Sighing, Rucheng closed the books and rubbed the middle of her forehead. She looked ahead of her and saw that Kim Juimin was still here, but he was asleep. 

She stared ahead at the entrance and saw that the sky was a light shade of pink. ‘Is the sun rising so soon?’ 

“It morning already, you didn’t go home,” Gwanliin said beside her ear. 

She sighed again, answering, “I know.” 

“What do you know?” Juimin asked as he woke up. 

He looked around, then at her and asked, “Who are you talking to?” 

Rucheng stared at him for a while. Kim Juimin had soft features, but that didn’t take away from his masculinity. His skin was tanned, with sharp black eagle eyebrows. His eyes were bright behind their yellow-brown colour. The hair on his head was black as well, but there was a hint of brown in the front. His lips were plump, or were they just swollen right now because he just woke up?

Juimin smirked. He could tell that she was checking him out. “What are you looking at?” 

Rucheng rubbed a finger against the right corner of her lip, saying, “You have drool there.” 

Juimin quickly wiped it away, feeling embarrassed, and stood up as she stood up too. 

Rucheng collected the books and returned them to the shelves. When she made her way out the doors, she saw that Juimin was there. 

He turned to look at her when she came and walked up to her, asking, “Is it all gone?” 

“What?” She questioned. 

“The drool?” He asked, making her chuckle. 

Nodding her head, she started walking, saying, “Yeah, you just need to fix your hair.” 

Combing through the hair that he had just taken out of a messy bun, he shook his head. “I need to go home.” 

Rucheng nodded her head, agreeing with him, but not right now. A delicious smell snuck up her nose, leading her in the direction of the cafeteria. It was early morning hours, and the kitchen was preparing breakfast for the cultivators living on campus and the few staff members were busy. Saw Rucheng walk in through the doors with Juimin behind her. 

“Hungry?” He questioned. 

She turned to him, nodding her head, “Yeah, but it doesn’t look like they’re ready. I’ve also never been here before.” 

He nodded his head sluggishly, then tapped her shoulder, saying, “We can just ask them.” 

She looked at the staff who were gawking at them, especially the handsome man beside her, and could just imagine the bullshit that was going to spread around. These people were far worse than those on earth. 

Seeing that she wasn’t following him, he turned back and grabbed her hand, then dragged her over to the self-serving tables. 

The young lady cleaning there had stopped her work to see what was happening, especially since Juimin was well known. 

“Good morning, I hope we’re not too early for breakfast,” he said and looked down at Rucheng, who was staring at the girl and ignoring the fact that he was holding her hand. 

Looking back at the lady, she said, “We were up till now and we’re hungry.” 

“Oh…” she said, then ran back inside to the kitchen. 

*

“Who did you say?” The chef asked. 

The young lady looked at the man she worked for. “Kim Juimin and Qin Rucheng, sir.” 

The chef frowned. He would happily serve one of the top students, but what was he doing here with one of the staff members? It couldn’t be that they were seeing each other, could it? 

He looked around the kitchen, then shook his thoughts away and said," You heard that, right? Hurry and serve them!" 

*

After the lady disappeared, Rucheng looked down at their hands and asked, “How much longer are you going to hold my hand?” 

Juimin squeezed her hand gently. There was this odd sensation happening since he took her hand in his and this heart of his wasn’t stopping. 

Calming his thoughts, he looked down at her, saying, “Let’s go find a seat.” 

Rucheng looked around at the empty seats and tables, then glanced up at him, thinking, ‘This man is up to something.’ 

She nodded her head, and he led them to a table right in the centre of the hall. 

She sat opposite him and looked at the hand he was holding. Raising a brow, she asked, “How much long do you want to hold my hand?” 

“Sorry,” he said as he let go and crossed his fingers together. 

She rested her head in her left palm as she stared at him suspiciously. “It looks like you want rumours to spread.” 

“Is it that obvious?” He asked sarcastically. 

Rucheng rolled her eyes at him, then closed it. 

Juimin stared at her and it seemed like she had fallen asleep. She looked defenseless and the thoughts of her not being a beautiful person changed. 

He reached over the table and brushed the stray dark brown curl out of her face. 

Rucheng opened her eyes and glanced at him. Her dark brown eyes looked lost and sad. 

His thumb glided over her right cheek, that had a slight pink shade. He could feel that she was cold to the touch and just with a thought, he stood up, took off his robe and covered her with it. 

She was surprised and impressed with the action. Sitting up right, she slid her arms into the sleeves and looked at him, “This is your university robe.” 

The robe had great meaning and signified that status of one within the university. Theses gorgeous robes were made with the finest material and awarded to the strongest cultivators, so only a handful of people had them. 

Rucheng wearing it meant one of few statements, Juimin was courting her, he was in a relationship with her or she was his. 

That’s what people would assume. 

“It’s cold, the season are changing, do you want to get sick?” He asked her. 

Shaking her head, “I didn’t think I was going to stay till the morning.” 

“Be prepared next time and don’t worry about it,” he said, knowing well that she was worried people would think they were in a relationship. 

“I’m not one that cares about what others say,” he said. 

‘Such a gentleman,’ she thought. 

The staff came out with trays and stopped by the table. When they saw Rucheng wearing his robe, their eyes widened. 

“Place them down,” Juimin instructed. 

The dishes were placed down and Juimin’s eye immediately landed on a bowl of mushroom soup. 

Picking it up, he said, “Take this back.” 

Rucheng pouted. She loved anything with mushrooms in it. Juimin turned his attention back to her and saw her frown. “What?” 

“I like mushrooms,” she said. 

He felt guilty, but shook his head. “Please understand, I’m allergic to all species of mushroom. It can’t be near me or the smell even will make me sick.” 

Rucheng smirked inwardly and teased, “Oh, so we can’t be a couple then.” 

Juimin stared at her dumbfounded, “What do you mean?” 

Rucheng looked at the bowl of tomato and egg and dipped a bun in it. She glanced at him as she brought the bun to her lips, saying, “You’d die after I kiss you.” 

He sighed, realising that she was right, and said, “Yeah, that would happen.”

If there were cellphones in this world, the pictures of Juimin and Rucheng on a breakfast date would be circling around until everyone knew about them.