He Tian quietly followed the redhead out of the bedroom. Last night was a blur. He could not remember anything clearly. Neither did he want to. His head was throbbing with a dull ache, and his eyes hurt to look at light. But, as he caught sight of his face on the small mirror hung on the back of the bedroom door, he saw a silly grin plastered wide over his face.
He never knew it was possible to be so badly hung over and so deliriously happy at the same time.
He forced his dull senses to focus on the boy before him. He had not changed out of his sleeping attire: a modest, somewhat faded, sleeveless tee, and a pair of elastic shorts. The boy was busy at the kitchen counter top, bringing out plates and whatnot, so He Tian let his eyes roam over him: sleeveless tee suited him well, but what drew his attention was how, every time he reached for the cupboard above, his shorts hitched up, exposing a prominent tan line, that gave way to milk-white skin: Thank God for overhead cupboards!
As if the redhead could hear his thoughts, he tugged at his shorts, before turning and coming over to the small dining table at which He Tian sat.
He banged a plate of sandwiches before him. Bang, came a glass of water. He threw a strip of aspirins beside it and then slumped down in the chair opposite him.
"What's the matter, sweetheart?" He Tian smiled, reaching for the aspirins.
"Don't call me sweetheart", the redhead huffed.
"Oh, well, You took care of me, and now you have made me breakfast, so....", He Tian choked mid-sentence as he took a gulp from the glass to swallow his aspirins, "Agh! Why's it so sour?"
"It's lime juice, you dick! Helps with hang over, doesn't it?", The other boy smirked.
"Give a guy some warning!"
"It's not my fault if you are an idiot", the redhead replied.
"Did you just call me an idiot! I have straight A's all through out, I will have you know... Oh, well, I will just let that slide this one time, since you made me breakfast and all.", he said aloud, and took a bite of the sandwich. He had not expected much from it, so it came as a surprise how delicious it was. He sneaked a glance at the contents inside: did not look anything special, how does it taste so good then... In fact...
"There's not even any meat in it!" He wondered out aloud.
"Eggs are expensive enough. I guess a prince like you would not know about that", The redhead was clearly annoyed.
He Tian looked around him, eyes taking in, for the first time, the details of the interiors: faded curtains, cheap, second hand furniture, paints chipped here and there. And yet, in spite of all that, it felt like home.
"Ah! Did not mean it that way! I mean, how is it so tasty even without any meat in it?"
"Hmmph", the redhead muttered, but as he got up from the table, He Tian caught a glimpse of smile on his face, "I like to cook", he said simply, back still turned to him. He Tian stared transfixed, wishing the other boy would face him, and let him see his smile.
A slight pause... The redhead spoke again, his voice gentle and meditative, "So, what now... school's not happening today... Umm... Wanna watch a movie? What kind of movie do you prefer?"
"Anything", He Tian blurted out, "Anything is good." Then regaining composure, "Anything is good to pass time"
"Well, I just mostly have actions and thrillers anyway. And some sci-fi... Hmm... Let's see..." The redhead continued shuffling through his CDs.
He Tian could not care less what they watched. He had just realised that there was only one sofa in the house, it faced the TV and was delightfully small...
...
The next two hours were spent in front of the TV. They were watching Star Wars: The force Awakens. He Tian had watched the movie before in the theatre, alone, but he did not mention that. The redhead had drawn the curtains before starting the movie, to make the room 'dark'. Even though the old faded curtains did a poor job blocking sunlight out, they did render the place with a homely charm.
It felt oddly comforting, sitting in this small room, with Red by his side. The sunlight filtering through the faded yellow curtains and the blue-white glow of the tv created curious patterns on Red's pale skin, on his hair. He Tian stared ahead at the TV, but kept his senses trained on the boy beside him.
Red's expressions changed with the flow of the story: brows knitting together, lips parting in a half-smile, eyes drooping with sadness, and nostrils flaring in excitement... There was no end to those expressions. He Tian never knew that the human mind was capable of feeling so many things, and so vividly.
Observing Red through his peripheral vision, he felt as if he was trespassing on sacred grounds... Was he really allowed to see these thousand different expressions fleeting through in such rapid succession: these thousand different Reds, each one new, and each one strangely familiar.
He Tian vaguely wondered if this is what was called a Déjà vu.
Eventually the movie ended. Red stretched and leaned back on the sofa, letting his head drop to the side, his neck a hair's breadth away from where He Tian's fingers rested on the backrest.
"That was a good movie, wasn't it?"
"Ah-huh", He Tian could not venture more than a mumble. Does he know what he is doing to me...
"Yeah, I mean this was your second time watching it and you still seemed hooked onto the TV."
"Yeah... wait", He Tian started, "How do you know it's my second time watching it?"
"Your phone cover... it's of Yoda, isn't it? No way you would have missed it in the theatre", The redhead tried to keep a straight face... "You see, even though all of us don't have straight A's through out..." He gave up trying and broke out in laughter, his body shaking with mirth.
He Tian could not resist any more.
"Having fun at my expense, are you?", he leaned across the small sofa, reducing the distance between them.
He heard the other boy take in a sharp breath, and if it was not for that, he would have missed the faint red that was spreading across the other boy's nose.
The red on his cheeks was so fleeting, it was almost it never happened. The very next moment, the redhead was scowling and glaring at him.
Is he trying to keep himself from blushing? Adorable!
"Get off, dude. Personal space!"
He Tian made no sign of backing off.
"Are you looking to get fucked?" The redhead said in what he clearly thought was a 'bad-ass' voice.
Like a kitten trying to scare the big, bad dog away! He Tian smiled within, and leaned in even further, "Did you just try to threaten me? Do you know who I am?"
Call me Daddy! They were almost nose to nose.
The redhead's eyes widened. He Tian could see his pupil enlarging, the black rapidly sweeping across the pool of hazel where multiple hues of brown and green ran together and fought with each other for dominance.
"I... I...", the redhead stammered.
"Hmm? What was that?", He Tian's lips crooked into a lop sided smile. He was thoroughly enjoying this.
The Adam's apple on the other boy's throat bobbed, "I know who you are... Ge Hong told me..."
For a moment, He Tian's head went blank. He just stared at the boy before him, the beautiful, beautiful boy before him, so beautiful that it made his heart ache every time he looked at him...
Then, in one swift but jerky movement, he withdrew, slumping back into the opposite end of the sofa...
Ge Hong, off course!
He wanted to throw his head back and laugh, but instead, he just held his head in his hands...
Snippets of memory flashed through his mind..."Stay away from him. It won't do him any good."... "Your fault that the pup was not trained. You should never have gotten a pup anyway."... "We are the underlings, He Tian, we don't get to do what we want."
Forgetting Red: Wasn't that why last night had become such a mess... Wasn't that why he had forced himself to run even though he was dizzy from drinking all that alcohol... What business did he have, relaxing here, watching movies with his crush, as if he was normal, just like any other middle schooler... Whom was he trying to fool...
Red, oblivious to his sudden change of manner, continued speaking.
"But, umm, you know... Today was fun, and I don't think you are half as bad as Ge Hong seems to think you are... so, we could probably hang out again... if you don't mind, that is... I mean, as friends... Ah, but, that goes without saying, off course..."
He Tian watched the red haired boy in front of him getting more and more flustered by the minute. His chest hurt, so much that it was difficult to breath. He swallowed, willing the moistness around the corners of his eyes to go away, and in the process, felt his head ache returning in full force.
The other boy was still oblivious to all of this. He was, after all, looking everywhere other than at He Tian, "So, umm, I suppose we should introduce ourselves formally, huh?"
The redhead seemed to steel himself for a moment, and then, looked up to meet his eyes, giving a small, hesitant smile, "So, Umm... My name is..."
Before he knew it, He Tian had clasped his hand over the other boy's mouth.
Those hazel eyes widened again.
Is it fear? Is it something else? Does it make a difference? No.
"I don't need to know your name. I cannot be friends with you." He Tian stood up, strode to the exit of the tiny flat, opened the door, banged it shut and left.