NÁNHÁI

1 8 n e e t h g i e

| E I G H T E E N |

little mistress is blind

The short yet unnerving conversation — "I .. Yian ...he, I can't .. I can't find h..im, can't fin..d!" — constantly played itself in his head, no matter how hard he'd try, the ragged sound of his breathing while he stuttered and struggled to keep sane, — "Why, wh..y is he the..re?" — Yibo couldn't seem to slip them off at all.

Swerving into the Wang Mansion, he felt weirdly nauseous; tightly holding onto his helmet, he wondered why, just why?

Yian being close to one of them, was it really supposed to hurt the other? Alongside the bittersweet feeling of reach, did he also have to inhale the filthy scent of guilt? When he knew he wasn't at fault, seeing Xiao Zhan in pain, why did the only cause in mind have to be him?

If formerly he'd retorted over the carelessness his Dad had shown as an adult, at the moment the piercing bolt of anger seemed to be directed towards Yian; the little spark of excitement to see the boy, his boy seemed to have blown alongside the sob that'd stubbornly escaped Xiao Zhan's mouth.

The older must have tried, tried so hard not to let it off but when it came to Yian, he was weak to the knees, knowing the boy had run off, how could Yibo ever understand what the other must have felt?

Although he had no idea how things were on the other side, running off was still a little too much and Yibo who'd just contacted the kid's Papa felt the thump louder and heavier than anyone else; he was confused and in that course of confusion he could only disregard himself and feel horribly itchy towards Yian's actions.

Shoving his thoughts aside, Yibo tightly gripped his motorcycle keys; given the huge Wang estate, the servants were also in abundance but strangely today there wasn't a single soul around; it seemed his Dad had not been so careless, after all, Yian coming over would only excite chaos, staff dismissal was just the right move.

Eyes desperately travelling from the dark wooden staircase to the open-end kitchen, he finally spotted two familiar figures cooped up together, seated atop the lavish kitchen island was Yian while his Dad seemingly holding a dish plate was trying to feed him.

"Eh-heh! you're much better than him, Yibo even had me carry him to work when he was your age"

A vibrant giggle escaped Yian's mouth as he watched his newfound Dada earnestly poke fun at his own son, the boy wasn't very fond of strangers and was slow to warm up but because the only familiarity around had been this wrinkled face, he naturally surrendered.

Mr Wang, on the other hand, had concealed his emotions for almost too long, everything had its limits and he wasn't the hard player he seemed to be, after much thought he'd sprinted over to the neighbourhood, upon spotting the very grandson midway he was obviously surprised but hearing the kid glumly lament over his Papa's authority, the old man couldn't prop out the heart to force, his self stilling.

Although he'd never actually held anything on Yian or his Papa the sudden connection had always felt unearthly to him but seeing the kid up close, who wouldn't fall in love, just who wouldn't want to dote?

"Gege was a bad boy!" Yian exclaimed, breaking into yet another laugh he was enjoying himself very much.

The old man taking advantage of this very mood wisely spooned yet another mouthful and stuffed it into the kid's mouth, Yian who had been constantly picky with his veggies completely unaware of how he'd been tricked happily chewed up.

"Not sorry at all, are you?"

The deep voice resonated.

With messed up hair and oddly familiar clothes, Yibo stood steps away; maybe because the look on the other's face and the obvious detest in the tone was something Yian had never actually encountered, he refrained from calling out; even when the food in his mouth had long driven to his stomach, he only stared at the unfamiliar man, not uttering a word, he could only observe this foreign figure.