Reborn To Be The Imperial Consort [BL]-Chapter 106: Buds of A Marigold — I

"If you have so much time to judge others, give me a piggyback ride instead."

"No way, no way, I’m as thin as a fishbone, do you want me to snap in half under your weight?"

"You bastard!" Li Xinyuan was so angry that he laughed, forgetting his pain for a moment as he raised his fist and pummelled his best friend, twisting his knuckles on the latter’s temple. "What are you implying? Calling me fat, are you?!"

The young adult let out an exclamation of pain. "Ow, ow, ow! That hurts, dickhead. Who called you fat? I didn’t even say anything, you’re too quick to jump into conclusions, is that my fault, huh?! Huh, is it?!"

Li Xinyuan gritted his teeth, closing his eyes as he took a deep calming breath and scoffed. "..." Calm down. Beating this guy up would be animal abuse and murder was a crime.

He wanted to become a surgeon, a dang good surgeon. He couldn’t afford spending jail time just because of murdering a fool in pain induced rage.

Murder was a crime. Murder was a crime—

"If you have so much energy then just walk faster instead of asking me for a piggyback ride," that shithead grumbled, rubbing his slightly abused temple.

—Forget it, his family had money and connections. Li Xinyuan was going to kill this monkey in human skin!

"You donkey’s left swollen hoove!" The teenager raged, raising his fist to hit the older male. "Laozi will punch you to a vegetable! If you have so much energy then study better and at least get above average grades!"

...

The journey to the cafe was an abnormally long and interesting one credited to their endless bickering. But when they finally reached there and placed their orders, while taking a seat to wait for their drinks Li Xinyuan let out an agonised groan, sprawling haplessly on the table as he grumbled to himself, feeling his body crumble on the inside.

It was such a pain.

Watching Li Xinyuan’s painful spiral downwards, ◼◼◼◼ let out a sigh, resting his chin on his palm as he propped his elbow on the table and busied himself with looking around the cafe.

It was a cozy place, full of the scent of the bittersweet aroma of coffee, sweets, chocolates and baked goods. The fragrance all intertwined with one another, mingling and mixing together in a dance that was in the air as they tickled the noses and hungry stomachs of those who sat there.

Li Xinyuan groaned to himself, making quiet noises as if he was dying. "I hate this... I hate this... I just want my coffee— give me my coffee, I’m begging."

"Hey, hey, hey. No need to resort to begging, dude," his best friend chortled as he shook his head while grinning widely. "Our coffees will be ready in a few minutes at most, you can endure till then, yeah?"

Li Xinyuan moved his head with great effort, facing the window and the beautiful flowers bloomed and potted on the windowsill. "You’d be surprised." He scowled.

It meant that enduring would be hard for him. But he would be able to brave through it for a few minutes. No more than that.

He hoped his best friend would aptly understand that.

The other male rolled his eyes and let out a deep sigh as if he was suffering. With his chin propped on the heel of his palm, he turned to glance at the counter and pursed his lips, waiting for the coffee.

"You’re whining so much," he commented breezily, letting out a quiet laugh and covered his lips. "Just wait a few minutes more. Then we will take a quick shortcut from an alley."

Li Xinyuan huffed, rolling his eyes under the cover of his eyelids as he grumbled. "Is there a shortcut to the campus. From here?"

He sounded somewhat disbelieving. How come he didn’t know about something like a shortcut? After all the years he’d been frequenting the cafe from the hostel.

"Yup." His best friend replied, smiling happily as he drummed his fingers on his cheeks. Li Xinyuan scowled again, ignoring the pain throbbing behind his eyes as he responded. "There is one."

"How come I don’t know about it?"

"How would you know, Mr. Ace?" He asked teasingly, thoroughly enjoying the younger male’s shitty attitude thanks to his headaches. "You’re always on time and more often than not, early. I doubt you ever had to look for a shortcut."

"Shut up." Li Xinyuan grunted and closed his eyes. "We are not taking a sketchy shortcut. If something happens I don’t want to be responsible for it." He paused. "I’m studying to be a surgeon, I’m not one yet."

"Come on, I’m suggesting it for you, aren’t I?"

Li Xinyuan felt his eyelids twitch. Why did this extremely ominous premonition fill his heart at the very thought of taking a shortcut.

"I’m not that weak. We don’t need to take a crappy shortcut. I can walk."

"Xinyuan—"

"No. Nope." Li Xinyuan rejected firmly. "Screw it, we are not taking a shortcut I don’t know about. I have a bad, and I mean bad feeling about this thing."

His best friend threw his hands up, an exasperated look on his face as he shook his head. "You, your paranoia and your ominous premonitions! Let’s just take the dang shortcut, bro."

Li Xinyuan rolled his eyes a hard as his migraine could possibly permit. "Trust me."

"Source?"

"Trust me bro." The teenager humoured him coldly.

Li Xinyuan... He had his reasons to be paranoid. To be precise, personal and familial reasons. But ◼◼◼◼ didn’t need to know that, did he?

... Maybe he should have told him the reason after all. It would have changed so many things.

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Author has something to say:

(Author always has a lot to say, :sob:)

Author (scowling): Hey you asshole narrator leave me alone! (Throws a pen at the sky)

YuanYuan (looking at author in disdain): Leave her be. Better yet? Ignore her, she’s just tweaking.

Author (whips around to glare at the man): Hey, I just want to demand an Oscar for myself, could you be less mean?

YuanYuan (sniffs): N o.