Cucummato (TianShan)

32. Birds

"Hey, baby birds." It was Zhan Zheng Xi who spoke first, beating Jian Yi who furiously nodded in agreement.

"Right? Like, real hungry baby birds."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Mo Guan Shan asked while taking notes. He Tian yawned just as he stole a glance and now he caught it so he also yawned. Jian Yi and Zhan Zheng Xi fought hard not to turn into baby birds themselves.

"There!"

"Yeah, yeah," Mo Guan Shan murmured.

"He Tian kept you up all night?" Jian Yi teased, trying hard to keep his voice in a whisper. 

"Shut your chicken dick!" Mo Guan Shan exclaimed and delivered a well-time karate chop to his opponent. Jian Yi leapt on his seat to avoid the incoming attack and striked an ancient fighting art stance passed down to him by his ancestors.

"Come and face death," Jian Yi smirked like he's a protagonist from a ten-word titled internet novel.

The teacher writing on the board paused for a second-- Jian Yi and Mo Guan Shan scrambled to their seats-- before continuing when the chattering stopped.

■■■ ■■■ ■■■

They only managed a few hours of sleep before Mo Guan Shan finally rolled out of bed. He would hate to be present, pressed tight, when the other He Tian rises. And he had to be up and about to save his mother from the tragedy of finding him on the bed with a boy all over him like that.

Nothing happened but he wouldn't want his mother to think that he's doing disrespectful things in their own house while she's in the next room.

Plus the fact that there was supposed to be another boy and he's gone. Now He Tian has taken his place. Not that he ever slept on the bed with that guy. He slept on the floor. But she might conclude that Mo Guan Shan kicked him out just so he could make lovey-dovey with another. 

After a while, bundling up his anxieties and shoving it in a hole somewhere, he touched He Tian's shoulder and shook him lightly. It would suffice to say that although their apartment windows didn't have the luxury of an early sunlight, the fluttering of two eyelashes lit up the room and burned the first cheeks exposed in the area of effect.

"Morning, Little Mo," He Tian blinked sleepily, but his lopsided smile wasn't sleepy at all. It's in full power like Mo Guan Shan's freshly charged phone.

"S-shut up!" Mo Guan Shan shouted in shock, dumping a pair of uniform into the boy's face. It was too much! It was all too much.

How could someone take in such force, every single day, and not dry up like beef jerky?! Maybe that's why the He family didn't have a lot of helpers.

The uniform was the latest. He'd worn it once but felt awkward by how pristinely white it looked and a little bit baggy too, so he opted for the well-worn pair he's been using. While He Tian showered, Mo Guan Shan woke his mother up and told her that the other guy had left when he arrived with He Tian, who drove him home but then it rained so hard he invited him to stay the night.

"Oh my, he brings rain, doesn't he?" his mother contemplated. Mo Guan Shan didn't immediately understand what she meant.

"And sorry for bringing over so many people, Mom," the boy said while expertly beating eggs for breakfast. His mother also geared up to prepare sandwiches for their lunch.

"What are you talking about? There's only two right? And that poor boy. I hope he didn't have a rough night."

"Nah. He probably went home."