"Why do you say that it’s empty?" He Juan asked curiously.

He had handed the task to refurbish and redecorate the apartment to his men, and he thought that they had done an exemplary job. Everything was tastefully done, just the right amount of elegance without being gaudy. They had also taken his preference into mind and chose a few furniture in sky blue color. All in all, the apartment looked like the template picture that would come up once someone searched on the internet for how a presidential suite would look like.

So where did this emptiness come from?

"Just because..." Mu Yuze mumbled with a small voice, his shoulders shrinking into himself.

He Juan could not help but chuckle and reach out to ruffle the boy’s hair. "Why have you become so timid now? Where is the Xiao Ze who dared to raise his voice at me?" When he looked at the boy’s thin stature, a possibility suddenly popped into his mind – one that he did not even bother to entertain before. "Could it be... are you afraid of me?" A complicated look flashed through He Juan’s face. "After what I have done to those thugs earlier?"

Come to think of it, it was entirely plausible. Mu Yuze had lived under the torment of his abusive father for years, so it was understandable that he would become vigilant of people who would potentially harm him, especially after he witnessed with his own eyes the moment when He Juan used his pheromones to suppress a group of people.

He Juan really wanted to slap his forehead. Why hadn’t he considered it before?! If... If he had known that this would happen, then he would have taken those men to a more desolate place before he—

"No!" Mu Yuze suddenly exclaimed, breaking the line of He Juan’s thought. "I wasn’t... I am not afraid of you! It’s just that..." his shoulders deflated and a frown appeared between his brows, sighing. "I don’t know how to describe it. For a split second, your house gives off an aura similar to mine. It’s like a house that has been abandoned..."

So it was like that... it was not because the boy was afraid of him...

Once that thought crossed his mind, He Juan blinked, caught off guard by the magnitude of relief flooding his heart when he heard that Mu Yuze was not afraid of him.

After that came the confusion. Why was he so relieved? He never had any qualms with people fearing him before, so why was it different when it came to Mu Yuze? He Juan searched within himself and quickly found a sufficient reason. Even though they had just known each other for a few hours, He Juan had grown immensely fond of the boy. He’d really like it that Mu Yuze would remain grumpy and feisty just like when He Juan first saw him.

"You’re a sharp boy, huh?" He Juan huffed in amusement and gestured for Mu Yuze to change his shoes. "I haven’t been coming back here often. This is just a temporary house of mine. That’s why..." he waited until Mu Yuze raised his head suspiciously before finishing his sentence, "...I don’t mind you staying here all the time."

As expected, Mu Yuze’s eyes widened in shock and his mouth hung open so wide that a goose egg could be put into it. Seeing such a dumbfounded look on the boy, He Juan could no longer contain his laughter. He doubled over while clutching his stomach, wheezing. "Oh God, you should have seen your face..."

"Y–You!" Anger shot up to Mu Yuze’s head, causing his skin to bloom into crimson in a blink of an eye. "You’re teasing me again!!" In the heat of the moment, Mu Yuze lunged forward and kicked He Juan right on his shin!

"Ah, ouch!" He Juan grabbed his leg, jumping while laughing all the while. The pain went as quickly as it came, but ever the dramatic, He Juan still put on a grimace like it hurt a whole lot. "Tsk, you sure have a lot of strength in your tiny body—"

"Do you want to have a taste of this?" Mu Yuze raised his fist that was honestly not even larger than half of He Juan’s. His bruised little face was twisted in a stern glower.

How cute, He Juan thought. Of course he did not dare to say it out loud for fear of offending this little ancestor. Thus he could only raise both hands in surrender, still trying to suppress the grin on his face. "Okay, okay I admit defeat. Our Xiao Ze is indeed very strong." His grin became wider when he saw the crimson earlobes that were peeking out through the strands of Mu Yuze’s fluffy hair. Not wanting to provoke the boy further, He Juan could only stop his teasing and invited Mu Yuze to come in. "Let’s go, I will give you a short tour."

He did not say how he had been serious when he said he did not mind Mu Yuze staying here. He could even move here permanently if he wanted to. For starters, this apartment had four bedrooms and aside from the two He Juan was currently using as a bedroom and study, the other two were empty. Either way, it was not like he would come here often. And most importantly, he would also be able to ensure Mu Yuze’s safety this way.

He Juan did not see the reason why Mu Yuze shouldn’t take his offer. Of course, he realized that bringing something like this upon their first encounter would undoubtedly shock the boy. Hence, He Juan decided to test the water using a teasing tone. And sure enough, Mu Yuze still could not accept it. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Patience He Juan, he told himself. Nothing’s wrong with waiting for two or three days until Mu Yuze became more accustomed to his life here. And until then, He Juan would try to breach the topic again.

There was one thing that made him wonder though. He knew very well how territorial his Alpha was, and the fact that He Juan could not sense any rejection whatsoever at the sight of Mu Yuze in his house surely meant something. He was surprised at how fast he opened up to the boy, but he chalked it up to the fact that Mu Yuze still looked like a little shrimp and that’s why his Alpha did not take the boy as a potential threat at all.

Keeping the thought to himself, He Juan took into account how Mu Yuze must be dead tired after the ordeal he had gone through today and decided to cut the tour short. He stopped in the corridor and introduced the rooms to Mu Yuze, "That’s the study where I work, and beside it is my bedroom. And the two bedrooms next to it are empty. You’re free to choose them." He even opened the doors to let Mu Yuze see the view of the bedrooms. "Don’t worry, someone comes here regularly to clean it so the sheets are new."

Mu Yuze hesitated, his eyes darting between the two rooms back and forth. But in the end, he merely said, "...Up to you."

He Juan resisted the urge to sigh. He could tell that Mu Yuze was still uncomfortable being with him, but it was not like he could force anything to change in such a short span of time. ’Just take it slow’, he told himself, and after that he believed that everything would definitely turn for the better. "Okay, if it’s up to me..." he pointed at the room right next to his. "That will be your room. How about it?"

Mu Yuze nodded readily, "Fine."

He Juan led him in, introduced him to the bathroom and taught him how to adjust the water temperature along the way. "That’s about it!" He patted his hands in satisfaction. "Any questions?"

Mu Yuze hesitated for a while and nodded.

He Juan gave him a gesture to go ahead, curiosity brewing in his heart. He thought that he had been quite thorough in his tour. What could Mu Yuze want to ask him about? And why did the boy look... nervous?

"You..." Mu Yuze’s gaze flickered to him before dropping them to the ceramic tile floor in front of him. "What’s your name?"