All it sometimes took was just reaching out to another person to rekindle an old relationship or connection to them. Both Li Yang and Bo Lifen spent the next thirty minutes of the evening just drinking some milk tea together.

Neither of them would actually admit that maybe they found their drinks too sweet—Bo Lifen really didn't like sugary drinks that much but pretended to like them. It wouldn't make sense for her to invite him here if she didn't.

Li Yang just wanted to enjoy and bask in the silence of the evening.. and him who usually enjoyed sweets found it weird that his taste buds wasn't cooperating tonight.

"I'm going to start cleaning up." Bo Ling told the two older adults and found it slightly strange that he was here and witnessing his older sister actually pay attention to a man.

Oh, he knew that like most girls, Bo Lifen wasn't beyond listening to boy bands and idols—but those were just a passing thing. A simple entertainment that she indulged and liked to delude herself with.

Actually talking with a man and tolerating their presence?

.

It was another thing completely.

Bo Lifen chewed on her straw for a little, simply glad for the soft background music playing within the shop. There was a delicate balance when it came to interacting with people—and she, who was usually on top of her game when it came to customers, didn't know anything beyond the basics when it came to Li Yang.

The two of them haven't seen each other in quite awhile.

Bo Lifen felt like she was the one putting too much effort in reconnecting with the man, and yet Li Yang was accepting all of her advances—er, invitations. So it meant that he was also a teensy bit interested in speaking with her.

"Miss Lifen, I forgot to ask how you're doing? I was still surprised and did not expect that you'd be out around this time of the night," Li Yang said. He placed his drink aside and glanced at the woman who actually looked dressed up for the night.

"Oh, you already did—same old, same old. You know?"

"Right. You did say that earlier, I kind of forgot."

Neither of them were exactly helpful right now at lengthening the conversation. Earlier, they were able to pluck topics out from thin air—especially when they were still walking across the streets, but now it quieted down a bit.

It wasn't as if the silence was bad in and of itself.

There was no deduction of Charm Points or any indicators on her face that their interactions were unpleasant. Far from it actually.

"My answer's kind of boring so it's my bad." Bo Lifen looked out the window. "It's just.. compared to you and perhaps to others, my life really does seem to be repetitive. I mean, surely you would understand what I mean, right?"

Their old confrontation about him being boring came back to his mind. Li Yang glanced at her from the corner of his vision. "And it gets dull for you? This daily thing?"

Bo Lifen brushed some hair behind an ear, sheepishly laughing. "Kind of. I mean I should appreciate that my life doesn't have very high ups and low lows, but even the stability starts to grate a little on the nerves? So I spiced up things a bit tonight."

"That's not bad."

"Of course it's not." Bo Lifen frowned a little, although it looked closer to a pout.

"You could almost say that's what happened to me." Li Yang replied. "But as all things, even little surprises and changes are best in moderation."

"Right—speaking of that." Bo Lifen eyed her brother from beyond the counter still wiping things up. "Ling you can get home now before it gets too late. I'll close up the shop for you."

"Wait, for real?!" Bo Ling's eyes widened. "Didn't you tell me that I should start becoming more responsible for my actions? You nagged me big time last week..er, I mean, I got it."

Li Yang thought it was amusing that Bo Lifen's expression was enough to get her brother moving. Albeit, the sudden request or order to have her brother leave surprised him. Did she not want to have the conversation with her brother present with them?

After a couple minutes of grouching and shoving, Bo Ling left the milk tea shop to both his sister and Li Yang. He didn't think that his sister would be so into the guy that she practically chased him out of the establishment, but if it meant that he got a free pass from cleaning—then that was alright.

"... I mean, it's not like they're going to mess up the shop, right?" Bo Ling asked himself. He quickly dismissed the thought and tried not to shudder—the man hailed a taxi to get himself home.

It was too icky thinking about sibling relationships.

—-

"Why did you make him leave?" Li Yang asked once the younger man was gone. A part of him felt like it meant something.. something that flipped a switch on him—but he needed to be realistic.

The two of them just met each other today again.

"My brother doesn't know a thing about everything," Bo Lifen said.

"Okay—wait, what do you mean?"

Bo Lifen stood up and quickly turned the sign of the tea shop to a "closed" before she glanced at him. "My brother is unaware of cultivation and stuff like that.."

Li Yang raised a brow. "How come? Isn't your family one related to cultivation—even your younger brother Lei is a cultivator."

"Did my great grandmother boast about Lei again? That's so much like her." Bo Lifen crossed her arms underneath her chest and sighed.

It really wasn't the time for Li Yang to think that something might happen between them. The sudden change in her tone was somber and he picked up on it.. a rare occasion for him to see a little more vulnerable side to Bo Lifen.

"There was just an incident when we were younger—and it was just bad enough that my family decided to use a memory sealing talisman. Not that it was needed in the first place, because he denied it ever happening."

"I see.. I'm sorry about that."

"Thank you—I really shouldn't have brought that up." Bo Lifen rubbed her face. "But I wanted to make you understand why my brother had to go.. and for you to not misinterpret anything about this situation."

Li Yang thought it was only him whose thoughts swerved in that direction, but he caught the redness in her face. It wasn't so strange that it strayed there—the two of them were perfectly normal adults.

"Of course, I do not wish to ruin our evening together by having any of that," Li Yang said. Neither of them explicitly said or explained what "that" was supposed to mean, both were in tune to what the implication was.

Friends or not, the thought slipped as long as the moment somewhat called for it.

Bo Lifen looked up to his face and raised her brows. The woman thought she could let this moment go and end the tension, but she found herself speaking again. "Ruin the evening? You think something like that would ruin a night?"

If anything, the two of them could have laughed about it.

But neither of them were exactly the easiest ones to laugh or smile.

Li Yang returned her look with a shrug, keeping his posture straight and face clear. "It's a natural conclusion to draw upon, Miss Lifen—it's better not to ruin anything by being swayed by one's impulses. I've had my fair share of them and a part of me still regrets at least half of them."

"... And what about the other half?" Bo Lifen inquired. She wished she could kick herself in the leg right now, or get up and make her way to the door.. Well, just open up and leave. But all she did was sit back down beside him and smile. "What were your conclusions about those times?"

"There might have been actions that I wouldn't actually regret—some decisions like trusting my brother in building a company? It seemed like a terrible choice at first, but I wanted to support him.. and later down the years, it was actually the right course of action."

"Right."

"Yes."

Bo Lifen averted her gaze for what seemed to be a millisecond at the moment that Li Yang cleared his throat. historical

The two of them spoke at the same time.

"So what about you?"

"Was it regrettable?"

The two broke into tiny smiles and sniggers right after that. Bo Lifen raised a hand and motioned to him. She gave him a slightly sheepish smile. "What were you trying to say?"

"No, you can go ahead first."

"Are you sure? You can totally go ahead first.." Bo Lifen looked at him and then just sighed. "Fine, I'll speak up first. The night won't end if neither of us keeps pushing it to the other. So what I wanted to ask was about—you know what."

"What do I know?" Li Yang raised a brow.

"Oh come on, don't play dumb with me." Bo Lifen raised a hand to her face and covered it. "You know what I'm trying to say.. I just don't want to say it aloud."

Li Yang shrugged. "It might be better if you can actually say it clearly. You'll be much more relieved."

"Relieved you say?" Bo Lifen tried to strangle down her embarrassment. "I'm trying to ask where 'sleeping with my neighbor's great-grand daughter' falls into your regret or worth it scale. How could I feel relieved by asking that?"