RKNDL chapter 26

There seemed to be a hidden hint in his words, and his dark, intense eyes almost seemed to swallow Xie Zhinan whole.

Xie Zhinan didn’t dare to interpret any hidden meanings, and could only widen his eyes, startled, and repeat, “What does it… mean?”

Wen Yun instinctively lowered his head to look at Xie Zhinan’s rabbit-ear plush slippers, checking whether the two bunny ears were standing up in fear.

Of course, they weren’t.

Xie Zhinan’s slippers were designed as droopy-eared rabbits, with gray-pink ears hanging softly on either side of the shoes, listless, drooping down, not nearly as dramatic as if the ears had shot up in alarm.

Although they shared a past that was hard to talk about, they both tacitly played the fool, pretending not to know, pretending it never happened.

A thin layer of paper separated them, so thin it could break with a single poke. Xie Zhinan carefully maintained that fragile barrier, keeping himself and Wen Yun on opposite sides.

It seemed like this was the only way he could feel safe.

Wen Yun looked down at Xie Zhinan from a superior position, the curve at the corner of his eyes sharp, his gaze as piercing as a blade, as if it were the judgmental sword about to fall.

For a moment, Xie Zhinan even forgot to breathe. His lips were tightly pressed together like the shell of a clam, his chin tense, his eyes burning red, the light of tears shimmering in his gaze, yet he still stared at Wen Yun without blinking, his expression both stubborn and fragile.

At this moment, if everything were laid bare, Xie Zhinan would probably run away, Wen Yun thought to himself.

A brief flicker flashed in his eyes, and his lips finally moved.

Xie Zhinan’s back stiffened even more in an instant, and the next second, he saw Wen Yun straighten up. At that moment, all the pressure disappeared, followed by Wen Yun’s cold voice.

“It means you’ll have to deal with your boss while still sick, making your condition worse, and in the end, I’ll be the one blamed for exploiting employees.”

Xie Zhinan didn’t expect the answer to be like this. His back suddenly relaxed, and his expression became blank. “…Huh?”

Wen Yun gave him a cold glance. “What did you think I was going to say?”

Xie Zhinan, in a weak voice, replied, “N-no, nothing…”

“Then rest well,” Wen Yun said coldly. “Or do you really want me to trend for exploiting employees?”

Xie Zhinan quickly became more honest, saying, “Sorry, I didn’t mean that.”

Realizing his earlier reaction was too extreme, his face flushed and kept silent.

“Meow.” Caramel tilted its head, meowing as it saw Wen Yun get up.

Wen Yun lowered his gaze, placed his hand on Caramel’s head, and gently rubbed it with a bit of force.

Caramel meowed and purred as Wen Yun rubbed it, and its claws retracted..

Wen Yun rubbed it a couple of times and then withdrew his hand, but he paused halfway.

There were a few stray hairs sticking up on Xie Zhinan’s head, and Wen Yun couldn’t resist pressing down on them and saying, “Rest early. Don’t push yourself if you’re feeling unwell.”

“…Oh.”

“I’m leaving now.”

“Mm.” Xie Zhinan still looked like he hadn’t fully recovered from the moment.

Wen Yun sighed helplessly and said, “Aren’t you going to say goodbye?”

“…”

Wen Yun softly prompted, “Say goodbye to me, Xie Zhinan.”

Xie Zhinan, holding the cat in his arms, looked up at him and quietly said, “Then… goodbye.”

“Mm, see you next time.”

Wen Yun left.

Xie Zhinan sent him to the door, then returned to the sofa with Caramel in his arms.

He sat there for a while, then suddenly touched his forehead and cheeks.

Still burning hot.

It must be because he’s still running a fever.

After sitting for a while, he remembered he hadn’t replied to Lin Yang’s messages, so he quickly opened the conversation window with Lin Yang.

Lin Yang was different from Xie Zhinan; he enjoyed socializing and being in relationships, though his romantic life had always been chaotic.

Lin Yang liked older, successful men, but he mostly ended up meeting jerks—men who appeared sophisticated and well-educated, but were actually a mess behind the scenes.

It seemed like Lin Yang had been let down again that day.

Xie Zhinan comforted him a bit, and Lin Yang sent several more messages.

[Lin Yang]: He’s such a jerk, let’s not talk about him.

[Lin Yang]: Anyway, that kid from last time actually came to bother me again

[Lin Yang]: I even did a video call with him, and he insisted I was using a voice changer and makeup props to make myself sound like a man.

[Lin Yang]: I yelled at him, and he had the nerve to cry.

[Lin Yang]: But he’s not bad-looking, and his body’s decent. He looks pretty good when he cries too.

Lin Yang had been growing his hair out for the past two years, and his appearance was somewhat androgynous, which gave him a slightly ambiguous look.

Xie Zhinan narrowed his eyes as he read the messages and noticed a flaw.

[Xie Zhinan]: How do you know he has a good body?

[Lin Yang]: qvq

[Lin Yang]: I said I wanted to check out his abs before talking… Who knew he actually took his shirt off…

[Lin Yang]: He even has a V-line, haha.

[Xie Zhinan]: You’re just craving his body.

[Lin Yang]: I am a bit… Hey, wait a minute, why does your voice sound so hoarse?

Xie Zhinan had sent voice messages when comforting him earlier, and now Lin Yang noticed something was off. Xie Zhinan explained that he had a high fever in the afternoon.

Lin Yang, usually brash but caring at heart, became worried when he realized Xie Zhinan was sick. He immediately asked about his condition, whether the fever was severe, and even offered to drive him to the hospital.

Xie Zhinan quickly replied that he didn’t need to, as he had already gone to the hospital for an IV earlier.

[Lin Yang]: You went alone?

Xie Zhinan hesitated for a moment before replying.

[Xie Zhinan]: …No.

[Xie Zhinan]: My boss took me.

Boss?

Lin Yang frowned on the other end of the screen. Didn’t Xie Zhinan complain before that their boss was a petty, stupid guy?

Now he was being so nice?

Lin Yang felt that something was a bit off. He originally wanted to ask a couple more questions, but then he remembered that Xie Zhinan was sick and probably didn’t have the energy to chat, so he decided to let it go.

He urged Xie Zhinan to rest and ended the conversation.

Just as Lin Yang closed the chat with Xie Zhinan, two new messages popped up on his WeChat.

[Pei]: Jie

[Pei]: Jie, reply to me qaq

Dammit.

Lin Yang closed his eyes, feeling a headache coming on again.

….

Xie Zhinan logged out of WeChat.

He was indeed feeling a bit tired. He wanted to finish eating, take some medicine, and then go to bed to rest.

He opened a food delivery platform, thinking about what to order, when a message popped up at the top of his phone screen.

[Y]: I ordered takeout for you

[Y]: Eat something light since you’re sick

Xie Zhinan was stunned for a moment, then cautiously replied.

[Xie Zhinan]: Actually… I can order food myself, you know? 0.0

[Y]: Eat less junk food.

Xie Zhinan: ?

Wait, how did the food I ordered become junk food?

But thinking back to the past, even when Wen Yun ordered takeout, it was always from well-known, high-end private kitchens or food prepared by professional chefs and delivered to him.

In any case, the meals Xie Zhinan ordered, using a coupon for thirty yuan off ten, were definitely not on the same level.

He wanted to be angry but couldn’t, so he just sulkily replied, “Okay,” and then said—

[Xie Zhinan]: Then I…

Before he could finish typing, it was as if Wen Yun had predicted what he was going to say, and Wen Yun’s message came through immediately.

[Y]: The cost of the takeout will be deducted from your salary.

[Xie Zhinan]: …

[Xie Zhinan]: I was actually going to say I wanted to raise the standard for treating you to a meal T_T

[Y]: .

[Y]: Then forget the salary deduction.

[Xie Zhinan]: Thanks, Mr. Wen [Handshake]

[Y]: …

[Y]: My ears are getting calluses.

[Xie Zhinan]: What should I say then 0.0?

While waiting for a red light, Wen Yun saw this message in the car.

Suddenly, the message Xie Zhinan’s friend had sent earlier flashed through his mind.

Friends could joke around and call each other like that, but it felt different between them.

The red light quickly passed, and Wen Yun was distracted for a bit, so much so that the car behind him started honking at him.

He snapped back to reality, sneered down at his phone, and thought, visiting Xie Zhinan’s house had indeed affected him quite a bit.

Xie Zhinan was already doing his best to avoid him, so how could he possibly call him anything else?

Wen Yun’s lips pressed together again, the corners turning downward as he restarted the car.

It took quite some time before Xie Zhinan received Wen Yun’s reply.

[Y]: Whatever you want.

Xie Zhinan, with his head still spinning, stared at the words ‘whatever you want’ for ages.

He felt like Wen Yun seemed a little unhappy again.

When he said ‘Thank you, Mr. Wen’, Wen Yun wasn’t happy.

When he asked what he should call him, Wen Yun said ‘whatever’.

Xie Zhinan pouted in frustration, squeezing Caramel’s little paws as he muttered softly, “…Why didn’t I realize before how hard he is to please?”

…..

Perhaps his health had taken a hit these past two years, as Xie Zhinan’s fever dragged on this time.

He ran a fever for two days straight, and it wasn’t until the third day that his temperature finally broke. Even then, he was left with nasal congestion, a sore throat, and overall exhaustion. It took nearly a week for him to fully recover.

Because of this, the plan to treat Wen Yun to a meal kept getting postponed until the second week.

Wen Yun seemed especially busy that week. Xie Zhinan hardly saw him anymore, and over the past two days, he hadn’t seen even a shadow of him.

It was Li Mo who was well-informed, saying that Mr. Wen hadn’t been to the office these past two days.

Could he have gone on another business trip?

With the matter weighing on his mind, Xie Zhinan felt uneasy. He decided he couldn’t delay the meal any longer; at the very least, he had to set a date.

So, on Friday morning, he slyly slacked off at work and sent Wen Yun a message.

[Xie Zhinan]: Boss 0.0

[Y]: ?

[Xie Zhinan]: 0.0

[Y]: Xie Zhinan? You dare slack off and even message your boss on WeChat?

Two new notifications quickly appeared in Wen Yun’s chat window.

[The other party retracted a message]

[The other party retracted a message]

The chat box then fell into an eerie silence. Clearly, the person on the other side of the screen was now pretending nothing had happened.

Wen Yun: “…”

[Y]: …Come back.

A few seconds passed, and there was no response.

[Y]: I won’t dock your pay.

[Xie Zhinan]: [Handshake emoji]

[Y]: Why did you call me that?

[Xie Zhinan]: Do you not like the name boss either?

[Y]: ? Should I like it?

[Xie Zhinan]:T_T

[Y]: …

[Y]: Forget it. Call me whatever you want.

[Xie Zhinan]: Then… Boss, are you free tonight?

[Xie Zhinan]: [Sneaky Cat.jpg]

[Y]:nAre you inviting me to dinner?

[Xie Zhinan]: Yes.

[Y]: I can’t tonight.

[Xie Zhinan]: 0.0

Xie Zhinan guessed he might be busy and was about to ask when he’d be free, but before he could finish typing, Wen Yun’s message came through.

[Y]: I caught your illness.

[Y]: High fever at home.

C-Caught my illness?

Being unexpectedly blamed, Xie Zhinan immediately started reflecting. Had he been too close to Wen Yun these past few days and passed his illness on to him? Feeling guilty, he quickly sent an apology.

[Xie Zhinan]: Sorry, Boss.

[Y]: …

[Y]: And?

[Xie Zhinan]: A-And?

[Y]: Never mind.

[Y]: Anyway, I’m home alone with no one to take care of me.

[Y]: I might just die from this illness.

Xie Zhinan: “…”