I took the initiative to introduce myself as I watched him blink his dull gray eyes.
Silence. I didn't know if it was due to the cold interfering with his thoughts or that he just couldn't speak in the first place, the boy just stared at me before nodding his head and shifting aside just enough for me to squeeze past him and climb up the steps.
Nodding back towards him, I passed him and continued my way up. But as I climbed, I turned my head to look at him every couple of steps.
Once I had passed, he returned back to his spot. Just staring at his feet.
And thanks to being distracted by him, I tripped on the last step of the staircase and had to pick myself up from the ground and drag my feet to my apartment.
Opening the door, I heard a bout of happy laughter coming from the kitchen and abandoned my bag on the living room floor to head towards my mother.
Entering the kitchen, as soon as my mother saw me, she stopped laughing and came over to hug me with a smile on her face.
"Welcome back Dan. I cooked your favorite sunny side eggs today! You can eat it with some soup to warm yourself up!"
I hugged my mother back and looked at my father, who was smiling at the two of us as he drank his cup of coffee.
"I'm home! Mom, Dad! Anyway, Camellia told me to say hello to you this morning, and there is a kid with no shoes sitting at the bottom of the staircase."
Rushing through my summary of the day, I described the boy who was sitting on the steps.
Narrowing his eyes, my father put his cup of coffee down on the table and took my hand into his.
"Where is he?"
Giving my mother a look full of words, I saw my mother nod her head at my father as she rushed around the kitchen gathering some objects. In the meanwhile, the two of us hurried out of our apartment and ran to the stairs where the boy was still waiting at the bottom step.
Currently, the sun had just fully set, and the night had just begun. Even as we were rushing out of our apartment, I could feel the temperature drop to a freezing cold. I didn't know how that boy could stand sitting there.
At the top of the staircase, we glanced down to see that boy still there, staring at his feet.
"Hello there. Would you like to come inside our house to wait?"
Jogging lightly down the stairs, my father extended a hand to him. In a daze, the boy turned his head slowly to look at that hand, and then lifted his gaze toward my father's face. He then shook his head.
Right at this moment, my mother appeared at the top of the stairs with a warm towel and a steaming cup. She looked towards my father, and when he shook his head, she climbed down the stairs and passed the towel and cup to the boy.
"Here. At least accept this."
With a warm smile, my mother strongly forced the cup into his hands as she wrapped the towel around his shoulders.
"We live in that apartment over there. Feel free to knock on our door if you feel too cold."
Smiling with the end of her lips not reaching her eyes, my mother pressured the boy to nod his head before the three of us returned back to our apartment.
"He probably won't knock on our door."
The moment the door closed, blocking off our voices from the boy downstairs, my mother sighed as she placed a hand on her cheek.
"At least we tried our best."
Placing an arm around her, my father comforted her as the three of us returned to the kitchen. Although nobody was in the mood to eat.
Picking through my food, I forced myself to swallow and not look at the door. And failing.
"Do you want to check up on him?"
Hearing my father's words from the side, I teared my eyes away from the door and swung my head to face him.
"...maybe."
Seeing my worry, he smiled and placed a hand on top of my head to comfort me.
"Finish your food first. Later, you can go down and see if he needs a refill."
I nodded my head and buried my face in the food.
"I'll go prepare another cup right now. If you want, you can also accompany him outside for a while. But remember, if it gets too cold, just come back up."
Combing through my hair for a second, my mother's voice reverberated above me as I cleaned the whole plate up. Then, the moment I finished, I reached out to take my plate to the sink, only for my hands to be filled with two cups of steaming hot chocolate.
"Go."
Showing a large grin to both my parents, I left the table in a hurry and ran out through the front door. Racing to the stairs, as I saw the mist of air coming out of my mouth, I looked at the boy who was still seated on the bottom of the stairs. In his hands was a cold empty cup.
"Here's a refill."
Climbing slowly down the stairs to catch my breath, I gently pushed him aside as I sat next to him, blocking the entire staircase. Then, replacing the empty cup in his hands with a full one, I took a sip of my own steaming hot cup and gave a sigh of satisfaction.
Staring blankly at his new cup, the boy switched between glancing at me or the cup before he brought it up to his chapped lips and took a quiet sip.
And just like this, the two of us sat in silence for who knows how until both our cups became empty.
"Alright! I'll go refill our cups!"
Plucking the empty cup from his hands, as well as the cold towel, I made my way back up the stairs with full arms. As I was taking his cup, I finally saw the first reaction that flashed on his face. Worry.
With slightly outstretched hands, it looked as if the boy was going to stop me. But suddenly, he stopped, and those eyes turned back into emotionless pools of still water again.
"Wait for me, ok?"
Feeling a sudden urge to say that, I smiled at him and hurried up the stairs. I didn't want to leave him alone for too long.
"Mom! Could we have a refill?"
Bursting into the apartment, I placed two cups on the table and put the first one we gave him in the sink.
"I thought you would come up around now."
Smiling, my mother poured the steaming hot chocolate into the cups and handed me two hot towels. Thanking her, I then ran out the door again.
Unexpectedly, the moment I left the door, I turned towards the staircase and saw the boy waiting for me at the top. Quietly, I handed him the cup and towel and the both of us headed back down and continued sitting down.
"My mom makes the best hot chocolate! It's especially good when the weather is cold!"
Sighing as I took a sip, I looked at the boy with the corner of my eyes to gauge his expression. Taking a sip from his own cup, he finally made a small humming sound as he licked the chocolate stains from the corners of his mouth. Then, with eyes that were like melted ice, he turned to face me and placed a hand on my leg. Although he immediately removed that hand when he realized his actions.
Slipping my hand into his, I turned to smile at him and hopefully get him to open up.
"I haven't introduced myself, but my name is Dan. We live at 204, which is just 4 doors down after you climb up the stairs!"
Staring hopefully at him, I saw the boy glance at our intertwined hands and hesitate a little. Then, he opened his chapped lips and spoke with a rough voice.
"I'm Ralph. My mom and I just moved here from bottom street. There's no one else in the house, and I don't like how empty it feels, so I'm waiting for her out here."
After speaking, Ralph turned his head to look out. Following his gaze, the two of us continued looking out into the night.
Soon, after a while had passed and our cups were empty once more, I was getting up to give us another refill when I saw movement from the darkness. Rushing towards our apartment building was a woman in a thin handmade sweater. She was holding onto a small bag, presumably containing her work materials, and frantically running towards our building. When she saw Ralph, she stopped, took a deep breath and smiled.
"I'm home, sweetheart."
Probably too focused on Ralph to notice I was there, the woman swept him into her arms and kissed him once on the forehead.
"Welcome home, mom."
Still expressionless except for his eyes, Ralph hugged the woman back.