The Rabbit Test

If there was something that Chan Lee could appreciate, it was the sight of the Moon Rabbit, of Xue in the kitchen. Their time was spent assessing kitchenware with a sparkle in his eyes.

"This could definitely work, yes, the process will be quicker this way." Xue spoke, more to himself than to her. But she was more than content to be an observer.

She couldn't help but just watch the person putter around the kitchen, grabbing a pot and then switching to a skillet before deciding to use the pot after all. The way his brows knitted as he pounded some ingredients via mortar and pestle.

Watching someone pour their energy over something that they truly enjoyed doing was a heartwarming sight. She couldn't imagine that someone held so much quiet confidence in what they were doing, it was like a hidden current of vitality flowing and brimming with each decisive action that he was making.

"Miss Chan Lee?" The man turned to her for a moment, his long white hair swishing to the side as he looked at her with a relaxed expression.

She blinked and stared at the man for a moment. "Xue?" Wondering if she had imagined him calling her name out of the blue. She half-realized that she should have probably tied his hair up.

"I'm wondering if you could call Han Jing?" A pleasant smile formed on his face. "I think he'd like to see the results of my first batch."

He wanted Han Jing to see it? She held back a smile and nodded. "Alright, it's a bit late… but I don't think Mrs. Han would mind." She wasn't exactly sure on what excuse she'd have to bring up for her to kidnap the man but she couldn't say no to Xue's plea. "I'll be right back."

Heading up the stairs, she pondered on why Xue wanted Han Jing and not her to see the results. It was a little… well, it made sense that Xue would grow more attached to Han Jing. This was the guy who spent more time with him than she could. "But he's making it...for me?" It was a silly thought that she muttered to herself.

He had said that he wanted to help her out.

But he wanted Han Jing to see what he procured.

It was a small observation that she brushed away as Chan Lee knocked on the door to the Han residence. Her knuckles felt jittery as she rapped on the wood, intruding at such an hour… it was—

"Chan Lee?" Mrs. Han was the one who opened the door.

She blinked in surprise but was quick to bow her head low. "Good evening, Mrs. Han, I apologize for intruding on late hours."

A wry smile formed on the older woman's face, "It's no worry. Han Jing?"

Chan Lee nodded, "Yes, please." It was easy enough to see the man slumped over his bed without a care at one of the corners of the room. Unlike her who had been living alone until recently, Han Jing stayed with his family.

It could be the reason why he had been eager to stay over at her place before. A bit of privacy and alone time.

"Han Jing?" Mrs. Han frowned at the figure on his bed. "Did he fall asleep playing games on his phone again, that boy. Please excuse me for a moment, I'll wake him up. You can sit down with JinJing for a bit."

She wanted to say, 'Oh please let him sleep!' But she didn't, because Xue wanted Han Jing… it was a little unfair of her to put the other's needs prior to the other. 'He has more than enough hours to sleep unlike me, he doesn't have to go to university tomorrow.' She sighed inwardly as she sat beside Han Jinjing.

Unlike her older brother, the young girl was reading a textbook.

It reminded her… a little bit of herself but she wouldn't say that aloud.

"Are you and my brother dating?" Han Jinjing suddenly caught her off guard with such a quiet but resolute question. The girl was still leafing through her book, her voice had been quiet but it was enough to disorient her.

"No." She answered quickly with a shake of her head, biting back the urge to ask. 'What makes you say that?' because that clearly meant she was interested to know, and she wasn't. It was all just a misunderstanding because of how much she was seeing the man recently.

Han Jinjing turned over to the next page, "Shame." 

It was like Madam Dongxia all over again, 'Oh you could help Han Jing shape up maybe.' Or something along those lines. What was she? Some sort of personal life coach? She had her own problems to deal with. Still, why was some kid talking so much as if they knew more stuff than her.

It was a little bit irking.

"Good evening, princess."

She raised her head to meet Han Jing's sleepy face and bed hair, the man was rubbing his eyes. A snicker of a child beside them had her standing up and facing away from him. "Sorry for disturbing your sleep… I just uh, needed your help."

The man sighed before turning to his mother who was now fixing up his bed. "I have to help this kid out, I'll be back tonight, Mom."

"Alright, you two take care!" Mrs. Han smiled and waved. Thankfully no questions were asked and the two of them went out of the flat.

"So what do you need help for again?" Han Jing yawned and covered his mouth. "Don't tell me that Xue jumped into some rabbit hole or something."

Chan Lee sighed and stared at him from the corner of her eyes. "Did the two of you fight or something?"

"Did he say anything like that?" 

"No but—"

"Then nothing happened. Geez, is that what you called me out here for? You wanted to ask me if I hurt your bunny boy's feelings?" Han Jing rubbed his face tiredly. "I wasn't there when you got back home so you got worried that we fought? If that's what you're here for, I'm going back to bed."

"Hey, he wanted you to see his first batch of medicine." Chan Lee frowned, "He clearly likes you, so can you be a little bit more respectful of his feelings?"

"...did you say medicine?"

"Yes… yes, I did." Chan Lee immediately noticed the slight shift in the man's attitude.

"Well, I guess I'll go check out whatever it is." Han Jing shrugged, "Where did he make it?"

"The kitchen."

"Nobody will go down there right?" Han Jing eyed her with a stink eye.

"I don't think so."

"Let's hurry up, still." The man sped down the stairs and left Chan Lee to catch up with him. The medicine thing clearly picked up his interest, and so she decided to slow her steps a bit. She rubbed her eyes and fought back a yawn.

"I want to go to sleep." She muttered to herself as she walked into the shared kitchen.

"Miss Chan Lee!" Xue greeted her with a smile, holding up a glass filled with a dark liquid.

Han Jing waved at her, also holding up a glass like Xue's. "Hey, slowpoke." 

It was enough to take the sleep out of her eyes as she stared at their glasses. "Don't tell me…"

"Yes." Han Jing grinned at her with much gusto. His earlier indifference had now completely vanished as he shook the glass a bit. The liquid moved like some dark sludge, it was an unappealing sight. "It's bottoms up time!"

"I um, only wanted to show it to Han Jing but he's keen on testing it out." Xue explained with a sheepish smile. "Don't worry, it's quite safe."

She rubbed her forehead, "Hand over those glasses, we're observing that under a laboratory tomorrow."

"Hey!" Han Jing frowned and held the glass closer to his chest. "The man put so much hard work into it and you aren't going to let him enjoy the fruits of his labor? That's so cold, Chan Lee."

She frowned back at him, "I mean, I think I can trust him enough to drink that sludge on his own… but you!"

"Hey, are you questioning his capacity to produce this?" Han Jing raised a brow at her. "Hear that Xue? She doesn't trust you."

"I didn't mean it that way." She was getting worked up over Han Jing's safety for nothing. "Fine drink it all, who cares what happens to you anyway."

"Miss Chan Lee, normally, those who don't take care of their body will experience some backlash with drinking this Body Tempering Elixir." Xue assented with a nod. "However Han Jing's Innate Yang has been completely untouched so he's perfectly safe."

"Innate Yang?" Chan Lee tilted her head. 

Han Jing stared at Xue. "Did you indirectly just call me a virgin?"

Chan Lee tried to keep her expression blank.