Guardian: Returns

10

Luo Fei wiped the steamy mirror with his hand and looked at himself.

"Stay cool, dude. Zhao Yunlan would never lose his cool. Be like your hero." He came out of the bathroom, then into a long corridor. "Um, hello?" the boy called, not sure where to go.

"Downstairs, kitchen," came a reply. Luo followed the voice and found himself in a large white kitchen.

"Whoa, this place is huge," he said, then looked at the table. "What is all this?"

"We didn't know what you usually eat for breakfast, so we prepared a bit of everything." Jiang Feng smiled sheepishly, staring at the floor. "I'm very grateful for your help. And I'm sorry that I inconvenienced you..." he blushed.

"What are we talking about? We're friends. And friends help each other. Right?" Fei stepped closer and patted the teenager on the shoulder. "You can always count on me. Both of you."

"Careful," Xin Bai, carrying a pan with freshly made scrambled eggs, approached the table, making both boys step away from each other.

The teenagers spent the morning eating, chatting and laughing. Luo helped clean the dishes.

"Hey, I'd better be going," he said after drying the last plate.

"Why? Do you have any plans?"

"Um, no. But I don't want to... You know... Overstay my welcome."

The twins just stared at him blankly. Finally, Xin Bai tilted his head.

"Does this house overwhelm you?" he asked. Luo nodded, scratching his chin.

"Well then, welcome to the club. We have to be here on our own the whole time. Stay as long as you want. To us, you're a weekend attraction this way."

"Seriously? Umm. Haven't done that in a while. Not since..." he trailed away. "Wow, it's gonna be three years this month."

The grey-haired boy blinked.

"What are you talking about?"

"My dad's disappearance." Fei put his hands into his pockets. "Ugh, I don't know why I thought about it just now. Hey, let me just call my mum and," he scratched his chin again and swore. "Shit, I didn't use the balm yesterday."

"Balm?" Feng blinked.

"Yeah, I'm planning to grow a beard just like Zhao Yunlan, you know. But the damned thing doesn't even want to start growing yet."

The twins blinked several times, then laughed. "You really are a hopeless case if it comes to that detective. " Jiang Feng's hand ventured up to fix his glasses, then he realised that he wasn't wearing them. He lowered it.

"Habit, huh?" Luo grinned. "You look better without glasses, you know."

"Maybe I look better," the teenager agreed. "It doesn't mean I see better without them. I'll be right back." He ran back to his room. Followed him with his gaze, then took out the phone.

After calling his mom, Luo Fei was shown around the house, realising that it was bigger than he thought. Then the boys went back to the kitchen, and Xin Bai started looking for some snacks.

"How are you able to keep this whole place clean?" Luo mused. Feng sat right next to him and sighed. "It's not us. People come to our house when we leave for school. They do the cleaning, gardening and the shopping. We just come back, and everything is done."

"We assume they are people," the silver-haired kid winked. "It could be fairies or dwarfs. Perhaps a wizard. We've never seen any of them. It's only us. And our uncle, when he's back from his trips."