Avoided

Chapter Ten: Boys Not Yet Men

  Creaks would echo in the empty hallways, the paper shafts hanging against the window pane danced back and forth, as if the entire landscape realized the loneliness in Yao's heart, knowing that his little siblings were gone and off to an entirely new world. The bare feet that rested upon the hard wooden floors grew cold and chilling, the house itself becoming abandoned and quiet with increasing sensitivity. No one was there to stuff their faces with some of Yao's God-given power of cooking and the taste of the sweetness of the tea that was brewing every evening on a cold night, or late into the early morning when the moon was still singing songs of purity to keep the sun down a little longer until their roles of being asleep and being awake were switched.

  Yao was the moon. Singing songs of mercy and gratitude to his siblings, letting his suns know that it was not time to get up and shine upon the world, his world. He guarded his suns and they soon learned to guard him during the daytime. Perhaps this is what made his heart so ill and rotten with remorse.

  With a tight grip, Yao held his phone in his hand, his shadow merely an illusion in the moonlight. With an unsteady sigh he clicked the phone on, revealing a blinding light of his home screen.

  "Aiya! Too damn bright!" He yelled as he dimmed the light more and more. The clock read 1:45, an obviously perfect time to call loved ones. His brow crinkled as he began to dial the numbers that would guide him to someone, anyone. He did not realize who he was about to call, maybe someone in Italy, maybe someone in America, maybe someone that could be his sibling at college. He did not know and certainly his phone was not exactly sure who he was thinking about calling.

  The line buzzed. It buzzed. Buzzed. Buzz-

  There was the click and Yao held the phone close to his ear, praying to hear the voice of someone intelligent, so wonderful and in the least bit annoying.

  "HIYA ANIKI!"

  "WHAT-" Yao leaped in the air almost, juggling the phone in his hands as he attempted to not drop the device. With a shaky grasp on the phone, he took it back to his ear, his eye twitching as he cleared his throat. "Hello Yong Soo."

  "What are you doing, calling at this time of night? Shouldn't the old wise man be asleep-"

  "YOU BRAT, I AM NOT THAT OLD!"

  "Yeah, okay Aniki."

  On the other end, Yong Soo sat on a heart sick love sofa in the recreation area for students, a place that was more satisfying than what the pamphlet said. The large pool table steady sat on all four legs with a glazing wood frame beside the sofa. The room was large enough to be a pitiful man cave for any married man, even if that meant a single man. Lights flashed purple and rose, the TV blasting audio on the other side of the room with several male students yelling with pride whenever the American team scored a touchdown or whatever the hell that was. Alfred was the loudest among them.

  The pool table was occupied by a young man and Leon, the other young man. The nameless man was called Toris, a gentle soul that believed in love more than himself, a love interest in Scotty as she was to him. The light brown soft hair was longer than most guys, but about the same as Leon's, only much more complete, his bangs being separated at the forehead. His skin was a hint of paleness, but he was no vampire. He was a person that had almost everything, things that made Yong Soo resent him and become jealous of him. The connection between Toris and Scotty was almost unbearable to witness, and yet, he continued to stare at it and observe it, like it was his life line of truth and wonder.

  Toris managed to use the pole to push a ball into the far right corner of the table where Leon stood, with an almost dumbfounded look. 

  "What- how are you so good at pool?" he asked with such curiosity with a hint of jealousy.