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“Leaving already?” He Tian asked.
Guan Shan just stared at him, confusion written all over his face “Already?” he wondered. “It’s almost ten you bastard, we have school tomorrow and most importantly-” Shan stopped his thought there; he’d really want to say “I can’t bear being near you any longer, feeling all conscious” but that wouldn’t be any good; for him at least. God knows what the black haired male would do to hear these words.
Red doesn’t quite know but can guess and would rather distance himself from the idea; pleasing the He bastard was the last thing he’d want to do. Or so he told himself.
“Most importantly?” Tian stopped Mo’s train of thoughts by quoting his previous incomplete sentence. He had that smug face, with his knowing grin and all which left Little Mo on his tiptoes.
“What’s it to you anyways? I’m here almost everyday, for fuck’s sake!” he snapped, confessing nothing but the truth. The devilish teenager’s need of a what he’d call a “housemaid” (much to the redhead’s disgust and disturbance) had sort of enlarge over the course of the past weeks.
But Guan Shan knew it was more than that. In fact, he was confident this was less of the other boy’s issue and more of his own . Every since he recklessly confronted the people who pretty much ruined his and his family’s lives, and after that “He bastard” appeared and saved the day once again, Mo put all the puzzle pieces together and realized that somehow, for some reason, by one way or another, that he cared. That He Tian did.
And Mo Guan Shan was beating himself over why he ever would. But he knew he did. And he was also acknowledging the fact that the feeling was mutual.
Stupid dream, he’d think.
In the meantime, He Tian had just shrugged at his reply. No point in arguing, he thought. And he was right. He used to be able to understand beforehand and overcome anything Guan Shan would say or do but for a while now, he seems to have lost such an ability.
And people like the great He Tian never get into arguments they don’t know they’ll win.
Except that he did, unconsciously
Except that he didn’t, exactly.
Except that he wanted. Badly, every time he sees him leave, he wants to grab his scratched up from all the fights hand and softly tell him to stay. Hell, he’d even beg him if he wanted. If he could. If he should.
Except that he shouldn’t. That he can’t. Because that’s not him.
So rather than doing what he desired, he decided taking a last glimpse of Guan Shan, muttering an “Okay~” with his fake trademark flamboyant smile as he walked away back to the living room was a way better idea.
They’d both convinced themselves that leaving their feelings unsaid, was always the greatest decision.
But it wasn’t; and they never did. Tian’s fake tone would have revealed his feelings to the boy in front of him if he himself wasn’t so busy worrying about whether or not his own cover got blown up.
In a sense, they both were too honest.
Yet oblivious.
Hearing the reassuring sound of the door closing, He Tian walked back to the kitchen. He could sit there and dwell while eating the food Guan Shan had previously cooked in silence. He really was going to.
That was, until he caught something with his eyes.
An MP3 player.
Mo Guan Shan’s MP3 player.
Stuffing his mouth temporarily with a spoon full of whatever Redhead had cooked, he grabbed the player from the edge of the table, satisfied with his discovery.
Normally, something like going through someone’s playlist shouldn’t feel that exciting, but He Tian could argue.
Trying to figure out how such a device works, his mind wandered off to what kind of music someone like Little Mo would enjoy.
Tian himself didn’t have a specific favorite band or genre, always listening to whatever a radio played but he knew that was not the case with Mo.
The ginger seemed to enjoy the company of his MP3, most time more than He’s, as he always wore his earbuds as a excuse to avoid him.
Once he figured out how to run the player, he quickly ran through the titles; English, all of them.
He wasn’t surprised, Guan Shan definitely looked and felt like someone who was into foreign songs. Mostly rock and metal perhaps, he’d guess, recalling Red’s look of awe when his eyes had met an electric guitar on that rainy day.
And upon a closer look, recognizable titles of such songs appeared as He proudly believed he’d rest his case.
However, he couldn’t help but notice songs with titles that could only belong to love songs, which he found pretty amusing. Tian guessed that Redhead wasn’t the best in English, like he wasn’t the best in any subject; which would explain why he’d listen to such titled songs.
Out of curiosity, he decided to take a listen to one of Shan’s recent played titles and he was met with a rather pleasant surprise which revealed a bit about his beloved Mo’s personality.
Mo Guan Shan listened to ballads. A shit ton of them too.
A delightful expression appeared on He Tian’s face as a smile lit up his face, scrolling through the red fox’s infinite loop of sappy ballads, once in a while interrupted by rock songs and shitty dubsteps.
Thirteen songs and 3 plates of food later, Tian came up with an idea that would both surprise and delight the owner of the MP3 player.
In the midst of all this, the latter had already reached home, eaten his mother’s cooked dinner from the previous day, took a shower and refreshed, laid on his bed.
The adrenaline of spending time at the raven haired boy’s apartment was still there and the redheaded male knew there was no way he could sleep like this. So, in order to relax himself, Guan Shan tried to find comfort from his music producing device.
Jumping off the bed to grab said MP3 player from his backpack, where he usually left it, he was met with the horror of its absence. Dismissing his craving to panic, he desperately started searching for any signs of it, failing miserably.
Trying to think of a possible and logical explanation for its disappearance, Little-tired-Mo came up with two conclusions; he’d either lost it while hurrying back home or he’d forgotten it at the bastard’s place by accident. A tragic one.
He honestly didn't know which worse. Obviously, if he hadn’t actually lost it, he’d probably get it back in no time but he knows that He Tian would surely take advantage of such matter. That’s what Tian does, that’s his thing.
After having calmed down a little, he let it be. He could deal with it tomorrow. He would deal with it tomorrow.
Finally, a new day had arrived, and the moods of the two boys could not be any different; He Tian being enthusiastic as hell, in order to execute his plan, while Mo Guan Shan was just as apathetic as any other school day, if not more, considering that He Tian would have another excuse to bother him
They didn’t walk to school together. That’d be weird. It had, however, become routine for them to meet half way through and end up walking all the way together. But no, they didn’t walk to school together together . Again, that’d be weird.
So, as Guan Shan was taking his usual left turn to head to school, he wasn’t surprised to be met with a pair of gray eyes.
“Good morning, Little Mo!” said Tian, as he walked right next to him.
He didn’t reply. He never did. And He Tian knew. He’d notice, because that’s his thing; observing every little thing about the redhead.
Reading the atmosphere surrounding them -which is never to his advantage- Tian decided to bring up the matter.
“Ah, right. You forgot your MP3 player at my place last night…” he stated, hand deep into his pocket, taking out the mentioned device. “Here.” Tian smiled sheepishly as he handed the MP3 to its owner.
Mo was taken aback; he didn’t know exactly what he was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t a happy-go-lucky Tian just giving him back his belonging, without questions asked or ulterior motives behind it.
He was honestly pretty touched.
Having received his precious item back, he shoved it into his bag, since he knew he’d have to use it later that day and guessed that He Tian wouldn’t have thought of charging it.
It wasn’t until later that same day that Guan Shan realized that He bastard Tian had in fact not only charged gadget but had also provided it two extra additions:
The first one he’d realized when he took a second glimpse at it during break time. “These earbuds aren’t mine..” he confessed, looking at He Tian, who was seated opposite of him eating some cafeteria food, for an answer.
“Well, yours were damaged, with only one of the two working so, you know…” he replied, trying to come up with an excuse, as he himself honestly didn’t know why he had done that - as he also didn't know why Shan was so curious and nosy about it.
“Just think of it as a part of your payment for the other day” he added, referring to the tomato sauce incident.
Redhead, still not a hundred percent convinced and extremely skeptical about how the fuck he knows about the dysfunctional earbud, just accepted it, knowing well that a fight over that with the other teen would be pointless.
The realization of Tian’s ingenious second addition came a while later on. Surprisingly enough, the taller teenager hadn’t requested for his (self-proclaimed) “maid services” from the other, resulting in a confused yet relieved Mo Guan Shan going straight home after a while.
However, the road to their houses was still the same and they still weren’t walking together, but He Tian was definitely acting weird by repeatedly attempting to bring up Guan Shan’s damned MP3 into the conversation, which by then had become obvious to the latter that He had clearly listened to his long list of embarrassing songs.
Tian’s teasing and song quoting lasted for long, until they’d reached their separation point.
Redhead hurriedly walked his way home but was stopped by a strong hand gripping his. A too familiar one.
“Take a good listen Little Mo~” teased Tian, while flashing his smug grin and disappeared into the crowd. He was so proud of himself right there and then.
Guan Shan on the other hand was just overwhelmed. He Tian’s words had left him a blushing mess and after walking a few blocks away (to make sure He had disappeared completely) he hesitantly pulled out the MP3.
Upon seeing He Tian’s gesture of adding his own sappy touch into his already cheesy playlist, Mo was overfilled with emotions that even he could admit were the result of his already existing feelings for the other.
And even though he knew he looked stupid, standing in the side of the road grinning at a gadget with such a delightful expression, he couldn’t care less.
Because of him and whatever he did , his mind was long occupied.
And it was the same for He Tian too.
Probably.
Most definitely.
Surely.