Jinri doesn’t want to believe it. To be honest, she already has an idea about how Kris—or Yifan—is probably related to Luhan’s past. She has read the signs--Luhan’s immense hatred toward the guy and vice versa, Tao’s comment about Kris froze Luhan’s heart, and Kris’ clear dislike toward her--but her ego keeps on refusing it. So when Meylin finally speaks out the truth about the matter, Jinri finds it necessary to question what she has just heard.

 

“What?”

 

“I said, Kris was Luhan’s first lover,” the brunette calmly answer, hands crossed under her voluptuous chest as she leans back to the sofa. The three of them—Jinri, Meylin, and Yixing—are currently occupying Yixing’s living room, with cups of tea and jars of cookies spread on the coffee table. For the past half-an hour, Meylin has demanded Jinri to tell the brunette about her relationship with Luhan and all that she knows on Kris, as a pre-requirement before the older woman answers Jinri’s inquiry. 

 

Jinri was skeptical at first--because Meylin is obviously isn’t fond of Luhan--but Yixing’s reassuring nod has acquired Jinri’s trust. Yixing is, after all, Luhan’s most trusted and loyal comrade. So Jinri retells how she met Luhan five years ago in Seoul and that the seeds of their romance have started back then. She also told them her surprise to meet him again years later in Beijing and that she gladly accepted the bloom of their old infatuation. Meylin glanced at Yixing—asking for confirmation--after she heard it and the said man simply shrugged his shoulder, but not without a triumphant grin on his lips.

 

Jinri then proceeds to tell them how Yifan came unceremoniously to Luhan’s place yesterday and the ruckus both of them caused. She also told them about what Zitao has accidentally said about Kris and Zitao’s reluctance to elaborate any further. When Meylin simply asks why she hasn’t confronted Luhan himself about the matter, Jinri was silenced for a while, before settling with a vague, ‘We haven’t had the time to discuss this’. However, Meylin seemed to catch what Jinri has been hiding as she threw an ‘I-told-you-so’ look at Yixing before she bluntly revealed Kris’ relationship with Luhan and enjoyed Jinri’s reaction out of it.

 

“More tea, Jinri?”

 

Meylin’s saccharine-sweet voice wakes Jinri up from her train of thoughts. The younger shakes her head before she sips her cup again.

 

“No, thanks.”

 

Meylin catches it as a cue for her to reveals more, and so she does.

 

“I know it is a bit surprising, but that just how the way it was. Yifan was Luhan’s first boyfriend,” Meylin repeats, “but they didn’t last long. It was sort of expected, though. I believe we all agree that homouality is considered as a deviation of morality, a shame, in our society, and it was even worse in a decade ago,” she pauses to look at Jinri, as if provoking the younger woman to contradict her statement. 

 

When Jinri doesn’t say anything, she continues, ”So when our family found out about their forbidden relationship, both Kris’ and Luhan’s parents demanded them to break it off and cover it with marriages. We don’t want any unnecessary rumors about the grandsons of the great Xi family, especially since our family is considered to be part of the higher circle in Beijing. Unlike Luhan who has rebellious tendencies, Yifan has always been a goody-two-shoes son, he would never digress his parents’ whims. Therefore, it wasn’t really a surprise when less than a month later, we received a marriage invitation from Yifan before he leaves for the States—as demanded by his parents,” Meylin stops again and sips a bit of her tea to wet . Jinri’s eyes go back and forth between Yixing and Meylin during the whole explanation, but after Yixing gives another assuring nod, Jinri focuses her stare on his fiancé.

 

“However, it wasn’t the case with Luhan. As I have said before, Luhan has always been known to be rather disobedient. He is a good kid, yes, everyone adores him,” Meylin quickly adds when a look of disagreement flashes on Jinri’s eyes, “but no one seems to be able to control him. It is quite miraculous that he could hit it off with someone like Yifan, to be honest. Nevertheless, Luhan refused the marriage plan. He demanded that his ual preference to be acknowledged and of course, the elders denied his request. There was a big fight because of that and then, Luhan fled from the house.”

 

“I thought Luhan was disowned by his parents,” Jinri immediately interrupts with eyebrows furrowed in confusion and Meylin clicks her tongue in disagreement.

 

“That is probably what everybody says, but in my honest opinion, they probably only threatened to. To tell you the truth, they couldn’t—they shouldn’t—possibly threw Luhan out of the Xi family because he was the only viable heir to our family business. He is, after all, the only one who will still bear the Xi name and be the head of our clan. The Xi family only has three grandchildren: Luhan, Yifan, and me. As you have probably known, Yifan’s surname is Wu, because it was his mother who is part of our family. As for me, I will have to change my surname once I get married, so I can’t be the head of our family either. A little bit too old fashioned, I know, but that is just how it works,” Meylin shrugs in annoyance, clearly not pleased by the ist rule of her own family.

 

“Anyway,” she continues, “that leaves the Xi family with only Luhan to be groomed as their heir. Everyone put high hopes in him and he didn’t disappoint with his,” Meylin pauses before she shrugs and reluctantly continues, “well, admittedly above-average academic skills and his natural ability to charm with people of all ages. And then, this problem came. His father might have thought that Luhan would cower and docilely obey his request like a proper heir would, but this is Luhan we are talking about. He resisted even more forcefully and in the end, both his father and him were too stubborn to admit defeat to each other that the problem became unsolved.”

 

 “Luhan might have denied it, but if you ask me,” Meylin starts again, eyeing the doubt forming in Jinri’s stare, “his late-father was actually still hoping for Luhan to comeback and reclaim his spot. Now that Luhan is considered to be as good as gone, it is Yifan whom the elders choose to become the heir. Which is pretty ironic, I have to say, because Yifan was the cause why Luhan lost his status in the first place. Nonetheless, that is why we, the Xi family, summoned Yifan back from the States to Beijing.”

 

“But that doesn’t explain why Yifan, or Kris--whatever his name is--seems to be loathing Luhan so much. It should have been the other way around, since it was Yifan who betrayed Luhan,” Jinri protests after hearing Meylin’s long explanation; her hatred toward Kris has exponentially increased in the tickling seconds.

 

The brunette shrugs nonchalantly before she answers. “I don’t know either. It might have been something personal between the two of them, I couldn’t care less. It might have been something to do with the recent will reading, I’m not really sure,” she trails off and diverts her stare to Yixing, who also only shrugs in response.

 

“What is this will reading you are talking about? That Yifan or Kris guy has mentioned it too before.”

 

Jinri has heard ‘the will’ being talked about a couple times, by both Meylin and Kris, but no one has bothered to tell her more about it. She believes it plays an important role, because she remembers that Kris accused Luhan of ‘reading his will before we do’ when he came into Luhan’s place yesterday and that Meylin scolded Yixing, suspecting her fiancé of ratting out ‘the content of the will’ to Luhan. 

 

Meylin drags her eyes back to Jinri hesitantly and is quiet for a while, clearly pondering over the options she has and the consequences of them, before she finally speaks.

 

“As I have told you before, the head of Xi family—Luhan’s father—has just passed away recently, right? Well, we held his will reading a couple days ago and something unexpected happened. The rest of Xi family has no longer hoped of Luhan and regard him as no longer part of us, but his name was written in it, in a rather…” she pauses in a search for a suitable word, “peculiar way. I can’t tell you anything more than this because the content of the will is confidential. I’m sorry,” Meylin ends with an apology that doesn’t sound apologetic at all. “Oh, and you can call him Kris. He always introduced himself as Kris after he started to live in the States, but as his relative, I’m already used with calling him ‘Yifan’,” she adds offhandedly. 

 

“Is that why Kris came to Luhan’s place?”

 

A smirk creeps on the edges of Meylin plump lips. “Yes, exactly. We asked around if someone could deliver the news to Luhan and surprisingly, Yifan volunteered. You are pretty smart, Jinri.”

 

Jinri doesn’t pay any heed to the compliments and reaches out for a Danish cookie instead as she processes the new information that she has just received. What Meylin has told her pretty much makes sense; even if Jinri finds herself doubting that Kris was such a perfect son with his attitude toward her and Luhan. Everything else that Meylin said, though, is quite believable, although she is pretty astonished with Luhan’s background. He does seem to be grown up in a pretty well-off family, with his mannerism and often gallant approaches, but she has never thought that he was indeed an heir to a rich family, resembling something that she can only find in Korean dramas.

 

The living room is filled with uncomfortable silence, as all of its occupants are in deep thought. However, Yixing finally decides to break the awkwardness by clearing his throat. “I’ve cooked some breakfast, so maybe we can enjoy it now.”

 

Yixing stands up and runs his hand on Meylin’s arm, tugging her to follow him. Meylin complies without hesitation and invites Jinri to come along, out of common courtesy. Being oblivious to the well-hidden reluctance in his fiancé’s eyes, Yixing also gestures at Jinri to join them and she does as she is told. When they enter the dining room, they are greeted by a feast that is clearly only sufficient for two. Yixing, however, divides it into three portions out of politeness. Jinri is already planning on bailing out from what supposed to be a breakfast date between Yixing and Meylin when he is interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone in his bedroom, leaving the two women on their own. Jinri awkwardly leans on the counter across where Meylin is sitting on the dining chair, nonchalantly observing the older woman, only to find some distinctive similarities with Luhan in her features.

 

“How did you two ends up together?” Jinri casually asks to break the ice between them and Meylin chuckles good-naturedly at her question. 

 

“It’s a family arrangement. Yixing’s parents work at our company and happen to be a good friend of my parents. We don’t seem like each other’s type, eh?” Meylin asks back lightly. “He is a good guy, though, so I don’t regret it,” she adds with a soft, fond smile playing on her lips. Jinri can feel Meylin’s subtle affection to Yixing and as if it were infectious, a smile is also formed on her face.

 

“We are getting married next autumn, you should come. On second thought, you will come. I think Yixing will definitely make Luhan his best man. Too bad,” Meylin adds with a disappointed sigh in the end.

 

“You really hate Luhan, don’t you?”

 

Meylin rubs her chin thoughtfully before she answers.

 

“I don’t… hate him, but I can’t say that I’m fond of him either. I guess I’m… neutral?”

 

Jinri raises her brows in disbelieve, eliciting an amused chuckle from the brunette.

 

“Alright, maybe I’m a little bit more than just not really fond of him. Let’s just say, there were a lot of things that have happened in the past, that affect my judgments of him. Besides, I don’t like how he is still stubbornly fighting with his parents like this; so disrespectful,” she ends with clear distaste, closing the topic one-sidedly. Before Jinri can prods any further, Yixing has returns to the dining room.

 

“Jinri,“ he starts, “ Luhan is coming to pick you up. He’ll be here in fifteen.”

 

“Sweet.”

 

Hearing the faked delight in Meylin’s response, Jinri turns her head to meet a well-orchestrated, innocent-looking eye-smile planted on the brunette’s pretty face. They really are related.

---

 

 

There is nothing more suitable to describe the atmosphere in the dining room then plain awkwardness. Jinri still feels uncomfortable for barging into a breakfast date between Yixing and his fiancé, albeit the said man’s words of reassurance that he and Meylin don’t mind her interrupting their little date. Meylin, however, looks displeased, although she tries to hide it by smiling and acting friendly with Jinri. Jinri has been too used to deciphering Luhan’s fabricated expression, that it becomes a piece of cake for her to see what is behind Meylin’s smile. Jinri still appreciates the brunette’s effort to make her comfortable, though.

 

After what feels like an eternity, the breakfast finally ends. They are already in the living room again when a loud knocking is heard from the door. The unit has a bell door, but the guest seems to choose the conventional way to inform his arrival. “That’s him,” Yixing mutters as he walks to attend the door. Jinri hears some laughter in the hallway before Yixing reappears in the living room with Luhan’s hand hanging around his shoulder. Luhan smiles at Jinri and when she smiles back at him, he immediately detaches himself from Yixing. He walks to Jinri and embraces the sitting girl, burying his face on her nape.

 

“Luhan…”

 

“Let me be, for a while,” Luhan whispers as he inhales Jinri’s scent and tightens his hold around her. Jinri can feel the desperation in his hug as he crushes her body under his, urgently seeking for her warmth in his arms. Jinri’s cheeks are slightly reddened at Luhan’s public display of affection, but after a futile squirm, she gives in and rests her head on his. She slowly wraps her hands around his back in an attempt to return the gesture. Meylin, however, decides to disrupt the moment by clearing , causing Luhan to reluctantly break away from Jinri while his hand still resting on her shoulder as he sits on the armrest of the sofa.

 

“Hey Meylin, fancy meeting you here. I’m sorry I didn’t see you before,” Luhan genially greets with a wide eye-smile plastered on his face.

 

Meylin snorts in response, because he must have been blind if he could miss her, who is sitting right in front of Jinri. However, she replies with another cheerful greeting.

 

“Hello to you too, Luhan. Didn’t hear you coming either.”

 

Laughter soon fills the air of the living room but the owner of the place, Yixing, is very discomforted by the palpable tension between his best friend and his fiancé.

 

“Well, thank you for the kind hospitality in such an early morning, Yixing. I’d like to stay longer, but we have to leave,” Luhan says to Yixing, who only nods at him. Luhan stands up from the sofa, followed by Jinri right behind him. He links his fingers with hers, wrapping her warm ones with his cold ones, as they head to the door. Luhan and Jinri are already halfway when Meylin calls out to Luhan.

 

“Luhan,” she starts, evoking Luhan to halt his steps and turn around , “we are waiting for you for the re-reading of the will. Whenever you are ready.”

 

Another warm eye-smile decorates Luhan’s handsome features, but the tone he uses to answer is as cold as ice, “Yifan should have informed you that I am not interested. Good day.”

 

Luhan’s grip on Jinri’s hand becomes stronger as Luhan resumes his step, almost hurting Jinri’s fingers in the process. Meylin calls him again but this time, Luhan doesn’t bother to look back at her.

 

“Luhan, your mother wants to see you.”

 

Luhan is silenced for a while before another icy reply comes out from him.

 

“I don’t have parents anymore.”

---

 

“Can you drive me?” Luhan asks as soon as they enter the parking lot. Jinri looks back in bewilderment because Luhan has never allowed anyone to drive his car, in a concern that other people can’t probably take care of his baby as good as he does. Besides, Luhan knows that Jinri isn’t licensed yet, which is the more reason to not letting her drive him.

 

“Why?” Jinri questions back as she receives the car key that he hands her. Without answering, Luhan walks to the passenger seat, leaving Jinri to open the driver seat.

 

“My head hurts like hell,” Luhan complains as he puts on the seat belt and watches Jinri starting up the engine.

 

“Why?”

 

“You know why,” Luhan mutters as he reclines the chair and leans while closing his eyes, “I was stupid.”

 

“I thought you would never have a hangover,” Jinri muses as she buckles her seatbelt and waits for the engine to warm up. It is a rarity for Luhan to degrade himself—for he is usually quite proud of himself, especially of his brain’s ability—so it genuinely interests her.

 

“I do, when I drink too much. Damn,” he curses while massaging his temple, vainly trying to ease the pain.

 

“Why did you drink so much last night?” Jinri teases, pretending to be oblivious of the clear reason. Just like how Luhan finds enjoyment in annoying Jinri, the black-haired woman occasionally also likes to playfully get on his nerves.  

 

“You know why,” he repeats through gritted teeth to hold the urge to simply growl out of embarrassment, “just drive, would you?”

 

“Excuse me. I believe you owe me an apology. Here I am, doing you a favor but you are ordering me around.” Jinri has meant it to be a teasing, but Luhan takes it a little too seriously.

 

“I’m sorry,” Luhan apologizes earnestly, “I’m just… I’m sorry. I was stupid. No, I am stupid.”

 

“It’s alright,” Jinri quickly rebuts as guilt starting to seep on her, but she reminds herself that she indeed deserves an apology from him, “I was kidding.”

 

The rest of the ride is filled with silence, until Luhan speaks again when they almost reach the highway.

 

“Why did you go to Yixing?”

 

Jinri steals a glance at Luhan, who is still resting with his eyes closed. After mulling over the reasons she should tell him, she answers truthfully.

 

“I want to find out more about you,” she honestly says, “about that guy who came to your place, Kris,” she sees Luhan winces at the mention of his name, “since you seem to avoid me lately, I’m trying to find it from other sources.”

 

“I’m not avoiding you. I’m just… afraid, I guess. You were really shocked when I told you about my past—disgusted of me, even—so I’m just trying to reveal everything really slowly. I also regret that you should catch me like that and that it wasn’t me telling you on my own accord instead. To be honest, I’m really embarrassed.”

 

Jinri steals another glance at Luhan and sees a grimace is now planted on his face. She knows she should have comforted him, telling him that everything is okay, but she can’t because it is not okay. She is still disappointed that he couldn’t trust her enough to tell her about everything. It is almost as if he were doubting her love for him, even after she told him times and times again that she chose him despite of everything—that she is learning to accept his flaws. It feels like he doesn’t think her affection for him runs deep enough that she might bail out from their relationship when she found out about his past.

 

“So, what did Meylin tell you?” 

 

Luhan’s question breaks Jinri’s train of thought. She is silenced for a while, recalling her conversation with Meylin, before she answers him.

 

“A lot. The first is about Kris being your first boyfriend who betrayed you as well,” she pauses and from the corner of her eyes she sees Luhan winces uncomfortably, again, “and then she told me about your family, the Xi, and your position in it. How come you have never told me that you come from such prominent family and were even its heir?”

 

Irritation is clear in her tone, but Luhan answers the question calmly, “I’m not… exactly proud of my background. It is a really strict, old-fashioned family that thinks too highly of itself. To be honest, I don’t like being classified as one of them.” 

 

“And she told me that you weren’t actually disowned by your parents but you fled out of the house instead. Is it true?”

 

Jinri’s eyes glance to Luhan’s direction once more, only to see a frown is formed on his handsome feature.

 

“I wouldn’t go if he didn’t kick me out of the house in the first place,” he firmly confirms. “She really shouldn’t make a comment on something that she doesn’t know,” he adds in an annoyed mutter.

 

When he doesn’t hear any remark from Jinri regarding his previous statement, he snaps his eyes open and turns to see Jinri.

 

“You trust me, don’t you?”

 

“Of course,” Jinri replies without missing a beat. Luhan might be a master of deceive, an expert in masquerading his feelings, but she knows that now he is being earnest. Although her logic sides up with Meylin’s explanation since it makes more sense—what kind of parents would kick out their adolescence son: an heir to the family, nonetheless?—she pays it no heed. Luhan needs reassurance, so that is what she’s going to give him.

 

“Good,” Luhan nods, a little upward curve tugs an edge of his lips. “Now that you’ve heard it all, what do you think about all of this?”

 

Jinri doesn’t immediately response. She needs time to gather the feelings she has as she discovers more about her lover, to understand how she feels toward everything right now. “I… I’ll be lying if I say that everything was alright,” she starts, pausing to look at Luhan and catches him biting on his lower lip anxiously, “but I’ve learnt to accept it,” she finishes, surprising herself with her own realization. Jinri has expected herself to be angrier at Luhan for hiding his past from her, to keep her grudge at him for a little been longer since Luhan has repeatedly evaded her questions, but she can’t bring herself to do that, especially when now Luhan seems to be needing her support. 

 

“Great,” Luhan breaths out, releasing what he has been holding when he waits for her answer. Jinri turns her head to look at him and smiles; she is pretty glad that he is relieved with his answer. The sincere grin that she receives as a reply from him warms her insides.  However, her heart is still not at ease. She doesn’t know why, but she feels like something bad is going to happen.

 

She really hopes that it is wrong, though.

---

---

TBC

---

an:

I' really sorry for the long wait. I've been really busy in real life. Nevertheless, I'm glad that I finished this chapter. I'm really grateful to all the voters, subbers, and commenters. I love you all. I'm gladd that we reach 116 subs and 19 votes. I'm really surprised because the pairing that  I use is really unusual.

I hope you all enjoy the story like how I love writing it.

with love,

himalayancat