The Inconceivable Flame: A Fallen Angel's Disguise

"Is this watch paired with yours?" Ru asked looking at the rose gold watch diamond-encrusted watch on her wrist.

"Yes, mine is platinum and yours is rose gold. Perfect match. Isn’t it?" he replied with a satisfied smile on his face.

"Didn’t I just say no public display of affection?" She reminded him of the rules she had set up.

"It’s just a pair of watches. It’s not even noticeable. Don’t go overboard. Can’t you do this much for me?" He made an adorable face to get her approval.

Taking a long and deep breath, she said, "Fine. Whatever."

Xiao Zhiren’s face lit up as he held her arm and they walked out of the room. He brought her to the deck for breakfast. There were many people already eating their breakfasts when they came. Plenty of them greeted him and Xiao Zhiren replied to them with a polite smile.

"What do you want to eat?" He asked her while Ru’s eyes were wandering around the deck as if looking for someone.

When she finally caught sight of the person she was looking for, she said, "Not hungry. I’ll see you later." Turning back, she added, "Don’t start assuming or rotting in vinegar jar. Just gonna talk to my cousin." She made an okay sign with her hand and walked off.

"Not hungry? Those words actually exist in her dictionary?" Xiao Zhiren whispered to himself in disbelief. He had never seen her saying no to food before. It was yet hard for him to believe that she actually was refusing to food. What was more important than food?

Meanwhile, Ru found Jie standing beside the railing looking at the sea. She held his collar from behind and dragged him away from the crowd. "Yah! Let go of my collar. Stop acting like a bully."

"My dear Prince Jie, don’t get me started on who is the real bully between us." At her warning, he stopped talking and fixed his shirt. "Besides, I have something important to discuss with you."

"I’m sure talking is done with the mouth. Why are you always using your hands to drag me? Is that something you should do?" he asked looking at her unpleasantly but seeing her dressed up, his anger seemed like it vanished somewhere.

"If I won’t act like this who else will?" she retorted.

"I don’t care who else will. But please, have some respect for your present disguise. You’re looking like a bloody diva, don’t act like a hooligan," was Jie’s humble reply to her. "By the way, I just saw you smiling at Zhiren. Why are you looking at me with such an ugly look? Seems like all the smiles are gonna be reserved for him now."

"My dearest cousin, are you jealous?" Ru asked playfully nudging him.

Jie pushed her away saying, "Of course not. Why would I be jealous? Didn’t you leave him alone to look for me? I have nothing to be jealous about. Blood is still thicker than water."

Ru rolled her eyes at him and said, "I really have something to talk about. Can we stop this dilly-dallying?"

"You started it," he accused her straightforwardly.

"Of course not. It’s you who started again this time," she denied this accusation as always.

"Take any witness here, you’re the one who started it," he countered with the same passion.

"Oh please. Even time and history is the witness that from our very first meeting, it has always been you who starts it," Ru claimed, glaring at him hatefully.

After spending fifteen minutes of blaming each other and spending another ten minutes to stare daggers at each other, they both said simultaneously, "What were we talking about?"

Shaking her head, Ru started again, "Forget it whatever it was. Let’s get to business. It’s important."

Jie also lost his playful look and straightened up. "What is it? Why do you look so serious? I was expecting you to look all shy and bubbly after accepting your love. Why do you look some new mystery opened before you?"

"Mystery? I think calling it a mystery will be fine as well." Ru replied despondently. She held her jade pendant before him and asked, "Remember this?"

Jie took it from her hand and looked at her strangely. "Isn’t this... Your most precious pendant?" She nodded her head slightly. Recalling something he frowned and said, "But when I went to pick you up from the hospital ten or so years ago, didn’t you leave this for the person who saved you? As a promise to repay for his help?" She nodded again. Talking with him was always easy since most of the time, he was able to complete her sentences for her. "Then why do you have it now?"

Ru didn’t answer and that allowed him to think further as he said, "Did you found the person who had it?" She shook her head in negation. "Then... Did he found you?" Ru looked into his brown eyes and nodded. "Wow! That’s a nice twist. But what’s the problem here? Don’t tell me he loves you as I told you years ago." He stopped laughing when Ru stayed quiet. "He really loves you?"

Ru held his face and rotated him in the restaurant’s direction saying, "It’s him. Over there. That Zhiren stuck in my head and heart. He is the one who saved me."

"Woah! That’s an even bigger twist. What a coincidence!" Jie said after getting over his shock. This really came as a shock. Who would have thought about this twist? He didn’t!

"Coincidence?" Ru muttered more to herself than him. She took the pendant from him and pointed at its chain. "Then tell me what’s inside the chain?"

"That’s the red thread Uncle gave you. Wasn’t it supposed to be your engagement token?" he was having fun teasing her but abruptly stopped, "Wait! Are you worried about this? This really is an issue. If you love Zhiren then how can you keep this promise that Uncle made with someone? This is really troubling."

Ru slapped the back of his head and asked, "Jiejie, who was my so-called fiance?"

Jie rubbed the back of his head and replied, "Wasn’t he called Renren? Since all I heard from Aunt was you being Renren’s bride..." There was a long pause as he spoke to her through his eyes and cursed out loud, "Fuck it!"