Silent and lonely world (Dark clouds before sunny weather - Book 1)

Chapter 18

When Wei Wuxian heard his younger son calling for him while crying he feared for the worst. The day had been already charged enough with the party and the discovery of Mo Xuanyu being abused that he could imagine at least ten things which could still go wrong.

His husband nodded at him and he was already on his way upstairs. Wei Wuxian first had to stop the fire under the pot of soup they had just been cooking lest he wanted the house to end up burned into the ground and he quickly followed.

He was not even all that surprised to find out that the crying was coming out from A-Yuan's room. The door was open and he could already see his husband kneeling on the ground and hugging the crying A-Yi. It was clear that his younger son could not wait and went into the room, probably scaring both himself and Mo Xuanyu in the process. Though it was quite odd that he did not hear the other boy crying as well, he could imagine that waking up alone would have been a shock, not even taking about waking up next to a crying six-year-old.

That was why he had been hoping Mo Xuanyu would continue sleeping until the dinner would be ready so he could come and wake him himself. He did not want to stress the boy out so soon after his whole life had changed, regardless if he himself had not been aware of the change yet. He would have liked to patiently explain everything and have him get used to the things slowly. Now it seemed that Lan Jingyi had made that more difficult.

No matter, he would still try to explain everything while the soup simmered. He could feel A-Yuan taking his hand and peeking into the room from behind his back. His older son must have been surprised by what he saw because he gasped and tried to get into the room.

Mo Xuanyu was sitting on the ground next to the bed, crying silently. Fat tears were coming out of his eyes and his chest was heaving very quickly, as if he was having a fit of panic, which Wei Wuxian would not really be surprised about either. He was probably still sleepy and he did not know what was happening. He looked at the boy with pity in his eyes, he could hardly even imagine how confused Mo Xuanyu must have been at the moment. He had promised him that things would be different and that they would take care of him but look at the situation now, they have just managed to make him scared instead.

He took a deep breath and finally made the last step into the room. He was a bit torn between which child he should go sooth first. A-Yi was still crying inconsolably despite being held firmly in his father's arms but Mo Xuanyu had literally no one, and perhaps he had never even been consoled before. However, he was afraid that any kind of physical contact would scare the boy all that more at the moment seeing his family history.

Suddenly, probably because he had hesitated for too long and overthought things just like always, A-Yuan let go of his hand and before Wei Wuxian could stop him, he launched himself forward and was already kneeling in front of Mo Xuanyu. Wei Wuxian wanted to warn him against touching the boy and to remind him he had to be gentle with him but A-Yuan did not need any of that.

His smart child smiled brightly at Mo Xuanyu, getting a very confused expression in return. Then he held out a handkerchief and Mo Xuanyu's eyes became impossibly wide, his tears had stopped altogether. He did not take the offered piece of cloth however; neither did he make any move to wipe away the wetness on his cheeks. He just sat there, seemingly completely dumbfounded, staring at A-Yuan with a complicated expression on his face.

Wei Wuxian would not take his chances on decrypting all of the emotions which were currently hiding in the boy's eyes but he was sure that fear was not one of them. It seemed like the boy was actually quite alright with A-Yuan approaching him and did not have the same reservations as he had had around him. Wei Wuxian decided to take notice of this piece of information for later use.

He almost had to coo when his younger son gently stretched out his arm – he did so slowly, could it be that he knew something or was suspecting that Mo Xuanyu would have been frightened otherwise? Could it had been instinct on his part? – and wiped away the boy's tears for him. Mo Xuanyu, although visibly stunned, did nothing to protest or recoil back. Wei Wuxian called that secretly a victory.

Only until A-Yuan called the boy's name however: "Mo Xuanyu?"

The boy flinched and A-Yuan must have noticed because the next second, he was already offering a nickname: "Would you like if I called you something else? We are friends now, right? And I heard you will be staying with us for a while. What about A-Yu? Would you like that? Or would you be more comfortable with something else?"

Wei Wuxian had to be proud of his son, at only ten years of age, he was already so mature and compassionate. Surely it would do Mo Xuanyu good to have the boys become closer. Wei Wuxian was almost certain that A-Yuan had not been close friends with Mo Xuanyu until now, or at least he had never talked about him at home, but now it seemed he was ready to try. He really was proud.

A-Yuan did not wait for any response from the boy, he only looked into his eyes and his smile became larger: "Alright, A-Yu it is." He finally stopped drying Mo Xuanyu's tears and continued: "Did A-Yi scare you? Did he perhaps try to wake you up as he does to me? Do not worry, he means no harm, he probably just wanted to play and become friends with you."

There was still no reaction form Mo Xuanyu and Wei Wuxian was starting to get nervous. He should probably intervene right now, although he had no idea how.

A-Yuan seemed not deterred by the boy's silence and he immediately proposed, looking directly at Mo Xuanyu: "A-Yu, would you like to have dinner with us? Dad prepared Lotus Root Pork Rib Soup, one of his specialities. Would you like to try? It is really good. And I helped cutting the lotus roots. Come, it must be ready by now."

Once again, Wei Wuxian had no time to warn his son and A-Yuan was already gently tugging at Mo Xuanyu's hand. The boy must have still been in pain because he got up only slowly, although without flinching, and he followed A-Yuan without any resistance. They avoided him and slipped through the door, immediately going downstairs.

Wei Wuxian shook his head in disbelief. Could it really be this easy to have the boy come out of his shell? Or was he making a mistake letting A-Yuan be so eager with him? He really did not know. This was something he himself could not tell because his own first days in Lan Zhan's care had been vastly different. He had not been crying and he had certainly not acted shy or scared, in fact, he had tried to convince the other that he had been fine and that he could go home to see his siblings.

Could Mo Xuanyu also be only pretending? Could it be that he was just still confused with the current situation? Wei Wuxian really did not know. But by now, he would not start questioning his decision to take care of the boy again. He would just have to do his best and see what would and would not work. Apparently, A-Yuan's friendship was one of the things he should encourage.