Mu Chen and Xiao Bo were sitting on the couch side-by-side with a little space between them.
They both were immersed in the movie and were eating popcorn simultaneously when at a point their fingers brushed each other's...
Xiao Bo shyly retracted his hand, Mu Chen cleared his throat and concentrated on the movie to shoo away some unholy thoughts running inside his brain.
After a while, the movie finished. Xiao Bo smiled and almost clapped with excitement at the last cheerful song.
"Mirabel is such a strong girl. Even if she doesn't inherit their family's powers, she thinks that there is no need for someone to be special to deserve love, security, and their rights."
Mu Chen concluded the message of the whole movie in a sentence.
Xiao Bo smiled, "Right, though Abuela Alma had good intentions for their family, she judged her own children on their abilities to help other people in the town. She disregarded Mirabel and her opinions totally because she wasn't someone special."
"Yup, though her past was painful and she just wanted to be strict so that such things couldn't happen to her children, holding everyone up to the same standard is futile."
Mu Chen commented and held Xiao Bo's hand,
"You know adults cannot internalize as much as the young could. They often ignore the emotional struggles of young even though they went through the same stage once. It's just maybe they become insensitive to everything after experiencing so many inhuman things as they grow up."
After hearing that Xiao Bo fell into a thought.
"So, we cannot always blame them but at our age, we don't have the patience to understand them and thus there would be cracks in our relationship. That cracks will lead to miscommunication between us and sometimes we fear to face the truth so we totally avoid bringing up that conversation."
Mu Chen looked like a professor analyzing the movie very deeply.
"Abuela Alma saw her husband being brutally murdered in front of her while he tried to save her and her children. She still carried that pain inside her heart but as a mother, she had to make her heart stone and work to not let such tragedy happen again."
"Yes, I felt bad for her. Though her ways were burdening she meant well," Xiao Bo responded.
While saying that he realized something...
>>>Did my father too... was he...
Xiao Bo shook his head.
>>> No, that can't be. If he meant well for me he wouldn't have sold me to the brothel...
>>>But... why does father hate me so much? There must be a reason. No one hates anyone without a proper reason..so what could the reason be?
Seeing the younger in deep thought Mu Chen brushed Xiao Bo's hair,
"Alright, let's stop discussing the movie's hidden meanings and go to sleep. We need to wake up early to leave for university."
That brought Xiao Bo out of his thoughts, he nodded lightly.
Mu Chen got up, "You wait here I will clean the glass pieces inside the room and call you, okay?"
"I...can help," Xiao Bo tried but was cut off.
"No, Snowball. You will wound yourself. Just wait here," Mu Chen's voice was stern.
He cleaned up everything quickly and called Xiao Bo inside the bedroom.
"If I sleep here where will you..." Xiao Bo questioned in a low voice.
"Don't worry, I can sleep on the couch in the hall. You sleep here in the room."
Mu Chen started taking extra pillows and duvets from the wardrobe.
"I will sleep on the couch, you sleep on your bed."
Xiao Bo didn't want to make the elder uncomfortable and he could sleep anywhere as everywhere was better than the cold concrete floor of that dusty basement.
Even though Mu Chen was being kind to him now and promised him that he wouldn't hate him and believe in him no matter what happened in the future.
It was still the future...which was uncertain. If he let his guard down just by a few words and did something...what if Mu Chen got tired of him?
Even his own father doesn't like him and handed his rights to Mu Chen and now that the elder was the sole guardian of him, he couldn't cause trouble to him and because of his carelessness what if he ended up in the basement like his last life?
It would be horrifying just to imagine going through that again.
Mu Chen was about to refuse but he stopped seeing changes of expressions on the Younger's face.
He observed him and though he didn't know exactly what the Younger was thinking he got the gist of it.
Mu Chen didn't know why Xiao Bo was so scared of him. They had no encounter before the day they met in the dorms.
So, what did he do that made Xiao Bo have such a bad impression of him? No matter how many times he racked his brain he couldn't get the answer.
He didn't like that Xiao Bo was so wary of him. Although he said he would trust him, Xiao Bo didn't let his guard totally down in front of him.
There was a clear line that Xiao Bo drew between them and Mu Chen had to work very hard to make the younger erase those imaginary lines and step towards him.
Cause Mu Chen never felt anything like this till now. He just wanted to make Xiao Bo totally his, make him happy, and give him so much love that the Younger would feel content to be with him not wary of him.
Though he hadn't sorted out his feelings for Xiao Bo yet all he wanted now was to somehow make the younger relaxed and comfortable with him.
He didn't understand the depth of his feelings till now. Mu Chen didn't want to put a title to the unknown emotions he was feeling for Xiao Bo until he confirmed what they were.
Maybe because by Xiao Bo's side he could let go of all the prejudices that were integrated inside him from his childhood.
For the first time, he thought the ways of his thinking were wrong when he found out Xiao Bo wasn't the same as he heard from the rumors.
Previously, he never spared his time for someone with a bad reputation in society cause he used to think there would be no smoke without fire.
He just didn't want to involve himself with such people and complicate his life when he could just live a simple and trouble-free one by avoiding them.
But he didn't know back then that there were people who could light a fire in other people's lives and spread that smoke themselves just for their own entertainment.
Xiao Bo was an eye-opener for him. That was why he got so interested in him as the younger made him think about all his stereotypes.
Mu Chen was a person who loved to learn everything from his surroundings. He would notice what others might ignore and care about doing everything correctly down to the smallest detail.
He was a perfectionist. But Xiao Bo made him think otherwise. His aim for perfection made him overly critical.
He was blinded by his own judgments. His overthinking nature didn't let him think outside of the censorious society norms.
When he started observing Xiao Bo closely he understood that the way he was thinking till now was utterly wrong. It was mind-boggling for him.
"Snowball, you need rest. I can sleep anywhere," Mu Chen voiced out.
"But... it's your home. How can I let you sleep on the couch while I sleep on your bed?"
Finally, Xiao Bo worded out what he was bothered by.
Mu Chen sighed slightly then thought for a second. A teasing smile replaced the straight line on his lips.
"Then how about we both sleep on the bed?"
"Eh?"
Xiao Bo was flabbergasted by his suggestion. "Together?" He blinked his eyes continuously.
"Why not? We are to be engaged and married soon. I thought it would make you uncomfortable to sleep together so I said I will sleep on the couch but you don't want that and I can't let you sleep on the couch. So there is only one option left, to sleep together on the bed."
Mu Chen pointed at the bed with a sly smirk.
"Uh, no!"
Xiao Bo immediately disagreed and stepped back a little with his ears turning chili red.
Mu Chen chuckled at the Younger's reaction and then with a gentle tone,
"Snowball, just sleep here. I will feel bad if I let you sleep on the couch all alone."
Xiao Bo bit his lower lips shyly and nodded his head.
"Good boy."
Mu Chen praised as he ruffled the Younger's hair and resumed his shuffling inside the wardrobe.
Xiao Bo sat on the corner of the bed as he watched the elder taking out a set of blankets and pillows.
When Mu Chen was about to leave Xiao Bo held the hem of the elder's shirt lightly stopping him in his tracks.
"Hm?" Mu Chen turned to face the younger.
"Uh... can't you ...um... just sleep here...?" Xiao Bo asked, then he saw the surprised face of the elder he became nervous,
"N-No! I mean not on the bed...just inside the room. It's huge and... and I don't think I can sleep..."
Xiao Bo bit his lips again and clutched onto the elder's shirt tightly, "I...I am scared. It's unfamiliar..."
Mu Chen was about to say something but Xiao Bo thought it was rude of him to ask him to stay when he refused to let the elder sleep on the bed with him, so he immediately,
"I am sorry."
Mu Chen sighed again as he dropped the things in his hands to the floor and sat beside the younger.
He gently took Xiao Bo's face into his arms and made him look into his eyes.
"Listen, Snowball. There is no need for you to apologize to me. I am sorry. I know I brought you here without your acknowledgment when you fainted. And anyone would be scared to sleep all alone in unfamiliar surroundings. I didn't think about that, it was insensitive of me, so I am sorry, okay?"
Xiao Bo tried to open his mouth to say something but Mu Chen put his index finger on the Younger's lips.
"Also I am happy that you voiced out your fear. If you didn't tell I would have never known and slept outside in the hall all peaceful without knowing you were too scared inside to sleep. Thank you for letting me know, and from now on if something is bothering you and if I didn't notice, please tell me, okay? I want to be a better person for you, Snowball. One that you could rely on without a second thought."
Xiao Bo's eyes were glistened as he smiled and nodded at the elder's words.
That night Xiao Bo slept peacefully on the bed while Mu Chen slept on the floor beside the bed watching over the younger.
...
The next day, on a desolate road an Aston Martin DB11 was parked at the side and two men were standing in front of it, one fuming in anger and the other one had a very confused and slightly scared expression on his face.
"What's wrong with you? Why did you drag me all the way here? What do you want now? My father had transferred all the money back to you and you tore the contract. There is no need for me to follow you everywhere, right?"
"Huh, tsk!" Li Feng Mian snorted trying to control his anger. "I never thought you were such a disgusting person. You and your father are complete trash!"
"What-"
Wei Chen was cut off by a strong slap across his face which made him stumble back and fall onto the ground hard, his palms were grazed.
"How can you both do such things? Are you even humans?"
Feng Mian was raging in anger.
Wei Chen's left cheek turned dark red and became swollen. Tears started flowing out of his eyes and he still had a baffled expression.
*****