𝙁𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 - 24𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩, 2014

"Darling, it is okay if we won't make it. No need to drive so fast." Xiulan's mom lightly touched her son's hand, currently placed on the gear lever.

"I said we're going to make it. I know how important it is, so please stop disturbing my driving." Xiulan said and sped up. The air in the car became heavy in an instant.

"Stop talking to your mother like this. It's your fault we're running late anyway." Xiulan's father straightened up on the back seat.

"How is it my fault? Both of you took ages to get ready." Xiulan frowned and his level of annoyance rose. The air was suddenly so thick it could be cut with a knife.

"If you weren't spending your days on some ridiculous castings and got yourself a real job, we wouldn't be forced to go there in the first place." His father snapped back, referring to the meeting they were running late to.

"I never asked you to do this for me. I won't marry her anyway." Xiulan said stubbornly. Marrying for wealth and status was something he hated the most. His parents met that way and his mom was never truly happy. He swore to himself never to make a mistake like that.

"Darling, I think you're going a bit too fast." A worrying undertone could be heard in his mother’s voice. She never doubted her son’s driving, yet she felt concerned once emotions were involved.

"For your information, father, I already got a role and signed the contract. I have no interest in the marriage any time soon. I will repeat these words to her." Xiulan replied calmly while ignoring his mother.

"What was that?! If you think this is appropriate behavior, stop this car right away and get out." Xiulan's father has had enough and so did Xiulan. They fought at home prior to the ride, so things escalated quickly. Xiulan’s parents never understood him nor took the effort to acknowledge him. There were only standards he had to meet to make them happy. Standards, that weren’t to his liking.

Xiulan stepped on the brake and the car's tires cried under the pressure of the maneuver.

The next thing his memory recorded was the smell of sterilizers. He couldn't feel his hands and legs. His lungs were being crushed, he couldn’t breathe. There were bright lights and white color everywhere with rhythmical beeping echoing in his ears.

It took months until he fully recovered. All of his limbs were temporarily paralyzed and his lungs were punctured by his ribs in three places. Although no visible scars were left behind and the doctors did a wonderful job, the emotional damage was way worse than any injuries.

His father died instantly when the truck hit them and his mother passed away after few hours in the hospital. The cause of the accident wasn't Xiulan's sudden change in speed but the level of alcohol in the truck driver's blood. It hit them from the back and pushed them off the road to a nearby tree. The car was sandwiched and Xiulan survived only because the tree hit the passenger’s seat.

Since then, Xiulan hasn't driven a car nor let anyone else except An Ni be his driver.

𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩 - 19𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺, 2020:

"Senior! I brought a car with me today, if you want to, I can take you home." Jian's expression indicated it took a lot of effort to ask this. He was becoming tired of all of the awkward encounters they always had.

On the other hand, Wen Xiulan's look darkened. He knew Jian Lan meant no harm, but every time someone mentioned a car or anything linked to it, his body tensed up.

"That won't be necessary, thank you. I'll be going then." He declined the offer coldly and exited the room without another word.

Jian Lan was left alone. His heart was pounding faster and he felt the disappointment building up inside.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵? This was not a response he was expecting. This wasn’t a normal response. Did his senior really dislike him that much? Did he do something that upset him?

He shouldn't have made the first move and try to get closer to him, even the director ordered him not to do that. Yet, he just went and messed it all up even more.

"Shoot..." Jian whispered to himself and squatted down, making himself comfortable on the floor. The sweat on his body started to cool down and light shivers were sent down his spine.

He glanced at his hand and noticed his bracelet slipping off a bit. It was a simple black string with a single wooden pearl tied to it. His brother made this to him on father’s day two years ago. He cherished it ever since.

𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. He thought to himself and started playing with the piece of jewelry. He'd always done it when drifting away to his thoughts.

"𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘟𝘪𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵. 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺."Were the words the director told him after the first session. Jian Lan had taken it to heart and avoided the other lead since then.

Though it seemed like Xiulan maintained a good relationship with Hua Ling pretty quickly. On top of that, he showed no interest in Jian even after the whole three days. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳? 𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰, 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Feeling frustrated, Jian stood up to leave. His vision went black and tiny sparkles appeared everywhere.

𝘜𝘨𝘩, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. He closed his eyes quickly and pressed his palm on the forehead. Low iron deficiency has been getting worse with his extensive exercise. He was surprised he hasn’t passed out yet.

The unpleasant feeling of dizziness disappeared after a few seconds and he felt okay again. He quickly changed and packed his stuff as he suddenly felt a strong urge to go home.

Before heading to his apartment, Jian decided to hit up Seven-Eleven and buy some snacks. He ate something sweet to raise his blood pressure and sugar levels, he was afraid of passing out while driving.

When he finally got home, it was minutes before midnight. His dog Fluffy greeted him by slightly waggling his tail. It was a small, white furball with a wet tongue sticking out.

Jian peeked to his younger brother's room to check if he was sleeping. The rhythmical breathing he heard was a clear answer. Fluffy rushed to the room when he opened the door and made himself comfortable on the bed. Jian Lan only rolled his eyes and gave in, he didn’t have the energy to scold him about it.

"I'm home." He whispered softly and a faint smile formed on his face. He knew he wouldn't be able to spend with his brother for a while. His schedule was forcing him to leave early in the morning and come back late.

After storing away the leftover snacks Jian Lan bought, he took a shower and hopped in the bed. A random thought about Xiulan crossed his mind before he drifted to sleep.

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𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬:

Jian Lan's younger brother - ?

Jian Lan's dog - Fluffy