Why He Tian does what he does (a 19 Days Fanfic)

Coincidence

"Hey, baby boy!"

Guanshan suddenly found himself face to face with a customer, a middle aged man with thinning hair and a pot belly. He could smell the alcohol in the other man's breath even from a distance.

I got this, I got this! Guanshan told himself. Not the first time I encounter a drunk.

"Mmmm. What are you thinking? You are a good one", the man slurred at him. He stretched out his hand, touching Guanshan's neck with thick, short fingers.

It felt filthy.

"Excuse me, sir. But, could you, please, sit down? I have other duties to attend to."

"Na-ah, baby boy! I am the duty you are gonna do now." The man leered at him, his grip tightening on Red's neck, trying to bring his head closer.

Guanshan was starting to lose his composure. He was afraid. And fear was making him desperate.

"Take your filthy paws off me, you bastard", he growled out.

"What did you say, you slut?!" The man raised a fist.

Guanshan flinched. His hands were still occupied with a tray full of drinks. He hunched his shoulders and ducked his head, trying to brace for the blow.

But, it never came.

Instead, an arm grabbed his waist from behind

Guanshan almost had a whiplash as he turned his head to find... He Tian.

The raven-haired boy had his usual smirk firmly plastered across his face. His other hand was still raised in the air, clearly having just blocked the blow from the other man.

"I am sorry, but pretty boy here is reserved for this night.", He Tin said, still smiling, while Guanshan gaped at him.

"He insulted me. You think I will let him off that easy?" The other man took a step, trying to get to Guanshan again.

"What about you try hitting me instead of him, sir?" He Tian asked, his smile now holding a dangerous quality to it.

The other man backed off.

Guanshan found himself roughly being held by the arm, and dragged. They weaved in and out of the chairs, He Tian leading the way to the back-door. He seemed to be familiar to the restaurant-bar-pimp joint, whatever it was. And in no time, he found himself out of the shitty place, called Noodle Bar, and back on to the street again.

---

He Tian had had a fun day, much as he hated to admit it.

Jian Yi, though spastic at times, was surprisingly chill to hang out with. Zhan Zheng Xi was the opposite of chill, always intense and serious, but He Tian derived immense satisfaction from getting a rise out of him.

They had been to the movies, to the mall, and to the gaming arcade. And finally, as the sun set, He Tian brought them to Noodle Bar. This was partly to shut Jian Yi up, since he kept complaining that they were doing fun but 'ordinary' things. And, partly because, Noodle Bar was one of the many pimp-points operated by The Trust. It would be a good introduction to the murky world that his dad controlled, or so He Tian had thought.

Now that he leaned against the shabby wall of the buildings with the red-haired boy in front him, he thanked his stars for the coincidence: that he could be there at the right moment, before something ugly happened, far uglier than simply being hit by a stranger.

He stole a glance at the boy before him.

Red looked like he was in shock.

His eyes looked glassy, and his lips were slightly parted, trembling. His usual pale complexion was flushed, swatches of red burning on his forehead, ears and cheeks. There were beads of sweat on his forehead, and some pooled in the crevice of his collar bones. He Tian's eyes followed the few drops that were trickling down further, into his sheer shirt. The air outside had gotten chilly, and when the other boy shivered, He Tian could see his nipples becoming erect because of the cold, and push through the leather hearts sewn on the shirt.

Red looked...

Ravishing, He Tian thought, before correcting himself... No, umm. May be, traumatised is a better word.

Ashamed of himself, he looked away.

Then a thought came to his mind, What was Red even doing here!

---

Waves of relief washed over Guanshan as he set foot outside the restaurant. Now that he was safe and out of harm's way, his body suddenly seemed to give up. He could feel his knees buckle, and had to struggle to simply keep standing. He drew in a long breath, and shivered slightly. The air was getting chilly.

He swallowed hard, trying to find his voice. Then, mumbled to the raven haired boy next to him:

"Thank you!"

He Tian looked at him, his eyes were unreadable. He said in a voice so quiet that Guanshan had to struggle to hear it:

"What did you just say?"

"Umm.. Thank you?"

"Thank you!?" He Tian suddenly exploded. He grabbed the red-haired boy by his shoulders, and shook him roughly. "Thank you? What the fuck were you even doing there? Why are you whoring yourself out? What's wrong with you? Why?"

Guanshan flinched, but stood his ground.

"I... She Li offered me a job!"

"She Li! And, you took it?"

Guanshan nodded mutely.

"Huh!" He Tian was getting angrier and angrier still, "And when they asked you to change into these slutty clothes, you just... agreed?"

"I..." Guanshan swallowed painfully.

"I... what?" He Tian shouted.

"I...I needed the money." Guanshan whispered. His eyes were starting to sting, tears threatening to fall. He bit his lips, forcing himself to stay calm.

---

He Tian stared at the boy in front of him.

He needed money... so bad?

The wind picked up around them, rustling the trees, and ruffling the red mop of hair on the boy opposite him. He Tian saw Red shiver again.

He sighed.

Needing money so bad, huh... I wonder how that is.

He quietly took off his jacket, surreptitiously slipping a few notes of thousand Yuan in the pocket.

"Take this", he roughly shoved the jacket towards Red.

"Take this and go home."

"Why?" To He Tian's annoyance, the red haired boy stepped back, instead of simply accepting the jacket. Even as he was still battling with shock and shivering like crazy, He Tian already could see the ghost of a frown forming on his forehead.

Too proud for his own good. He needs to cool that hot head down a bit.

It irritated him. He was not used to offering help to people. It was especially tiresome when the other refused to accept it.

"Because, I don't know...Let's see... Oh! You look like a whore, right now, and might not be able to get to home in one piece, walking like that?" He Tian said, a bit harsher than he had intended.

However, it worked. The red-haired boy looked down, suddenly self-conscious.

"T-thank you!", Red stammered out, as he took He Tian's jacket. "I... I will pay you back."

"Get lost", He Tian replied and went back inside.