Hard choice (Dark clouds before sunny weather - Book 2)

Chapter 11

Wei Wuxian finished with all his classes and was now sitting at his deskin the teacher's office, trying to grade the test he had let his students take. In fact, trying was the correct word as he was getting nowhere even after almost half an hour. And it was just a multichoice quiz as well! Even when thinking about other things, he should have still been able to check if the answers were correct just by comparing them to his prepared grading sheet.

However, he could not do it. His mind was in a total disarray and he could not stop thinking about Mo Xuanyu. After the break when he had seen him outside with A-Yuan and his friends, he had not had the opportunity to check on him again. His class did not have biology lesson today and he had resisted with all his might going to find the children during other breaks. It would look weird if he was spying on them all the time.

That was why, now that all the classes were finished for the day and he knew A-Yuan would be waiting for him while playing with his friends behind the playground, he could not wait to finally go check on things. He was convinced that he would find Mo Xuanyu in the same place, A-Yuan had not looked like he was about to leave him alone for the day when they had left their house.

Wei Wuxian's mind was torn between two possibilities: going to fetch the children later and letting them enjoy their game or going immediately and finally calming himself down. Internally, he was listing the pros and cons of both options and it was so distracting that it kept him from grading the tests properly.

In the end, after that half an hour of agonizing, he finally realized that he would not get any work done anyway. He was too distracted and worried. He needed to check on Mo Xuanyu as soon as possible. Although there were no grounds for him to really be worried, the boy was with A-Yuan after all, he could just not help himself. He remembered from his personal experience how hard it had been to get used to a new living situation.

Not that Mo Xuanyu knew about all the changes that were about to happen. Wei Wuxian and Lan Zhan had still not told him everything, they wanted him to first settle down a little before sitting with him and explaining everything. But children were able to feel such things even without being explicitly told. After all, had A-Yuan not immediately become protective of the possible new member of their family without fully understanding the situation? Wei Wuxian was convinced that Mo Xuanyu also understood deep down.

He quickly tidied up his desk to the best of his abilities and gathered his coat and bag. He went down to the playground to find the children. They still had plenty of time to continue playing, he just wanted to keep an eye on them while they did. He always loved looking at his sons having fun and now he felt the same when it came to Mo Xuanyu, his heart was swelling as if he had already gained another son.

He arrived soon enough and saw that A-Yuan was playing soccer together with Ouyang Zizhen and Jin Ling and Mo Xuanyu was sitting on a swing, watching them with MianMian. Wei Wuxian was not even too surprised that Mo Xuanyu had not joined in on the game. He most probably did not know the rules and was too shy to ask. It could have also been that he was still not feeling completely healed despite the fact that his bruises had faded a little during the weekend.

Or, and at this possibility, Wei Wuxian's heart skipped several beats, it could be the same as when he had taken the children to the park. Back then, Mo Xuanyu had also made no move to go play. But it was simply because he did not know how as he had never been allowed to. His guardians had probably never let him go have any fun, only told him to do all the chores around the house and then beat him or do even worse things before sending him back to the garden shack.

Wei Wuxian could not let go of this scenario that his head supplied. He was now sure that it was the correct one, or at least the one which was the closest to the truth. Mo Xuanyu must have been holding back because he had never known anything else. Time to change things for the better.

Wei Wuxian approached the swings and made sure he was smiling when he gently called: "A-Yu, MianMian, I see the game is going well?"

Just as he had feared, Mo Xuanyu was startled and quickly turned around. His eyes however calmed down a second later, as soon as he realized that he was not in any kind of danger and it was only his teacher coming up to him. He even remained sitting on the swing instead of immediately jumping off of it and backing away, a reaction Wei Wuxian had actually expected. There was some progress right there.

MianMian turned towards him as well and greeted back: "Good afternoon, Teacher. Yes, they have just started a couple of minutes ago."

"I see, let us watch together then."

As if encouraged by their words, Mo Xuanyu shyly nodded his head in his direction. Wei Wuxian's heart almost jumped out of his chest. The boy was acting so adorably and so much better than he had been thinking. A-Yuan must have done a great job of easing Mo Xuanyu's fears and getting rid of his nervousness.

Wei Wuxian stood next to the swings and watched the game as well. However, he watched only for show, instead, he was secretly observing Mo Xuanyu. It seemed like the boy had finally gotten the hang of swinging by himself – the first day in the park, Wei Wuxian had to push the swing for him as he had been fighting to find his balance – and he was now fully immersed in the game. His eyes were sparkling and his lips were parted in a little adorable "o". Wei Wuxian could not be mistaken, Mo Xuanyu wanted to join the game.

After several minutes of waiting if the boy would ask by himself, Wei Wuxian decided to act. He was hoping that he had understood correctly and would not cause Mo Xuanyu any harm when his injuries had just started healing. He left his post by the side and came closer to him. As soon as the child saw him approaching, he stopped swinging and was looking at him nervously. Wei Wuxian smiled reassuringly; he had not wanted to make him afraid. He kneeled down by the swing and looked up into the other's eyes.

"A-Yu, why do you not go join them if you want? I am certain A-Yuan will explain everything to you. Surely you would have a lot of fun with your friends." The boy shot a glance in the direction of the game but did not make any move to go. He only clutched the strings of the swing tighter and looked more unsure now.

At that moment, A-Yuan finally noticed that Wei Wuxian came to watch them and run towards where he was standing. "Dad, is it time to go already?" he asked.

Wei Wuxian turned his head towards his son and replied: "No, A-Yuan, I only came a little earlier to see how you were doing. You can still play for a while longer just like any other time."

Suddenly, he noticed a movement from the corner of his eyes. Mo Xuanyu straightened his back and looked in A-Yuan's direction. Wei Wuxian discreetly shifted his gaze and realized that the boy's eyes were now sparkling even brighter. He was barely sitting on the swing anymore, very visibly eager to actually go join the game. Wei Wuxian should have realized sooner; the boy had been worried that there was no time for him to go enjoy the playtime.

He turned his attention back to his son and prompted: "A-Yuan, why do you not take A-Yu to play with you? I am sure he would like to join the game. You can explain the rules to him and teach him, right?"

"Of course," exclaimed A-Yuan enthusiastically and he was already grabbing Mo Xuanyu by his hand and dragging him towards the others, "come join us, A-Yu." Wei Wuxian was not afraid of the perhaps too strong enthusiasm, his son and their friends would for sure take good care of the boy. And Mo Xuanyu did not look like he minded at all either.