RKNDL chapter 6

At 7 PM, Wen Yun took off his Bluetooth earphones, finishing the online meeting.

Knock, knock.

A knock came at the door. Wen Yun said, “Come in.”

Lin Jing opened the door, walked to Wen Yun’s desk, and said, “Mr. Wen, it’s been delivered.”

Wen Yun asked, “What did he say?”

Lin Jing replied, “…He said thank you.”

Wen Yun looked up at Lin Jing, grasping the key point in the sentence: “Did he say that to you or to me?”

Lin Jing: “…”

Lin Jing replied tactfully, “Mr. Xie didn’t open the bag.”

Meaning, he had no idea what Wen Yun had sent, and that thank you was meant for Lin Jing.

Xie Zhinian didn’t say a word to him.

Wen Yun was silent for a moment, but he didn’t seem surprised by the answer. He grunted lightly, then switched the conversation back to work, not mentioning Xie Zhinan again.

On the other side, Xie Zhinan was self-brainwashing.

Treating employees like family is one of the core values of the company’s new corporate culture.

So this tube of ointment… probably doesn’t mean anything special, right?

He sat on the subway, carefully holding the paper bag on his lap, as if it contained not a tube of ointment, but some rare treasure, or maybe even a bomb that would explode at the slightest touch.

This made his movements stiff and awkward, almost like a penguin father holding an egg.

The subway was crowded. When someone lost their balance and swayed in front of Xie Zhinan, he immediately bent down to protect the paper bag in his arms. But the person just stumbled briefly and then steadied themselves. His overreaction made it seem strange, and the people around him cast puzzled looks his way.

Xie Zhinan: “…”

Passerby: “…”

Xie Zhinan slowly straightened up, lowered his head, and pretended not to notice. He perfectly followed the principle of “as long as I’m not embarrassed, the awkwardness is someone else’s problem.”

If this were a chibi drawing, Xie Zhinan’s eyes would probably have turned into small dots, with six round dots floating above his round head. The passerby’s round head would also have six small black dots floating above it.

An awkward and silent atmosphere.

After he got home, Xie Zhinan wandered around, fed Caramel, ate dinner, took a shower, and by 9 PM, he lay in bed with his eyes closed, looking as though he was about to fall asleep.

Although his mind was anything but calm.

His thoughts were tangled, almost driving him crazy, questioning why he hadn’t taken care of his wound.

It hurts! It hurts so much! It hurts!!!

The wound felt like it was tearing his heart out, even though it wasn’t really anything serious. Maybe it was just because someone had suddenly shown him concern, and now it wanted to assert its presence.

Twenty minutes later, Xie Zhinan opened his eyes again, got out of bed, and walked into the living room in his bunny-eared slippers, making clopping sounds. He opened the cabinet by the TV stand, took out the paper bag he had deliberately hidden and pretended not to notice, and pulled out the ointment inside. He applied it to his hand.

It was supposed to be for burns, but for some reason, when Xie Zhinan applied it, the skin on the back of his hand felt even hotter, almost burning him.

He quickly put the ointment back into the paper bag and returned the bag to the cabinet, pretending that nothing had happened.

He clopped back to his bed, lay down, and finally, his mind quieted.

It felt as though a deeply suppressed desire had finally been satisfied, and the tension was released.

….

In the following days, Xie Zhinan saw Wen Yun in the cafeteria.

Every time, Wen Yun sat not far from him. Xie Zhinan always felt like he was being watched, but whenever he looked up, Wen Yun had his eyes lowered, eating slowly and elegantly, clearly not looking at him.

Xie Zhinan felt a little embarrassed, since this was one of the three great illusions of humanity—

It seemed like he was looking at me.

But in reality, it was just self-indulgence.

It seemed that the last time was really just about employee care.

Wen Yun didn’t appear to want much interaction with him.

Xie Zhinan suppressed the strange emotion deep inside his heart, sighed in relief, and thought that this was probably for the best.

A few days passed, and the knot in his heart finally loosened. He gradually accepted that Wen Yun, with his down-to-earth style, would come to the employee cafeteria for lunch every day.

He relaxed his guard, no longer sneaking glances at Wen Yun in the cafeteria, nor did he have the nervous look of someone ready to flee the moment he noticed any movement from Wen Yun.

Lunch that day was curry beef brisket with pork cutlets. Xie Zhinan was an easily satisfied person, and once he stopped feeling on edge, he thoroughly enjoyed his meal with great focus.

But one should never let their guard down.

Xie Zhinan had completely forgotten that some predators, in order to catch their prey, would patiently crouch in the grass, waiting for the cautious little animals peeking out of their burrows. The moment the animals felt safe and leisurely came out to graze, the predator would suddenly pounce, sinking its sharp fangs into the prey’s warm neck with a lethal strike.

By the time he realized this, Wen Yun was already sitting across from him.

Xie Zhinan was in the middle of biting into a piece of fried pork cutlet when he froze and looked up in shock.

With a soft *plop,* the pork cutlet fell from his mouth.

It was an embarrassing scene. Xie Zhinan hastily lowered his head. Luckily, the cutlet landed in his bowl and not on the table or floor. Still, he felt incredibly awkward. With his thin skin and tendency to blush at the slightest emotional stir, his face was undoubtedly flushed by now. Even with his head lowered, his exposed ears gave him away.

Wen Yun didn’t move his chopsticks. He looked at Xie Zhinan with an expressionless face, first taking in the soft swirl of hair on his head, then moving down to his slightly reddened ears.

Xie Zhinan: “…”

He could feel Wen Yun staring at him, and his back instantly stiffened.

Grabbing a napkin, he quickly wiped his mouth and mumbled, “Good day, Mr. Wen. I’ve finished eating. Please enjoy your meal—”

His voice cut off abruptly.

Xie Zhinan froze mid-motion as he tried to stand up, his body stiffening in shock. He looked up in confusion and alarm.

For a moment, he couldn’t comprehend what had happened. His mind blanked out, even suspecting that a snake had somehow gotten into the cafeteria. Otherwise, why did something cold and smooth suddenly brush against his ankle?

He stared blankly for a full five seconds before he realized what it was.

It was the tip of Wen Yun’s leather shoe.

Black, cold, and exerting no force, but it firmly prevented him from standing up.

Xie Zhinan’s legs went weak.

For a fleeting moment, he wondered if he was hallucinating. He stared at Wen Yun’s face with wide eyes as if he had seen a ghost.

Wen Yun’s face remained expressionless, his demeanor calm as he ate slowly and gracefully, showing no signs of the mischief he was engaged in beneath the table.

Xie Zhinan hesitated, doubting his perception for a full thirty seconds before quietly attempting to move his foot away. As expected, it was met with unyielding resistance.

He remained silent for another minute, seemingly trying to rebuild his mental framework. Finally, he resigned himself, sat back down, lowered his head, and said nothing.

“Not running anymore?” Wen Yun asked lightly, not even lifting his eyes.

“…I was not running,” Xie Zhinan muttered awkwardly.

Wen Yun snorted, and the sound made Xie Zhinan’s entire body tremble.

Noticing this, Wen Yun asked coolly, “Are you afraid of me, Xie Zhinan?”

Xie Zhinan: “…”

He sat rigidly upright, shoulders slightly hunched, arms straightened, and fists clenched tightly on his knees, resembling a student caught misbehaving.

Pressed for a response, he tightened his fists further, his heart pounding in his chest. The rush of blood to his head made it impossible to think clearly. Forced by Wen Yun’s words, he finally raised his head and glanced at him cautiously, only to quickly avert his gaze. He stammered, “No… not afraid.”

Wen Yun: “…”

Not afraid, yet speaking with stammers.

His demeanor was so frustrating that it made Wen Yun feel the urge to crumple him up like a ball and knead him until the frustration dissipated.

With his head lowered, Xie Zhinan caught a glimpse of Wen Yun’s hand resting on the table out of the corner of his eye.

That hand was cold, pale, and elegantly slender, with defined joints. For some reason, the fingertips pressed lightly against the table surface.

…Was he planning to hit him?

Shocked by this thought, Xie Zhinan lifted his head abruptly.

His wide eyes reflected the cafeteria’s bright white light, which shimmered faintly as his pupils moved slightly, giving him a soft, somewhat pitiable appearance.

His worry was written all over his face, so plainly that Wen Yun didn’t know what wild assumptions he might have made. With a sigh, Wen Yun asked, “Has your burn healed?”

“Huh?” Xie Zhinan let out a dumbfounded sound and instinctively looked down at the fingertips on his left hand, the ones burned a few days ago.

They were as good as new now. The skin on his fingers was smooth and fair, with no trace of injury left.

“Let me see your hand.”

Xie Zhinan had completely lost the ability to think. Obediently, he placed his hand on the table, but as soon as he did, he realized something was off and quickly pulled it back.

It was a clumsy attempt to appear unaffected by his ex-boyfriend.

Wen Yun noticed the smooth fingers and, seeing they were fine, simply said, “As long as it’s healed.”

His gaze was so piercing that Xie Zhinan felt the tips of his fingers start to burn again. Unconsciously, he rubbed the spot where he had been burned with his thumb and murmured an acknowledgment.

Wen Yun’s tone turned cold. “And then?”

And then what?

Xie Zhinan blinked his light-colored, round eyes, looking at Wen Yun in confusion.

Wen Yun said, “I thought saying ‘thank you’ after receiving someone’s help was the most basic social etiquette.”

Ah, right, that’s what it was.

Feeling criticized, Xie Zhinan grew embarrassed. His face flushed red again as he braced himself and struggled to come up with something appropriate to say in this situation. In a small voice, he said, “Th-thank you for your concern and the ointment. My hand is… much better now.”

Wen Yun replied, “Oh. So you do know how to thank me.”

There was a hint of sarcasm in his tone. Xie Zhinan lowered his head, anxiously rubbing his hands together while trying to organize his words. “I… I’m very grateful for the company’s care for its employees. I… I will remember our company’s corporate culture.”

Wen Yun: “…”

Wen Yun remained silent for a full minute.