"Morning, Zhan." James, a middle-aged man in dark hair, oblong face-shaped, thin lips, and narrow eyes set, greeted the young guy who just walked inside.

"Good morning, boss," replied Zhan with a polite smile. He headed to the employee's room and got changed before returning to begin his usual duties. He was so deep in thought while setting up the tables that he didn't even notice when his boss came to stand beside him.

"Hey, Zhan. Are you feeling okay?" asked James worriedly.

"Oh, I'm okay. Why are you asking?"

"I can clearly see black circles on your eyes. Did you not sleep well last night?"

What do you expect, boss? I couldn't even have a peaceful sleep last night because some elf king came to my house and claimed my bed. I had to sleep on the small sofa even when it was MY OWN house. If that wasn't enough, he even woke me up early to make breakfast for him.

These were what processed inside Zhan's head, but he knew better than to say them out loud. First, James would think he was crazy. After all, no one had ever seen an elf nowadays. Never even mind the king. Second, it'd be a long story to explain. He was exhausted to narrate everything.

"I'm fine, boss. Nothing to worry about." Zhan plastered his usual cheerful smile upon his face as he replied, hoping it would convince his boss to drop the subject.

"Are you sure?" asked James skeptically.

The older man had known Zhan for years, and could easily see through him. His face, while asking, depicted genuine care for the younger man, for he had always considered Zhan as his own kin ever since the first year the boy worked for him.

"Yes. Everything is alright." Zhan maintained his smile as he answered,

"Okay. If you say so." Though unconvinced, James decided to stop digging. He stepped closer and patted Zhan on the shoulder.

"Remember, you can always come to me anytime if you have any problem."

"Thank you, boss," said Zhan, bowing his head with full respect.

James smiled before returning to the kitchen to resume his duty. Zhan's eyes followed his boss' back and watched until the kitchen wall completely hid the middle-aged man from him before he murmured to himself. "Everything is alright, right?"

*******

Meanwhile, at Zhan's house, a tall figure with long, blonde hair was found holding and staring at a slim, eight-inches rectangular object.

"What is this strange thing? Why doesn't the whole Aldous Kingdom have it? Not even my castle." Yibo turned the remote control in his palms and looked at it in bewilderment. Suddenly, his finger pressed the 'on' button unknowingly, making a black tv screen filled with moving pictures.

It was a movie in an ancient theme where ministers were having a meeting with their king.

"Finally, something I'm familiar with," uttered Yibo as he stared at the screen.

The setting in the movie was the interior of an ancient castle. It had a similar style to that of his in Aldous. Yibo didn't even wonder why he saw things from a small box, for he was too engaged in seeing something that didn't look out of place to him.

In a jiffy, a scene from the tv switched from peace to chaos. The actors started shouting at one another, causing the uproar to arise.

"You incompetent king, you deserve to die! I'll be the one to put an end to it," echoed a man's voice from the movie.

"What?!" Yibo watched in horror as the sword pierced the king's heart, soaking the golden robe with crimson hue.

"How dare you rebels assassinate the king in the presence of me? I'll teach you a lesson myself," growled Yibo with his brows furrowed.

No one had to guess what happened next, for the sound of smashing and glass shattering reverberated throughout the whole house.

After Yibo took care of the noisy tv, the whole house dropped dead silent. However, it didn't take more than ten minutes before another voice cut off the soundlessness.

"The rice is cooked! The rice is cooked!" a cute voice echoed from a rice cooker.

"There's an intruder? Where are you? Show yourself!" Yibo cautiously walked around the house, in search of the source of the voice.

"The rice is cooked. The ri一"

"Found you." Yibo picked up the rice cooker from the counter, and threw it to the floor, silencing the cute voice from making any more announcements.

"Now, is there any more intruder?" he muttered to himself as he roamed off from one room to another.

During the twelve-hour wait for Zhan to come back from work, Yibo found himself bustling within the small house.

*******

When Zhan returned home from work, he almost couldn't believe his eyes when he opened the door and saw the state of his house was completely different from what he remembered this morning.

"Dear angels and all good deeds in this world, please give me the strength to continue my kindness. Or else I'll kick this so-called elf king out in the street to starve," recited Zhan as he stomped off in a rage, carefully stepping over the scattered and broken things on the floor in search of the one responsible for it.

"Lan Yibo!!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs and stormed from one room to another simultaneously until he came across Yibo, who emerged from the bedroom.

"How dare you call the king by his name? You一"

"Oh yeah, I DO DARE!" Zhan cut Owin off as he lifted his hand and pointed his finger at the tall figure. "And not just addressing you by the name, I even dare to hit you right now." He jumped on Yibo with the urge to strangle him.

Being the king of the elf was no joke. Apart from wielding magic, Yibo had undergone strict martial arts training since he was a child. It took him only one graceful step to move to the side and avoid Zhan's attack. The latter was caught by surprise at the sudden movement, causing him to lose balance and tumbled on the ground.

"Ow..." Zhan stroked his red-tinged nose as he lay prone on the floor.

"Pathetic." A smirk was visibly shown on Yibo's face. "Don't ever dare to dream of touching even a single strand of my hair, mortal."

"Oh yeah?!" Zhan got up and brushed the dirt away from his clothes. "Then somebody has a bad memory."

"What?"

This time, it was Zhan's turn to smirk.

"Well, you said no one was able to lay a hand on you. Have you forgotten that this mortal has touched you twice?"

Yibo went quiet for several seconds as if to bring back those not so old memories. Once he regained them, a murderous intent emitted from his eyes as he landed his gaze at Zhan.

"What. Did. You. Just. Say?"

The question was asked threateningly, sending chills to the receiving end. Not to mention that with each word enunciated, it brought the towering figure closer to the smaller one.

Gulping, Zhan subconsciously backs away, each step at the time, while questioning why he had to dig his own grave just now.

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