Xie Lian's artistic side| Colors of the Heart ~ Hualian AU

Chapter LVII : mild NSFW

"Do you live here?"

"Hm, yes, but..."

"Jun Wu, you're under arrest on suspicion of bribery and slander."

"What the hell? Jun Wu? My name is Qi Rong!"

"You're also on our list. You're under arrest for assault and battery, in addition to suspicion of hacking activity and robbery."

.

Guzi was running. "Papa-two..." he whispered. He wished to forget what he just saw, he wished it was a bad dream and that it would end anytime now. "Why did you send me away? Why can't I stay?" Guzi knew he was awake though, and that he was alone again. He was trying to make sense of the words he just heard.

Some moments ago, after they came back from their day together skipping school, papa-two held Guzi by the shoulders and looked him straight in the eye.

"You know the way home?"

"Papa, I wanna stay here..."

Qi Rong shook the kid's slim body. "Listen, right now, you gotta go home and stay with your mom for a while. You know how to get there, right?"

Guzi raised his voice, using the about-to-give-a-tantrum attitude. "Nooo, I'm staying with papa-two, no mom!!"

"Sshhh, shut up or..."

Turned out, it was too late. The noise got the attention of whoever was inside papa-two's second house and three people walked out of the room. Guzi saw a man asking his papa some questions using complicated words, and then another man in uniform bound papa's hands behind his back.

When Qi Rong noticed Guzi was still standing there watching the scene, he started yelling. "What are you doing here? This is not your floor! Go to your parents, get lost!" Qi Rong looked angry. "Get the hell outta here! Go away and don't come back!"

Guzi widened his eyes. "No, I..."

"Stop! I don't want you here! Go away and don't look for me ever again!"

Guzi felt his eyes tearing up but had no time to say anything else. The men in uniform dragged papa-two away. Guzi followed from a distance and started running after the car for a few blocks. It was until the car speeded up and he tripped that he stopped moving. He fell on his knees over the sidewalk.

The wind hitting his face before ceased and he felt tears rolling down his cheeks. "Papa-two... why did you leave me here?"

.

From inside the police car, Qi Rong looked back and saw when Guzi stopped running after them. He felt relieved, it was better this way. He was already thinking about this before.

Guzi was brilliant. He was clever and a fast learner. Qi Rong knew it and tried to sharpen the kid's skills, which would come very handy in the future. At first, he was thinking about himself only, he did not care about the kid. However, something funny started happening. Qi Rong became unintentionally empathetic and started treating the kid as he wished someone had treated him. The little rat was so amusing and... well, caring. Maybe Qi Rong deviated from his initial recruiting plan, but it felt cozy.

Now, Qi Rong watched the lights against the dark sky passing fast by the window, contours becoming blurred. What was that inside his chest when he thought about Guzi? Lately, Qi Rong had all these concerns that were definitely not meant to be felt by him. Sometimes he worried Guzi would put himself in dangerous situations and get hurt. Or that he could actually use his cleverness to something more... serious? Or good? A proper job maybe? Today earlier, Qi Rong realized Guzi was learning things by himself too and felt the kid did not really need him. Maybe it was Qi Rong who was relying in their time together the most after all.