A kid's play (Teach me how to live again) - Hualian AU + TGCF as kids

After the storm, before the battle

"She cheated on me, mom. My girlfriend."

"..."

Xie Lian heard no reply from the other side of the line for a few seconds. That's it. He finally said it to someone, but it made the hurricane inside his chest start to spin once again.

"Mom? Are you there?" He felt tears forming in his eyes. Suddenly, he was afraid of crying and waking up San Lang. He looked behind him and saw E'ming approaching.

"Oh, son, sorry. I was thinking of how I should react..." While listening to his mom speaking, Xie Lian watched E'ming languidly waving her tail, then stretching. She continued, "I imagine you must be quite sad, but I'll just have to be honest with you..."

Xie Lian closed his eyes preparing himself for what would come next.

"Come home."

He opened his eyes wide and saw E'ming now at his feet, looking up, as if asking, "why are you up in the middle of the night?" Xie Lian lowered his hand to the dog and replied, "wait, what??"

"Forget her, son. She doesn't deserve you, or your tears, or your suffering. Simply take your things and come back here where we can be with you."

"Mom, I can't just go away, the school..."

"Forget about the school! This is not the only school in the world. Just come home!"

Xie Lian went silent and E'ming was licking his hand.

"Son, I'm really sorry that this happened, and right now that's the only suggestion I have. I'll start preparing the room for you." It was common for his mom to decide things and just live inside her own plans. Xie Lian sighed listening to his mom talk. "Now try to get some sleep, it's very late. Were you up until now?"

E'ming was getting a back scratch now. "No, I fell asleep at a friend's place," Xie Lian replied. Maybe talking about the accident and his ribs was a bit too much for her now, he pondered.

"Good, but don't get too attached, you'll leave anyway. Now rest! Good night! Let's talk tomorrow."

Xie Lian watched the call timer blink and disappear.

In his life, he sometimeswished he had some more resolve as his mom. The night air was fresh and humid, maybe even getting cold. That was probably because the shirt he was wearing was of a thin white fabric, he realized. Letting his mind wonder, he started imagining just for a moment what it could be like if he agreed to leave. His old house. His town. His friends. It flicked a warm sensation inside his chest.

As he looked away, E'ming was begging to be petted again. He raised her in his lap and went inside. She was so soft. They laid on the bed and slept together.

It felt like not too long after when the smell of toast filled his nostrils. Xie Lian tried to open his eyes but his eyelids weighted a ton. It was already bright outside, so he painfully stretched on the mattress, and then remembered E'ming. Didn't he just smashed her? He sat on the bed.

"Good morning, Gege." Xie Lian heard those words as he continued trying to open his eyes, looking for E'ming. "I didn't mean to startle you, but we'll be late if I didn't wake you up."

Late. Work. Kindergarten. The light was hurting Xie Lian's irises, but he finally managed to see a gray shape coming closer. E'ming was fine, she must have gotten out of bed when Hua Cheng woke up.

"Good morning, San Lang," Xie Lian said scratching his eyes. He heard approaching steps.

"Here, I figured you might need a full morning kit," Hua Cheng said bringing a tray. E'ming jumped excitedly trying to peek too. "No, E'ming, stop, you were already naughty enough as to find your way into Gege's bed tonight." He put the tray on the mattress and sat on the floor, holding E'ming. "I'm really sorry for that, Gege."

Xie Lian smiled and looked at the tray. "Don't worry, I was the one who picked her up, what are these?" He asked, looking at some wet cotton balls inside a bowl, and that was when it him. "Oh dear Heavens, San Lang! I was the naughty one in your bed! I am so so so sorry, I should have gone home, I... what?"

Hua Cheng was biting his lips in while trying to stay serious, but then burst out laughing. "Sorry, sorry, it's just the way you said you were naughty...."

Xie Lian blushed without thinking back at his own exact wording and continued. "I am sorry to have imposed on you like that, I should have gone home. By the way, was I loud in the middle of the night?"

Hua Cheng replied briefly, "no, you spoke super low."

Xie Lian felt relieved and forgot to read more into that reply. "Still, I'm sorry you had to eat alone and sleep on the floor. I really should have gone home."

"Gege, stop." At the last word, E'ming's ears turned up, probably because she was used to hearing that one word said at her. "How could I have let you go home alone? Please, I don't mean to be rude but, go in the bathroom and look in the mirror."

Xie Lian raised his brows, a bit confused at such honesty. Still, he stood, being painfully reminded that his ribs were not alright. E'ming followed him.

"San Lang, what's the cotton in the tray for?" He asked moving towards the bathroom, and understood as soon as he saw his own reflected image. What a poor state: his eyelids were huge, his hair was dishevelled, and through the thin, almost transparent fabric, a huge purple stain could be seen over his ribcage. "Wow... I am a mess," was all he could say.

Flashes of yesterday surfaced once more. Him falling, his girlfriend, his call with his mom.

Hua Cheng showed up behind him with the pot of cotton balls. Xie Lian turned and gazed at it, noticing that they were wet cause they were sitting on ice. Hua Cheng offered the pot to him. "Gege, sit and eat breakfast. You can put the cotton over your lids to reduce the swelling a bit."

"San Lang..." was all Xie Lian said while taking the pot. He wondered for a second why Hua Cheng knew this, but E'ming was happily waving her tail in between them and started to bark.

Hua Cheng picked her up and moved away commenting, "Don't forget to eat some toast before we leave."

Xie Lian closed himself in the bathroom for a bit, slightly touched by San Lang's thoughtfulness. The teacher placed one cotton ball over one eye and watched some drops of water run down his face. He wondered if tears were rolling like that when he cried yesterday. Even though still heavy on his chest, he didn't feel like crying right now.

***

Xie Lian placed on the table the pile of paper activities that would be given to the kids next and looked around the room. It was lunch time and, in moments like these, basically anything could happen. Hua Cheng was patrolling the room, his walk almost inquisitional. He watched over the two sides of his path like a general observing his soldiers. The kids were eating from their lunch boxes, except for Qi Rong and Jun Wu, who didn't bring food, were given a tray with food from the school, and were looking at it with a disgusted expression.

Hua Cheng had just eaten that same food and was ignoring their attitude, since the food was alright. The girls, Banyue, Xuan Ji and Jian Lan, were whispering between themselves. Ling Wen had finished eating and was organizing the bookshelf, even though teacher Xie told her not to do that now. The rest of the class was momentarily silent.

"Your eyes seem better now, Gege," Hua Cheng said, finishing the patrol and laying his back on the wall next to Xie Lian.

"The ice trick really saved me. Very clever," Xie Lian replied with his mouth almost full, using the calm moment to eat his lunch too, which by the way was the same as Qi Rong and Jun Wu's.

"Happy to have helped," Hua Cheng replied. "You're welcome to stay over tonight again. E'ming would certainly like it, she was crying when we left."

It was true, Xie Lian heard it and wondered out loud how could Hua Cheng go to work everyday and leave her crying like that.

The assistant was about to reply that she didn't cry like that everyday when the battle started.

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Ops...

🦋🦋🦋