When Su Wan woke up, she felt something heavy was weighing her down. She blinked her eyes and looked around. She was indeed in her room and was lying in her bed, but something was pressing on her stomach. She half-raised her head and peered down her body, and sure enough, Lin Chen was sleeping on her abdomen. Gah, did this guy not know how big he was? He was practically pinning her body, and she couldn't even shift!
"Ah, Chen," groaned Su Wan, her voice hoarse and her lips chappy. She could feel her throat was parched, and she could practically feel how dry her mouth was, but no matter how much she called Lin Chen didn't wake up. Frustrated, she pushed his head with her hand, jolting the latter awake.
Lin Chen was still sleepy as he took over the watch later in the morning. Lin Yan didn't want to change the shift, but he needed to make breakfast for the family. Last night everyone missed their dinner, all except the children who were later fed by Father Lin, but Lin Chen wasn't well-rested either. He spent a good deal of his night torturing answers out of the stupid assassin before leaving him tied up in the forest. If he didn't get the records that he wanted to bring Luo Xin down, he might pay a visit to that man.
All in all, when he returned home, it was morning. Originally he wanted to sleep in his room, but then Lin Yan asked him to take care of Su Wan until he finished cooking. Of course, Lin Chen didn't refuse. He finally got a chance to be next to his wife. How can he refuse? He immediately took over, but his tiredness got the best of him. He ended up falling asleep on Su Wan's tummy.
"What - what?" still dizzy, Lin Chen looked around. He was still sleepy, which meant his mind was working slower than usual.
"Water. Ah, Chen... get me some, cough, water," Su Wan didn't have the energy to scold Lin Chen. Right now, her throat was so dry that she couldn't even bring herself to speak a normal sentence, much less scold him.
Only then did Lin Chen wake from his daze. He looked at the conscious Su Wan and immediately felt his eyes sting as he lunged himself at her, warm tears trickling down his cheeks. "You are okay? You are okay! Hahhaha! Wan Wan, you are awake! You are so cruel. Do you love my second brother so much that you didn't even want us brothers anymore? Do you know how worried I was! You didn't even tell me where you were going. I ran around from town to village looking for you! I was so, so worried! I swear I lost half of my life right then and there, I thought -I thought something happened to you! How can you be so wilful!? Are you so courageous now that you will run amok like that? Not even caring about us!"
Su Wan turned silent. She was so focused on Lin Yan that she completely forgot about Lin Chen and the others. She wanted to help Lin Yan and didn't even stop to think about how her other husbands would feel when they realized what she did.
Su Wan swallowed as she raised her hands and awkwardly patted Lin Chen's back. Everyone thought that she was the victim in this relationship, but the truth was that she was the one who suffered the least while her husbands suffered the most. She could act wilfully and choose whomever she wanted, whenever she wanted. Still, it was them who had to patiently wait for her to look in their direction.
Like right now, because she was worried about Lin Yan, she diverted all her attention to Lin Yan. She didn't even think about her other husbands, and they understood and didn't complain. They remained behind the scenes, supporting her while focusing her attention on Lin Yan.
Su Wan couldn't even imagine how painful it must be for them. They loved her and made sure that she knew it too, but she actually ignored them. If Lin Chen or anyone else did something like this, if they kept things away from her and ended up falling sick... she would be really devasted. The anger that would follow, she didn't even know how angry she would be then.
Yes, Lin Chen was angry, but he was more worried about her. Why was he such a fool? Why were these brothers such fools as to put her forward before them?
"I am sorry," croaked Su Wan as she hugged Lin Chen back. It was right of her to worry about Lin Yan, but that doesn't mean that she could ignore the other four whole only caring about one. She was better than that.
Lin Chen pulled back, anger tightening his features. "Are you really sorry? Will you run away from home like this again?"
"Run away? I never ran away. Even if I did - where will I go when my home is here? I will always return back to you, to my husbands. Because this is where I belong."
Bringing her hand to his lips, Lin Chen kissed the inside of her wrist. "If this is how you feel, then I'm not angry, but believe me, I will never let go of you." Deep lines formed on his forehead as he scrunched up his face. His voice dropped to a whisper. "I thought I was going to lose you. You didn't wake up at all. And you were burning up, and... I have never felt that helpless before, I don't know about my brothers, but they must have felt the same. None of them slept either, and elder brother was so shocked that he fainted." Lin Chen didn't continue to explain that it was because of his and Lin Yu's actions. Lin Chen decided to hide a part of the story and use it to his advantage so that Su Wan would understand the impact she has.
"I don't blame you for being worried about Second brother, but you know... We are your husbands too. When I saw you faint, all because of him.... I couldn't help but ask myself, where exactly am I in your heart? Do I even have a place? Because if I do, how can you treat yourself like this, giving up on your life, on me, on us?"