There was a shopping mall near the drugstore, and the two children headed toward it. Though Misha still felt a little reluctant about the laxative matter, which had become a small thorn in his heart, he still entered the mall with sparkling eyes and excitedly strolled about, looking everywhere in search of some treasures.
"Hehe, let's see what we can find!"
After rummaging through a few stores, Misha found many things on his list, and every time he ticked off an item, his smile grew wider. He could finally understand why Vanessa had always loved to go on a shopping spree; it was so satisfying! Enough that he couldn't help but giggle whenever he peeked at what lay inside his bags.
Dereck, who had been following Misha around, unconsciously put some distance between them and pretended not to know him. His friend was acting foolishly, and standing near him was somewhat embarrassing. Still, Dereck walked behind his friend without complaining, a faint smile on his lips—he looked just like a doting father indulging his troublesome kid.
Well, as long as he was happy….
When Misha was about to enter another shop, he abruptly stopped dead in his tracks, and Dereck crashed into his back. The sudden physical contact made Misha's body tense and shiver, but he didn't say anything, having more pressing matters on his mind.
Misha was staring at the giant clock on the wall, but no matter how much he stared, the time didn't go backward.
Reality finally struck, and his face turned deadly pale. Slowly, Misha glanced askance at his friend, whose face wasn't any better than his. The next instant, they tacitly veered and ran back all the way to Dereck's house.
Like thieves, they snuck in under Lucette's nose. They only dared to breathe a sigh of relief after entering Dereck's bedroom and closing the door—thank goodness, they had returned just in time. There were around five minutes left before Alexey's arrival. Although they were exhausted and drenched in sweat, they quickly hid Misha's purchases in the closet. Then, they collapsed on the bed.
Their gasping breaths filled the air, but nervous laughter soon interrupted them. The anxiety settled down, and their nerves, which had been stretched taut, finally loosened up. Oh God, it had been way too close!
Trying to catch his breath, Dereck glanced at his friend. Their eyes met, and he noticed the unease lurking in their depths. Again, he reassured Misha, "Don't worry, I'll bring your things the next time I visit."
However, that still wasn't enough to calm his friend's anxiety, and thus Dereck had to promise to come the very next day. Only then did Misha feel at ease.
The moment his mind relaxed, Misha let his thoughts wander and he ended up daydreaming, fantasizing about how he'd torment Gabriel. He could already visualize his crestfallen face and how Masha would react once her boyfriend dropped the act, tossing aside the gentleman's mask. He couldn't wait!
***
The following days were very miserable for Gabriel. Every time he dropped over, he would be subject to pranks. Some were very childish; some were unbelievably nasty. That said, they all tested his patience, slowly but surely pushing him to his limits.
For starters, Misha would hide things in his shoes. Often, it was bubble gum that he had previously chewed until it had lost its flavor. That li'l devil would then secretly stick it onto the inner soles of his running shoes, and always just a bit before the teenager left the house.
At the beginning, Gabriel, this poor clueless lamb, put on his shoes without verifying if there was something hidden inside, and the still warm and slightly wet bubble gum stuck to his sock or the sole of his feet. Sometimes, the chewing gum had the time to harden, and it felt like he was walking on a small, sharp stone. After some genius stroke, Misha even started to add gravel to the sticky material. So now, it wasn't only an impression; Gabriel literally was walking on stones.
Cleaning the mess was also a pain in the neck because the bubble gum stuck to the inner soles, and Gabriel had to scrape it. It wasn't easy to do with his big hands. After realizing that the little boy wasn't planning on stopping putting things into his shoes any time soon, he decided to switch to sandals, allowing him to take a breather.
However, that wasn't the only recurrent prank, and his misery was only starting.
Whenever Gabriel stayed the night, he slept on a thin mattress in Misha's room. There was no way Alexey would allow him to sleep in the same room as his daughter, much less share the same bed.
At first, the teenager was supposed to sleep in the living room, but Misha unexpectedly proposed to let him stay in his bedroom, shocking everyone. That child wasn't the friendliest one, and only Dereck had ever received such care from him, so it wasn't surprising for his family to look at him strangely. But Misha turned a blind eye to their dumb faces and went on with his fake caring.
Misha explained that his father tended to wake up early in the morning and watch the television in the living room, which would disturb the teenager's sleep. The child innocently said this even though he knew Gabriel was a heavy sleeper—the thunderstorm of the century could be roaring outside, and that guy's eyelids wouldn't even twitch.
His mother loved the idea, and since Gabriel didn't seem opposed to it, it was decided right here and then that he'd sleep in the child's room. Misha almost let out an evil laugh after the verdict fell. And for once, he felt pretty darn smart! Having the teenage boy within reach would facilitate his plan, hehe.
Though it was childish, Misha took the opportunity to hide his glasses whenever Gabriel slept in his room, and when the teenager woke up, he'd say things like he didn't know where they were. Every time, the teenage boy had to rummage throughout the room, and Misha would quietly watch him search for his glasses until Masha gently and secretly asked him to give them back. Only then did he "help" Gabriel find them, albeit reluctantly. He wanted to enjoy the show a bit longer, tsk.
It became their morning routine whenever Gabriel slept over, and it went on for a while until one particular night. That time, Misha's prank had gone a little too out of hand.
On that fateful night, Misha used the superglue he had bought with Dereck's money to glue Gabriel's pajamas to his skin. His heart was pounding like crazy when he tossed aside the thin blanket and almost jumped out of his throat when he lifted the clothes to spread the glue on the teenager's stomach.
When the child saw the well-defined abdominal muscles, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. As a result, he added another layer of glue before pulling the pajama top back in place. He patted it a few times to ensure the cloth was well and truly glued to the skin. Satisfied, he went back to his bed. Because he had forced himself to stay awake, waiting for Gabriel to fall asleep, he was dead tired and slept like a baby the whole night.
The next morning, Gabriel lost a layer of skin; strangely enough, he started to sleep in the living room afterward.
Thinking of such things brought a smile to his lips. Today too, Misha was preparing another prank. Because his family was going on a camping trip the following day, his mother went out to buy groceries while his sister went to visit Camille. They both should come back in the middle of the afternoon. Gabriel was supposed to arrive around that time too. Although it didn't please Misha much, the teenager was coming to camp with them, and since they were leaving early in the morning, his parents told him that he might as well sleep at their house tonight.
Of course, Misha had to prepare a little something for the occasion.
At the moment, the one in charge of babysitting him was his father, who had locked himself in his study. He was working on a big project and couldn't play with his son. However, if Misha wanted something, he only needed to call him, and he would run to his side.
In other words, no one was there to monitor him.
Rubbing his hands with glee, Misha glanced at the kitchen. Although he wasn't a cordon bleu, he still had developed minimum survival skills after living alone for so many years, and thus Misha was pretty confident. At least, he should be able to bake some chocolate muffins without setting the kitchen on fire.
While humming, Misha went through the cupboards and found what he needed. He took a muffin mix and followed the recipe. Thoughtfully beating the mixture until his arms became numb, Misha couldn't help but complain about his weak body for the umpteenth time, feeling quite aggrieved. Goodness, he even had to stand on his tip-toes to use the counter because he wasn't tall enough! How much more frustrating could this get?!
Whatever. As long as he managed to bake the muffins in the end….
Once the mixture was ready, Misha poured it into 12 muffin cups. Afterward, he took the glass mason jar he had previously brought, a wicked grin stretching his lips.
In the glass mason jar, a dozen earthworms, which he had carefully picked up in the garden earlier, were twisting and crawling on the glass walls. The dark-pinkish brown worms were quite lively, fighting among themselves to climb up.
Looking at them as though they were some kind of treasure, Misha chose three earthworms among the fattest ones, then washed them under the tap to get rid of the dirt for the sake of his conscience. He was a good boy who knew how to clean the food.
After cleaning the earthworms, he carefully buried the insects in the mixture inside one of the muffin cups.
Then, Misha put the muffin pan in the oven while humming, turning on the light so he could observe the mixture slowly expand for the next 20 minutes or so.
"I can wait to see his face!" Misha giggled, swaying slightly on his feet. "Too bad I don't have a camera to snatch a picture. Ah, cell phones sure are handy things."
Regardless of the words that left his mouth, a sweet smile bloomed on Misha's face, enhancing the angelic features of his delicate face. His crystal clear blue eyes shined brightly, and his cheeks had taken on a pale red hue. It was difficult to believe that this cute little child was currently nurturing evil thoughts in his heart.
__________
Mini theater
ML: What a perverted child! Who told you to take advantage of me while I'm asleep?
MC: Shut up! I just lifted the top of your clothes and barely looked at your stomach. Don't be a drama queen. Wait. While you're asleep? When you're awake, it doesn't matter? Aren't you the perverted one?!
ML: That's not what I meant!
Author: In a few years, it's not like you're going to mind it, anyway. You may as well get used to it now.
MC: ?
ML: ... I think the perverted one among us it's that darn author of ours.
Author: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Chapter revised on 2022-05-04
Edited by Clozed! ♥
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