Proofread by : dylanwolfieobrien
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As usual, every morning, Jingyu's father brought plastic trash to throw in front of his house. But this morning he was surprised by a boy sleeping in front of his house. He patted the boy's shoulder.
"Hey!..." He said, but there was no answer from the boy, then Jingyu's father touched his forehead, and it felt a little hot. Then he shook his body but the boy still didn't budge. Jingyu's father became panicked and called to Jingyu. Jingyu came running out of house to his father.
"What is it, Pa? Eh... Peng???", Jingyu asked surprised.
"You know him?", His father asked.
"Yes, he's my friend. What we should do, Pa???", Asked Jingyu having no idea on what to do.
"Help me bring him in", said his father.
"Okay", with that Jingyu carried Peng's limp body into his house.
"Jingyu...", suddenly Peng's head moved and his hand tightly gripped Jingyu's shirt.
"Yeah Peng. Be patient. We'll lay you down first."
Jingyu laid Peng's body on his bed and covered him with a thick blanket. Then ran to get warm water. Jingyu's father wiped the dust off of Peng's face.
"What happened to you? Did my son get into trouble with you?", asked Jingyu's father worried.
Peng shook his head slowly.
Jingyu came in with a large basin of warm water and a small towel to compress Peng's forehead.
"What happened, Peng?", Asked Jingyu
Peng turned his face away and cried.
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Weizhou sat anxiously. Jingyu didn't come to school today and all the students were talking about what happened yesterday. Some people even made up malicious gossips about Jingyu.
"I heard he did it at his old school", said one student.
"Yeah...no wonder he has no friend", the other one added.
"I've heard that he worked at a gay bar before".
"Really? He is very poor, I bet he has no choice"
"It's not like that, he's just too bitch... hahahaha".
"BE QUITE!!!". Weizhou screamed standing up with an angry face at everyone in his class. He took his bag and left the classroom. Ryan chased after him and caught his arm.
"Wait Zhou, where are you going?", asked Rayn worriedly.
"Jingyu...", replied Weizhou.
Weizhou shook Ryan's hand and walked away. Ryan just took a deep breath and let Weizhou go.
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Weizhou went straight to Jingyu's house. Just as he was about to knock on the door, the door suddenly opened.
"Weizhou...".
"Jingyu..."
Their eyes locked and time seemed to stand still. Jingyu didn't know why, but he felt very calm just by looking at Weizhou's face and Weizhou also couldn't take his eyes off of Jingyu's eyes. Jingyu was looking a little tired and he was wearing his usual clothes, with his hair wet with his body sweating a little and that slightly parted lips...., With great difficulty, Weizhou tried to swallow his saliva.
"Jingyu!!!".Came Jingyu's father's voice bringing them back to the real world.
"Yes Pa.. Ummm... Zhou! Come in", Jingyu invited Weizhou inside.
"Yes thank you", replied Weizhou.
"Jingyu! you have to buy medicine, oh.. Weizhou...".
"Good morning Dad. You and Jingyu seem to be busy and worried. Is Grandma having a fever again?", asked Weizhou.
"No, not grandma, but...".
"Peng", Jingyu cut off his father's sentence.
"Peng?? He's here?", asked Weizhou surprised.
"Yeah. I don't know what happened, Papa found him lying in front of our house this morning. His body was burning and was covered in bruises from what happened yesterday", replied Jingyu.
"How.. I mean... why didn't you tell Fang?", asked Weizhou.
"I don't have his number, Zhou".
"Then I'll tell him. May I borrow your phone?".
"Of course".
Weizhou leaped up to get the phone.
"Zhou... I'm going to buy some medicine... so...", Jingyu couldn't continue. 'Should I ask him to wait? But what if he's busy? Maybe he just happened to be passing by. Yeah, that's possible...' he thought.
"I will wait here". Then Weizhou turned and picked up the phone to call Fang.
"Hmm...", Jingyu ran towards the door and he couldn't help but smile.
Jingyu rushed out of the drugstore. Unfortunately, he collided with someone.
"Sorry".
They said almost at the same time.
"Max".
Max averted his eyes from Jingyu.
"Does it still hurt?", asked Jingyu while pointing at Max's arm.
"What about you?", Max asked back still avoiding Jingyu's eyes.
"No, I'm fine now", replied Jingyu.
"Me too", Max replied back.
Max then walked into the shop.
"What about A'Mei?".
Max stopped in his tracks. "She had a fight with a boy yesterday. My stupid sister really likes you".
Max clenched his fists and Jingyu looked at him, then patted him on the shoulder.
"Aren't you tired? We're always fighting. What for? I've dropped out of that school. I've rejected your sister too. You've also broken my hand. We're even now. So can we just be friends?", asked Jingyu tiredly.
Max took a deep breath.
"Hufftt, my sister is indeed a stubborn child. I've told her many times that you don't like her but she still chasing you, even to the point of fighting with a boy. Hhuufftttt, she's such a troublemaker", huffed Max.
Jingyu laughed at that.
"Hey, what are you laughing at?"
"You... even you, the strongest kid in school, can't manage a girl like her. Actually, she's quite amazing".
"Yeah...". then they both laughed together.
"Eh, you bought medicine. Who's sick?", asked Max.
"The boy who was beaten by your sister, he has a fever. I don't know what happened, but my father found him lying in front of our gate this morning", replied Jingyu.
"Really!?? Is he... I mean... his wound...Is it really bad???".
"He just had been bruised yesterday, but now he's having a fever. I didn't know if bruising can cause a fever."
"May I see him?"
"Huh?".
"I... I just don't want anything bad to happen to my sister, if that boy gets any worse-... ", Max stopped in the mid sentence.
"Oh, of course. But he's at my house."
"Oh. Then??".
"I remember you said my house was like a garbage dump. I...".
"Damn it!!! Don't remember the past!!! We're already at peace!!!", exclaimed Max.
Jingyu smiled broadly at that. "I didn't know you could joke too. Come on", offered Jingyu amused.
Jingyu walked towards his house with Max closely following behind.
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Weizhou took a small warm towel from Peng's forehead, then checked his temperature.
"Jingyu..."
Peng softly called Jingyu's name. Weizhou felt awkward, but then he patted Peng's head lightly. Peng opened his eyes slowly and saw Weizhou's face nearby, then he slapped Weizhou's hand away weakly.
"What are you doing here? Where is Jingyu?", he asked meekly.
"He went to buy medicines for you".
Peng couldn't hide his smile.
"Peng, what really happened to you? I tried calling your house but no one picked up. I wanted to call Fang, but...".
"Never call him!!!". Peng shouted and startled Weizhou.
"But he...".
"No!!! I'm telling you, never call him!!! Are you afraid that Jingyu will pay attention to me? Are you jealous?".
"Not really. Or you can come to my house so my mom can take care of you and I can call Mr Lim to...".
"No!!! Jingyu will take care of me!!!".
"Peng, Jingyu has to take care of his grandparents. And now you...".
"What??? Jingyu won't mind!!!".
"Jingyu is very kind. Of course he won't tell you directly. But you...".
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH, XU WEIZHOU!!! Weizhou, just wake up and realise it. You can never have him. You're not gay, right? Oh, or are you gay now? What if your parents find out? Should I tell them??".
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!!", Weizhou shouted at Peng instead.
"I don't care what you say, Peng. Stop it. He's not gay, you'll only hurt yourself", said Weizhou helplessly.
"Hahahaha... you're so funny. You sound like you really care about me".
"But I really do care...".
"No, you don't!!! Now, answer me. Do you like him??", asked Peng.
"How about you? Do you like him, Peng!!!", Weizhou asked back.
"I asked you first. Just answer me, Zhou!!!", Peng asked back getting annoyed.
Weizhou was silent.
"Answer me, Zhou!!!".
Weizhou's eyes moved erratically. His body was drenched in cold sweat.
"Answer me, Xu Weizhou!!!!", Peng screamed impatiently.
Weizhou just nodded slowly.
"Say it!!!".
"Peng, sorry. But I really can't get rid of this feeling. I've tried, but...".
"Just say it, Yes or no!!!".
"Okay.. I like him. But that's only because...".
"Zhou..."
A voice came from the door which immediately caught Weizhou and Peng's attention.
"Jingyu..."
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Published : 06.02.2022