RACING;HUALIAN

Chapter 13

"Which one should I get him?" Xie Lian tapped a finger on his chin.

"Shit I don't know. Little kids are picky man." Feng Xin said this while joking around with a lightsaber.

You're the kid, Xie Lian thought to himself. "Anyway, my bad for leaving you yesterday."

"It's all cool. Besides, I made a new friend. I think he hates me though."

"Why'd you say that?"

"Let me tell you."

Last night at the party

"I'm fucking wasted!" Feng Xin held his cup high as the people around yelled in excitement.

"Hey all you, Listen! I'll run through the woods butt ass naked if someone bets me a hundred dollars."

Everyone there wanted to see that sight but they didn't think it'd be embarrassing since he worked out a lot. One guy stepped up with a bill in his hand but paused when he heard another voice speak.

The voice was clear and sounded a little annoyed. "You do know if you do that you'll be labeled as a sex offender. Right?"

Feng Xin turned and looked at the boy who just spoke and smiled. The boy was of course Mu Qing. He pushed his glasses up as the annoying boy walked toward him.

"Well...aren't you little Mr. know it all?" Feng Xin laughed and everyone felt pressured to do so as well.

Mu Qing wasn't fazed as he stood up and looked the slightly taller boy in his eyes. "And aren't Mr. Dumbass?"

Everyone got silent and prayed for the brown-haired boy who had a death wish. Feng Xin always fought so they didn't think this would be an exception. But he surprised the crowd when he laughed.

"I like you, little buddy. Let's be friends." Mu Qing's face paled and he walked away huffing and mumbling to himself.

Back to the Toy Store

"So that's what happened." Xie Lian didn't understand why his friend thought the boy liked him but he digressed. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice.

"Yeah, he wasn't into me. He wanted to spend time talking to some snotty nose brat." The voice he heard belong to the girl he met last night, Li Ya. Feng Xin followed his line of sight and saw a girl standing on the other side of the shelves conversing with someone.

"Well, why'd you leave and not ask him for his number or something?"

Feng Xin started to point and tried to catch his friend's attention. Xie Lian looked over and mouthed what to him.

"That's him! The guy I was talking to you about." He whispered yelled and Xie Lian wanted the ground to swallow him up.

"Shhh." Li Ya continued not knowing the boy she spoke was just on the other side of the shelves. "He's a nice guy and I wanted to make an exception for my  "No younger guys" rule. But he's too nice."

"What does that mean?" Mu Qing looked at the new action figurines he wanted to buy. He didn't want to listen to his friend's bullshit but it was his duty.

"It means that if he's that nice, he'll never pay attention to me. He'll always be trying to help someone else."

"You got all that from spending an hour with him?" Fend Xin laughed loudly but quickly covered his mouth.

By that time, it was too late. "Is someone there?" Xie Lian moved the box that was covering his face on the shelf and laughed nervously.

"Hi...we're here." The girl looked surprised and wanted to run with a head in her hands but she pushed it down. "You just heard all that?"

"More or less." Feng Xin answered for him while he rubbed the back of his neck. The girl grabbed her friend's hand and pulled him away while the two boys shrugged.

••••

"Mom, I'm home!" Xie Lian walked in and sat his bag down while heading to the backyard to find his mother painting as she always did. She heard him so she turned around and held her arms open for her son.

"Welcome back. Why isn't Feng Xin with you?"

"He wanted to go stalk his newfound friend." His mom nodded as if that was a common occurrence.

"Dad's still at work?"

"Yeah, he said he's staying late tonight so he won't be able to have dinner."

"He never does, so can I go somewhere tonight? I'll be back before curfew. I just need to give someone a present."

"Oooh does my son have a little girlfriend?" Xie Lian waved his hands.

"It's not like that, I told a little kid I'd bring him a teddy bear."

"Aww, how sweet. Of course, you can."

"Thanks, mom, love you." He kissed her cheek and ran to the front door but not before grabbing his bag.

He went to the garage and grabbed his bike and rode to the diner where Hua Hua was waiting.

When he arrived after a while, he saw the little boy talking to someone older than him. A boy that was around his age.

He couldn't hear the conversation but he didn't want to interrupt until he heard a yell. "It's the beautiful boy I told you about yesterday, Da-ge!"

The older boy turned around and Xie Lian almost ran because of his cold eyes. His hair was black and his skin looked pale and cold to the touch.

But he stood up and walked to Xie Lian with a little bit of a smile. "My brother told me about you. I'm He Xuan. Thanks for helping him out. My mom can be a real downer."

Xie Lian nodded and reached his hand out and shook the other's hand.

"I'm Xie Lian and I got this for him." He gave the bag to He Xuan and he grabbed it looking inside.

"He'll love it."

••••

Xie Lian rose his bike back home with a smile. He Xuan had offered him money but he refused so he offered lunch. Xie Lian accepted and they made a date.

He saw the little boy's face light up and his heart felt warm. He walked into his house and was about to yell out until he saw his mother and father in the living room.

"Hi, I just got back..." He stopped when he saw an angry look on his father's face. The older man looked at him and spoke slowly.

"Where were you?"

"I was out giving a gift to someone."

"Why didn't you answer your phone?"

"I turned it off. What's wrong?"

Xie Lian was confused and his face clearly showed but his father didn't care and stood up stomping toward him.

"I called you to tell you that a work friend of mine wants you to meet his daughter."

"Huh?"

"Don't "huh" me. You're nearly sixteen, it's about time you start thinking about your future."

"What does that have to do with your work friend's daughter?"

"If all goes as planned, you'll marry her when you turn 18."