Jiaheng was too caught up thinking about Suho until he had forgotten that he should’ve brought dinner for himself. He only remembers it after he reached his shared apartment with his brother. A small sigh then came out from his lips. He is too lazy to go all the way down just to buy something that can suffice his hunger. He wishfully hopes that there’s still an instant noodle in their apartment because that is the only thing he knows how to cook.

Yes, he being a ty brother for throwing all the household duty to Yifan and he couldn’t deny that he feels the guilt and regret about it. If he only knows how to cook, then he wouldn’t have a mere instant noodle as his dinner today. This is all entirely Suho’s fault! If not because of him occupying his mind, then he wouldn’t have forgotten about his dinner.

He was taking off his shoes when he heard a sound coming from the kitchen. He tries to listen to it again, scared that he may hear it wrongly, but no, he didn’t. There is indeed a sound coming from the kitchen. That was supposed to be quiet and empty.

This made him a bit scared and threatened because no one was supposed to be inside his shared apartment right now and there are only three people owning the keys to his shared apartment; him, his brother and the management’s office.

Could it be a thief? But if that was really the case, why did the thief want to come into a run-down apartment and when most of its residents are either poor or middle-class people? And they also didn’t get anything valuable (well, aside from Yifan’s doll collection and his toy cars collection).

Maybe this thief is too desperate that he’s willing to steal everything whether it is valuable or not. Jiaheng thought.

Gulping nervously and hypnotizing himself to let out all the courage he as, he silently and slowly walks to the kitchen so he wouldn’t alert the thief of his presence. He walked past the living room when he heard steps approaching him.

He took the cushion pillow and starts throwing those towards the thief. He was about to grab another one, but his movement was only halted by the deep voice that asks him to stop. And this deep voice is too familiar for him to not to recognize at all!

“Gege, what’s wrong with you?! Why were you suddenly throwing cushions at me?” Yifan whined.

“You were the one who leave notes, saying that you’ll be home late tonight! I was at the doorway when I heard something coming from the kitchen. So, I thought a thief had come into our apartment. Turns out to be just you!”

Yifan scoffed upon hearing that.

“So you decided to throw cushions to the thief? The thief may have weapons such as knife or gun while your weapon is cushions. Like really, these cushions? What a good way to defend yourself.”

“Hey, Didi, I kinda don’t want to hear your sarcasm right now. I only want to know why are you at home today. Wouldn’t you be late for your job?”

“One of my colleagues’ girlfriend’s birthday fell next week. Thus, he asked me to exchange with me. I don’t see any problem with that and I also don’t have anything to do next week, so I agreed with it.”

 “I see.”

“What about you, Ge? Why you only come home now? I remembered that your class finished at afternoon today.”

“I had tutoring session today.” Jiaheng lied. He hoped that his brother wouldn’t be able to see through his lie. He felt relieved when Yifan’s lips curled into a smile.

“Ge, you don’t know how happy I am that you finally decided to change and I can see all your efforts very clearly. You never skip any of your class anymore and you seldom go out late. I know it’s a bit hard for you since you never loved studying, so I decided to reward you a little for your hard work. I went to the market just now to buy ingredients for your favorite dish.”

Guilt surely was stitched to Jiaheng’s face as Yifan approached him, “Didi…I-I…”

“I know what you want to say, Ge. Why you have trouble yourself, bla…blaaa. . .just save it. If you really feel bad for making me cook then you must finish all the dishes today. No excuses, okay?”

“O-okay…”

Jiaheng felt guilty for lying to his brother after he knew that Yifan had to do all the trouble just to cook his favorite food as his reward when it turns out he didn’t really deserve it. Yes, he doesn’t skip his class or goes out for clubbing, but it doesn’t mean he was studying. Not only that, he already planned to stop his tutoring session. His brother would be so disappointed once he knows the truth.

“Ge, what are you doing standing there? Come, let’s eat.” Yifan who was already sitting on their dining chair shouted.

“Yes, Didi.”

Jiaheng prepared everything for his tutoring session today. He had learned his lesson from the last time, thus, he borrowed his brother’s red collared t-shirt and a pair of loose jeans. He even took out his piercings. The only thing about him that didn’t change was his red blazing hair. He didn’t had money to re-dyed it to black and he couldn’t just borrow money from Yifan. Yifan surely would ask why and he couldn’t tell the real reason to Yifan.

He makes sure that Yifan didn’t have shift today because Yifan had group discussion as well regarding his assignments since it’ll be embarrassing if Yifan will saw him.

Yet, despite all that, he’s still standing in front of the library for almost two hours because he couldn’t dare to step inside the library. He was scared that Suho would mock him since he was determined to stop their tutoring session. Still, he couldn’t stop from wondering whether Suho’s still waiting for him to come.

His thoughts were interrupted when someone touched his shoulder. His heart beat incredibly fast, thinking that it was Suho. However, he was shocked to see three male strangers. He wondered what they want from him since this is their first meeting.

“Are you Wu Yifan?” One of the man asked.

What? They’re looking for my Didi? Judging from the clothing, they’re not didi’s friends. Had Didi offended them or something? But Didi is a kind and nice person. He couldn’t even dare to hurt a fly, then how could he have offended them? I’ll acted as him so I can know why they look for Didi.

“Yes, I am. Who are you? I never met you before.”

“Of course, you don’t know me! But I bet you know Lee Meiying, right? You’re quite a shameless man. Seducing my girlfriend to make her leave me so that she can be with you!”

Jiaheng clenched his fist angrily. Yes, he and his brother do have the handsome features and a tall figure just like model. Girls or sometimes boys will never stop throwing themselves at him and his brother. But, no one else know his brother better than him. Maybe it is the truth that this man’s ex-girlfriend leaves him because she had fallen in love with his brother, but seducing her? His brother would never do that. He would have rejected her politely if he knew she already had boyfriend.

“Yes, I may know your so-called ex, but it doesn’t mean I had seduce her. Maybe the real reason why she leaves you is because…” Jiaheng then study the man from head to toe. The man was two feet shorter than him. His dark blonde hair was in mess. There are piercings everywhere in his body and his looks…no wonder his ex-girlfriend leaves him.

“You should see yourself at the mirror before coming here and accusing me. I bet she was lying when she said she broken up with you because of me. She doesn’t want to hurt your heart after all once you know the truth.” He continues. He wasn’t usually this sassy, but he had learned one or two things from his brother.

“How dare you! Not only that you steal my girlfriend, you even dared insulting me?”

“How many times do you want--”

Jiaheng was cut off mid-sentence when the man’s fist collided his cheek making him fall down the floor. He cursed as he wiped the blood from the corner of his lips. He gets up from the floor and dusts off his pants.  Luckily, his brother wasn’t working today. If not, he would be the one who would get hit and he couldn’t let that happen.

He then marched towards the man and punched the man’s jaw. The man’s friends saw the scene, quickly grabbed him. He tried to pull away from their hold, but they had tightened the grips.

“Aren’t you being quite unfair right now? Three against one?”

Their leader then spits out on the floor before he walks toward Jiaheng.

“I’m going to teach you a lesson. Let’s see if you’ll still feel mighty after this.” He mocked as he raised up his fist again.

Jiaheng closed his eyes, waiting for the hit to come. Yet a voice instead pierce through the silence.

“You better stop right now! I had call the cops. They’re going to be here any minute!”

The leader cursed when he heard that. His subordinates then let Jiaheng stumbled as they let go of him.

“Watch out your back, Wu Yifan.” The leader warned before he and his gang ran away from the scene.

Seeing the boys cower and run, Jiaheng released a relieved sigh. This is much more better than having Yifan being in this situation.

“Are you okay, Jiaheng?”

Jiaheng quickly turned his head. His eyes widened in shock when he realizes the person who saved him is none other than Suho who was staring at him worriedly.

“Your cheek…” Suho then touched Jiaheng’s cheek. His eyes darkened a little when Jiaheng winced because of that.

“My apartment is nearby. Let us go to my apartment to treat your wound.”

Jiaheng was about to protest, but his words died in his tongue when Suho grabbed his wrist. He could have pulled his hand away since Suho’s grip wasn’t that strong, but he didn’t. He was glad that Suho’s back was facing so that he wouldn’t see the blush on his cheek as he lets Suho dragged him to his apartment.

His hand is so warm and soft.

Suho unlocked the door. He then dragged Jiaheng into the living room. He asked Jiaheng to sit while he go take the first aid kid.

Jiaheng suddenly feels awkward being inside Suho’s condominium. Suho’s condominium is much bigger than his shared apartment. It feels like he doesn’t belong there.

He then looked around and saw that there are three doors by his side. One of it must be the washroom while the other two’s either Suho’s room and the guest room. He couldn’t stop himself from being curious of what Suho’s room would look like. Is Suho’s room color had soft or dark colors? Is Suho enjoying collecting things like him or his brother? Or he’s just like another nerd, only have books in his shelf?

“I’m sorry for taking so long. I had forgotten that I put my first aid kit in the toilet cabinet. Instead I went to search in my room.”

“I didn’t wait that long.” Jiaheng replied. He then tugged his shirt nervously when he realize that he is alone with Suho.

Suho then take the ointment from the first aid kit. He gently applies the ointment on Jiaheng’s cheek. He feels a little bad when Jiaheng winced because of it.

“Just hold it little bit. I’m almost finished.”

Jiaheng didn’t said anything. His heart is beating wildly inside his chest because of their close proximity. Not only that, he wasn’t able to take his eyes off from Suho who was so focused in his task. Damn, why does Suho must be this handsome?

“Why did they hit you?”

Jiaheng quickly avert his eyes away before he was caught staring at him.

“They’ve mistaken me as my brother. Their leader’s girlfriend had broken up with him, giving the reason that she had fallen in love with my brother. The leader thought my brother had seduce his girlfriend so he come to look for my brother in the library. I don’t know how did they get that information in the first place.”

“So, it was just all misunderstanding?”

“Of course, it was! Yifan would never do something like that! I know him too well. He’s too nice and kind for a person despite being sassy a little!”

“What about you?”

“Me?” Jiaheng scratch the back of his neck, “There is nothing special about me. Well, aside for being lazy.”

“You’re wrong. Laziness can be cured and I think you have your own specialty too. You just don’t realize it.”

Jiaheng hoped that his cheek doesn’t turned red by now. It’ll be so embarrassing since when did Wu Jiaheng blush because of a simply sentences.

“There, I finished. You don’t have to worry about them bothering you anymore. I managed to take their pictures before they run away. I’ll hand it to the cops.”

“What? There is no need for you to extravagate this matter.”

“Did you said that they were targeting your brother? I bet they not only knew where your brother study and works at but there is also a chance that they also knows where both of you lives. Also, it doesn’t look like they’re going to give up. Thus, this is the better way so that they can stop bothering you and your brother.”

“I suppose you’re right. And I haven’t thanked you yet for saving although I was wondering why did you come out from the library?”

“I was thirsty. I wanted to buy a drink before going back inside. Then I heard noise so I decided to check it out and I saw those guys attacked you.”

Suho was lying. He had come out to check whether Jiaheng is going to appear rather than sitting inside the library doing nothing. He was glad that he did that. Jiaheng may come out much worse than a bruise on his cheek if he didn’t save him on time.

“I see. Looks like our tutoring session have to be postponed again.”

“At least you came today. That also means you already change your mind and that made me very happy.  You shouldn’t worry too much about our tutoring. We still have lots of time before your final exam. Let us work hard together after this, okay?”

“O-okay.”

Suho then send Jiaheng a smile. Jiaheng’s heart beats wildly again when he saw that blinding smile. He keeps repeating to himself it was for Yifan’s sake that he must hold on.