Chapter 9

"Are you feeling better?" Chen Dulan again felt a hand on his forehead. He noticed the surface under him to be softer than the concrete he had been sitting on, and his head felt lighter. "The fever seemed to have gone down." The deep, relaxing voice felt somewhat familiar to his ears, more used to screaming and order.

Wait, familiar? Chen Dulan shot open his eyes.

Yao Fang stood awkwardly with a glass of water, a frowned and worried face. He tried to pass the water, but Chen Dulan sat upright and crawled away from him.

"You think I only beat people up for no reason?" Yes, exactly that!

"You don't have to wait here... please return to your classes. Your brother would scold me if you miss classes because of me." He trailed off trying to hide under the blanket. He noticed his tie had been taken off, and even his socks were hanging by the bedside.

"Hah? Shouldn't you be relieved that I haven't run off to cause trouble when you're busy sleeping? I am actually saving you the trouble of looking for me after waking up from a fever." So he did have a fever, now it was confirmed. "And what the hell do you eat? The nurse was about to call your guardians because of your low blood pressure."

Wow, that would've been troublesome. "I told her you had been worried because of the exams and weren't eating enough. Don't have to thank me." Yao Fang huffed. He would never believe he was feeling bad for this bastard, but he couldn't leave him on the playground really now, could he?

"Young Master... thank you for... waiting here, and bringing me here."

"Right, Chen Dulan- I had to ask you one thing." Yao Fang breathed out seriously and prepared himself before speaking. How unlikely him. "I beat you up... for no reason yesterday, and you even cried- why didn't you tell my brother?"

"What didn't I tell your brother?" Chen Dulan looked confused.

"Wouldn't he be angry to see you hurt?"

"What?" They both stared, one looking more confused than the other. What was Yao Fang talking about? And why was Chen Dulan not getting what he was saying?

"Young master... by any chance do you consider us equals?"

"Of course not! I'm a better fighter than you, you couldn't even hit me back once!" 'That's because I can't, you asshole. If it was anyone else, you'd be choking on your own blood by now.' Chen Dulan thought gravely.

"No, I didn't mean it that way. Do you think your brother would care about me?" Yao Fang took one more glance at him carefully, and Chen Dulan looked dangerous for some reason. He looked frustrated and angry, and Yao Fang didn't get it.

"Young Master, you are having some misconceptions it seems. My relationship to your brother is only that of a subordinate. If I foolishly get hurt on a mission, it's my problem. The most he would do, maybe send some money for hospital bills. But knowing his personality, he'd only help me if I am dying." Chen Dulan didn't look happy while talking about Yao Fang's brother. He had never seen anyone speak about Yao Jianguo with such bitterness before, almost making him feel that Chen Dulan was afraid of his brother. The brother he loved so much.

"Why are you insulting my brother?"

"This is no insult, Young Master. MinYao is no playground, and I am sure your Father and your Brother's reluctance to bring you there is only their way of protecting you from it. And me? I am replaceable. Once I'm broken beyond use, MinYao won't hesitate to throw me out, so please don't think of us as equals. The only reason I am here is because I was ordered to, I had no intention of offending you enough to hit me." He had already spoken too much for his comfort, but he continued. "I don't like being hit, especially when you have no authority to hit me. It's true that I cannot hit you back, because then your brother would truly kill me, but I am only here to fight off unnecessary trouble so you don't dirty your hands, I don't recognize you as my superior and frankly, you're no one to hit me."

"I-" Yao Fang was quite taken aback. He had never seen Chen Dulan hurt or angry before; and he had spoken a lot. "I'm sorry, it was childish of me to hit you. You can do your job, I won't... bother you again. I was wrong about you, you're not arrogant."

Chen Dulan felt like he had been too harsh with his words to bring an apology out of Yao Fang's mouth, but he didn't say anything.