The Inconceivable Flame: A Fallen Angel's Disguise

Xiao Zhiren gritted his teeth but tried to hide his frustration. "I told you that I’m not a saint."

Ru’s brows rose a bit in mirth. His taut muscles under the white cotton shirt made him appear casual and yet elegant. But Ru was looking with merriment at him because his exquisite face had gone black when she called him a ’saint’.

"Take a seat and let me have a look at your wound," Ru offered as she simpered.

"It’s okay. I’ll see a doctor after getting back to the equestrian club." He had no intention of joining Qin Qu to the equestrian club but in the end, he had to listen to his best friend. Everything was fine when he started riding the black caviar but suddenly a rabbit came in his way and the horse was spooked.

After that, Xiao Zhiren couldn’t get control over the horse no matter how much he tried. He fell from the horse in his attempt to calm the horse.

"It’s better to treat the wound as soon as possible. Let me just have a look." Ru pushed him on the rock by the side of the lake before Xiao Zhiren could even argue.

He grimaced as Ru lifted his jeans up to expose his knee completely. She took some water from the lake to clean his wound before, pulling out a small packet from her sleeve. As she sprinkled the powdery substance on his wound, Xiao Zhiren didn’t wince at all. Xie Rong was quite impressed since she knew better how much that anti-inflammatory medicine burned.

"Oh, our Mr. Saint is actually quite brave." She regarded with attention.

Xiao Zhiren scowled saying, "Oi! Can’t you stop calling me Mr. Saint?"

"I don’t know your name, what else am I supposed to call you?" Ru argued as she pulled out a sanitized bandage out of her pocket.

"Xiao Zhiren..." He answered with a straight face but Ru laughed out loud making him clench his jaw.

"So, you’re really a saint?" Ru said in between her fit of a laugh. "I mean your name’s literal meaning is actually a saint. Zhiren... A Saint." She further said in amusement.

Xiao Zhi-Ren’s face contorted at her response. Ru wrapped the bandage around his knee in silence. As she focused on work, the teasing smile on her face had vanished. When Xiao Zhiren saw her somber look, he was lost in deep thought.

He actually wanted to know why the ’young man’ before him was carrying medicine and bandage with ’him’ but ’his’ tranquil face made Xiao Zhiren forget all about it.

"Why did you say that something bad happens whenever we meet?" Xiao Zhiren questioned looking straight into her eyes.

Ru’s expression didn’t change as she answered, "I broke your cellphone last time and this time, you got injured."

Xiao Zhiren scowled as he retorted, "That could only mean that we are running down bad luck."

Ru stared into his ink black orbs and said, "No, it means you and I share bad luck."

Xiao Zhiren was a bit taken aback by her serious look and words. "Or perhaps, we share sad luck."

Ru’s thin lips slightly uplifted in a sour smile as she thought, ’Sharing sad luck is worse than the bad one.’ She didn’t speak her thoughts out and stood up after wrapping the bandage. "This is my compensation for breaking your phone last time."

Xiao Zhiren looked down at the neatly wrapped bandage and said, "You saved my brother last time. That was enough compensation."

Ru shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly as she said, "You mean that haughty, snobby, and a bit childish kiddo?" Xiao Zhiren pursed his lips at the way she described his younger brother but since he couldn’t argue, he nodded. "Well, it wasn’t a big deal, Mr. Saint."

"Seriously?" Xiao Zhiren glared at the stubborn ’young man’ before him.

Ru raised her hands in surrender as she said, "Fine, I won’t say it anymore." ’For now.’ She left the last part to herself.

"Do you like to compensate or something?" Xiao Zhiren questioned gazing at the side of ’his’ face. "We can get even in the future. All our life is ahead of us."

"When you were leaving the house today, did you think that this would happen with you?" Xiao Zhiren furrowed his brows and shook his head in response. "If you can’t even guarantee your next breath then how can you say that we have all our life ahead of us."

She stayed quiet for a minute before she went on, "Saying that we have all our life ahead of us is almost like convincing ourselves with the illusions of lies. Always remember, life doesn’t have a habit of giving second chances."

Ru patted the horse that was grazing beside them and intended to leave when she heard his voice again, "Oi! What should I call you?"

Ru didn’t turn around but her voice rang out, "You can call me whatever you like." This voice was low, pleasant and deep.

But the words stunned Xiao Zhiren to his spot. As another distant voice rang in his mind, "What should I call you?" He had asked back then.

"You can call me whatever you like." The feminine voice was feeble and hoarse with a tinge of loneliness and emptiness.

Both the voices overlapped in Xiao Zhi-Ren’s mind as he stood frozen at his spot. When he came around, Ru was nowhere in sight. He darted his eyes all around but the ’young man’ had vanished into thin air.

Xiao Zhiren lifted his head and looked at the clear blue sky as he whispered, "Then I’ll call you Bellissimo.[1] This name suite you perfectly. You’re not just handsome, you really have a lovely soul." He smiled to himself.

Xiao Zhiren always believed that it was rare in this age for people to accept their mistakes and actually apologize for it as well. But Ru made him realize that those people might be rare, but they still existed.

[1] Bellissimo – Italian for lovely if he has a lovely spirit, soul, or is just plain handsome.