𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 ➤ 𝐱𝐢𝐚𝐨

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐.

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𝐈 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐅𝐔𝐋 looking boy standing above me. he had dark teal hair with lighter coloured streaks and was dressed in baggy black ripped jeans and an oversized green t-shirt. he obviously had beautiful amber eyes as we held pretty awkward eye contact for a good twenty seconds without saying a word.

i disrupted the silence by clearing my throat and lifting myself up onto my feet. i crouched down again to pick up the book and cup i had dropped before pulling both of the items close to my chest. the mysterious boy still hadn't said a word, he just looked at me with dull tired eyes. taking a closer look at his face, i noticed he had dark eye bags implanted onto his skin. i almost felt bad for the stranger, it looked like he definitely wasn't getting enough sleep.

i decided to make the first move. "uh..are you okay?". he looked a bit shocked by my question and edged back slightly, not answering my question.

i noticed his gaze move away from my own down to the book i was holding. "the boar princess..?" his voice was a bit raspy, but at the same time it had a gentle aspect to it. "isn't that a kid's book?". he shoved his hands in his pockets and raised an eyebrow at me. my face flushed at his words. was he seriously about to judge me for reading a children book? i somehow managed to muster up enough courage to respond to the teal haired boy. "i was expecting an apology, not a judgmental remark." my grip tightened on the book as i glared at him. he simply nodded and walked away, leaving me alone.

i frowned at the boy's rudeness. first of all, he knocks me over, then he doesn't even help me up or apologise. i cursed under my breath before walking back to the front desk. once i got there verr was smiling widely at me from behind the counter. "verr? why are you looking at me like that?" she chuckled. "that's the most i've seen xiao talk to someone." she laughed. i stood there, extremely confused, until something clicked and i realised that the rude boy's name was xiao.

"ugh, well this xiao person is extremely rude. he knocked me over and then-"
verr cut me off by chuckling again, holding her tummy with her arms. "i know, i know! i saw your whole little exchange back there." she wiped a tear of laughter from her eye and looked at me. "in all seriousness though, xiao is a nice boy. he's around your age actually, he's just..." she was trying to find the right words and looked deep in thought. i finished the sentence for her. "not good with people." i stated. verr just nodded and smiled to herself.

"you may think he's rude but i think he was actually quite interested by you." verr smirked, once again smiling widely.
i gave her a look before shoving the book and teacup onto a free area on the desk. "first of all, he spoke two sentences to me and secondly, i just met the guy. you have no clue what you're talking about." i began to head out the door. "i have to go, thanks for the book and the tea." with that, i was out the door, hurrying back to the hell-hole i had to live in.

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𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐯

after seeing y/n walk out the door i chuckled to myself again. "you can come out now." i said, glancing beside me. xiao appeared from a bookshelf, the same dull look in his eyes. i turned my body fully in his direction. "you know, she's right. you were quite rude just then, you could have at least apologised, xiao." i frowned, displeased at how he handled the past situation. he just scoffed and leant against the bookshelf, clearly not interested in having a conversation with me.

i stared at the ground, a slight feeling of sadness overcome me. i glanced up at the small boy, his empty eyes were fixated on the ground. i had always wondered what made him so distant because he had never told me anything about his past; but i knew something happened to make
him this way. he never opened up to anyone, and i thought he would have never spoken a word to anyone he wasn't close to. until y/n that is.

"look at me, xiao." my voice was laced with a sense of demand, causing the young boy to reluctantly look at me. i inhaled and begin to speak. "trust me when i say this, she'll do you good. it's very rare you find someone in your life who can heal you from your past." his eyes widened at my words. he turned his back to me, facing the front door. "are you drunk or something? i just met the girl, stop pulling shit out of your ass, verr. i'm not in the mood."

he sent me a cold glare, causing a shiver to run down my spine. he hurriedly bolted out the door, leaving me standing behind the desk. alone.