THE NEBULA

This time, Shen Wei glances at Zhao YunLan and the Regent in turn. Somehow, he could feel there is an unknown atmosphere brewing between them. 'Say it again!' Zhao YunLan pushed, 'You call me what!?'

The Regent lowering his gaze as if realizing his mistake bows deeply as he always does, 'Lord of the guardians...' He said. 'Because you are the head of new division...I call you that way...I hope Lord of the guardians doesn't mind it...' He proceeds. However, the foxes will never be called the trickiest creatures if they can't dodge the trap.

Zhao YunLan sighs, here he thought that he could find a clue about the meaning of his existence in the present time but it seems the way is not yet opened. 'Alright...Just forget it...' He said to the Regent then turns to Shen Wei, 'You have the booklet?'

'Mhm...' Shen Wei nodded, swallowed his curiosity once again.

'Then let's read...' Zhao YunLan said as he strides to Shen Wei, leaving the Regent. Less does he knows that the Regent's eyes keep following him silently.

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'So...How is it?' Lin Jing asked soon after he saw both men appear from the entrance.

Zhao YunLan not replying, just smacks his body to the sofa. Sang Zan and Wang Zheng glance at each other while Zhu Hong seems to understand the voiceless answer from the man's silent manner.

'Director Shen...' Guo ChangCheng asked the always quiet man timidly.

'If your chief can't reply, what kind of reply could I give you?' Shen Wei returns the question.

'None of those with mind control ability match with the criteria of the crime scene...' Zhao YunLan replied, 'Most of them just could control less than five people at once...So the idea of controlling all of the jail guards' minds to the point they don't even remember anything is out of the specifications...'

'Besides, Xiao Cài's appearance in the deserted amusement park...No body have a good answer for that...' Shen Wei added.

'Well...That's that...' Da Qing showed up out of nowhere, 'Your current problem that needs to be solved is this...' He gave Zhao YunLan an envelope.

'What's this?'

'Something you forgot...' Da Qing said.

Zhao YunLan opens the envelope and after reading the letter inside, he shouts. 'Oh, no!' He stands abruptly, 'I totally forgot!'

'Told you...' Da Qing muttered.

'Hey, Shen Wei! We should move in by tomorrow...' Zhao YunLan could ignore everything.

'It's not we...Just you...' Shen Wei said calmly.

'You are not moving?' Zhao YunLan asked, even he is not realizing, there is a thick disappointment inside his voice.

'I already managed Director's stuff a few days ago...' Chu ShuZhi replied for Shen Wei.

'What!?' Zhao YunLan shouted even louder, 'Why don't you tell me anything!?' He asked the nonchalant man.

'Zhao YunLan...Do you need some help?' Shen Wei asked.

'No, I don't!' Zhao YunLan replied.

'That's why I don't say anything to you...' Shen Wei said, 'Because I know that you will say that...' While everyone dying hides their laughter, Zhao YunLan can't hide his irritation. Really, at times like this, he misses the old Shen Wei.

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'MingAn...' Shen YeZun sighs heavily, 'Can you stop sticking to me?' He asked.

'Why?' Zhao MingAn returned the question, clutching even closer to his lover, sniffing the man's neck like never can get enough of YeZun's scent.

'What do you mean by "why"?' Shen YeZun is irritated, 'What if someone sees us?' He pushes the young man to be a little further from him, hiding his reddened ears.

'Professor Shen...' Zhao MingAn is a smart young man, of course, he notices that his lover is shy. 'We finally can be alone...At least let me relish this rare moment...' He whispered in the sensitive ears while his hands roamed along Shen YeZun's body, slipping inside the man's clothes' opening and creeping inside.

'You!' Shen YeZun lost his words, 'How if Xiao Cài sees us? It's not good for his education...' He muttered but not even pushed the young man away.

'What kind of education...He is a demon-beast...' Zhao MingAn rolling his eyes, 'Don't worry...Xiao Cài is busy with his new pond presently, accompanied by your assistants...' He bites the soft nape.

'Pond? What pond?' Shen YeZun tensed.

'In the South wing's park...'

'What?' Shen YeZun gaps, 'You sent him with unfamiliar people that far?' He asked in disbelief, 'Zhao MingAn! Do you know how dangerous is that? Xiao Cài is still a baby...'

'A toddler not a baby...' Zhao MingAn correcting, 'Besides, South wing garden is not that far...'

'Still...' Shen YeZun can't proceed as he is very worried and decided to find the baby kappa.

'Professor Shen, where are you going?'

'Find Xiao Cài...'

Shen YeZun almost leaves when Zhao MingAn holds his hand, 'Professor Shen...Do I less important than Xiao Cài for you?' He asked with watery puppy eyes.

'Of course, not...' Shen YeZun was stunned by the question.

'But why do you always avoid me and rush to find Xiao Cài?'

'Well, that's because...' Shen YeZun lowered his gaze, 'That's because...'

'That's because...' Zhao MingAn tried to help.

'MingAn...Don't be angry with me...' Shen YeZun said, timidly.

'I won't...'

'That is because I'm scared...'

Zhao MingAn gaps confusedly, 'Scared?' He asked, 'To me?'

'Well...If you are around me, I always feel that my body is tensed, my hands and feet are fidgeting and sweating unknowingly...My heart beats even faster like I've been running for miles and my stomach...I can feel like many butterflies fly around...I don't know what happened to me at first but then I check the symptoms, they are matched with our body's reaction when we are scared...' Shen YeZun explain innocently.

Zhao MingAn is totally dumbfounded as he heard the explanation, his mouth is opened but he can't say a thing. As he is confused about how to explain, Zhao MingAn grabs Shen YeZun's hand and puts it in his chest. 'Can you feel it?' Zhao MingAn asked, 'The same heartbeats...'

Shen YeZun touches his chest with his other hand, indeed the heartbeats' rhythm is the same. 'But...But...How...'

Zhao MingAn sighs, his lover indeed more senior but very naive. 'Professor Shen...It's not scared...It's called as excited...'

'Excited?' Shen YeZun was confused, 'But...Excited about what?'

Zhao MingAn sighs softly pulls his lover into his hug, 'How if we find out together?' He asked.

'Ho...How...' Shen YeZun stuttered.

Zhao MingAn not replying just slowly kisses the man, nipping both clumsy lips. His hands open YeZun's shirt's buttons one by one while his naughty fingers caressing the man's soft skin, send tickles sensations in YeZun's whole body.

'MingAn...' Shen YeZun muttered his lover's name in the middle of his erratic breath.

Just by hearing the tone that YeZun used to call his name, Zhao MingAn knows that his lover begins to lose control. Tenderly leads the fragile body to the empty table, stripping the annoying spun of yarns that getting in his way. Licking the delicate skin eagerly as if it is Dionysus's ambrosia, bite it voraciously as if it is Aphrodite's golden apple.

Shen YeZun's head feels like in the clouds, his lover's touches are just like morphine that makes him addicted for the first time, intoxicating as strong as the new wine that makes him fly to the ninth sky. They prepare to throw away their sanity when the bell rings.

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Zhao YunLan can't stop laughing when Zhao MingAn tells him the whole story when they sit together in the cafeteria, 'Can you believe that!? We are just about to enter the deeper part when that brat comes back...' Zhao MingAn can't hide his irritation, 'It's not just that! That brat also smeared some disgusting mud to Professor Shen's clothes...He must take a shower and the whole mood is disappeared instantly...'

'Is that even Xiao Cài's fault?' Zhao YunLan asked in the middle of his laugh, 'You too, how can you be so horny in the greenhouse?' He asked, 'That is a public place, you know...'

'Anywhere is just the same...Professor Shen always brings that little devil with him...And every time, that troublemaker is always destroying everything...' Zhao MingAn replied honestly, 'That Xiao Cài...I really want to turn him into cap cài...' He growled.

'Hey...Hey...Hey!' Zhao YunLan tried to cast away the criminal thought from his younger brother's head. 'Just because he looks like cài xin it doesn't mean that you can treat him like vegetables...Besides, do you want YeZun to hate you if he overheard what you just say?'

Zhao MingAn rubs his head desperately, 'Damn...This is should be our honeymoon period...' He growled but then lifts his eyes, 'Then...You come here...What can I do for you?' He asked Zhao YunLan...'

'Ah...Now that you ask...' Zhao YunLan bites his cake, 'I'm about to move...I need your help to take care of my stuff...'

'When?'

Zhao YunLan sighs, 'Today...'

'Today!?' Zhao MingAn almost shouts, 'Geez, Ge...You and Director Shen surely move so fast...'

'What do you mean?' Zhao YunLan asked in his dumb face.

'Our parents just acknowledged your relationship yesterday and now you two are cohabitating...'

Zhao YunLan takes a deep breath, sighs heavily to handle his irritation. 'It's my own apartment...Shen Wei rents another place...'

Zhao MingAn nods but then as if remembering something he smirks, 'Umm...Ge...Can I borrow your apartment?' He asked.

Zhao YunLan who almost drink water stopped, 'For what?' He asked, somehow his intuition reminds him.

'For my date...'

'Hell no!' Zhao YunLan shouted.

'Stingy...' Zhao MingAn pouted. 'I knew it...You want to use that place to do it with Director Shen first...' He said.

Zhao YunLan spitting out the water that he gulped as he almost choked, 'Hey, you brat! Can you at least watch your tongue!?' He shouted.

'What's so wrong?' Zhao MingAn asked, 'Even Pa already notice it...Why should you cover it up?'

'You...' Zhao YunLan sighs, 'Just go get ready! We have a lot to do today...'

'Alright...Alright...' Zhao MingAn said, 'I'll find Professor Shen first...' He proceeds as he stands up.

'Go fast!' Zhao YunLan replied

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'Professor Shen...' Zhao MingAn called out his lover but Shen YeZun is nowhere to be found. Faintly, he could hear water noise in Xiao Cài's chamber. Zhao MingAn strides to the room and opens the curtain, 'Professor Shen...' He called out again but YeZun is not there just the baby kappa who plays with the wooden ducks.

'Xiao Cài...Where is Papa Shen?' Zhao MingAn asked. The little kappa tilts his head but then turns his face as if he doesn't want to tell.

Zhao MingAn sighs, 'Why do I feel like I'm in a relationship with a man with a child right now...' He mumbled, 'Hey, Xiao Cài...This is an important thing, okay!?' He started to lose his patience. But instead of answering, Xiao Cài dives inside the artificial pond and does not come to the surface for quite some time. 'Xiao Cài...' Zhao MingAn called him but the little devil is not even showed up, 'Xiao Cài...' Zhao MingAn begins to feel a little bit worried, 'Xiao Cài! Xiao Cài!' He opens his lab coat and starts searching inside the pond but suddenly, Xiao Cài pulls him and the poor Zhao MingAn splashed into the pond.

Zhao MingAn gaps in disbelief, how can he fall into the little kappa's trap? Now he is all soaking wet, how can he help Zhao YunLan in this situation? 'Xiao Cài!!!' He growled in a deep irritation but the baby kappa is chuckling happily, 'Come here you!' He tried to catch the little devil. But kappa is known for its swimming capability, no matter how fast Zhao MingAn is, he can't catch the devilish creature.

Suddenly, the happy Xiao Cài changes drastically. He looks so terrified with eyes that are fixated on the glasses behind Zhao MingAn. And when Zhao MingAn turns around, he could find Zhang JiKeng's manifestation flapping its wings behinds him.

Without a second thought, Zhao MingAn grabs the baby kappa and runs out of the place, avoiding the creature while protecting Xiao Cài at all cost. But the creature looks so determined this time, it chases after Zhao MingAn without paying attention to the surroundings as it's breaks everything that stands between it and Zhao MingAn.

'Xiao Cài...Go and find Papa Shen...' Zhao MingAn who somehow understands that he was the one that is chased by the creature puts Xiao Cài down to the ground. But Xiao Cài refuses, clutching on Zhao MingAn's shirt as strong as he could.

'It's okay, Xiao Cài...They will accompany you to find Papa Shen...' Zhao MingAn glanced at the Flower tribe people who are there and ready to help but Xiao Cài keeps clutching at Zhao MingAn as if know the reason why the young man wants him to go.

'MingAn...' Shen YeZun who heard the ruckus rushed to search for both of them, 'Are you alright?'

'I'm alright...' Zhao MingAn replied, quickly passing Xiao Cài to his lover despite the little creature's resistance.

Exactly when YeZun reaches the baby kappa, the walls behind Zhao MingAn break down. Two claws get through the broken wall and catch the unprepared young man, yank his body out of his hideout. The flower tribe people lift their hands and the swirls of flower petals cycle surround the creature, slashing its claws but the wounds are recovered so fast.

Instead of fighting back, the creature is grinning. 'If...You...Want...Him...Back...Come...To...The...Place...Where...Everything...Begin...Alone...'

'MingAn!' Shen YeZun tried to grab his lover back but Zhao MingAn brushed his hands off the young man's hands.

'Don't come!' That was the last sentence Zhao MingAn could say before the creature brought him away.

'Ah Ming!' Zhao YunLan who late reaches the crime scene can't do anything as the creature is already out of the shooting range.

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'Where is he?' Shen Wei who comes soon after he heard about the incident looks so worried.

'Inside...' Zhao YunLan opens the medical ward's door so that Shen Wei could see his shaken younger brother who stares blankly at the wall in front of him.

'YeZun! YeZun!' Sitting in the medical bed, Shen Wei tried to call his twins brother but Shen YeZun does not react.

'His closest person was taken in front of him...No wonder he became like this...' The doctor explained, 'Director Shen...Please, be strong...'

Shen Wei clenches shut his eyes, hugs his cemented younger brother. 'We will bring him back...YeZun...Don't worry...' He whispered.

After everyone leaves him, Shen YeZun's eyes move slowly. The tears that he holds at his utmost strength finally fall, 'I know, Ge...I will bring him back...I must to...' He muttered.

The nebula, in astronomy, is a cloud of gas and dust in outer space that is visible in the night sky, either as an indistinct bright patch or as a dark silhouette against other luminous matter.

In medicine, a nebula is a clouded spot in the cornea that causes defective vision.

When someone you love is in a danger, it feels like there is a dark cloud that covers your eyes. However, if you let the dark cloud also covers your mind then everything will turn mess.

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Picture credit to Wikipedia.

Cap cài: literally means mix vegetables, a Hokkien-derived term of Fujian's cuisine.

Cài Xin: Commonly called Choy Sum, leafy vegetables that commonly used in Chinese cuisines