Lu Han bit on his thumb as he looked at the stranger lying on his bed. He had brought him home. In his foolishness, he had brought him home because even though Lu Han was frightened, he was not going to leave the person behind. He might be a coward but he was not heartless enough for such an act. And he really could not risk the stranger waking up and remembering his face and then suing him for his irresponsible actions. Too much gnawed at his consciousness so on the spur of the moment, he brought the other to his own place.

He had made sure to attend to mister filthy rich’s wounds, relief exploding inside of him when he realized the other was not harmed too badly. Only his head was bleeding – Lu Han had been so afraid it would never stop bleeding but it was under control sooner than he thought – and he seemed to have a few bruises blemishing his porcelain-like white, flawless skin, but that was all. He looked almost as perfect as he did in the afternoon when he had thrown money bills against Lu Han’s face.

Lu Han’s face turned sour at the memory, but he decided to just push them into unconscious as he watched the stranger lie on his bed peacefully, contemplating about what to do. He would most likely have to wait until the other would regain conscious and open his eyes, and Lu Han was certain he had to start practicing his apology speech because he was going to need it if he wanted to save himself.

Sleep certainly would not come tonight for Lu Han, not with the continuous reminder inside his mind that he had hit someone with his car. It would haunt him whenever he closed his eyes, the images replaying behind his eyelids. Lu Han swallowed the bitterness of it all before leaning against the wall next to his small bed, eyes glued to the other’s serene face, hoping so badly that everything would turn out well.

The last remains of desperate hope lingered in his mind as he glanced at the stranger’s pockets, wondering whether he might still be able to find something. The sparkle of hope was all he needed to gently examine the stranger’s clothes. His heartbeat increased when it landed on something hard, and he was quick to grab it. However, his eyebrows knitted together in disappointment when he saw it was a small box, nothing more. He put it down on the side of his bed before continuing his search, but it was futile. He could not find anything.

A sigh escaped as he leaned against the wall again, disappointed. The bitter helplessness was digging into his consciousness way too painfully, but he would have to deal with it. His hand aimlessly reached out for the box, thoughtlessly holding onto it and opening it out of spontaneous curiosity. His eyes flickered, though, when he saw what was inside.    

The ring was a flawless silver swirling around a glistering diamond. It was made to show elegance, to speak a thousand whispers of sweet promises that were meant to be kept. The receiver of this kind of ring… Lu Han bit his lower lip.

He wished he could be the receiver of such a ring.

Dreams popped inside Lu Han’s mind, vivid images of him being the receiver of a ring given to him by a charming prince that would sweep him off his feet and lead him up the staircase as if he was the most precious thing on earth. They were always dreams Lu Han loved to drown himself in, because he really wished that one day he would be able to find his own prince, who would take Lu Han to his castle and they would live happily ever after. One day, Lu Han wanted to believe, he could be able to leave this all behind, and become the lover of a prince, who would shower him with endless and unconditional love.

He let out a longing sigh before taking the ring out of the box, the wish to be able to wear such a ring at least once in his lifetime taking over his body, and before he was consciously aware of it, he had already slipped the ring on his ring finger. Lu Han’s eyes shone as he looked at the ring wrapped around his finger, the beauty making him feel special. It was what this kind of ring did to a person – it made you feel special. It made you feel as if you were worth so much, so undefined much, and this kind of feeling was something Lu Han had always longed for.

But dreams were dreams, and Lu Han should never let himself be captured too much in his dreams so he would forget reality. So he took one last glance of the ring before moving his other hand to take it off. Only to realize…

That he could not take it off.  

His eyes widened in shock as he continuously pulled at the ring, hoping that it would get off because it had been so easy to put it on. So it really was beyond him how it would not even move the slightest bit now, clenching onto his finger as if its dear life depended on it. Lu Han could see the growing redness of his skin around the ring, but he was desperate. He did not want to other to wake up only to realize that Lu Han had been the one to hit him with the car, to not bring him to a hospital and to wear the other’s ring without asking. As if he was not in a bad enough mess already, his fantasies just had to make it all worse.

Lu Han eyed the ring on his finger, suddenly not being able to admire its beauty anymore as fright began to haunt him. Sleep certainly would not come now, with this extra load on his shoulders.

Mister filthy rich was going to kill him.

»

In the end, Lu Han did get some sleep. His eyelids began to feel heavy and drop occasionally at around 4 PM, the exhaustion of a day’s roughness finally hitting him right in the face. Around 5 PM he could no longer muster any strength to fight the sleepiness and slowly he let the images of a frightened mister filthy rich wash over him as he went into unconsciousness.

What woke him was not a sound but a movement. He had his head leaned against the mattress and with the sudden rough movements, his head slid off, causing him to snap back into consciousness. He looked around, momentarily lost as to why he was sitting on the ground, before his eyes landed on the person sitting up on his bed, lost eyes looking straight into his. He gulped hardly, the thumping of his heart sounding so loud inside his head. He had so many things to say, so many things to apologize for, but no coherent sentences could really form inside his head.

“Y-You…” Lu Han began carefully, “How are you feeling?”

The stranger moved a hand to his head, probably having felt the uncomfortable bandage wrapped unprofessionally around his head, before dropping his hand back down. His eyes darted around, a frown appearing as he scanned the unfamiliar place.

“I’m sorry, I-” Lu Han began, but the other cut him off with a surprisingly gently voice.

“Where am I?” Mister filthy rich asked.

Lu Han eyed the other warily before saying, “This is my place.”

“Your place?” The stranger said in surprise, “Who are you?”

“I…” For a brief moment, Lu Han had contemplated whether it was a good idea or not to tell the other his name, but he decided the other had the right to know, “I’m Lu Han.”

The other nodded at this, letting the name sink in, “Lu Han…”

Lu Han watched the other as he continued to look around, the silence cutting into his nervousness painfully. He did not know what to do, and the way this person was not yelling at him was making him confused. He did not know whether he should just quickly apologize or not, hoping that the other would find his inner kindness with the fact that Lu Han took care of him and let this matter slip.

Instead, Lu Han was thrown a heart-dropping question.

“Who am I?”

The question was dropped like a bomb. Lu Han was certain he would have rather had mister filthy rich drag him to the police station than having to deal with a mister filthy rich who did not know who he was. Lu Han could deal with begging for mercy, he really could, but he could not deal with these kinds of hopeless situations. He could not deal with having a person who seemed to have lost his memory.

“Y-You… You don’t know?” Lu Han tried, earning a shake of the head from the other, “This can’t be…”

“I…” The stranger moved a hand to his head, touching the wrapped wound tenderly, “What happened?”

Lu Han gulped at this, “You… You got into an accident.”

“Accident…?” Mister filthy rich’s eyebrows knitted together in concentration, “I… I can’t remember anything.”

“It’s…” Lu Han thought about what he was going to say, deciding whether it really was alright or not, but comfort seemed to be what the stranger needed the most right now, “It’s okay, don’t force yourself.”

The taller male shook his head, a tired expression lingering on his face, “I… I can’t remember anything… You… You saved me, then?”

The word saved went right through his guilt, causing the juice to escape and combine with his blood in a rapid manner. It consumed him completely. All Lu Han knew was that he had been the one to hit the stranger with the car, he had been the one who decided to bring him home instead of to a hospital, and now the fact would haunt him forever that mister filthy rich had needed medical help he took away. If something ever happened to the other, if he were to ever lose his memories forever, how was Lu Han going to live the rest of his life? How would he ever be able to forgive himself if he had inflicted a chronic injury on the other?

“Thank you.”

Lu Han’s eyelids flickered rapidly at this, screams of objections filling his mind. The stranger should not be thanking him. He looked the stranger right into his eyes, seeing the kindness swimming in unknowing eyes. Lu Han did not deserve any of this.

“You shouldn’t be thanking me…” Lu Han almost whispered.

Mister filthy rich shook his head gently, “You saved me and took care of me. Of course I should thank you.” The warmth in the stranger’s eyes then slowly turned into one of despair, “But who am I…” His eyes flickered to look at Lu Han, “Do you know me?”

“You…”

Lu Han could tell him the truth. Lu Han could tell the stranger how he was most likely a crazily rich person, if the Cartier watch was any indication of this. However, when his eyes looked for the luxury wrapped around his wrist, he found none. He did not know what had happened, but the stranger had nothing with him. He only wore his exceptionally expensive clothes and had the beautiful ring that was now wrapped around Lu Han’s finger, the last bits of evidence left of his most likely well-off background, but there was nothing else. Absolutely nothing left. And seeing how the stranger looked so lost, so in need of something that could tell him what his identity was, that Lu Han could only throw in another lie. Lying had long turned into something as easy as breathing for Lu Han, but to tell such a big lie was his first.

“You’re… You’re my cousin,” Lu Han took a deep breath before continuing, “You’re my cousin, Shixun.”

»

One lie became two lies and soon enough Lu Han had come up with a whole new identity for mister filthy rich. He was no longer mister filthy rich, but Shixun, Lu Han’s cousin who had come to live with Lu Han, He had no other relatives other than Lu Han, and Lu Han dismissed any questions about his own family when Shixun had asked about it innocently.

Shixun.

It had been a name he came up with on the spur of the moment, a combination of two characters of the drama he had been following recently. He had actually been quite impressed with himself for the quick thinking, because at least he could finally call the other with a name, even though it was not his real one.

“Shixun, how are you feeling?” Lu Han asked as he watched the other side opposite of him, rice bowl in his hand.

Shixun looked at him with a smile, “I’m okay. My head feels a little heavy,” His eyes glistered a little at Lu Han’s concerned expression, “but I’m okay, really. I’m okay.”

Lu Han would just have to take this as the truth, deciding to show his care in another way, “Here you go,” He said before putting the biggest slice of meat on top of Shixun’s bowl of rice, “you must be hungry.”

“Thank you,” Shixun said with another smile before digging in.

Lu Han could only watch the scene in front of him, wondering how mister filthy rich, who had forcefully kissed Lu Han and thrown money bills at him as if it was trash, could turn into someone like this. Because although they shared the exact same face, the expression was so different it was as if Lu Han was looking at a complete different person, and it was simply perplexing.  

The sudden knocking on his door pulled him out of his thoughts. Shixun eyed him in surprise while Lu Han himself was probably looking shocked. Who could it be at this time of day? He glanced at his watch and all of a sudden something hit him.

He was supposed to pick up those curtains yesterday. He never went back to the hostel. And all of a sudden he was so conscious of the cell phone in his pocket, that had not went off all night and he quickly pulled it out and his mind went blank as he realized the screen was permanently black. No batteries.

Lu Han hastily stood up and rushed to the door, already coming up with a thousand ways to apologize because he was so certain who would be on the other side of the door. And he was completely correct.

“Lu Han,” Minseok said fumingly the moment the door opened, the anger clearly plastered on his face, a genuinely worried Yixing standing beside him, “could you please tell me why you didn’t answer any of my phone calls? Did you know how worried we were that something might’ve happened to you?!”

“Minseok, calm down,” Yixing said, trying to calm the older down, but it was futile as Minseok only pushed his hand away, eyes full with fire.

“Care to explain?” Minseok said unhappily.

Lu Han swallowed his saliva, “I… My phone died-”

“Zitao told me you never went to his shop,” Minseok cut him off, “what did you do?”

“You see, I… I…” Lu Hans eyes glanced around frantically, before they landed on the clueless Shixun watching the scene unfold in front of him, “I suddenly had to pick up my cousin…” Lu Han said, the end of his sentence slurring, but then he looked at Minseok a little bit more confidently, “My cousin, yes! I’m sorry, my cousin came all of a sudden and he had a little accident, so I forgot to call you.”

Minseok lifted an eyebrow, “A cousin?”

Lu Han gestured to Shixun, “Yes, my cousin, Shixun!”

“But Lu Han…” Yixing said with wide, shocked eyes, “You never told us about having a cousin…”

Time for another lie.

“I didn’t see him a lot when I was young, but he decided to come here and live with me for a while,” Lu Han said before scratching the back of his head nervously, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you two. It was just… Quite unexpected, so I didn’t have the opportunity to do so yet.”

Both Minseok and Yixing looked at Shixun with examining eyes, as if trying to find out whether Lu Han was telling the truth or not.

“Shixun, you say…” They both said in unison.

Shixun decided to stand up and walk up to them, a hand extended to the both of them, “I… Nice to meet you, I’m Shixun, Lu Han’s cousin.”