The breeze sweeps past
blowing Xue Hua's hair wild as he widened his twinkling eyes, looking beyond the ocean the vast nothingness
That were drowning in sunlight
Reflecting off the surface the light hit his face, making him move a step back and cover his eyes adjusting them to the bright sky
The sound of waves, the salty air that surrounded him all felt blissful
Then he turned his gaze towards the emerging land, the forests were dyed gold from the passing season
Ah...
It's really the season of harvest.
He thought to himself leaning on the railings feeling the sun slowly warm his body
As the ship drew closer to the land, the noises became clearer, the lovely crowd that were from that harbour
He watched the other ships dock and watched the people that were getting off
But the most breathtaking sight was the architectures that were becoming more visible with the distancing closing more and more, the hanging ribbons of gold,
But despite its beauty, as he shifted his gaze a little farther, he knew no one could actually rival the immortal who was resting lazily,
Sitting beside the ledge his eyes void of focus were gazing at the ocean, unfocussed making him look different from usual,
He felt as though he wasn't watching the usual cold immortal that loved to deny his kindness for others with those indifferent eyes
But instead a man, who was truly present in the moment, he looked gentle
Which he thought was quite ironic,
Watching him, he couldn't help but clutch his chest lightly,
*How could a person...be this beautiful?*
But his brief moment of admiration didn't last long as a person rushed over the the edge pushing him away suddenly as he exclaimed
"Ah!"
He shoved his face towards the sky feeling the air on his face,
With a smile,
It seemed he hand just woke up, as his hair couldn't be more identical to a ball of cotton
"I can finally see it, Fengrao Port"
He took a deep breath, and mumbled
"I'm home"
Xue Hua watched all this whilst rubbing his shoulder gently,
Then the man finally noticing the kid immediately recalled him bumping into something as the excitement calmed down
"Oh my- I'm sorry lil kiddo" he scratched his head, with a stupid awkward grin,
When he didn't receive any response, he stopped awkwardly looking around
And started digging into his sleeve as though he remembered something then he took out a round object,
Smiling warmly the man pulled Xue Hua's hand forward and placed the fruit on his hand
This action was too sudden and unexpected,
He quickly looked down at his hand to see what he was holding
"A persimmon...?"
"Yup, so forgive me kay?"
The man immediately added,
And before long he left Xue Hua alone once more,
Being alone once more, he recalled what happened once again before a question surfaced inside his mind
Was coming back to a "home" this exciting?
He couldn't answer the question so he held the fruit firmly
...
The blazing sunlight drowned the entire city in overwhelming gold and warmth, it was blinding
The opposite of the cold place he had gotten used to.
The people were full of life, which were shown in their actions, the way they spoke, and how they did their mundane things
It was... beautiful
He turned his head back to look at the sea once more the fragments of light scattered onto the sea making it sparkle
he found himself lost in admiration,
And soon their ship too, docked as they reached the harbour.
A gangplank laid on top of the ship connecting it to the harbour,
And soon people crowded around and got off enthusiastically,
Some had families waiting for them, hugging them, some had siblings while some were alone
The chattering grew louder the closer he got to the plank,
People crowding around the plank were growing noisy and impatient as they rushed to get off before anyone else.
While some remained further away waiting for everyone to get off
The people of the land all wore light but colourful clothes, it was like looking at a field of flowers during spring
Which... Wasn't quite what he imagined when Yue Ran told him that it was a land of "passion"
For some reason, he thought that they would be wearing colours that were bright, unapologetic and wild
Something like the colour of blood or fire
Lost in his thoughts, he stepped onto the plank, knowing that Yue Ran was just behind him, he didn't feel the need to be too alert
His gaze shifting from people to people, and sure enough-
he tripped and almost went tumbling down headfirst
If not for the immortal who grabbed his arm just in time and balanced him he'd have gotten pretty badly hurt.
Retrieving his hand from the child, he opened his mouth.
"Watch where you're walking"
"You'll fall"
He said, patting his shoulder lightly, telling him to continue moving.
But everything entered his ears and went right out, as he got even more distracted
Staring at the pair of still waters that were buried beneath his eyes
Before having to face forward once more,
They were still as a stagnant pond from the day he first laid his eyes on him, still the most beautiful thing out of everything
Despite them never conveying a single emotion nor word, never betraying the pristine owner of that cold gaze.
However, Xue Hua was just as stubborn as how indifferent Yue Ran was, and he had decided to draw assumptions, conclusions on things that the immortal did,
No matter what expression he did or did not wear
Yue Ran was a kind person, that was a fact that remained firmly rooted within him the moment he was saved,
But despite that, he had no trust in what he saw nor what he felt
Always doubting, always second guessing,
But...seeing how one might think that the world completely abandoned them, or hated their existence still be loved so much, and that love going unnoticed it was something he did not want to experience
What happened to Xiaoming was tragic, but half of it was from her own doubts, assumptions and conclusions from fragmented information and knowledge
So... just maybe, just a little bit, maybe he could assume that the immortal cared for him.
Even if he didn't, he did not mind it at all.
With the ample time he had while sailing in the ocean and spending half of it indoor, with the man he thought would abandon him from time to time
He had started to hope that the man was worried for him despite not showing it, he knew he was kind, after all he was saved by him, but doubts were still louder than his arguments, especially since he knew nothing but Yue Ran after losing his memory.
Even the chief, as much as he didn't show anything, he deeply loved his daughter, enough to watch the entire village get devoured clinging to an illusion
So, after knowing all that it was only fair for him to decide how he interpreted those actions right?
Recalling the soft touches every morning, the gentle brushing of his hair
He raised a question, why would an immortal bother himself with this bothersome routine? Something that was done mostly by servants and maids?
He had no idea, but he believed it was how care was shown through those restraint fingers that didn't seem used to touches
And if he didn't care, why save him over and over?
Xue Hua opened his mouth, as a light blush adorned his face, returning to the present.
But he couldn't think of what to say so he merely smiled, nodded with a hum.
As their feet landed on the marble floor laid in the harbour, people's voices brushed past them, but it couldn't drown out his beating heart as he glanced around
People were busy trading, talking, arguing and crying, it was fascinating how full of life these people were,
'The land of passion'
It seemed he was wrong, passion wasn't in colours but in actions, and the mundane the scent of fresh rice wafted around even reaching the harbour, mixing into the salty sea scent
While he was busy taking in the new place, Yue Ran didn't seem to be moved even a little, that was to be expected after all, he must have seen all this many times in the past.
"Hm?"
Suddenly he made eye contact with a man that seemed to be waiting for something, an ordinary man with bands tied to his forehead with plain looking clothes
He was thin and his beards looked messy
Xue Hua was taken off guard when that rather ordinary looking man started- almost charging towards them,
Confused by his possible purpose, he looked around to see if he was mistaken but that man truly was coming straight towards them
"Masters! Would you need a ride to the city? I charge a fair price!"
His voice rumbled as he spoke while rubbing his hands
Nevertheless, his enthusiasm was ignored with no intention of engaging with the man and walked past him,
but that man was stubborn not wanting to let go of the gold thigh he found among coppers
"Tsk tsk tsk, master, just once let's talk about the price-" he continued, he firmly knew how these masters were, they had no idea about the rates of fairs nor the usual price, and even if they did they could throw their money like they were pebbles
He did not want this big fish to slip away,
Just from the clothes, and the cloak that the young man carried he could guess their status
No matter how they tried to disguise themselves, young masters were always useless when it comes to knowing what goes around in the streets
However, that boy... Well despite his pretty looks, he was clearly a commoner child just from looking at how he seemed so mesmerized as if he had never seen a city or a festival.
But before he could part his lips once more
A hand suddenly landed on that man's shoulder
Starting the old man,
Even Xue Hua was surprised, staring intently at the man who suddenly appeared
Everyone was startled to some degree except the immortal who stood still as though he had expected it.
The man that suddenly appeared out of nowhere had long red hair that fell down in a rather disheveled but refined way
He couldn't really tell if it was messy or a new kind of style since he didn't know much about the world after losing his memories, although he was aware of some things there were more things that were new to him,
Whether he had experienced it before or not, he had no idea.
He turned to look at Yue Ran to get the answer to his question, to study his expression,
And soon he got his answer just as he wanted no matter how brief, or how slight the movement was Xue Hua caught the twitched eyebrows of Yue Ran that happened for a split second, following his gaze to find it fixed on that man's hair.
so it was messy
At this revelation he found his lips curving slightly
But however, it didn't last long as he was caught by that red man
But maybe it was his imagination as that guy averted his eyes very soon
Then he turned his attention back to the old man, his hand firmly set on his shoulder wearing a smile his eyes curving like the crescent moon but for some reason it felt like the smile really didn't reach his eyes
If he was being honest, this man covered in orange and red robes, looked like a man who would go challenging people around for thrill or like someone who'd drink with others and leave just before the owners asked for money
All in all, he looked exactly like a swindler often spoken in words, written in stories despite his refined robes
But what immediately caught his attention was the jade hanging around his waist, it looked rather recent, and it was carved into a completely different style than Yue Ran's but they felt familiar for some reason
It felt weird, especially because they both carried something similar but he couldn't figure out where it came from or why
Then the swindler finally spoke,
"These masters already have a ride so you can leave"
He patted that man's shoulder as he said so,
Before looking directly at Yue Ran and locking eye contact,
Xue Hua frowned as he grabbed Yue Ran's sleeves tightly,
His voice was exactly like the ones that a swindler would have,
He without a doubt had a silver tongue
The man locking eye contacts with the swindler gulped before swiftly scurrying away
And the swindler stood with arms around his waist with an annoying grin,
That was when Yue Ran finally opened his mouth,
"...Chen Fang"
He called out his name,
Chen Fang remained smiling.
"It's been a while since we last met each other, you could have guessed how surprised I was when I received your words"
He shrugged speaking in a casual tone and manner
Then he motioned his hands asking them to follow, Yue Ran did so without any hesitation prompting Xue Hua to move along as well.
So...
This man knew gege?
He peeked at that man stealing a glimpse
For some reason he couldn't think about anything else now, not the atmosphere not the ribbons, nor the lanterns
They looked friendly too...
He recalled Yue Ran calling the swindler's name rather...kindly
Although it probably was just his wild imagination
He would be lying if he said he didn't think Yue Ran wouldn't have friends, after all it was very unlikely
Not that he was insulting him of course,
It only made sense that he had friends, since he had probably lived for hundreds of years
But acknowledging their big gap in experience, the mere thought brought him down slightly,
To think I would be gege's only friend....
He realised how arrogant he was,
Since the immortal was the only one for Xue hua, he wanted to assume the same for the immortal, however, of course it wouldn't- couldn't be real
He rubbed his fingers as he followed them to a carriage, the persimmon pressed between his palms
The red man waited for Yue Ran to get on first, even mere seconds alone with that red man felt awkward so he tried to follow Yue Ran immediately into the carriage but who knew it would be tough?
The step was too high for his current frame
Before he knew, while he was struggling he felt himself being lifted from the ground and soon he was within the carriage,
After he got in, the swindler followed suit
Xue Hua couldn't even process nor think anything about it, but he immediately sat beside the immortal taking the place for himself
But the red man watched all this with a smile
Maybe he really was a swindler
He shook his head, no way it could be true, he couldn't assume one of Yue Ran's friends to be a swindler
For all he knew this red man could be his only friend-
He froze before finishing that thought,
Stopping himself from finishing that thought
Snapping back to the present, and that was when he soon felt a gaze land on him,
It was Yue Ran, his face asking if something was wrong
Xue Hua immediately shook his head not wanting to be a burden, to make him worry unnecessarily
Being a burden was something he wanted the least
Then he felt another pair of eyes looking him up and down,
It belonged to that swindler, the man his brother called 'Chen Fang's
He was analysing him,
Xue Hua couldn't help but frown just a little when he realised that
Which caused that man to look away very quickly after having been noticed
Soon he blurted out,
"So where'd you pick up this kid?"
He had a lazy posture, his head resting on his arms as he tapped Yue Ran's shoe lightly with his own.
Yue Ran raised his eyebrow staring back at the red man, before briefly giving his answer
"I don't feel like telling you"
As he said that, he crossed his legs while remaining seated, staring right back at that man.
This was the first time Xue Hua had seen like this
That he possibly couldn't mask his surprise,
"Aww, don't be like that"
The man followed with a whining tone,
While scratching his face
Along a smile that seemed genuine falling on his face, unlike the first encounter
Then he raised his arms in a defeated manner before speaking,
"I found a whole bunch of new books while you were out wandering, why don't I lend them to you and you answer my questions?" He grinned as he proposed,
" Oh? "
Yue Ran tilted his head, his face carrying an expression that felt unfamiliar, but hearing the man chuckle, he realised that it was a look they both knew
*Except him*
Something they shared amongst themselves, something that excluded him.
As he squeezed his palms and pressed them firmly, he felt a wet sensation, the persimmon had been squeezed till it spilled its juice