The Villain Saves The Male Lead

Snow, Smoke and Shadow were even more photogenic than Fang and Ren, much to the delight of the photographers. They were also exceptionally intelligent and well behaved, and they enjoyed playing around in the sand so much that it made even the locals want to join them! Ren and Fang had been reduced to background support for the three furballs, and the tourism department was so pleased with the results of the new photoshoots that the minister gave Ren another oilfield, with instructions that the profits from the oilfield would be solely used to buy treats and toys for Snow, Smoke and Shadow. Pax had a hard time holding back his laughter as he explained the contents of this agreement to their legal department for drafting.

"Where on earth did you find such beautiful cubs?" the minister asked Ren. "They're just too adorable. Even I didn't know that simply playing in the sand could be so much fun!"

Ren laughed. "We just happened to pick them up. I had hardly any hand in it," he said. "Fang found Smoke and Shadow and the two puppies found their feline sister."

The minister gave him a disbelieving stare.

Fang, who was sitting next to Ren, laughed as well. "It's true," he told the minister, and went on to narrate the stories of how Snow, Smoke and Shadow came to be a part of their family.

"Amazing," the minister murmured. "I thought you two had searched far and wide for puppies and kittens whose eyes matched yours so perfectly!"

"Perhaps it was fate," Ren said absently.

Meanwhile, the three furballs finished their shooting and bounded over to Ren and Fang. Ren immediately pulled three baby bottles from the big bag next to him and gathered the three of them to feed them milk. Ren had been worrying the entire time that his little fur babies would suffer from dehydration in the hot and dry weather of Sand Country.

Snow and Shadow immediately started drinking from the bottles Ren gave them, but Smoke didn't want to.

Ren handed the two obedient furballs to Fang and cajoled the third one. "Aren't you thirsty, little Smoke?" he asked softly, tickling the grey pup's chin.

Smoke huffed. Play more, Daddy.

"You'll get sick if you play more without drinking milk," Ren told him. He pulled out another bottle from the bag. "If you don't want to drink milk, do you want to drink water instead?"

Smoke agreed to drink water and Ren fed him a small but nutritious treat after he drank his fill.

Seeing Smoke get a treat, Snow and Shadow leapt out of Fang's arms and straight into Ren's, demanding a treat, too.

Ren laughed fondly and let the two of them have a treat each as well.

Fed and watered adequately, the three furballs took some pictures and videos, some with Fang and Ren, and some without them.

Everyone had big smiles on their faces when the shooting was completed for the day.

"I'm sure we'll have a lot of people wanting to visit our country the moment we release this video," a tourism department official said happily.

The minister agreed whole heartedly, and decided that he would speak to the other ministers in the cabinet and see if they could hand out additional projects to Sirocco, so that Ren and Fang ended up spending more time in their country. CEO Ren seemed to be a harbinger of good fortune for them! And the minister couldn't forget the delicious meal Ren had personally cooked...if the young man hadn't been such a formidable businessman, the minister would have suggested that he shift his career and become a chef! That gave the minister a new idea - perhaps he could urge Ren to enter the food industry...?

While the higher ups of Sand Country were thinking of various ways to entice the young CEO Ren to stay in their country on a semi permanent basis, the little group of four humans and three furballs were enjoying their holiday to the fullest. The little ones were curious about everything and seeing them rushing about eagerly made the four humans quite amused.

All in all, the little family was happy and content, and the entire weekend felt like a nice family vacation. Fang, who had never experienced a family vacation before, was especially satisfied and pleased when he saw Ren acting normally and revert to his original, cheerful self. Their reconciliation last weekend had left Fang a bit worried, and he felt himself lost when faced with a fragile Ren. This week, however, the Ren he saw was the caring, confident and occasionally childish man he'd fallen deeply in love with, and that was particularly reassuring for Fang. Perhaps it was the presence of the three furballs that made Ren feel so much better.

Fang, Wolf and Pax returned to Cosmopolis after the weekend, but the three furballs refused to budge from Ren's side. Ultimately, it was decided that Fang would fly to Sand Country every weekend, and Snow, Smoke and Shadow would spend one week in Sand Country with Ren and one week in Cosmopolis with Fang. And whenever Ren could manage to free himself during the week, he would make a trip back home.

"Feels like a custody battle," Pax commented. "Except that instead of the parents fighting with each other, it's the babies fighting with the parents."

Stay with Daddy. The three furballs were unanimous in their decision. After the scare Ren had given them in the recent past, they were very worried - plus they had really, really missed their Daddy all these days and wanted to spend more time with him.

Ren sighed. He was worried that he wouldn't be able to take care of the furballs by himself. At home, they had Steward Paul and Jules, who treated the three fur babies like their own grandchildren.

But Snow, Smoke and Shadow were adamant and would start whining piteously the moment their departure from Sand Country was mentioned. They had really missed their Daddy while Ren and Fang had been playing out their relationship melodrama!