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The late night had cooled down his sweaty shirt, and it clung to Mo Guan Shan's skin grossly when he pulled it over his head and tossed on top of the laundry basket in the corner. So much for the shower he had taken earlier. The bastard He Tian had riled him up to play for real and run around the court like an idiot late into the night.
The apartment had been quiet and dimly lit only by the soft light in the entrance when he had come back inside. As quietly as he could, Mo Guan Shan had toed off his shoes and tiptoed out of his sweaty clothes in the bathroom. Mom's alarm would go off early in the morning, and it was his turn to make breakfast.
A soft clang rang in the silence when he turned the pockets of his sweatpants inside out. For a while, he stared blindly at the tiles until he spotted the earring He Tian had forced on him. Compared to the vast greyness of the tiles, the jewelry looked much smaller next to the laundry basket on the floor than it had in He Tian's hand. A mere black speck.
A hazy flash of He Tian grabbing the back of his neck and pushing him down – the rush of suddenly being made to submit – tightened the bottom of his stomach. With an annoyed frown, he snatched the piece of jewelry off the floor and glared at it as if blaming it for its very existence.
"Stupid piece of trinket," he muttered and looked for a trashcan – or anywhere – to chuck it in.
But something made his hand waver. A persistent, lingering something that had been eating into him despite everything. The longer he kept glaring at the earring – a lifeless, harmless object – the more it itched him with nervous energy.
I should just toss it, he thought, but quickly the thought slithered and faded away before he could grasp it.
With a pounding heart and clumsy fingers, he loosened the tiny back of the earring and threaded the post through the hole on his earlobe. It slipped in without resistance. The lock pinched the soft flesh a little when he snapped it close.
His reflection on the bathroom mirror didn't seem much different. His earlobe was a bit reddish but that was all. The jewelry weighted heavy and unfamiliar, but it didn't show in the mirror.
It certainly didn't look anything like a couple of years ago when he had gotten his first pair of earrings.
~~oOo~~
Mo Guan Shan hadn't been quick enough to come up with an excuse when She Li had told him to come over after school. It wouldn't have needed to be anything special – homework, detention, mom had asked him to run some errand – but his mind had gone completely blank. Silence had been enough of an answer for She Li, though. Not that he had been really expecting – or needing – one, either.
You see, She Li was one of those people you needed to tread carefully. He made a terrible friend but a much worse enemy.
"I've got something to show you," he had said, carefully leaning closer as if sharing a secret. "I almost got caught getting it but you're gonna like it, I promise."
