"So, lemme get this straight." Zhao Xi frowns "You caused this whole shit when you practically forced yourself on him and now you have to do some bonding otherwise you’re gonna be dissected by the institute, is that what you’re telling me?"
"Yeah."
"So, spicy chicken or sweet and sour ribs?" Zhao Xi picks up the menu.
Xin Linhua facepalm. He’s been racking his brains for days, but he still can comprehend anything. And the one person he can confide in is more interested in spicy chicken.
"Ah Xi, I’m serious here." Xin Linhua snatches the menu from him.
"Ah..." Zhao Xi exhales "You’ve been acting strange for a while now, you know that? I mean, I love the new you but why are you so obsessed over this?"
"Obsessed? The hell you talking about? Just think of something and stop speculating."
"Yeah, yeah, I’m speculating." Zhao Xi snatches the menu back "You said it yourself, he hates your existence. So why are you so hellbent on helping someone who doesn’t give two shit about you?"
"It’s not like that." Xin Linhua rubs the back of his neck "He glares at me even though I can see his eyes, he radiates this energy of ’touch me not’ and he acts like he doesn’t care if the world collapses, but it’s all a facade. I can tell."
Zhao Xi stares at his friend like the youth has lost his remaining screws.
He realizes that ever since that day they encountered a rift, Xin Linhua isn’t Xin Linhua. If only the youth weren’t still showing a faint trace of the old him, he’d have thought that he’s possessed or something.
"Well, I have no good advice for you."
"Bad ones are appreciated as well."
"Be shameless."
"Uhn?" Xin Linhua blinks.
"I don’t need to teach you, it seems like you’re already an expert at it." Zhao Xi scoffs "If you’re shameless enough to make him your Sentinel, then you should be shameless enough to keep it that way."
"You’re right!" Xin Linhua slaps the table in excitement "Cling to him. Tease him. Make him lose his temper as always. Thanks, Ah Xi, you’re the best."
"I could have sworn my advice was leaning towards a less suicidal path..."
"Lunch’s on me. Order away!"
Zhao Xi throws his worries to the back of his head and orders almost everything on the menu.
"Oh gracious ancestor, thank you for the meal." Zhao Xi almost has tears in his eyes.
The moment he picks up a chicken leg, dip in sauce and savors the aroma, a loud alarm blares from outside the restaurant.
"ATTENTION, ALL CIVILIAN!!! A RIFT HAS BEEN DETECTED! PLEASE EVACUATE THE STREETS AND NEARBY BUILDINGS AND STAY AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE!"
"Stop complaining and run!" Xin Linhua grabs him.
Zhao Xi grabs a plate of chicken before he gets dragged out on to the streets.
The rift hasn’t appeared yet, but the alarms are going off.
Unlike the last time where they almost died, this time, the institute’s Sentinels arrive extremely early. Four Sentinels and their guides. Seems like what happened that time had given them the wake up they needed.
"Aeromancers..." Xin Linhua’s eyes gleam "I haven’t seen one since I got here."
"Can you stop staring!?" Zhao Xi tugs at him "If you die here, your brothers will have my head. I might as well die with you."
"That’s it!?"
Xin Linhua yells so loud, Zhao Xi loses a few of the chicken legs in the scuffle.
"Damn you, Xin Linhua!"
"Ah Xi, I just figured it out!" Xin Linhua grabs his friend’s shoulders with excitement "I know how we can form a bond!"
"Good for you. I love the fact that it takes a near death experience for you to stumble upon a revelation, but you need to be alive to actually put your idea into effect, don’t you think?"
Xin Linhua finally snaps back to reality. The rift has appeared above.
"Shit! Let’s get out of here!"
"Right behind you!"
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Xin Linhua bites back the anger rising in his chest alongside the strong urge to cuss.
He had returned a while ago, flinging his belongings all around the place. He banged on Rong Yizhan’s bedroom door till the youth answered. He had dragged him to the living room, sat him down just to spew one of his craziest ideas.
"Look, if we do things your way, I’ll be dead in six months." Xin Linhua paces back and forth "My idea is way better."
"No." Rong Yizhan stands to his feet "Like I said, I’m not keen on dying."
"I know what you want the most, Yaras?."
Rong Yizhan had turned his back on him, intending to return to his room and plug in something to block out any noise from outside. Xin Linhua’s words make him freeze in place instead.
"What I want the most?" Rong Yizhan turns "What do you know?"
"I know you hate the institute." Xin Linhua walks towards him "I know you hate the entire board of administration– heck, you hate Director Chen the most."
"So?"
"So awakening your abilities is the only way to break free from them." Xin Linhua glances down at him "Honestly, I don’t know why you came here in the first place. From the things I heard, you could be out there living your life. Why’d you come here?"
"It’s none of your business."
"Yaras?...you have no influence, no family to back you up, nothing." Xin Linhua continues "The institute can use you to your breaking point and no one will question it. Why would you do that?"
"Shut up..."
"Rong... that’s Rong Yufei’s family name. That last name is practically royalty like mine, but you have it. And no one in the institute knows your actual name, just Phantom. Why is that?"
"Xin. Lin. Hua."
Xin Linhua flinches. He takes a step back. This is the second time he’s facing such pressure from Rong Yizhan.
The first time was the day he got here when he kept taunting the youth and forced him to become his Sentinel. And now, when he kept asking questions and edging him to a break point.
He grits his teeth, taking a step forward. He refuses to back down, his expression changes swiftly alongside his mood.
"Yaras?." Xin Linhua grabs his shoulders "As much as I find this attitude of yours adorable, you’re going to have to give in to me today."
It happens so fast, the only thing Xin Linhua registers is the pain exploding across his back as his body hits cold metal.
"Fuck!"
Rong Yizhan pins him to the wall, one hand locking his neck and the other pins his right hand above his head.
"Don’t touch me."
"I hate to break it to you, Yaras?, but you’re the one who has me in a complicated position."