didn’t bother contacting me." Xiao Zhiren explained and heard his phone buzzing. Looking at the screen, he flashed a smile saying, "Speak of the devil."

He connected the call and put it on speaker.

"Hey, big bear!" Yuan’s voice sounded excited and cheery which was so unlike him.

"Finally, my little brother remembered that he left a brother behind." Xiao Zhiren teased playfully.

"Two brothers." Ji Syaoran corrected promptly.

"Oh, Ran Zi is also there. What are you both doing without me?" Yuan asked suspiciously.

"Well, certainly we can’t be having more fun than you little brother." Ji Syaoran replied since Xiao Zhiren wasn’t a good liar. "How’s your trip going on? You’ve been gone for four days and this is the second time I’m hearing from you."

"Sorry for not contacting. But I’m in Amsterdam now. We are about to board the train to Paris from here." Yuan replied back.

"Oh, that’s good."

It had taken a lot of effort on Yuan’s part to get the permission for a backpacking trip around Europe with Zhang Han. Xiao Zhiren had protected him so much all these years that he didn’t want to send Yuan alone so far away from him. But Yuan managed to convince him when he somehow managed to ask Ru for Lilith to be their traveling partner.

He had been gone for four days and because of his excitement, he really forgot to inform back home that he was alright. It was a good thing that both Ji Family and Xiao Zhiren sent some people to keep an eye on them and keep them updated. Because these youngsters were truly unreliable.

"Yuan, enjoy yourself and take care of your health." Xiao Zhiren reminded again.

"Relax. I will take care of myself. I’ll call later. Gotta rush." He hung up the call and both Ji Syaoran and Xiao Zhiren sighed.

"He seems to be enjoying his freedom." Xiao Zhiren remarked thinking whether he had really been protecting Yuan too well. He should have let him experience the world on his own long ago as Ru had suggested once. He was the reason his brother was so indifferent and apathetic. Perhaps, this trip would bring some changes in his personality.

But even in his wildest dreams, Xiao Zhiren would have never thought that this trip would change everything for Yuan. Not just his personality. But that was the matter of the future.

For now...

"Bro, take your own advice. That kid is fine. It’s you who got a fever. Don’t tell me you were worried about him and that’s why your health deteriorated." Ji Syaoran was speaking all on his own without giving Xiao Zhiren a chance to reply. "If you had this much worry for me, I’d be over the moon. It’s a pity that I won’t matter as much as Yuan does. This is called the double-standards. You’re biased in love between your two brothers. This is totally unfair!"

"Are you done whining?" Xiao Zhiren asked pinching the space between his brows. "If you are then please get lost."

"Now you’re even kicking me out? Bro, I didn’t expect this from you." Xiao Zhiren thought he was being dramatic but this time, Ji Syaoran was really hurt. "Fine. I’ll leave." With a heavy heart, he packed the food containers and left.

While walking past the garden of the hospital, he saw Ru sitting under a tree with a cigarette between her lips. He found her movements to be quite suave as she blew the whisps of smoke out of her mouth.

"Leaving already? I thought you’d leave with your brother." Ru took the initiative to talk.

"He kicked me out." Ji Syaoran muttered softly.

"Are you hurt?" Ru questioned intrigued by his sad expression.

Ji Syaoran chortled loudly which slowly turned into a bitter smile as he said, "How can I be upset? At the end of the day, I’m just a half-brother." The way he said the last words really felt weird to Ru. It was as if he was having a hard time even saying those words. As if he was mocking himself or that title of being a half-brother. What it was Ru couldn’t really tell.

"What half-brother or real brother? Brothers are brothers. There is no such thing as being half or not." Ru said plainly before extinguishing her cigarette. "Brotherhood isn’t claimed by blood. It’s a matter of the heart. You neither can deny it nor can you force it."

"Why is it so hard to understand you?" Ji Syaoran suddenly changed the topic of conversation.

Ru quirked her brow at him inquisitively. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I thought I’ll be able to hate you after you pushed me out of your apartment and yet here I am finding it impossible to do so." Ji Syaoran really looked helpless as if he really was having the battle to understand why he couldn’t hate her. She clearly irked him to no end but she somehow managed to say the words that his heart needed to hear. "You really intrigue me to no end..."

"I know I’m fascinating. You don’t need to mention it at all."

Ji Syaoran burst out laughing with his head thrown back in reckless abandon. He seemed free and unrestrained. It was one of those rare moments when Ru thought she didn’t see any burden of responsibilities in his eyes. He was truly hiding too much behind his playful nature that it gave people the illusion of how blissful he was.

"I wish I could deny. But you truly are fascinating." Ji Syaoran remarked sincerely.