5 Chapter 2

Waking up early the next morning, Yu Lian was greeted with a dull pain on her shoulder from sleeping the wrong way. She woke up irritated and attempted to rub the soreness away, knowing it will become even stiffer once she begins playing. The hairs on her arm stood erect as a cool breeze entered the room from the open window which was forgotten about the night prior.

However, the moment she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and the tips of her toes touched the creaky wooden floor, she knew something was off. It wasn't the chilliness, it wasn't uncomfortable, it had a light presence.

Regardless, Yu Lian was curious; She didn't know what to expect. A burglar? An evil spirit? A demon? Did someone just sneak in during the night? That couldn't be. Her proneness to hear even the quietest sound would cause her to be on full alert even during under the pitch-black sky. She could always sense hostility in an entity and something this creature did not emit that.

Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt when a sound reached her ears. It was the peaceful, shallow breaths laden with sleep. Tentatively, she pushed herself off of the bed, the floorboard creaking below her feet. She paused. When there was nothing else to be heard, the blind girl reached for her walking stick leaning against the frame of her bed and bad her way over to the source of the sound.

Yu Lian dropped down onto her knees and started "seeing" with her touch; she made out the cloth of a Hanfu* rid of any soil which might have marred the smooth silk before lightly traveling to a torso- a very human-like torso- a broad chest, a warm face.

It was no demon, no evil spirit, no ghost nor dark entity.

It was a man. His skin was soft, smooth and supple, his nose was high and straight, lips pink and thin, hair long and seemed to frame his face perfectly. He was curled up slightly on his side, a hand, palm upwards right by his face as he slept given him an innocent demeanor.

In other words, he was simply beautiful.

Who was this male? It was probably wrong to "see" his face without proper context or permission, but she was simply so fascinated at the mysterious shroud which surrounded the man. At her light touches, the male suddenly stirred slightly, before becoming quiet again. Yu Lian subconsciously exhaled a breath that had been stuck in her throat all the meanwhile her heartbeat hammered her rib-cage from within.

It was silent after that. Almost too silent, she couldn't hear breathing nor the rustling of cloth, neither could she feel the movement of the man. Concern lacing her features, Yu Lian went to check his neck for a pulse. Her fingertips barely made any contact with the side of his neck when a large, elegant hand shot up and roughly grabbed her by the wrist. She inhaled sharply and stumbled back with surprise before a silky, deep voice growled questioningly at her.

"What do you think you're doing?"