As the sun ascends towards the apex, a sweet aroma emanates from the kitchen nested at the corner of a respectable estate. The aroma meanders its way across the walkway and through the windows, before dissipating within the sweeping breeze passing the grand courtyard.

“Thank you for the meal, Lia.” Sun sets his chopsticks onto the table, flashing a smile before making his way towards the kitchen.

Yuyu, fumbling around in her struggle to control the chopsticks in her hands, suddenly tilts her head in response to Sun’s departure from the dining table. Her large beady eyes blink excessively, confusion in her mind as she watches Sun from beyond the window.

“What’s mister doing?” Yuyu asks, her brows forming a wave across her forehead.

Lia smiles as she observes Sun struggling to put together a lunch box. “Let’s leave mister alone for a bit, Yuyu. Why don’t you two finish up and go play?”

Upon hearing Lia complete her sentence, Wei flinches. His hand suddenly trembles, causing the clump of rice and pork wedged between his chopsticks to break free. As the rice and pork lands in his nearly empty bowl, he turns towards Yuyu. Seeing her expectant smile, Wei sighs in defeat before forcing a smile onto his face.

“Quick, Wei! Finish finish!” The little girl exclaims. Turning her attention back to her lunch, Yuyu clumps her chopsticks together in one hand and lifts the bowl to her face with her other hand. With an awkward motion, she nudges the final bites into her mouth, stuffing it full before setting the bowl back down. With puffed cheeks, she continues.“Wuwus Sowloon es book eon boswonoos!”

“Yuyu, don’t talk with your mouth full.” Lia gently reprimands the little girl, careful to not be too hard on Yuyu for forgetting Lia’s teachings in the heat of excitement. “Why don’t you go set up first, Wei looks like he needs a little more time.”

Yuyu’s head bobs up and down enthusiastically. Whilst still chewing, she pushes off from her seat and scuttles across the courtyard towards the building on the other side.

“Sis- uh… Aunty Lia?” Wei stammers as he watches Yuyu disappear into the building. “Is she good at…”

“Haircuts?” Lia fights the urge to laugh as she recalls Yuyu’s first… haircut. She turns towards Sun, still fumbling around in his attempt to make a proper lunch box. Her eyes focus on his long hair. A head of hair that was once much longer, and for half a night, much more unsightly than it is now. “Not at all.”

Having seen Instructor Lianyi spend extra time teaching Yuyu how to use scissors during herbalism class, Wei had already braced himself for the answer. Despite that, he still flinches upon hearing those dreadful words.

“What about Dan?” He follows up, recalling that Dan had mentioned Yuyu’s name during their short exchange regarding Dan’s haircut.

“What about him?” Lia breaks her gaze from Sun, raising a brow in confusion as she continues. “I don’t know if he’s any good either.”

“No, sorry. I meant his hair doesn’t look that bad. Didn’t Yuyu cut it for him?” Wei’s palm suddenly tenses up as he awaits a favorable answer.

“Oh, yes, Yuyu did cut his hair. She also cut dum- Sun’s hair, too.” Lia chuckles as Wei breathes a sigh of relief.

Though she wanted to explain further, she decides that if Wei is going to stick around, it’s only fair that he suffers through the same experiences as Sun and Dan. With her mischievous giggles well-hidden behind her soft smile, Lia waits as Wei finishes his final bite. As he says his thanks and departs, Lia rises and makes her way towards the kitchen.

“Rice… maybe too much?”

She leans against the doorway, listening as Sun mumbles to himself. As she enjoys his endearing fumbling, a breeze descends onto the courtyard. The chilly wind howls faintly as it crashes against the eastern wall, running along the walkway lining the wall and making its way towards the kitchen. Upon arriving, the breeze whips against the bamboo box atop the brick platform, sending it sliding towards the edge. Lia chuckles quietly, her hair floating behind her in response to the same breeze, as she watches Sun panic grab the tray.

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*Crack.*

Sun flinches as the fibrous snap fills the air, not from the sound itself, but rather from the broken bamboo container in his hand. After mumbling indistinctly to himself, he sets the container aside and reaches for a new one.

“Hey dummy, four scoops of rice.” As much as Lia is enjoying the sight of Sun struggling over the simplest task, her heart suddenly feels heavy as she recalls the slightly somber hint in his voice earlier when he left the table. “Dan loves his rice.”

Heeding her advice, Sun reaches for the rice and transfers four scoops into the container.

“Flip the scooper and pat it down to make room for the rest.”

Without a sound, Sun flips the bamboo rice scooper and does as Lia instructs. With as gentle of a press as he can realistically manage, he packs the fluffy rice down, creating a gap between the top of the rice and the edge of the container.

“Layer chunks of pork across one side of the container. Press it down into the rice if it sticks out too much.”

Sun sets the scooper down and reaches for the chopsticks beside the wok. One by one, he lifts each chunk from the dark wok and sets it atop the dense rice. The weight on Lia’s heart vanishes as she spots the corner of Sun’s smile from behind.

Why be so harsh in the first place if you’re going to just cave and bring him lunch?

An equally big smile sweeps across her face as she answers her own question.

Big soft dummy.

“What now?” Not hearing any instructions, Sun turns around and stares blankly at Lia.

“Hmm? Oh, uh…” Lia recollects herself, her chest still feeling fuzzy over the fleeting thoughts in her head. “Did you-” She pauses upon seeing the messy layers of pork haphazardly placed across the rice. Her foot instinctively lifts from the floor, wanting to step in and fix the mess. Seeing the earnest face before her, Lia lowers her foot back onto the floor, deciding that she can help, but shouldn’t interfere directly in his efforts. “Add a layer of cucumbers and three or bok choi heads.”

Sun looks around in confusion as he searches for the cucumber. Upon seeing only a whole cucumber, he gently lifts one end and grabs the other end with his other hand. With a slight bend, the cucumber snaps in half. He smiles proudly before pushing the cucumber into the rice before bending both knees to bring himself to eye level with the container. Upon seeing the cucumber higher than the container, he extends his fingers and pushes down again, accidentally poking two holes on each end of the half-cucumber. Looking past the unplanned rupture, he smiles with squinted eyes upon seeing no sign of the cucumber above the lip of the container.

“Pfff!” Lia, unable to contain herself, slaps her hand over her mouth as she tries to muffle her laughter.

Hyper focused on the lunch box, Sun continues on with the bok choi. After placing one bok choi into the container, he realizes that there’s no more space. With furrowed brows, he strokes his chin as he scans around in search of space.

“Cut the cucumber again so it takes up less space, dummy.” Lia chimes in with an assist, guiding Sun towards the solution.

Once again, taking her advice as golden, Sun removes the cucumber from the rice. Wrapping a bubble of aura around his hands, he flicks his finger across the cucumber before retracting the barrier. From behind, Lia fights the urge to smack her forehead.

Not that way, you dummy.

Sun sets the two cylindrical cucumbers back in place. Upon seeing no extra space, he scratches his head and turns towards Lia.

Oh Heavens…

“Dummy, you know what I like about you?” Lia giggles as she lifts her palm and forearm vertical in front of her. “Just when I think you’ve bottomed out-” She motions her other hand, starting from the top of her vertical palm and down towards her elbow. “You still manage to surprise me.”

Sun’s eyes light up as he watches Lia demonstrate the meaning behind her most recent instruction. He turns back around and lifts the two cucumber quarters once more, holding it together in his hand before executing the same actions as earlier. This time, however, he cuts it the long way, splitting the cucumber in half and allowing it to rest atop the rice without taking up extra vertical space. With the cucumbers spread evenly atop the rice, Sun grabs the chopsticks once more and transfers three more bok choi heads, placing one on top of each piece of cucumber.

“Thanks, Lia.” Sun smiles proudly as he places the lid snug atop the container.

Tugging a cloth free from the wall rack before him, he sets the container in the center before crudely joining the cloth’s corners together with a knot. With the lunch box finished, he turns towards Lia and flashes a wide grin.

“Please watch over them for a bit, make sure Yuyu doesn’t cut herself.” Sun turns towards the walkway and makes his way into the courtyard. Sending his senses across Academy grounds, he locks onto a figure speeding along the walls by the south-west gate. “I’ll be right back.”

Lia watches as Sun ascends towards the sky, pausing momentarily to flash another big grin at her before disappearing with the wind.

“‘I’ll be right back.’” Lia puts on her deepest voice, breaking into laughter upon failing to match Sun’s flat intonation.

“What’s aunty Lia laughing about?” Yuyu pops her head out from the window of the living room, traces of Wei’s hair entangled between her fingers.

“Mister dummy said the thing!”

“Oh! ‘I’ll be right back.’” Yuyu puts on her best Sun impression, also breaking into a laugh as she fails once again to match his voice.