Chapter 6: Christmas date (pt. 2)
He talks about his interesting anecdotes. She talks about her observations. He talks about his thoughts. They keep on talking so much that maybe even when the sun rises the next day, they’re still not done. His hand is holding onto hers underneath the table. Her lips curves up with a smile; she likes his intimacy, his warmth, his smell, his handsome face. She closes her eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly from nervousness. She quickly moves her head, and before he can react, she kisses him on the cheek.
He stares back in shock, looking at her with a trace of blush on his face. She lowers her head when she sees his expression and yells at him in her head. You fool, fool, fool. She raises her head when she feels him tugging onto her hand. He looks at her with twinkling eyes, and places his hand on her shoulder, his handsome face approaching closer to her, ready to kiss her. Yawang blocks him with a flushed face.
“Don’t do it here.” Even though there’s no one in the self-study area, there are a lot of people walking around outside, she don’t want the people to notice them. However, Xiao Tian refuses. She blocks his lips with her hand, so he sucks onto her palm. She lets go from the sensitivity and he hastily plants a kiss onto her cheek, not letting go until he feels content. Yawang glares at him afterwards and he rubs his nose, smiling shyly back at her. Sure enough, men can’t withstand these types of actions, not even Tang Xiao Tian.
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Yawang’s phone starts to ring, singing out a personalized tune that signals it’s Xia Mu who’s calling. Once she hears the ringtone, she realizes that she completely forgot about their date.
“Hello, Xia Mu.” She picks up his call with a guilty conscience.
“It’s six.” He answers coldly with a resentful tone.
“Oh, it’s six already. Hehe, I forgot to look at the time.”
“Come over, I’m in school.” Yawang looks over to Xiao Tian before answering.
“I have something to do tonight, how about tomorrow night?” He is silent for awhile.
“I’m not free tomorrow night.”
“Then…how about the night after?”
“I’m not free that night either.”
“Wow, you’re so busy. Never realized that.” She lets out a soft laugh. How can he be busy? He don’t go anywhere else besides school. How dare he say he’s busy? She can sense that the person on the other line is angry, so she softens her voice.
“I really have something to do tonight, I’m sorry.”
“What is it?” He asks softly.
“Hehe, Xiao Tian came back, so I’m going to stay with him.” She laughs awkwardly to the phone. She is about to say something after, but Xia Mu already hung up on her. Yawang looks at her phone in disbelief. Is he mad at me?
“Who was it?” Xiao Tian asks her.
“Xia Mu.”
“What happened?”
“I said I will take him to watch movies tonight, but then…” She nudges his shoulders, “I need to stay with you.”
“Then go, this kid is not easy.” He hears things about Xia Mu once in awhile, knowing how Xia Mu likes to stick to Yawang. He didn’t feel jealous about it, he just thinks that Yawang is a very loveable person, everyone loves her when they meet her, Xia Mu being no exception.
“Then what are you going to do?”
“We can go together, we just need to buy an extra ticket.”
“Smart!” Yawang gives him a thumbs-up for approval. Xiao Tian chuckles out a laugh, bringing her thumb down with his hand and stuff both of their hands together in his pocket. They look at each other, an indescribable feeling of warmth and sweetness oozing out from their glances. She calls Xia Mu back, and he didn’t pick up until she calls him for the third time.
“Xia Mu, I decided to go watch the movies with you tonight.”
“Oh.” Just an “oh”? He’s not even being straightforward, surely he must happy right?
“Xiao Tian gege is also coming.”
Do, do, do, do…..Yawang looks at her phone in shock. This guy, he’s only straightforward when he’s mad!
“What did he say?” Xiao Tian asks.
“Hung up, didn’t care.” She answers while shaking her head. “What did you do to him that makes him dislike you so much?” Xiao Tian thinks for a moment, then shakes his head.
“Who knows? He might have a crush on you.” Yawang laughs so hard that she hits against the table.
“That joke is too funny.”
“Alright, since he’s not coming, let’s go together.” Xiao Tian throws Yawang’s backpack over his shoulders and interlaces their hands. “Let’s go eat first, then watch the movies.” Yawang nods and smiles as they walk, it’s Christmas Eve, and it’s not easy for him to come here, of course I will spend it with him. It’s better if Xia Mu doesn’t come, he’ll be a third-wheeler. At this moment, her phone rings again, and hearing from the ringtone, it’s Xia Mu calling. She picks up the phone and within two sentences, he hangs up on her again.
“What did he say?”
“Have us pick him up.” She grumbles, pouting her lips. “This bipolar brat.”
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This date turns out to be very strange; Xia Mu don’t even need to do anything, he just needs to stand by the side and his icy, cold appearance will turn the atmosphere cold. No matter how much Yawang and Xiao Tian do to lift up the mood, they’re defeated by his cold and gloomy temperament. The two will exchange looks and rubs their noses, regretting picking him up.
Xia Mu unconsciously walks between the two, and they all look like three wooden statues; eating stiffly, watching the movies stiffly, and walking out on the streets stiffly. Yawang constantly gives Xia Mu signals that he can go home, but it’s as if Xia Mu don’t understand her words and just looks at her blankly. Yawang helplessly sighs, it’s already nine in the evening, and the amount of people out on the streets starts to diminish. The temperature is getting lower, and a winter wind suddenly greets them, making Yawang tremble from the cold. Xiao Tian stops and turns his body slightly to look at her.
“It’s late, let me take you home.” Yawang buries her neck, her nose red from the cold, and asks as she stomps on her frozen feet.
“What about you? Are you going home?” He shakes his head.
“I’m not going, if my dad knows that I secretly came back, he will rip my skin off.”
“Then you’re just going to roam around the streets until tomorrow morning?”
“Why would I? I will take you guys home first, then I’ll go find Jing Yu and crash in his dorm for the night.” Yawang stretches her hand out to grab onto Xiao Tian’s arm and shakes it side to side.
“Don’t go, it’s not easy for you to come back. I’ll stay with you in the train station waiting area tonight.”
“But, how can you not go home?”
“I can find an excuse to lie to my mom.” Xiao Tian ponders for a bit, then shakes his head.
“No, I’m leaving at four tomorrow morning, I feel uneasy leaving you by yourself outside.”
“It’s okay, I’ll just stay in the waiting area until the sun is up.” She don’t want to separate from him, even standing here idly with him for one more minute is good enough for her. Xiao Tian looks at her, he can’t bear to reject her, he don’t want to reject her. He smiles brightly and nods his head vigorously, he wants to stay with her longer as well. Yawang sees his compliance and smiles back, their hands clasped together, and you can see the sweetness of the two from their eyes.
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Xia Mu lowers his gaze and looks at their interlaced hands, his expression turning more cold than before. Yawang turns her body and looks at Xia Mu.
“Let me take you home first.”
“No need.” He replies back calmly.
“What do you mean?”
“I know how to get home.” His voice is soft, but it also sounds tired at the same time. Yawang looks at Xiao Tian, not knowing what to do. He laughs and said,
“Let him go on his own. Xia Mu is fifteen already, you don’t need to protect him as often.”
“That’s right, Xia Mu is already turning into a man.” Yawang tugs onto Xia Mu’s jacket sleeve. “Take the Road 16 bus, and don’t miss your stop, okay?” Xia Mu raises his head and looks at Yawang, giving her a slight nod before walking towards the bus stop. They all wait in front of the bus stop together and when the bus arrives, Yawang gives Xia Mu a slight push from the back.
“The bus is here.” The bus’ automatic doors open up and Xia Mu climbs in, seating himself at a window seat. He sees Yawang waving at him and he looks back at the two, with his hands stuffed into his pockets, his right hand injured from the constant rubbing of the box. He didn’t turn his head back to face the front, letting the scenery outside pass by him without a care.
That evening when he return home, he takes the box out from his pocket and open it. Under his desk lamp, he can see the beautiful sparkles the silver necklace have reflected from the light, the two adorable fishes displaying happiness as they kiss. He looks at it for awhile, then throws it in the trash can along with the box, staring ahead blankly. After awhile, he stands up and retrieves the box and necklace from the trash can. He looks at it while biting his lip, then stores it in his drawer.
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Yawang gives her a mother a lame excuse; her friend is currently in the hospital and her family is not from S City. She wants to help her friend out by spending the night over there. Her mother believes her, probably because she’s always been a good girl. She tells Yawang to take care of her friend well and to be careful. When she hears her mom giving her permission, she quickly hangs up, fearing that she will slip up. Xiao Tian waits for her results nervously, and she slyly gives him the victory sign to tell him it’s successful.
“Yawang, Yawang.” He speaks her name excitedly as he happily envelops her into a hug. Her face flushed a bright red from the sudden embrace, her freezing body automatically turning scorching hot, and her heart beating in a quickened pace.
“Xiao Tian.” She speaks softly.
“Hmm?”
“I like how you hug me.” She likes his hugs: they feel warm and firm, clean and reassuring. She wants to close her eyes and stay in his embrace forever. He tightens his arms around her, burying his face in her hair, whispering in her ear softly.
“Then I’ll hug you like this the whole night, until the sun rises.” Her heart starts to beat even faster, she bites her lips and closes her eyes before nodding softly to his words. Xiao Tian’s brain delivers a triumph sound; he don’t know how to describe this feeling, the passion of love burning in his heart. The young adults don’t know how to control their passion. They are in love, deeply in love. They want to kiss, want to hug, want to claim the other person as their own. They yearn for hugs, yearn for being their love, yearn for being deeply in love.
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The two nervous and shy young adults stand in front of the desk counter inside a cheap motel. They wait for the receptionist to check their ID’s and follow his lead to a room. After they hear the door click shut, they are a bit more relieved. Their hands are still interlaced together tightly, looking at the room they’re staying for the night. The room consists of a twin sized bed with a white mattress cover. It looks old and not clean, but can’t describe where it looks dirty.
The two stands by the corner of the bed with their flushed faces, not daring to look at each other.
“Sit…have a seat.” He tells her nervously. Yawang nods with her flushed face, walking to the side of the bed and preparing to sit. However, Xiao Tian tells her to wait. She looks at him and sees him taking off his army jacket. Her face turns even more red and she takes her eyes away from him. When he sees her reaction, he quickly explains to her nervously.
“No, no….” He repeats as he places the jacket over the bed. “The bed is dirty.” She looks at him stunned, then laughs. Seeing his reaction, she wonders how he manages to bring her over to the motel in the first place. Xiao Tian’s face turns even more red from her laugh, he rubs his nose and sits on the chair beside the bed. She sits on his jacket that is over the bed.
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“Want to watch TV?” He asks awkwardly.
“Don’t want to.” She shakes her head and yawns.
“Tired?” He asks warmly. She nods her head.
“Then go to sleep.” Yawang rubs her eyes that keeps on drooping down.”You’re not going to sleep?”
“I…I will look over you.”
“You idiot!” She laughs out, taking off her shoes and socks. Her hands go up to take off her jacket, and Xiao Tian quickly turns his head away. I still have three layers of clothes underneath, do he really need to do that? She drapes her jacket over her body and covers the jacket with the motel’s blanket before turning her head to look at Xiao Tian who’s wearing his army uniform.
“Are you cold?” The room have no ventilation, this guy is frozen from giving away his jacket. He licks the corners of his lips and shakes his head.
“No.” Right after he said that, he sneezes twice. She looks at him angrily.
“Do I need to invite you? It’s not like we never slept together before!” They used to sleep together before they turned seven years old. He chuckles slightly and walks over to the bed, taking off his shoes and socks. He uncovers a corner of the blanket and slips himself in, accidentally bumping into Yawang’s feet. Her feet feels icy cold. He narrow his eyebrows and asks,
“How can your feet feel so cold?” Yawang tilts her head to the side and shakes her head.
“I don’t know.” He extends his legs and reaches for her feet, warming them up with his. Yawang looks at him and smile sweetly, extending her arms out coyly.
“My hands are cold too.” He places her hands inside of his and rubs them gently. They don’t know who leans closer first, but the two slowly hug each other in a tight embrace. He gives a light kiss on her face, just like the one in the afternoon, quick and instant. She tilts her head and looks at him. He can’t help it, but to kiss her again, kissing on her beautiful eyelids and curved lips. They are all quick kisses, but somehow, they turn more passionate. Her body starts to turn into a sponge as he presses his body on top of her. He exerts pressure to his kisses and his hand starts to slide down. Her heart is racing and she don’t know how to react, she can only look at him.
Just when the atmosphere in the room starts to heat up, Yawang’s cellphone starts to ring. They jump and look for the phone like two children getting caught doing something bad. At the end, Xiao Tian finds her phone under the covers and throw it towards her. She takes the phone and have her back face towards him and face flushed. She takes in a deep breath before answering the call.
“Hi, mom.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m…in the hospital.”
“How dare you lie to me?! Wow, I can’t believe it, you are lying to your mom now! Where are you?!” Her mom roars out from the other line.
“I….I..” She don’t know how to answer after being flustered from her mother’s words.
“Are you with Tang Xiao Tian?” She knows that she got caught, so she confesses.
“Yes.”
“Come back home right now! How old do you think you are? How old are you?! Where are you?! Tell me right now!” She pulls the phone away from her ear due to the yelling and waits for her mom to finish yelling at her before giving her the address of the McDonald’s near the motel. Her mom huffs at her, telling her to wait in the store, her father is going to pick them up.
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Yawang looks at Xiao Tian and tells him nervously,
“Crap, we’re screwed. I never seen my mom this mad before.” Xiao Tian is also scared, but he comforts Yawang with a smile.
“It’s okay, just blame it all on me. Tell them that I didn’t let you go home, it’s all my fault. If they want to hit someone, hit me. If they want to yell at someone, yell at me.”
They both wear their jackets slowly and fix up their clothes. Yawang fixes her hair under the dim lighting of the motel. They are not able to tell that they did anything wrong until they enter McDonald’s that have bright lighting. Yawang’s lips which have been kissed with such passion, her eyes that displays lust, and her face that shows a hint of blush; anyone can tell what they have been doing. Xiao Tian looks at Yawang and starts to blush. He feels scared, yet happy. He’s scared that his dad will yell at her, but he’s also happy that he gets to be intimate with her, it was like he was in a dream. He’s even more happy that he can finally announce their relationship to the adults. If her mom wants him to take responsibility, he will definitely say yes.
“How can you laugh in this situation?” Shu Yawang glares at him. He scratches his head, continuing to laugh. Within a short while, a military jeep rolls up in front of McDonald’s. The first person who departs from the jeep is Uncle Tang. When Xiao Tian sees his dad walking towards them, he immediately straightens his back and stands up straight, a bit afraid of looking at his dad’s ferocious face. Immediately follow Uncle Tang is Yawang’s dad, her dad’s expression don’t look well either.
Without a word, Uncle Tang kicks Xiao Tian with one foot, making Xiao Tian stumble for balance. He didn’t even regain his balance yet when Yawang’s dad throws a punch at him. He falls down from the blow and drags down the chair behind him.
“No, Uncle, don’t hit him.” Yawang pleads with her widened eyes.
“You army deserter! How dare you leave your post!” His dad yells as he points his finger at him.
“I…I didn’t…” Xiao Tian tries to explain.
“You did not report nor apply for authorization to leave your post so you’re an army deserter! If it was during the time of war, you would have been caught and executed!” His dad yells as he kicks him again.
“Why did you leave your post? Just because you missed a girl? Such an useless soldier!” Yawang watches as she stands by the side, her tears streaming down her face. Her dad pulls her out in anger,
“You still know how to cry, such an embarrassment! Get in the car, I’ll have your mom deal with you when we get home!” She holds onto her dad’s arm and begs him,
“Dad, dad, tell Uncle Tang to stop hitting Xiao Tian.” Her dad ignores her and drags her to the jeep, replying back angrily,
“If he was not Old Tang’s son, I would have killed him! How dare he kidnapped my daughter, that little bastard!”
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That evening, both families are in an uproar. Yawang’s mom have Yawang kneel in the court playground the whole night and Uncle Tang have Xiao Tian run laps around the playground the whole night. They like to be together, so they have them spend the night together outside.
The next day, Yawang catches a cold from kneeling outside and Xiao Tian gets sent back to his post. Yawang, who is resting in her bed, gives a pitiful look to Xia Mu who is visiting her. Xia Mu sits by her bedside and eats the apple her mom washes for him.
“You deserved it.” Yawang didn’t have to energy to beat him, so she gives him a strong glare.
“You brat, after how well I treated you, you said I deserved it?”
“Stupid.”
“What did you say?”
“Immodest.”
“I’m going to kill you.” She pinches his face with as much strength she have. Her mom enters with her medicine and glares at Yawang.
“Yawang, you are bullying Xia Mu again? I’m going to withhold your allowance for the next two months!”
“No, mom, I’m wrong, please don’t withhold my allowance.” In addition to the four months’ worth of allowance she lost from not returning home last night, she’s going to lose half a year’s worth of allowance.
Compared to Yawang’s situation, Xiao Tian’s is not any better. He is currently being held in solitary confinement and waiting for the troop’s decision in whether or not he can remain a soldier. The couple’s first budding love have been hurled to the basket, and from there, they don’t dare to have their budding love sprout.