While Hai was completely in his own world, relishing the savory bites of gyoza one after the other, Chunhua - who was now wide awake from her state of unconsciousness - sat frozen on the couch. She couldn't touch a single gyoza on the plate.
"Chunhua, Chunhua, eat some! Guiren is an awesome cook~!"
In the face of her cold fury, Hai was relatively relaxed, even unbothered. Whether he truly didn't notice the dark fumes of her anger or he was blatantly ignoring it - one couldn't tell.
How could you…how could you bring me to Professor Chen's house!
Opposite her, she saw Liling sliding a plate towards her with a sympathetic nod of an understanding as to how idiot her brother could be.
With an embarrassment that went beyond the limits of the sky, she took the plate with trembling hands. She refused to look in Guiren's eyes the whole time.
"Chunhua, why are you so quiet?" He pouted. "This room is too silent! I protest against this!"
Yet again, was Hai ignoring the hellish glares Chunhua shot at him in this moment or it was pure bliss of ignorance - one couldn't tell.
"We should be showering Guiren with praise! He made such delicious gyozas! And the chicken soup!" he grinned. "You care so much about me, Guirennnnn."
"This was my dinner," he plainly said.
"Sharing is caring~ Whoever will marry you will be so lucky~"
Liling sat straight, strangely nervous as her hand automatically reached out to adjust her hair with a tiny blush invading her cheeks.
Hai beamed. "I know, I know the one!"
Her heart almost dropped.
Idiot brother, what are you going to say? W-Will you say m-me? Her face blushed further. Not that like i-it would bother me…she nervously played with her dress.
"Guireeeeennnnn, let's kissssss! We will be such a cool couple~" Hai jumped at him - to which he gracefully dodged, making Hair crash on the floor.
Then the plates fell at once - by Liling and Chunhua together, their expressions pale as if they just saw a ghost.
Then an outraged Liling screamed. "Idiot brother, I will kill you!!"
Hai rubbed his elbow that ached with the painful dodge of his best friend's avoidance. "What's the matter with you, Liling? Why are you so pumped up all of a sudden? Me kissing Guiren has nothing to do with you, isn't it~"
Liling gnashed her jaw, fingers twitching with the thirst of blood. If the crush of her life wasn't seated right next to her, a living person would have turned into a dead body by now.
"...It has everything to do with my future sister-in-law! Look, what you did to her! She is barely with us anymore. If you hurt her, I will kill you!"
Hai craned his neck, watching Chunhua spiral into an existential crisis with an amused brow. Leaning back, his palms rested upon the floor.
"That's like my sister. You should be protective of your sister-in-law and kill me if I do anything to hurt her. Death by a sibling's hand will be so poetic, isn't it~?"
A steep silence seeped into the air, elevating the intensity of the cold.
"Aye, aye, why did everyone go so quiet?" Then he gasped. "What happened to all the gyoza?"
"You ate them all," Guiren said.
"Already!? But I am still hungry…" he pouted.
Chunhua tried to decipher the myriad of expressions flickering across Hai's eyes, ones that he didn't allow her to catch in the slightest.
"You will fall sick if you eat too much," in the end, she couldn't say anything else.
"Aish, my Chunhua loves me so much~ Don't worry, I won't fall sick no matter how much I eat. My stomach is an endless pit, hohoho~" His nostrils flared with pride.
Guiren stood up, then cast a glance at her. "Miss. Huang."
"Y-Yes!" This time, her back straightened.
"I am making more gyoza. Will you help me?"
Me? I think Liling would be happier to help you…
She sneaked a glance at her but found an odd layer of restlessness in her eyes. She would have jumped at the chance to spend some alone time with him but not today.
Chunhua hopped on her feet. "Of course!"
—
Chunhua swallowed a gulp. The kitchen was eerily silent, except for the faint clank of utensils as they made more gyoza fillings. She could barely contain her heartbeats, now too conscious in his presence especially with the context of what happened earlier.
"T-That…I am…"
Guiren moved his gaze towards her ever so lightly without turning his head. Then it returned to the task at hand.
"You don't have to apologize or feel ashamed of anything. You are not the one I am judging. It's your boyfriend."
"I-I am really sorry..! If I knew this was your house, then I wouldn't have let him barge him like this…"
"It's okay."
The silence returned for some time and after some thought, she asked, "You and Hai…k-know each other for a long time, ri-right?"
Is this being too casual with him? She panicked.
"If by that question, you mean how Hai and I, being so different, are friends, then it's all his doing. He grabbed my arm one day and said, 'We should hang out.' with that silly grin on his face. Since then, I have been waiting for him to leave my arm, but he doesn't let go."
Her jaw dropped, speechless.
Why does it feel like he adopted you…like a puppy?
She coughed. "I-I see. Yes, he can be very imposing…but in a good way though."
Guiren stared at her, forcing her to swallow a gulp. "Or m-maybe not…? Haha…"
She quickly tried to divert the subject and since she was making gyoza, gyoza was the only thing she could blurt out.
"You shouldn't have offered to make more. I am so sorry. We-we already intruded enough…Besides, he will fall sick if he overeats," she released a soft sigh.
Even the clutter of utensils stopped and an off-putting atmosphere made Chunhua fill with discomfort. She couldn't pinpoint it, yet the eeriness remained.
"He won't fall sick from overeating when he has almost died after being left hungry for thirteen days."
