The Inconceivable Flame: A Fallen Angel“s Disguise

Xiao Zhi Ren’s movements once again halted as Ru addressed herself as ’This young master’. It just didn’t sit well with him.

"You know you can talk comfortably with me." Ru gave him a confused look. "No need to keep up the pretense of being a young master before me."

Ru gaped at him in disbelief before saying, "You are overthinking, Zhi. I have always been a young master. It’s not a pretense. It’s who I am. After calling myself a young master for twenty-eight years of my life, it has become a part of me rather than just being a disguise."

Xiao Zhi Ren stared at her wide-eyed. His mind was in shambles. He only thought that she was keeping this disguise to search for her enemies but how wrong he had been! If she had lived with this persona for all those years, it meant she never got a chance to experience being a girl.

Then what about her real identity? Her real self?

His stunned expression was palpable and it didn’t bother Ru at all. She saw that the soup was boiling, so she shot up from her seat and went around the counter to stir the soup before tasting it. "Mm... Yum. Zhi, you are good." She gave him a thumbs up while he kept staring at her in a daze.

"What happened to your foot?" Ru crouched down to see his bleeding foot and recalled how she heard the clattering of the knife. "Why are you standing here? You should get a band-aid."

Xiao Zhi Ren held her hand to stop her. "It doesn’t hurt."

Ru scoffed contemptuously and said, "Say something believable. Pain is a reminder of being alive and it’ll stick with us until the day we become a cold corpse. That hurts and I know that."

She dragged him to take a seat at the couch and looked for a first-aid kit in the living room cabinets. Coming back to his side, she kneeled before him on the thick carpet and held his foot in hand which he tried to avoid but her stern look made him leave everything up to her.

Ru took off his slipper and placed his foot on her knee. She used the antiseptic to clean the cut before pulling out a small glass bottle from her own pocket. It had some green colored powder and when she sprinkled it on his wound it stung making him hiss in pain.

All this while, he could only concentrate on the touch of her hand on his foot. Her hand was cold yet again but it seemed to be burning his skin.

"See, told you it hurts," Ru said matter-of-factly as she put a band-aid on it. "Hope you’ll remember this pain."

Xiao Zhi Ren stayed quiet, not knowing what to say. His mind though knew, ’I’ll remember. After all, I still remember the secrets you kept just like I remember the moment we met.’

"Are you a doctor?" Xiao Zhi Ren’s sudden question made Ru frown. "I mean you are always carrying some strange things with you."

Ru looked at the powder in her hand and understood his meaning, "I don’t have an official degree but I certainly am a genius in traditional medicine."

"A genius?" Xiao Zhi Ren asked amusedly and Ru nodded. "Is there really no limit to your narcissism?"

Ru punched his shoulder playfully and sat beside him saying, "Zhi Hyung, I’m a narcissist because I can afford to be one." Such arrogance! But she looked adorable being haughty.

Xiao Zhi Ren pinched her nose and said, "You’re impossible." Obviously, Ru took is as a compliment without any shame at all.

Later, Ru herself helped Xiao Zhi Ren with dinner and bestowed him with her company as well saying, "Feel honored, this young master is bestowing you with his heavenly presence."

Xiao Zhi Ren rolled his eyes at her and slapped the back of her head while she only glared in return. They both ate in silence, a comfortable one. Too comfortable perhaps.

"I thought you don’t like eating with people," Xiao Zhi Ren remarked while collecting the dishes.

"Yes. And I heard that you don’t like eating alone." Ru’s words put Xiao Zhi Ren in a trance and all he felt was a warm feeling gushing in his heart. She actually stayed because he was alone for dinner? He looked at her back while she was putting on the gloves to do the dishes and thought, ’You really are unexpected with both words and actions.’