Walking with the hooded man towards the camp set up by Wu Sanxing was the most awkward situation Wu Xie had ever been in. He wanted to start a conversation but had no clue what he should talk about.

He suddenly remembered the cut Zhang got during breakfast earlier that day. He lowered his gaze down to man's hand only to find the band-aid gone. He panicked. Was he following the wrong direction this entire time and ran into Zhang by pure luck?

"Say Xiaoge, where is your band-aid? Has your wound already healed?" Wu Xie asked, trying to mask his anxiety and hoped the question seemed genuine enough.

"Yes. I have the band-aid here in my pocket." Zhang replied and Wu Xie was puzzled.

"Why didn't you throw it? Did you actually like the cute band-aid?" Wu Xie teased. The band-aid had pictures of little ducks with a sky blue background, Xiaoge only stopped in his tracks and turned around blinking at the childish man in front of him.

"No, I didn't throw it away because of your tracker." Zhang replied and Wu Xie's smirk fell as his eyes widened. 

"You knew about that?!" Wu Xie exclaimed a bit louder than he wanted to.

So much for being stealthy. Now this is awkward.

"Yes, I knew. No one cares for anyone until and unless it benefits them. I also knew you would follow us, you are very easy to read. Not only that, but you are inexperienced as well and might have gotten lost, that's why I didn't throw the band-aid away." Zhang said and a Wu Xie felt a huge pang of guilt in his heart. That statement of Zhang made him feel like he used him although at first he was genuinely worried for the stoic male. Wu Xie fell completely silent and hung his head low. He felt like a huge jerk.

Even though Wu Xie helped Xiaoge only for the sake of his own gain, the latter was still worried about him and that only made him feel worse. A frown adorned the soft features of his beautiful face and his mind kept thinking of ways to apologize to the man.

All of a sudden, Wu Xie ran into the sturdy back of Zhang and rubbed his nose. He had to admit that even though Zhang looked pretty thin, be sure had some strong muscles.

"Xioage, what's wrong?" Wu Xie asked puzzled by the sudden pause.

"We're here."

"Oh.." Wu Xie was at a loss of words, now that he was actually here he was afraid of how his uncle would react. Especially regarding Pangzi.

He is definitely going to be upset.

Taking a deep breath, Wu Xie followed Zhang into the camp. Everyone looked perplexed, probably wondering as to where Zhang suddenly ran off to.

"Zhang Qiling, you're back! We were worried about you. Where-" Wu Sanxing cut his sentence halfway when his eyes landed on the figure of a familiar person.

"WU XIE?! What the hell are you doing here?! How did you find us? Didn't I tell you to stay away?! Why must you always make things difficult for me?" Wu Sanxing thundered and everyone was left stunned, he never yelled at anyone.

Wu Xie couldn't come up with anything to say, his mind was blank. He already felt like a jerk because of what he did with Zhang and now he felt even worse.

Why must you always make things difficult for me?

These words kept ringing in his mind as everything faded out as background noise. He began tearing up, feeling like a complete idiot and a burden.

"I-I'm sorry." That was the only thing he said as he darted towards the forest to look for a quiet place.

"Wu Xie!" His uncle screamed, not out of anger, but this time out of worry. How could he forget that Wu Xie was extremely sensitive to words, especially after the death of his parents?

Before anyone could make a move, Zhang had already taken off in the direction in which Wu Xie ran in. He felt as if he had to keep the male safe, not for money, not for his employer but for himself.

Wu Xie, where are you?

In a distance, Zhang heard a few sniffles and cautiously followed the sound. He soon found Wu Xie seated on a rock as he wiped his tears.

Wu Xie was lost in own mind full of dark thoughts and didn't even sense the presence of the hooded man. He opened his eyes only to find a white handkerchief neatly folded on a hand. He looked up to see Zhang looking at him with his usual expression, except for that fact that this time, his eyes looked softer.

"Xiaoge? What are you doing here?" He asked as he took the hanky from Zhang's hand, wiping his tear-stained cheeks and the latter settled himself on the rock beside Wu Xie.

"I told you not to leave my side, it is dangerous." Zhang said simply.

"Xiaoge, I am sorry."

"For?"

Wu Xie turned to face Zhang, head low as he couldn't look at the male straight in the eye.

"For using your injury to my advantage, it was horrible of me to do that. I also made you come out all the way here, troubled you and-" He cut himself off as a tear ran down his cheek.

Zhang was taken aback by the apology. Yeah, a lot people used him for many different purposes: to save their own skin, to escape, use him as a scapegoat knowing he is strong, etc., but this was the first time he had recieved such a heartfelt and sincere apology. He didn't know how to calm the other male down so he only patted his back carefully.

"Its okay, stop crying." He said softly, voice low and gentle and Wu Xie's cheeks dusted a light pink.

He has a nice voice. He thought.

"Let's head back to the camp." Zhang said as he got up and held out a hand for Wu Xie. The latter nodded and grabbed the extended hand with a small smile. Zhang must have not realized how much strength he needed to pull Wu Xie up because when he did, the younger ended up falling on his chest.

"Damn, you're strong." Wu Xie giggled slightly as he separated himself from Zhang.

"I know." Zhang replied with a hint of smugness in his voice and Wu Xie raised a brow.

"Alright, alright, lets go." Wu Xie urged as Zhang followed behind the male quietly, completely unaware of the pair of eyes that watched all their moves.