"Gege." A young teenager girl spoke. She wore a light-coloured floral dress that complemented her dark hair. The girl knelt next to his brother.

"Hmm?" YueChen nodded his head once in acknowledgement, but he didn't turn his head to the girl, still focusing on his homework.

"Do me a favor, could you?"

"What favor?" YueChen asked as his right hand swiftly scribbled the equations on a paper filled with other scribbles alike.

"I don't know the answer to this one question. Could you answer it please?"

He hummed once, his left hand moved to flip through the math book next to him.

"Okay, do it for me, then!" The girl beamed at his agreement, and quickly ran away before his elder brother realized that he had been tricked.

"...." YueChen's hands stopped at once.

Wait. Something felt off.

"Yang JiaWen!!!" The boy slammed his pencil to the desk loudly a minute or two after he realized he was being fooled by his sister.

"Not so loud, XingXing..." A voice softly reminded him to be quiet. Said voice sounded a little sleepy as if the owner didn't get a good rest before.

"Sorry I disturbed you." YueChen muttered under his breath. His ears picked out muffled giggles and Korean songs playing in the background. "That brat..." he gnashed his teeth.

As if Yuan Ji only paid attention to his host's homework which now had been done at least halfway, he opened his mouth and commented, "Number seven is wrong. Check the last row again."

YueChen obeyed and fixed the error he accidentally caused. "I don't think whether was it right or wrong will affect my grades. I doubt I actually get merits from this sort of homework."

That's right. The math teacher was simply clever, sharp-witted—although Yuan Ji is more witty. Add favoritism and laziness to her character, and that'll be complete.

Seriously, no matter how long it takes to do the homework, she just checked at the amount of problem the students had done and graded it. Although sometimes she did check the homework thoroughly. And his classmates, they did play a great part in adding hatred to YueChen's used to be pure heart. Borrowing his things with force, copying his homework without his consent, using him as they please and then neglecting him once they're done. To make it worse, they're shameless and the teachers aren't willing to help.

Numerous times his classmates poked at the sensitive matters. Numerous times Yuan Ji wanted to slay some eyesores—as he said himself. Numerous times YueChen had to stop him and assured that it was fine.

'Let them play. They don't know what they actually do, anyway.'

'Too forgiving.' Yuan Ji once commented, 'Be hateful now and then, will you?'

YueChen being so naive and kind could easily kill someone with pent-up frustration and rage.

"Your sister," Yuan Ji started. "Is a full human, I presume?"

YueChen turned around in confusion. "Why are you asking me?"

"I'm not asking, I'm stating. How come you're able to be the smartest in your school, Dimwit?"

"Because they're dumber than me?"

"I pretty much believe that you're dumber than them."

"Hey!"

After quarrelling for a bit, they would always mutually agree to put it on a halt, even if there's no words spoken out.

"Your sister is a mortal completely. You, on the other hand, are a 'ghost'. I don't think that there's another person in your family that have the similarities to you."

"Are you saying that I might be adopted?"

"A slim chance, both your parents have no widow peak. You don't have it too." Hearing those words, YueChen stood up and hurried to the nearest mirror and lifted his bangs.

"But there's a little peak, at here." He pointed at the center of the hairline.

"Really? You're adopted then."

"That's mean." He examined his front hair line, wondering whether it could be counted as a widow peak or not.

"Don't think much about it. Adopted or not, you're different from the others."

YueChen glanced at his snowy palms and back to the mirror again. "It's easier if their eyes were blue, then I could tell."

YueChen stared at his reflection, and the boy in the mirror stared back. His eyes, as Yuan Ji had once described, were like dark, starless night that could assume another color reflected on his eyes. Sometimes they were black, sometimes grey, sometimes brownish red. His face was lightly freckled with a small black dot on the center of his forehead. Which he tried hard to cover with his slightly overgrown bangs.

"I really hoped that I'm more good-looking." He sighed.

"Why are you suddenly being self-conscious now?"

He glanced at the mirror again and hit his cheeks lightly.

"..."

"Let's change the topic."

"....what about your homework?"

"I'm not doing that anymore."

Yuan Ji quietly let out a deep, suffering sigh.

They were thinking about reclaiming Lang Jian after the matter had been left lying in the dust for two years. From YueChen's city to the lake where the sword resided only took two hours at most. But the Yang family never really trusted their son travelling around without companion. They did allow YueChen going to smaller town an hour and half's worth of trip on some occasion though. The first time was for school's group project. The second, which was just held recently, was for strengthening the class's bond.

YueChen suspected that both the occasion were Yuan Ji's doing, as he could manipulate people and nature even without his sword. The latter denied it at once, saying that the Yangs aren't his doing.

After a little probing, the teen finally gave up and threw aside the matter.

"The lake wasn't that far. If we got a chance, we should just go."

"Wait. How about this?"

YueChen instantly stopped talking and paid his lover more attention than before. The other took in a small breath and began explaining.

"Since New Year is close by, I think we should use this to make a chance on our own. A class field trip that lasted for a couple days. Of course, held nearby the lake. Your swimming skills had much improved, and my control over the water is much better now. We'll seize the right moment to dive in."

YueChen whose attention still fixed on the deity, lifted the corners of his lips into a small smile and said, "Sounds like a great plan."