By the time Fu Ran arrived back at Xingti Pavilion, the sticky sweat had come back to rest on his skin. Spending over an hour in a temperature controlled building and then walking outside into thick summer heat drained every drop of energy. The library and records hall had certain superiority over his little tea house after all.

Fu Ran opened the door for Tian Han and motioned to his desk. “You can put the books down on the desk for now. I will deal with putting them away later,” Fu Ran explained.

He pulled his sleeve up to wipe away beads of streaming sweat. It pulled away from him lightly stained a darker gray. No wonder Shesui Lang doesn’t visit. He couldn’t handle a single minute out in this sweltering heatwave. Fu Ran felt his lips curl in amusement at a new thing he could hold over his martial brother.

“Do you have something troublesome on your mind?” Tian Han wore a knowing look, and his mischievous tone made Fu Ran feel like he had been caught red handed with his bullying thoughts. He nervously laughed and dug his fingers into the gray robes.

Fu Ran was a touch relieved just from seeing Tian Han back in his home, and he didn’t really want to spend the time putting away books. So his expression turned a bit offended when Tian Han kneeled beside the bookshelf. “You don’t have to do that. I said I could put them away later,” he said, crossing his arms.

“You don’t have to do anything this way. Just let me do it for you.” Tian Han waved his hand and turned his face away from the teacher.

Fu Ran’s face sunk into a frown and his eyebrows lowered in displeasure. Since Tian Han was going to be busy he brought his attention elsewhere. A warm breeze seeped through his back doorway, only a thin pink curtain covered the opening. His disciples were no doubt working hard in the courtyard… right?

He lifted the pink tapestry with the back of his hand and rested his shoulder on the door frame. His gaze searched to see what his children were up to. The sight before him forced his lips into a smile. While most of them were completing their training seriously, Meng Xiao was laying on the grass under the wisteria tree. Meng Xiao must have been the first to notice that his Shizun had gone missing, and of course he was the first one to decide that he no longer wanted to work in these conditions.

Fu Ran pulled away from the door, his movements subtle, trying not to garner their attention. “You look away for just a few moments and they start slacking. How troublesome children can be.” His voice had trailed off into a laugh, as he moved to kneel beside Tian Han on the floor.

“Troublesome is the truth. I was a menace at that age, and I wonder how my Shizun handled my poor behavior,” Tian Han said, an air of reminiscing in his words.

While he sounded completely serious, the content of what Tian Han said felt so wrong. Fu Ran would not easily come to believe that The Perfect Tian Han was anything less than that: astonishingly perfect. He chuckled sweetly before he said, “I do not think you are capable of “poor behavior,” Tian Han.”

Tian Han slowed down his movements and playfully inched closer to Fu Ran. “Oh? Is that so?”

The nearness haphazardly chased away Fu Ran’s gaze. “Tian Han is far too nice, and gentle to be considered a menace,” Fu Ran murmured.

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“Perhaps this one has treated his Shizun too well? So well, that his Shizun can no longer picture that he, too, still has some undisciplined thoughts.” Tian Han chuckled playfully.

How had Tian Han taken on such a different—and amicable air?

Fu Ran felt that he shouldn’t stare for too long at those happy golden eyes. They were far too easy to get lost in. Especially when the two of them only shared a small distance apart.

Knowing how embarrassing his next phrase was likely to come off, he took a deep breath. “This Shizun couldn’t imagine treatment from Tian Han any other way. Please, keep doing it.”

Fu Ran used his sleeves to hide his current expression. His cheeks were no doubt a bright pink. Please don’t look too hard.

Tian Han’s lips were parted as he took in Fu Ran’s form. “Shizun likes this one’s gentle treatment, then?” His features wore pleasant shock. He had completely stopped putting away books now, and only held the one limply in his hand.

Tian Han slowly raised a hand to brush a strand of loose bang from the side of Fu Ran’s face. The feathery touch was so light, and the back of Tian Han’s finger slid across his cheek. Even though the movement was subtle, Fu Ran was shocked.

“Then,” Tian Han’s voice was low and nearly a hushed whisper. “If Shizun will allow it, this one can always—”

A small thud interrupted their closeness, and caught the attention of the two men.

Fu Ran had nearly jumped out of his skin, but the sound came from right nearby, and it didn’t sound terribly heavy. He looked at Tian Han’s hand and muttered out a small, “oh,” in realization. One of the books had become so aged, that time had weakened the glue on the binding. The pages fell out and scattered in a mess around them on the floorboards. Had Fu Ran not been kneeling already, he may have collapsed in relief. He pressed his hand to his chest and gave a few soft pats to quell his beating heart.

Tian Han looked the most fearful of the two, and didn’t waste any time before apologizing profusely.

With a wave of the hand, Fu Ran reassured him, “It’s fine. These are just really old. In fact, I bet some of these were around when my own Shizun was little.”

“But-!” This time it was Tian Han being contrary. He held the empty binding in his arms like he didn’t want to risk hurting it further.

That sweet and gentle care over a simple object was endearing. Fu Ran explained, “It’s just weak book glue. Shesui Lang can most likely fix it himself. Tian Han, it's okay.”

He took the binding from Tian Han’s hand and placed it in his lap. He then began to pick up the scattered sheets closest to him. One by one, he loosely stuck pages into the binding. The order of the pages would have to be organized later, he thought. His fingers gently ran along the embossed front cover.

The title read, “A Beginner’s Array Home.” It was a teleportation array book and since it was a fairly complex book for new disciples, it needed many chapters for, “dos and don’ts.”

He continued helping Tian Han pick up pages, reading over a few as he did so.

Fu Ran continued to skim through the pieces of book, casually flipping through each sheet. In truth, he had read this book once or twice before, but generally arrays weren’t his favorite thing to read about, so he didn’t remember much.

That being said, none of the words were correct to his memories. He furrowed his brows and looked over the written words.

Collected resources will be gathered together and mixed in with the previous crafted substance. The order is very important, because the array at this state is delicate. Minor misuse of runes, or unintentional damage of the array can become fatal.

“What?” he was dumbfounded. “Fatal” didn’t seem to fit something given to beginners and, while he couldn’t trust his memory wholly, he didn’t remember this being in the book previously. The pages were vastly out of order, so perhaps it was just a strange mistake, so he continued to collect the mess at his feet.

The pages, old and weathered by time, varied in their darkness. Fu Ran paid little attention to this, only pausing to check if any pages were severely disarranged or damaged. It wasn't until his last touch left a vivid scarlet fingerprint that he realized something was amiss. Fu Ran froze.