Xiang Feng felt as if the skin where her lips touched him was burning, filling his whole face with heat. He ducked his head, not looking at her.
Song Jia laughed at his bashful appearance.
"Indeed a very cute bun."
The time wasn't early anymore, so after they finished playing hide and seek, Song Jia called for lights out. She tucked Xiang Feng into his bed and kissed his forehead.
"Goodnight, Xiao Feng."
The eyelashes of the small boy quivered. His lips also slowly curved upwards, "Goodnight, Jia."
He stared without blinking as she turned off the lamp on the bedside table and closed the door. When he was sure that she was gone, his fingertips touched the scar where she kissed him.
She said, "I will love you still."
He lowered his hand. On his face was an extremely indifferent smile, but his whole heart was still longing for those words to be true.
Xiang Feng clutched the deep rose ribbon that he didn't return to her, putting it close to his chest.
He softly murmured, "I hope you weren't lying, Jia."
...
"Ah!"
Song Jia sat up with a start, jolted awake by a bad dream.
She dreamed that she had once again failed her mission, and her salary flew into the sky with a pair of wings. She tried to use her anti-gravity boots to catch it, but it flew out of her reach.
Song Jia was very heartbroken, she felt that getting her salary was as difficult as retrieving the Buddhist scriptures from the western paradise. In the background, she could even hear Nova snickering with a "hei hei" laugh, sounding really unpleasant to the ears.
Song Jia shuddered. "Scary, too scary that it feels so realistic, ah."
Feeling thirsty, she got out of the bed to get a glass of water. In the middle of walking towards the door, her feet suddenly bumped into something soft.
Song Jia rubbed her eyes, looking down at the small figure whose body was curled up as he slept on the floor. Was she still dreaming? What is Xiang Feng doing inside her room?
She knelt down and studied him. He only had a blanket to shield him from the cold, but his hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat. His face was pale, his body looking extremely frail as if he could disappear at any moment. He seemed to be also having a bad dream.
Song Jia gently shook him. "Xiao Feng, wake up."
The boy's eyelashes trembled, and his eyes opened. His mind that was still befuddled by sleep saw the silhouette of a figure over him and he abruptly slapped Song Jia's hand away.
"Don't touch me!"
Song Jia's heart wrenched. It seemed that his scar was not only the superficial wound on his face. She once again extended her hand to him.
"Xiao Feng, it's me. Jia."
He blinked, and his expression cleared. His voice was slightly trembling as he asked, "Jia?"
"En, it's me. What are you doing here? Why aren't you in your room?"
To her surprise, small arms went around her waist as Xiang Feng buried his head into her lap. His voice was muffled when he spoke.
"Couldn't sleep. I didn't like the bed."
It reminded him of the old bed he used to have in the big house. It seemed to him that the door could crack open at any moment, spilling light into the room. And then he would watch, his body huddling against the headboard, as the shadow by the door grew, until it coalesced into a large figure.
His small body shook.
"Oh..." Song Jia couldn't understand why he didn't like the bed, but she knew that it wasn't the right time to pry. She could only draw his secrets from him little by little. "Then why didn't you wake me up? We could sleep on my bed together. You didn't have to sleep on the floor."
Xiang Feng didn't respond. How could he say to her, that seeing her sleeping face which looked innocent and peaceful, he felt that he was too dirty to stay beside her? Xiang Feng rubbed his palms against his trousers, making sure that they were clean before shyly trying to hold Song Jia's hand.
"Can we sleep like this?"
Song Jia laughed. She felt that this little bun was too cute. Did he want to hold hands with her so that he wouldn't feel afraid of the dark? She should have realized earlier that little children were afraid of sleeping alone in the darkness the most. She tapped her own forehead in chastisement. Apparently this grandma still have a lot to learn on how to become a good mother, ah~
"Of course." Song Jia readily accepted his request. Forgetting her parched throat, she held his hand as she led him to the bed, evenly dividing the pillows between them.
She pulled the blankets over their bodies. They slept face to face, putting their linked hands between them. Song Jia smiled at Xiang Feng, a lock of hair falling across her cheek.
"Goodnight again."
He shyly smiled back at her.
"Goodnight again, Jia."
Because Song Jia was the type of person who falls asleep easily, it wasn't long before the soft sounds of her even breathing filled the small room. The bed that they were sleeping was a daybed, used only by the priest for taking short naps in between studying the bible. Because it wasn't meant for two people to use, Song Jia and Xiang Feng had to sleep in close proximity to each other.
Xiang Feng watched her sleeping peacefully, until his own eyes became heavy. He yawned, trying to stay awake by rubbing his eyes. But it was a hopeless fight. Not long after, his even breathing mixed with hers.
He didn't have any bad dreams that night.