“Cousin!”
When a sharp, explosive noise suddenly rang out on the second floor of the old residence, everyone, including Qiao Ni and the others downstairs who immediately looked up, and Yu Mian, who was in the study and startled into watching the cat jump back into the bushes. Everyone turned their attention toward the direction the sound came from.
What just happened?!
Could it be that the young master had been punished again?
Worried, Qiao Ni wondered if she should prepare some medicinal oil in advance.
Meanwhile, after that loud scream, Huo Yan threw himself at Huo Ting, clinging to him desperately and staring at him with both resentment and despair.
‘What should I do? What should I do?!’
‘I had clearly promised Yu Mian to keep things a secret for him. But my cousin tricked me into revealing the secret. Help!’
To Huo Yan’s surprise, Huo Ting didn’t react at all.
He showed no intention of dragging Huo Yan to the study to expose Yu Mian or harshly reprimanding him for revealing any information about Yu Mian.
Instead, he merely glanced at Huo Yan’s backpack.
“Didn’t you bring a gift? Give it to him.”
“Ah? Ah?!?”
Huo Yan, shocked beyond belief at his cousin’s calm and gentle response, hugged his backpack tightly in bewilderment.
“How do you even know I brought him a gift!?”
“…”
Seeing Huo Yan clutch his backpack protectively and jump up like a startled rabbit, Huo Ting gave him a look of exasperation, unwilling to say more.
“Don’t reveal anything about the current situation.”
“And give this to him too. Just say it’s from you.”
As Huo Yan stood there at a loss, Huo Ting handed him a bag from the table.
“Huh? Oh… huh??”
Huo Yan’s expression grew increasingly conflicted. He took the bag and peeled inside, only to discover several sets of clothing inside.
Still bewildered, he found himself being urged toward the study by his cousin. He knocked on the door in a daze, feeling as if he were dreaming.
‘Cousin didn’t interrogate me?!’
Oh no, he had been so focused on nodding and agreeing that he’d forgotten to make his cousin promise not to say anything either…
‘What should I do? If Yu Mian finds out I accidentally spilled the beans, would Yu Mian end up disliking me?!’
As Huo Yan’s figure disappeared down the corridor, Huo Ting remained silent, his gaze thoughtful.
In his mind, the image of the mysterious resident in the study became clearer and more vivid.
A good character.
That much, he could confirm himself.
But also very good-looking…?
Although Huo Yan was still young, he had grown up surrounded by people like his aunt, Madam Inas, a renowned beauty in the Federation, and others with similarly good looking appearances.
For someone to leave such a strong impression on Huo Yan, and for him to go to such lengths to defend and emphasize his looks, it could only mean that the person staying in the study was extremely good looking.
—
In the study, Yu Mian was pleasantly surprised to see his long-lost companion, Huo Yan.
“Wow, you’re finally back? But why do you look like you’ve gotten a tan?”
Yu Mian subconsciously hugged the little “hot water bottle” tightly and then held Huo Yan’s face, scrutinizing it carefully.
“Wuuuu, I missed you too… We went to another star system, and the radiation was super strong, so I got tanned. Does it look bad?”
The previously dazed Huo Yan, after Yu Mian rubbed his face like that, finally returned to his senses.
He hadn’t expected the first thing Yu Mian would say was that he looked tanned.
Although Huo Yan had never cared much about his appearance before, the thought of standing next to Yu Mian and looking unattractive suddenly bothered him.
“No way! A tan gives a unique sense of beauty. It’s healthy and full of energy!”
Looking at the little guy that had started to care about his appearance at such a young age, Yu Mian couldn’t help but feel both amused and helpless, so he quickly explained.
“Really? That’s good. I even brought you a gift…”
Huo Yan, cheered up by Yu Mian’s words, eagerly pulled out something from his bag.
“Huh? Um…?”
Yu Mian was a little startled when he saw it.
“Cool, right? This is the tail of the first alien giant lizard I caught! It’s super cool, and it’s great for medicine, too. It’s super valuable!”
Huo Yan proudly held up the pitch-black, ferocious-looking tail.
But as Yu Mian stared at it, he suddenly felt an inexplicable discomfort in his own fishtail…
O.o
“…Uh, that’s not what I meant! Your tail is incomparable to this one!”
“It’s just that this creature was incredibly hard to deal with. I managed to defeat it and brought this back as a keepsake to give to you.”
Huo Yan suddenly realized that the more he spoke, the weirder the expression on Yu Mian’s face became and he came to a realization.
‘Oh no, how did I not realize this gift might be inappropriate for someone with a fishtail like Yu Mian?’
He had only wanted to impress Yu Mian with his amazing feat…
“Actually, there’s also this…this is another gift.”
This one was actually something his cousin had asked him to bring.
Huo Yan hesitated for a moment before handing over a paper bag, trying to salvage the atmosphere.
“Clothes?”
Yu Mian, who wasn’t expecting much, was surprised when he saw what was inside.
To be honest, the clothes he had been wearing were all simple outfits conjured by the system. With the weather getting colder recently, he occasionally felt a bit chilly.
He had even regretted not sneaking out to buy a few sets to stash in the study.
Unexpectedly, Huo Yan had brought him two sets, including a jacket and even a scarf?
For some reason, ever since he got a fishtail, Yu Mian found himself increasingly drawn to light-colored things like beige, white, or light gold.
“Do they fit?”
Huo Yan looked at the clothes, a little shocked himself.
Could this really be a gift from his cousin?
Could it be that his cousin already knew about Yu Mian’s existence?
“They’re slightly big…”
After trying them on, Yu Mian found that while the size wasn’t perfect, but it was close enough.
From Yu Mian’s perspective, Huo Yan was just a little guy who probably hadn’t even bought many clothes for himself, let alone for someone else. If the size had been perfect, Yu Mian would have been even more surprised.
“Really?”
Huo Yan’s suspicion deepened.
Could it be that his cousin had only discovered there was someone in the study but hadn’t actually met Yu Mian?
That would mean he was still the only one who truly knew about Yu Mian!
“Thank you so much for the gifts. Let me think about what to give you in return.”
Yu Mian thanked him sincerely, which made Huo Yan, who was only delivering someone else’s gift, feel a bit embarrassed.
“Uh… a return gift isn’t that important. I don’t really need anything. You can ask me to bring you something next time if you want!”
Feeling overwhelmingly guilty about his earlier blunder, Huo Yan, who was already like a lively little puppy around Yu Mian, became even more enthusiastic and eager to please.
Yu Mian didn’t understand what was going on, and found his behavior both amusing and puzzling.
“I don’t need anything for now. Weren’t you here to catch up on homework? Did your cousin say something to you?”
The earlier scream still lingered vividly in Yu Mian’s memory.
“Ugh, I do need to catch up, but I’m really bad at it. Especially the language assignments…I just can’t do them.”
“How about we read a book? Do you want to read?”
Feeling embarrassed about his guilty conscience, Huo Yan quickly buried himself in his bag, pulling out a pile of homework and a book.
“…?”
Yu Mian froze for a moment when he saw the book in Huo Yan’s hand. It was “Rebirth Of The Interstellar Soldier King”.
“You’re reading novels now too?”
“Of course! This one is amazing. Everyone at school is reading it. A classmate recommended it to me, so I had Qiao Ni buy me a set in advance. Let me read you a few paragraphs…you’ll see how good it is… hey!”
But just as Huo Yan was about to open the book, Yu Mian placed it aside and focused on the homework.
“Let’s just work on the assignments instead.”
“…QAQ”
At that moment, Huo Yan suddenly felt like the gentle and kind Yu Mian had turned into his fierce cousin.
Why was everyone forcing him to do homework?
