Chapter 53 - 53 - Back Home

Ren slept through the entire flight home the next morning. Fang tried to wake him up in the middle once to get him to eat something, but Ren just mumbled something incoherently, burrowed his head further into his pillow and went back into a deep sleep. Fang didn't have the heart to disturb his sleep after that, so he simply watched Ren sleep, a little worried if Ren was coming down with something. He was used to Ren being lively, if a bit lazy, so seeing him so lethargic made him feel concerned about his health. It couldn't be that he'd overdone it and caused Ren to get sick, right? But he'd cleaned up Ren properly and even massaged his waist afterwards...could he have done something wrongly? A cold chill trailed down Fang's spine. If Ren actually fell ill and it was Fang's fault...how would he be able to live with himself?!

When they were about to land, Fang awakened Ren gently. Ren was very disoriented when he woke up, which caused Fang's worries to multiply.

It took Ren a few minutes to regain his wits.

"How are you feeling?" Fang asked solicitously.

Ren frowned. He eyed Fang quizzically for a moment, as if trying to recognise him and then the confusion in his eyes cleared, giving way to the usual golden glow.

"Fang?" he asked softly.

"I'm here," Fang said, holding his hand. Suddenly, he felt very, very scared. Since Fang had been paying full attention to Ren, the fact that Ren failed to recognise Fang for a moment didn't escape his notice. And since Fang was one of the very few people who knew that Ren came from another world, his anxiety hit the peak. What would he do if Ren was unconsciously pulled back into his original world? What if Ren lost his memories of this world...or, worse still, dismissed them as a dream?

"What happened? Are you feeling all right?" Fang asked, trying to keep himself from panicking.

"I'm all right...I think," Ren murmured. "I just had a strange dream."

"Would you like to talk about it?" Fang asked.

Ren shook his head. He looked at Fang's worried face and smiled slightly. "Don't worry," he said softly, leaning forward and planting a gentle kiss on Fang's brow.

Fang bit his lip, but stopped himself from asking further questions. "You must be hungry," he said instead. "Why don't you think of what you'd like to eat? Once we've landed, I'll call Jules and tell him to keep it ready so that you can eat as soon as we get home."

Ren smiled. "Pancakes," he said. "With lots and lots of maple syrup and butter curls and vanilla whipped cream."

"All right," Fang replied.

Pax was waiting for them at the airport. He cast an eye on Ren's wan face and Fang's anxious one.

"Why do you two look like this?" Pax demanded. "Your work went really well and you even got to buy a villa and spend time together! Shouldn't you two be glowing with all your success and romance?!"

"Just a bit tired," Ren murmured.

Pax shot Fang an accusing look. "Teenagers," he muttered under his breath.

Fang flushed from head to toe, but the anxiety remained on his face.

Ren shot Pax a half-hearted glare and put an arm around Fang's shoulders. "Don't embarrass my darling," he said.

Pax rolled his eyes and led them to the car. "Do you want to go home or straight to work?" he asked.

"Home first," Fang said firmly before Ren could respond. "We have pancakes waiting for us."

"You...haven't eaten all morning?" Pax asked, surprised.

"I slept the whole time," Ren told him.

Pax frowned. "Are you coming down with something? I swear to heaven, if you get yourself sick again, I'm going to quit and run away to another country and start working for someone else!"

Ren pouted. "It's not that I want to fall ill or anything!" he retorted.

Pax sighed. "We'll stop by Dr. Gordon's clinic," he said.

Ren shook his head. "No need. I'll be fine after a hot shower and some pancakes." He looked at Pax and Fang. "Seriously, I'm ok. Just a bit tired and unsettled by a weird dream...and a bit hungry."

"You can rest at home for a bit if you don't feel up to going to office. I'll fetch the papers you need to review or sign," Pax offered.

Ren shook his head again. "I'm fine. It'll be much faster if I go to office. We can finish off early."

Pax nodded, relieved. "Your fur-babies missed you awfully, you know?" he told them.

"We'll take them along when they're a little bigger," Ren said.

Pax huffed. "Knowing you, you'll pamper them into spoilt little canine brats in no time and no airlines would be willing to take them!"

Ren tapped his chin and. "Perhaps it is best to buy our own aircraft, after all."

"You're not buying an airplane for the puppies," Fang said sternly.

"But they're our sons!" Ren protested. "And if other airlines won't take them, how will we have proper family vacations without them?"

Fang and Pax exchanged an exasperated glance.

"We'll discuss this later," Fang said firmly. "Smoke and Shadow are too young to travel at the moment, anyway."

Ren had to give in.

Soon, they reached home and were immediately greeted by enthusiastic little barks of the two young pups.

Ren picked them up and they licked his face eagerly. "Hello my little babies," he said with a laugh. "Did you miss us?"

"Very much so," Steward Paul told Ren. "They were looking for both of you in your room over and over."

Three pairs of pitiful golden eyes looked at Fang in a beseeching manner.

Feeling like a villain, Fang repeated, "We're not buying an airplane for them now!"

Steward Paul raised an eyebrow enquiringly.

Pax silently indicated that he'd update him later.

Fang took the puppies from Ren and sent him off to take a shower first, and then put the puppies down in their basket and went to take a shower himself.

Piping hot pancakes exactly the way Ren wanted it was served as soon as the two of them appeared.