Irresistible You (19 Days) (BL)

18.

Why so shy? He Tian mouthed, and Guan Shan pretended that he was blind, focusing on the stall owner instead.

"Boys!" The old man croaked out, pulling out an apron from a cabinet. "Skipping school eh? What do you both need?"

"Two melons and a packet of mushrooms, please." He bit out, feeling his mood worsen as He Tian shook with glee on his side.

"Yeah, he's a bad friend." He Tian nodded to the stall owner, eyes mirthful. "He is such a bad influence, you see? What do you even do in this situation?"

"You youngins!" The stall owner shook his head. "Don't blame your friend. School has always been a rotten business; just worsened with your generation."

Guan Shan glared daggers at He Tian, encouraging him to stop, but the bastard was utterly relentless.

"I don't think we should blame this generation, uncle." He Tian let out a mock sigh. "If we have irresponsible kids like Guan Shan here, then I fear that our country has a terrible future."

"Ha, funny, bastard." Guan Shan rolled his eyes. "Ignore this idiot's theatrics. He smokes his lungs like a chimney. Hardly a fuckin' nice example."

"Ho ho!" The old man's eyes twinkled as he weighed the melons. "I like your dynamic together! Friends who roast each other stay the closest, as they always say. Take care you two, and visit again anytime."

When they left the stall, Guan Shan wasted no time in driving the heel of his shoe into He Tian's feet. The bastard barely reacted, and he felt embarrassment welling up in him. Had he not been forceful enough?

"It's like a kitten punching." He Tian made a rude gesture with his hand, eyes crinkling. "Really adorable."

"Oh, shut up." He snapped, nearly smacking He Tian in his face by swinging the bag of melons around.

"You don't have to advertise that we're skippin' on school. That Chem teacher from class 2-A comes here on his break. If word gets out, I am fuckin' screwed."

He Tian smiled. "Oh? I like how you automatically assume that I care, red. I am honestly touched by that."

"..."

"Your assumption is right though." He Tian adopted a thoughtful pose, scratching his chin like a lazy fox who saw a wounded prey, before revealing a sharp smile. "Though red doesn't really seem to like that, or even appreciate me..."

"Don' you get tired of yappin' like a mutt?" Guan Shan questioned, raising a brow as they walked through the crowd. He wondered if He Tian wanted to do any purchasing of his own, but the bastard seemed content in just trailing his heel like a lost dog. He snorted at the imagery.

"Hey, I like the sound of my voice, second only to yours."

"What a joke." Guan Shan hated the sound of his voice, so much so that he was willing to oversee the shameless flirtation and indulge the bastard for a bit to hear the reasoning. "Your voice is even worse than mine; grates on my nerves and I have no fuckin' clue how those girls call it all hot and thick or whatever. Your harem is full of perverts like you."

"I have something else that's hot and—" He Tian wiggled his eyebrows, and neatly sidestepped a well-aimed punch from him.

"My voice gives me a headache when I speak." Guan Shan grumbled. "Folks at the stores I go to for jobs tell me I need to speak low to not scare the fuckin' customers away and shit."

"You're brilliant, red. Your voice too." He Tian shook his head, his arm brushing against his. He turned his head to stare at the bastard, who was smiling at him. He could sense no false pretense or reassurance, just blatant honesty on the boy's features. In the face of such transparency, he felt like he was at a loss for words. It was a recurring theme between them, after all.