"What if you don''t know me? What if you never find me in another timeline, like the one I came from?" asked Su Wan, her heart thumping hard against her chest.
"Then you wait for me," said Lin Yan without missing a beat. "Just wait for me, and I wille to find you." He raised his hand and showed his wrist to her where a golden string was tied. "Now we are tied for eternity, aren''t we? I wille to find you, even if you don''t remember me. I will definitelye for you."
"Is that a promise?" asked Su Wan.
"Yes," answered Lin Yan in a heartbeat.
Su Wan lunged forward and threw her arms around Lin Yan''s neck. This man - how did he always know what kind of words she wanted to hear?
"Are you sure you won''t regret it?" Whispered Su Wan as she nuzzled her face in the crook of his neck. "I can be pretty crazy sometimes. Will you be able to take that?"
"I can''t ask for anything more," said Lin Yan, patting her back with a slight chuckle. "It''s not like anyone else can stand you, other than my brothers and me."
Su Wanughed, finally showing her first smile of the day as she hit Lin Yan''s arm. "What are you trying to say? Am I that bad?" Though she tried to sound angry, theughter brimming in her eyes gave her away.
"No, I-"
"Oi! Dear second brother, you told me off because I kissed Wan Wan, and now what are you doing behind closed doors?" Before Lin Yan could answer, Lin Chen''s obnoxious voice interrupted them.
Su Wanughed while Lin Yan''s face darkened. He really loved his brothers, he really did, but if Lin Chen was falling down a cliff, he would be the one pushing him down right now. Of course, he would give him the necessary first aid after that.
"Don''t loop me in with the likes of you!" Said Lin Yan as he pulled open the door with an air of vengeance. "We were just talking and didn''t want to be disturbed. I''m not horny like a dog twenty-four-seven!"
Lin Chen rolled his eyes and huffed, brushing past Lin Yan with an impatient look on his face. "If I was a horny dog, then my pups would already be ying around the house, alright? You think about me so hastily, second brother. Are you sure I am your biological brother?"
"No, we picked you up from the stairs of a temple. You didn''t know?" Retorted Lin Yan with a sarcastic voice.
"How dare you?!" cried Lin Chen, and then he hurried over Su Wan like a child wanting to tattle to his mommy. He hurriedly ced the porridge down on Su Wan''sp and sniffed pitifully, "Just look at second brother Wan Wan! He knows that such words trigger my abandonment issues, but he still says such nasty things to me!"
"Since when do you have abandonment issues?" said Lin Yan knocking on Lin Chen''s forehead.
"Since today," said Lin Chen, wiping his non-existent tears dramatically. "It''s no good. I need a hug to treat my broken heart. Wan Wan,e here, give me a hug... gah second brother, what are you doing?"
Lin Yan, who dragged Lin Chen back with his cor and patted awkwardly on his head, said solemnly, "Treating your abandonment issues."
Silence.
Lin Chen stared at Lin Yan, and Lin Yan stared back at him.
On the side, Su Wan felt her ribs crack a little as she tried to stop herself fromughing.
The silence stretched until Lin Chen pushed Lin Yan aside and said with all seriousness that he had in his body. "I don''t need it from you."
"Looks like your abandonment issues are healed," teased Lin Yan, as he stared down at a pouting Lin Chen, who red at him hard.
''Angry! So angry! I just wanted a hug! Was there a need to be so stingy?'' huffed Lin Chen, not liking the awkward and hard hug he just received from his brother.
However, Lin Chen''s spirit couldn''t be broken because of a hard hug. So he hurriedly forgot all about it and immediately bounced back to his usual cheery self. Picking up the bowl, he scooped a mouthful of porridge and brought it to Su Wan''s mouth. "Wan Wan, say ahhh~."
"What ahhing?" Shen Junxi, who came rushing once he heard that Su Wan was awake, saw Lin Chen trying to flirt with Su Wan early in the morning. He red at Lin Chen but didn''t stop him from feeding Su Wan. Instead, he turned to look at Su Wan, who was silently eating her food.
Under Shen Junxi''s admonishing gaze, Su Wan looked down and couldn''t help but feel guilty. Here her uncle was fighting a war to make her husbands treat her better, and there she went, self-torturing herself. Su Wan swallowed the porridge in her mouth and then softly spoke. "I was wrong, Eldest Uncle."
"So you still know that you are in the wrong?" said Shen Junxi. He was so mad that he almostughed out in anger. "Can''t you trust your uncle a little? You went ahead and ran amok? Do you not care about your uncle?"
"Or aunt?" said Madam Zhu as she swaggered inside the room, her head tilted to the side against the point of her closed fan. Though she was smiling, her smile didn''t reach her eyes. "If you didn''t return when you did, your uncle and I would have gone to the Yamen officer to look for you. Do you know how much trouble it would have brought?"
Su Wan kept her head down, not once trying to answer back. She knew she was in the wrong and worried everyone, so she would have to take their scoldings as well. After all, they were willing to scold her, which means they loved her.
"I am sorry, "said Su Wan. She wanted to apologize more, but then two pairs of arms reached her, and she was pulled into a warm embrace.
"You have no idea how worried we were when you fainted! I thought -" Shen Junxi didn''t finish saying what he wanted to, but his hold on her tightened.
"At least, let us make up for the time we lost before you harm yourself like this," said Madam Zhu, running her hand in Su Wan''s hair. "And just that alone will take up our entire lives. Do you want to make us feel guilty even in our afterlives by pulling such stunts? That we can''t even take care of a single niece?"
Su Wan stiffened and then hugged the two of them back as she repeatedly apologized, "I''m sorry, I''m so sorry."