A Hearty Meal

"Don't catch a cold," Zhou Ye said. His voice sounded normal like he hadn't done anything out of the ordinary. He let go and stepped away but Wen Rui could still feel his touch lingering behind like a phantom. He resisted the urge to rub over the spot on his skin that he was now hyper-aware about.

"What did you order?" he asked again, keeping his voice neutral.

Zhou Ye didn't reply. Wen Rui wasn't sure why until he walked in and saw two steaming bowls of noodles in a rich broth, with celery, thin bamboo shoots, and lean meat. It was garnished with finely chopped spring onions on the top and the smell was mouthwatering.

He suddenly remembered that Zhou Ye had been the one to cook dinner the other night. Did he prepare lunch today too?

Wen Rui felt a sense of guilt. Should he be contributing too? But what could he do? He couldn't cook, he couldn't clean, he could do the dishes after? But what if he broke them?

It wasn't the first time he realised how pampered he was but it was the first time it made him feel bad about himself.

"Thanks," he mumbled, sinking into a seat. His knee bumped against Zhou Ye's and he jerked it away before his cheeks burned. That was an overreaction, even if Zhou Ye didn't act like he'd noticed.

[It's just a knee, Wen Rui, what are you doing? You've knocked knees accidentally with your desk partner so many times before it could practically be a xiongdi thing.]

Zhou Ye had set the table peculiarly this time around. Instead of face to face, he took the seat at the head of the table with Wen Rui on his right. Wen Rui considered shifting further away but resisted it in the end. It would be rude and might make Zhou Ye think he was averse to him. Wen Rui…wasn't. Not really. They were coexisting in the same space harmoniously for once and Wen Rui found himself reluctant to be the one to create any sort of bad tension.

He fished around for something to say.

"When did you learn to cook?"

Zhou Ye took a sip of the soup. "16," he said without further elaboration but this was enough to stump Wen Rui.

16? What would a little crown prince like Zhou Ye be doing in the kitchens at 16? Didn't he live the same kind of luxurious life that Wen Rui did, where all he had to do was extend his arms out to be dressed and open his mouth to be fed?

"Oh, you're very good." The noodles were delicious. The broth had just the right amount of flavour and was the traditional hearty southern style that Wen Rui loved. He relished in the spread of warmth from his head to his toes and took another enthusiastic bite.

He had been taught since young that talking at the table was impolite but it was hard to control the urge. Any silence between Zhou Ye and him made him awkward so Wen Rui started becoming chattier and chattier.

"Is cooking a hobby?" He knew that in high school, Zhou Ye was not just Student Council President and Basketball Captain, he was also involved in a couple of the academic clubs, tennis, and the library. But he'd never heard of Zhou Ye joining in on the activities of the cooking club. Probably, Zhou Y hadn't wanted to associate with the girls that dominated the club membership. Cooking seemed almost too feminine a pursuit for Zhou Ye and Wen Rui had to hold back a snigger at the thought of Zhou Ye in the frilly pink apron with the school emblem on it that was handed out to the cooking club members.

But Zhou Ye denied it. "It's not," he replied. He didn't seem to want to talk about it but he was answering Wen Rui's questions without any sign of impatience. So bravely, Wen Rui pressed on.

"How's business management?" he asked, swallowing down the surge of envy at the thought of Zhou Ye being a student in one of Wen Rui's dream universities.

Zhou Ye paused for a split second before continuing to heap noodles onto his spoon. "I'm in computer science."

Wen Rui's chopsticks clattered against the side of his bowl. The noise was jarring and Zhou Ye raised his head to look at Wen Rui inquisitively.

"You—not business management?" Wen Rui didn't get it. In their final year of high school, their form teacher had asked them to fill out a survey regarding their ideal universities and degree choices. This was a standard questionnaire that all third years had to complete and it was for teachers to moderate students' expectations and better formulate strategies for each student to help them better achieve their goals.

Wen Rui had peeked at Zhou Ye's form because he wanted to see if Zhou Ye would be going to the same university as Su Jiali or not. And he had seen business management as well as a list of universities that were identical to Wen Rui's. It had been because of this that Wen Rui had decided to prioritise B University, in a different city, rather than F University, which was local.

But for some reason, he'd ended up in F University.

No. Not some reason. Xu Mushen had said that Wen Rui had told him about his mother's illness shortly before university began. Wen Rui must have stayed to be with her.

He forced himself to eat another mouth full. The meal was tasty and Zhou Ye had prepared it for him. He wasn't going to let it go to waste.

"You're in F University too?" he asked quietly.

Zhou Ye nodded.

Wen Rui chewed on his lower lip. It felt like a weird thing to ask Zhou Ye but… "Who else from our school got in?"

Zhou Ye didn't reply immediately. He took his time finishing his soup as Wen Rui's ears burned from the embarrassment of asking such a telling, obvious question. Even though he'd tried to be subtle about it.

Just as Wen Rui thought that Zhou Ye was going to ignore it completely, perhaps wasn't even sure who had gone to F University along with him because this wasn't the sort of trivial detail Zhou Ye would care about, Zhou Ye looked up straight at him. His face was expressionless but there was a stirring in the depths of his eyes that made Wen Rui fidget.

"I don't keep track of Su Jiali," Zhou Ye said, so bluntly that Wen Rui reeled.

"I-I wasn't—" Wen Rui tried to defend himself but gave up after a halfhearted attempt. It was obvious that this was what he wanted to know and even more obvious that Zhou Ye didn't like talking about her. Was it because they'd fallen out after dating? But Zhou Ye had always been disinterested to the point of losing patience whenever someone tried to include him in a conversation about girls.

Suddenly, Wen Rui felt like he had to know. He thought he would be more jealous about the idea of Zhou Ye being together with Su Jiali, but more than that, he wanted to know if Zhou Ye had ever fallen for anyone.

"Did you…date her?"

Zhou Ye raised an eyebrow. "You don't recall even this much?"

"What does that mean—"

"No." Zhou Ye's reply was curt. "I didn't."

Wen Rui let out a silent sigh of relief but it was short-lived when Zhou Ye suddenly added, "Do you still like her?"

He didn't know how to reply. Did he still like Su Jiali? Just a week ago she'd been his goddess and he'd spent most of high school trying to catch her attention. She had given it to him too but not romantically and Wen Rui remembered it hurting but now the memory of that ache in his chest felt less like heartbreak and more like disgruntlement. How much did he truly like her and how much of his infatuation was because she liked Zhou Ye and he couldn't accept that?

"I don't know," he said truthfully, earning himself another one of Zhou Ye's deep, inscrutable gazes. They flustered him more than he would care to admit and he tried to lighten the mood by making a weak joke. "But you really didn't date Su Jiali? You have such bad taste."

Zhou Ye choked on his food and had to cover his mouth with a napkin as he reached for a glass of water. Wen Rui blinked at him. Wow, he'd never seen this perfect young master behave so indecorously before.

"I'm married to you," Zhou Ye managed to say, after coughing for a couple of seconds.

"…but it's not like you're in love with me," Wen Rui said with a soft chuckle. Somehow, seeing Zhou Ye so unaffected by the idea of Su Jiali made him feel better, even if it was no longer a big deal to Wen Rui whether she agreed to go out with him or not.

It might be selfish, but in the light of everything he'd gone through, Su Jiali felt like such a minor problem now, just another fond memory of high school to treasure. Wen Rui now had so many other things to worry about in life, it was like he'd gone from being an ignorant child to a world-weary adult overnight.

"Hey, Zhou Ye?" When Wen Rui spoke again, it was tentative.

Zhou Ye hummed quietly to show that he was listening. He was done eating already but hadn't left the table yet. Subconsciously, Wen Rui started to take bigger bites, like he knew that Zhou Ye was waiting for him.

"Do you know where my mother is buried?"

Zhou Ye reached over towards him and Wen Rui couldn't help but tense up slightly. For a second there, he thought that Zhou Ye was going to touch him again but Zhou Ye just picked up a water jug and filled up Wen Rui's half-empty glass. d

"I don't know," he replied. "But I can help you find out. If you'd like."

For the first time, Wen Rui allowed himself to accept Zhou Ye's offer of help.