Being the son of a businessman isn't easy, and Ji Nan knows that to well. So when he was forced to move he made sure to not let anyone know about his fathers income. He even made sure not to let anyone get to know him, but when he is tasked with tut...
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After he finished eating we just sat around on the couch talking about nothing. It was nice to just have a simple conversation. As we talked I found myself looking him over, and I didn't know why. I was a few minutes into one of these scanning session when he asked a question that caught my attention.
"Do you live here alone?"
"En."
"I'm surprised your parents let you live away from home during your last year."
"Well, my father is barley home," I sighed out.
"Hmm mine isn't home often either."
"Then why don't you move out?" Ba Wei glanced over at me before running his hands through his hair.
"He'd never let that happen. Even my mother wouldn't be able to persuade him on that."
"He seems very troublesome."
"You have no idea." The tone in his voice was different than the usual ones I heard. I have heard his cold, playful, and slight sorrowful tones but this one was different. I couldn't help but stare at him. I tried to read his expression, but his face was stern. It frustrated me that I couldn't.
After a while of just staring at him in silence; he seemed to notice. His attention turned fully to me and his eyes locked to mine. I didn't know what to do so I just stared back.
"Are you gonna stare at me like that all night?" My face started to heat up and I shifted my eyes.
"N-no," I stuttered out.
I could feel him still looking at me, but I refused to look up. The more I thought about his gaze on me, the redder I became.
"Are you blushing?"
"No," I responded quickly.
"The color of your ears say otherwise." I shook my head immediately making my hair fall over my ears. "Come on that's not playing fair." Without warning I felt a slight pull on my head. I raised an eyebrow, but before I could completely process what was happening; my head was pulled up.
My reddened face was now fully in the view of the guy beside me. As I stared into those eyes of his my face became even redder. A smile spread across his stern face as he chuckled.
"I wonder how much redder I can make you turn." As that sentence left his mouth, I'm pretty sure all the remaining blood in my body all went to my face. My face was burning, and I couldn't do anything but put my hands over it. "So cute."
I wanted to protest to him calling me that once again, but I couldn't even build up the courage to look up at him anymore. Why do you have to be weird around him?
"Um," I said as I stood up," I'm gonna go check to see if your clothes are done." I made sure to keep my eyes on the floor as I said this. He didn't say anything, so I just turned and left.
When I entered the laundry room, I felt like I had escaped a lions din. I felt like prey, and I was in my own house. I looked down at my washing machine and switched it to the dryer setting. I started it up again and as calm as possible I walked back to the living room.
Ba Wei was sitting on the couch on his phone. He seemed to be scrolling through something by the movement of his thumb. He seemed to be very fixated on it. So much so that when I sat back down beside him, he didn't even look up. Curious, I leaned over and inspected his screen. I don't know what I was expecting but I guess I was expecting anything other than the truth. He was playing a game; mahjongg to be specific.
I should be surprised that a person of his age was playing mahjongg, but I was surprised that he himself was playing it. I didn't think Ba Wei found anything fun besides skipping class. Interesting.
I turned my attention from his game and just stared ahead. My mind went straight to my father. I know that he's his own person, and that he'll contact me when he can. I knew all of this yet I still felt like he was keeping something from me. He definitely was. He still has yet to tell me why he was arrested. Why does he have to be so troublesome.
"Hey?" My eyes snapped in Ba Wei's direction.
"Huh?" He was silent for a good minute before he spoke again.
"Nothing, you just seemed out of it right then."
I sighed, "I was." I let my head fall back and I found myself staring at the ceiling.
"Wanna talk about it?" That question from Ba Wei caught me off guard. I didn't expect him to offer to listen.
"Um," I started, "it's my father." Even saying that sentence made me feel weird. I can understand why though. I don't ever talk to anyone. I usually just keep everything to myself, but I wanted Ba Wei to know.
"What about your father?"
"He usually contacts me when he can and I understand that, but lately it's been the most silent it's ever been.
"Maybe he's busy."
"He's always been busy, and it's never been like this." Ba Wei fell silent and I just sighed. "Sorry for making you listen in on my issues."
"It doesn't bother me. It's what friends do. Plus I'm the one that asked." His voice was cold and flat as he said this, but it felt different. Is he trying to comfort me? I glanced at the side of Ba Wei's head, and that weird feeling came back. I shifted my eyes and swallowed hard.
"Okay." I looked down at my watch and to my surprise it was almost midnight. "Hey, do you just want to stay the night?"
"Why," he asked without looking up?
"Well, it's already really late and your clothes won't be fully dry for a another good hour."
"I'll wait for them to dry. If you're tired you can go to bed. I'll make sure to lock the door behind me when I leave." Although I wanted to do exactly that, something about letting him sit alone made me somewhat uncomfortable.
"I'm not tired. We just have to go to school tomorrow."
"It won't take that long." I just hummed a okay and leaned back on the couch. He looked up at me, "are you not gonna go to bed?"
"I'll go to bed when you leave."
"Don't trust me," he asked amused?
"I trust you, just don't want you to leave without me knowing." It was the honest truth. I wanted to know exactly when he left. I guess you can say I was worried. He did come here covered in blood, with bruised knuckles.
Ba Wei chuckled and put his phone down. He turned towards me and his eyes met mine. " you do realize how that sounds?" I didn't know what he was talking about. I was confused before it finally clicked. My face began to heat up, and this made Ba Wei fully laugh. Could this night get any more embarrassing.
