Married to his secret crush

Jun Zixuan quietly glanced at Yu Mei without responding to her question.

When she could not process her brother's thought process, how would he? She thought. "I want some space. Can you leave me alone here for some time?" She asked without looking at him. 

Hearing the sounds of retreating footsteps, Yu Mei tilted her head to the side and glanced at his retreating back from the corner of her eyes.

Stepping towards book shelves, she stopped infront of the long tables. She took a seat on the chair before placing her head on the table as she glanced at the wall.

When she came across Han Jian Yu for the first time after waking up in this body, she did not feel anything was amiss. But as time passed by, she started to notice a few things. Like he won't tell her what's going on and keep everything to himself unlike before when they discussed most of the things with each other.

There were many such instances that she could feel but she could not explain them in words. 

When she was in Amaranthine, he did not contact her for a long time.

She tamped down all these feelings in her heart because first, she thought she was overthinking, and second, she was afraid that her instincts were on point.

At times, his behavior made her feel like an abandoned puppy. 

She sniffed.

She paused as her gaze landed on the huge white ceramic cup in front of her eyes. She glanced at the long slender fingers wrapped around it and tilted her head, ''I thought I asked for space?" She rubbed her eyes with the back of her palm. 

''There was a time when I asked for some space...'' He leaned back on the table and tilted his head down to look at her, ''But someone told me that she won't give me that. She said 'I will cling to you until you are frustrated and even after we become ghosts, I will keep clinging'....''

Those words sounded familiar. She kicked his feet, ''Don't take a dig at me in my vulnerable state.''

''Vulnerable?" He glanced at the foot that just kicked him before rolling his eyes. ''Take the hot chocolate,'' he patted her head. 

''I am not a dog.''

He chuckled before passing the white mug to her, ''Drink it. And as for the rest of the things... It is better that he knows. We don't have to play hide and seek anymore.''

She paused for a moment before taking it from his hand quietly. 

...

Han Jian Yu opened the car door and Mia alighted the car quietly. The ride to this place was eerily quiet with neither of them speaking much with each other the whole way.

As he turned around to leave, Mia grabbed his hand, ''Come with me.''

Han Jian Yu glanced at her questioningly but followed after her, ''Aren't you getting your beauty sleep today?" He asked. 

Mia sighed regretfully as they walked towards the seashore, ''I wanted to but then I decided to accompany a certain pitiful old man.''

The corner of his lips twitched. The previous thoughts in his minds somewhat dispersed as he tugged at her hand before twirling her around such she was facing him, ''I am not that old,'' Not to mention fact never in his has he been associated with the term pitiful, ''Just three years older than you,'' He added. 

She raised an eyebrow, ''What has your age got to do with mine? You look like the world owes you something. That's why Her Highness said that you are an old man.''

He glanced at her quietly, ''There was a question left. Truth. The one you did not ask me there and saved for later.''

Mia nodded, ''I wanted to know about your childhood...'' 

He seemed to have been reminded of something as he remained silent. Was he still thinking about what happened?

She could guess the direction of his thoughts so she opened her mouth to speak, ''Zixuan treasures your sister a lot...'' She paused for a moment before continuing, ''But no matter what she going through, he will always throw a taunt at her rather than wiping her tears...''

''That bast-'' 

Mia pressed her index finger on his lips, ''Let me finish first. Don't curse him. He does that because he knows that she can stand up for herself, better and stronger even if he is there to back her up all the time. He won't treat her as someone weak neither will he ever keep her in dark...''

He did not say anything as she turned around and continued walking, while still holding his hand like he was a wobbling toddler who might get lost if she let go of it. 

''It's not just Mei, I am like that too. We don't really need a man to tie us up, restrict us in any way, keep us in the dark, and think of us as helpless. We can make our own decisions and you just need to be there with us. That works,'' She paused, ''Be it a father, brother, husband or whatever, we don't need to be controlled.''

She made countless mistakes but her father never restricted her freedom. He let her go, let her fall, let her get wounded. When she was back, he might treat her injuries or heal her emotions, but he will never restrict her. 

''Mei is a rebel. The more you control her about something, the more she will be adamant on doing that.''

Knowing that she was aware of his sister's rebirth, Han Jian Yu did not hold back for some reason as he said, ''I only want her to stay from that family. Is it too much to ask?" His voice was barely above a whisper. 

Mia paused. She had overheard their conversation when he asked Yu Mei whether she was aware of her rebirth or not.. Since he knew, she also did not hold back, ''For someone who died once, you want her to close her eyes in front of the people who killed her? Why? So that she would die again without knowing the cause of her death?" She asked rather casually.