"Actually, I am the one at fault," Huo Qiang confessed, Huo Mei who is now applying the crushed herbs on the wound stopped at his confession.

"What do you mean?" she inquired doubtfully, normally it is Huo Ying who always cause their arguments so she thought that he might be trying to take the blame for her.

​​

"I disrespected her while we were in the wind sect, on the day you got injured," Huo Qiang hesitated, he felt embarrassed to tell her that they accidentally kissed, even if it was just an accident and she is partly responsible for it because she brushed his hands away at that moment, he is the man so he felt that the blame should be on him.

"On the day I got injured, weren't you still at peace with each other when I woke up, when did this happen?" she inquired curiously.

"After you fell asleep, I...I hugged to relieve her stress,"

"What! you hugged her, finally! I thought you were never going to make a move, you have finally realized it," Huo Mei interjected in excitement, she was now regretting that she fell asleep, she should have been awake to see them.

"It isn't what you think, I only hugged her as a guardian..no as a friend but she wasn't in her undergarment so she pulled away and called me a pervert,"

"A pervert!" she left the herbs on his wounds and left his back to sit on the chair opposite him, she felt the need to concentrate on his story rather than his wound, she started laughing as soon as she sat down, she couldn't imagine the scene when Huo Ying called him a pervert.

"Continue,"

"So I rushed to cover her youth but she slipped back with her back against the wall while I...I was resting on her chest, she brushed my hands away from her mouth so our lips met,"

"What! you kissed her," Huo Mei exclaimed

"No...I mean yes but it wasn't intentional," he retorted.

"well done, If you didn't tell me this, I wouldn't have known that you two have gone this far even though it is only a leap," Huo Mei said with a smile that seems to be praising him which made him confused.

"Aren't you supposed to be angry?"

"Angry, why should I be, do you know how long I have been waiting to hear something like this?"

"But she has been ignoring and avoiding me since then, what do you think I should do about this?"! Huo Qiang asked shyly.

"She should be happy instead of ignoring you, are you sure you didn't do anything else," Huo Mei answered, the smile on her face has now disappeared, Huo Ying has taken advantage of him many times when she hugs him so this should be something she is happy about and she couldn't tell why Huo Ying would be angry because of their accidental kiss.

"Why should she be happy, didn't you hear what I said properly?" Huo Qiang asked in ignorance, she shook her head in disappointment.

{It turns out that he still doesn't know that she has feelings for him, really dumb}

"Just tell me what you did after that and I will tell you the reason,"

"Nothing, I just used the excuse of getting her a change of clothing to leave the room," she cupped her face in her hand in speechlessness, she didn't think that he would be so dumb to have done something like that.

{really foolish}

"How could you have left the room as soon as you..." she shook her head again, she was very disappointed in him, she originally thought that he was already making an effort to tell her that he has feelings for her but hearing this just made her disappointed.

"I didn't want her to flip out in anger so I left to avoid her," Huo Qiang responded in confusion, he couldn't understand why she seemed to be disappointed in him when she should be praising him for doing the right thing.

"Are you a fool? don't you know that she feelings for you," Huo Mei shouted

"How can that be, why would she have feelings for me?" Huo Qiang questioned in disbelief

"How couldn't you have noticed it all this while, apart from Mo Yuhan, have you ever seen her hug any other person other than you, she must have thought that you don't feel the same way about her so you used that excuse to avoid her,"

"But I,"

"Don't tell me that you see her only as the young mistress and not a woman, I can see it in everything you do, you love her so don't deny it,"

"It seems like I really can't keep anything from you but are you sure that she also feels the same way about me," he wanted her to be saying the truth but it seemed too good to be true.

"She does, she has always loved you even before we became guardians, I am sure even the sect madam know this and most people in the sect know this, you are the only ignorant one here,"

"I really didn't know, I thought she was angry because I disrespected her,"

"You really shouldn't have left like that," she gave him a scolding side glance and shook her head.

"I am going to her now," Huo Qiang said then he stood up from his seat, making some of the herbs fall from his wound.

"sit!" Huo Mei ordered

"Why?"

"She still did wrong by leaving you to struggle with the cauldron, you shouldn't let her have it so easy," Huo Mei answered.

"But she must be feeling very guilty right now, I need to see her," Huo Qiang responded

"Alright, but I have to finish wrapping you back and shoulder wound first unless you want others to see it,"

"Alright," he sat down reluctantly with a smile on his face.

{She also feels the same,}

He thought inwardly and smiled!

"How long have you known?" Huo Qiang asked curiously, he still couldn't believe that Huo Ying also sees him as someone who is more than a guardian or friend to her.

"Everyone has known for a long time now, you are probably the only one who doesn't know about it," Huo Mei replied as she wrapped the white piece of cloth around his shoulder and his chest to cover the wound on his back and his shoulder.

"It seems like I am really slow, I shouldn't have left with such an excuse, I can imagine how angry she must have been it is indeed all my fault," Huo Qiang said in reflection of his ignorance

"But she still wouldn't have left you without helping you in such a dangerous instance, you could have been seriously injured,"

Huo Qiang smiled and responded,

"Even if she wanted me to be seriously injured, I will happily let that happen but it would have affected her so I couldn't let that happen, you shouldn't blame her too much,"

"You are really blinded by love, if you say it like that it then it makes me guilty for scolding her," Huo Mei said, not realizing that she had just made a confession to him, all of a sudden, he became quiet and it seemed strange to her then she realized that she had just spilt the truth.

"So she was the one you were speaking to?"

"Yes, I didn't tell you so you wouldn't run after her," Huo Mei answered remorsefully just as she finished wrapping his wound and helped him put on his clothing, he turned to look at her with a slightly angry look.

"You should have told me, I know she did wrong but if even you scold her then I can't imagine how bad she feels," Huo Qiang said with concern written on his face.

"I only did that to make her feel bad, moreover I didn't know about the reason for you avoiding each other, if you want to go after her then now is the right time," Huo Mei responded, not wanting him to continue stressing the issue but most importantly, she wants to see to it that they both confess their feelings to each other and stop playing the game of hide and seek.

"This time, make sure you tell her how you feel directly so she doesn't misunderstand you again," Huo Mei added, the tone she spoke in seemed to be stressing the importance of telling her in a direct and not a vague way which will only lead to further misunderstandings between them.

"Hmmm," Huo Qiang replied with a nod and a smile then he stood up from the seat, just as he was about to leave the room, he turned to her again with a sentimental look filled with gratitude.

"Thank you, Huo Mei, I really don't know what we would all do without you," he said

She smiled and lowered her head looking at the piece of cloth in her hand then she raised her head again and gave him a nod, he left the room with that.

- - - - - -

She walked back to her quarters looking dejected, the sun had already gone down and the whole place was now dark so she was sure that she could cry without anyone seeing her, before she got to her quarters, the rain had already started falling but not heavily, she could have taken cover under one of the large branched trees or the buildings but she wanted to get drenched, she wished the rain would fall heavier than it is falling at that moment and her wish was granted as though the heavens are answering her prayers.

With her shoulders slumped, she took every step slowly, the image of the bloodied wound on his back and his strained shoulder dripping blood terrified her, she felt immense guilt just thinking about it and she regretted the fact that she tried to peep at them, if only she didn't then she wouldn't know just how serious his wounds are.

"I shouldn't have done that, I should have just listened to him instead of getting angry for no reason," she soliloquized while hitting her chest and her tears falling profusely without any control, she didn't want to make much noise to avoid garnering attention to herself, she needed to find someplace quiet and hidden from sight where she can cry aloud as much as she wants to.

"He is injured because of me, it is all my fault, I should have supported him after he tried to save me,"

"I can't believe that I actually wanted him to suffer the pain,"

"Even if he doesn't love me, it isn't his fault but mine, I shouldn't expect him to love me," She continued, still beating her chest.

She finally found the right place ahead of her, the cherry blossom garden she took her sister to before she left the sect, Yes! that is indeed the right place for her at this moment, she didn't even realize that a smile formed on her lips while she stared at the garden from afar, if there is any place in the sect that can calm her down or console her at this moment, it is definitely that garden.

She walked towards the garden at a quick pace, she was crying and smiling at the same time, it seemed like the happiness she felt just by seeing the garden is balanced with the guilt and sadness she is also feeling.

She swirled her body around as she arrived at the middle of the garden, the tears kept falling but inside her, she felt the guilt slowly disappearing but she also felt that it wrong for her to stop feeling guilty so soon.

The flowers were replanted after her sister burnt them so they had gone back to the way they were, lively pink colours filling the garden with their brown stems, she sniffed the air in the garden and exhaled deeply, she didn't want to think about her sister, she wanted to leave the joy she feels when she remembers that she is going to see her sister for the first time in a long while for later.

She dropped to the ground with her legs spread on the ground and her long ponytailed hair held in place by a single black hairpin with gold tint scattered on her shoulder and back, the tears started again, that's right, what she needs the most know is to cry it out, to vent and pour out her emotions, after all, she has never done well when it comes to keeping her emotions in her and that is why she flipped out on him.

She leaned her back on the tree closest to her then she wrapped her hands around her legs with her head resting on her knees, she started pouring it all out.

- - - - -

He didn't want to make a fuss so he quietly looked for her around the sect, he checked every nook and cranny in the sect on the way that leads to her quarters, she might have branched somewhere before getting to her quarter, he thought.

In the fish ponds, the training grounds, the rooms, the pavilions, the gardens, he checked them all but he couldn't find her and he was already approaching her quarters so he decided to check there since that is the most likely place she will be at.

He knocked on the door leading to her room after arriving at her quarter, he wasn't getting any reply and he wasn't sure if it peeping into the room or forcefully opening the door would be the right thing to do, he was about to take the latter choice when he noticed something.