Are You Addicted?

Originally, the two should have returned home together during the weekend, but since a problem had arisen within Bai Luo Yin"s household, Gu Hai had no other choice but to obliged and return alone.

On Friday afternoon, once cla.s.s was dismissed, Bai Luo Yin happily gathered his belongings, shoved them into his school bag and prepared to return home. The moment he thought about how he can rightfully stay at home for thee entire weekend, without having to find any kind of reasons to justify his action, Bai Luo Yin was able relax his entire body and let his mind be at ease. Even more so, he didn"t have to look at that disappointing look on Gu Hai"s face. Finally, he can peacefully enjoy these two days that he had so eagerly waited for.

"What made you so happy like this huh?" asked You Qi from the side.

In just a split second, Bai Luo Yin"s expression became rigid as he looked at You Qi"s questioning eyes and asked back: "Do I look that happy?"

You Qi can only tell him the truth from his own point of view, "Your mood has been really strange lately."

Walking slightly behind them, Gu Hai could clearly hear what the two were chatting on about. Naturally, his head conjured a series of thoughts. How was it that, even You Qi was able to see the strangeness in Bai Luo Yin"s mood when Gu Hai, himself, who had been staring relentlessly at Bai Luo Yin all day long, unable to see anything peculiar.

Everyday, he would cheerfully and even optimistically attend cla.s.ses. During the morning and afternoon, this joyous nature would remain in tack, but by the time cla.s.ses were dismissed for the day, his family"s chaotic problems would snake its way onto his face, becoming rather appearance. It was like an underling promise that he would, without a doubt, start looking extremely miserable and anxious at that exact time.

Sometimes, Gu Hai would think such thoughts as:

Is this guy deliberately hiding from me?

But then again, he genuinely couldn"t find any reasons at all for Bai Luo Yin to hide from him. Let alone, even dared to easily call  forth any suspicions after those few days of disappoints and setbacks had occurred.

Even before the time that Bai Luo Yin had started to lie and keep away from him, Gu Hai had long engraved the word, "trust" into his memory.

It would be better to have trust, than to have any other thought.

When he arrived at the school main gate, Gu Hai said, "Let me walk with you for a while longer."

Bai Luo Yin didn"t reveal any particular expression that he declared he was not willing to allow Gu Hai to do as he had requested.

Walking along the familiar roads, the two chatting their voices away. Whatever trouble that kept them apart all these days seemed to have momentarily disappeared. And, for the time being, Bai Luo Yin seemed rather happy, since not once, did he mentioned his family"s problem.

When he noticed that they were already halfway toward his destination, Bai Luo Yin abruptly started to say, "What are your plans for the next two days?"

Gu Hai thought for a moment, "I have to return home. Didn"t the teacher wanted us to hand over the household registration booklet? Since my booklet is at home, I have to go back and get it. I don"t have any plans on Sunday, maybe I"ll go to my sister in laws or maybe I"ll find a few people to go out with me."

Bai Luo Yin stopped in place, and patted Gu Hai on the shoulder, "I"m jealous of you. I still have to go to my uncle"s house."

But………Gu Hai did not even see the slightest trace of jealousy in Bai Luo Yin"s earthen eyes. However, on the contrary, what dwelled within was just a bit more compa.s.sion.

"You really won"t come back for these two days?"

Bai Luo Yin let out a long and dragged out sigh, "I definitely won"t be able to return. When I"m in cla.s.s, I have to go back home and help out. Now, that we have a small break, I have to deal with this difficult task. I don"t even know what these two days will look like. Sigh……"

"Isn"t your uncle"s family quite rich? Why don"t they ask a specialist to come and take a look?"

Bai Luo Yin straight and beautifully sculptured brows naturally knitted together into a slight curve, "Didn"t I already tell you? Normally my uncle"s family is pretty well off, but once an accident occurs, they pretend as if they"re poor. Even my cousin"s medication was paid for by my dad."

Gu Hai nodded his head, "Alright then. Take care of yourself while you"re staying at home."

The corner of Bai Luo Yin"s mouth hung loose. After refraining himself for half the day, all he could mutter out was a simple, "Yes."

In a rather awkward atmosphere, the two looked at each other for a short period of time, then thinking that it was about time, he urged Gu Hai, "Then, you should head back now. Get a taxi so you can save some time and avoid having to walk back so far."

Reluctant sprawled chaotically on Gu Hai"s face, evident enough that he was not willing to go. Because this was two additional days that he wouldn"t be able to see him!!

"I want to go with you for a bit further."

Bai Luo Yin attempted to use kinder words to persuade him, "There"s no need to send me further. If my dad caught sight of you, he would probably drag you back and won"t let you leave."

Gu Hai immediately raised his head and the corner of his lip, in great unison with his mood, perked up, "Wouldn"t that be a good chance then?"

Bai Luo Yin became silent.

All of a sudden, Gu Hai"s hand nudged Bai Luo Yin"s forehead.

"Then I"ll really leave now!"

Bai Luo Yin nodded his head.

"I"m really leaving!"

Nevertheless, Gu Hai still didn"t move, not even an inch.

All of a sudden, Bai Luo Yin looked at Gu Hai"s calf and kicked it in frustration.

"Can you be quicker about this?"

There was a distinct peculiar kind of light flickering incessantly in Bai Luo Yin"s eyes before Gu Hai turned to take his leave.

—-

Later that evening, before heading to sleep, Meng Tong Tian sat in the corner and fiddled with the toy gun that Gu Hai had given him. He continuously used his fingernail to pick at the sh.e.l.l casing which inadvertently produced a very unpleasant and vulgar squeak.

Bai Luo Yin was quite sensitive to this kind of overbearing sound since it always made him cringed and needless to say, he would rather not experience that if he had a choice. What made it worse was that, every single time he heard it, his whole entire body would break out in gooseb.u.mps, leaving him a bit sore.

"I told you to behave yourself a bit more and quickly go to bed!" Bai Luo Yin then pulled Meng Tong Tian"s arm.

As Meng Tong Tian collapsed on the bed and squirmed his little body into the blanket, he conveniently struck an att.i.tude of a person that had sustained an injury. He was lying on his deathbed in fear with eyes aimed relentlessly at the ceiling as another shot went off. After he was satisfied with getting a kick out of enacting his little scenario, he placed the gun down.

A second later, he looked at Bai Luo Yin and eagerly asked, "When is Gu Hai gege coming huh?"

Bai Luo Yin shot Meng Tong Tian a quick glance, "Don"t hope for that, he won"t be able to come this week."

"Awww……" Meng Tong Tian"s shoulder collapsed in disappointment, "Before, every week, I would have some hope because I know that once weekend arrived, Gu Hai gege would come over and give me a new toy. If he doesn"t come, I don"t have the heart to work on my school a.s.signments."

"Hmmph, when he does come, I never seen you work on your school a.s.signments!"

Meng Tong Tian eyes slightly widened as he sneaked a glare at Bai Luo Yin.

As if he had just just remembered something, Bai Luo Yin looked at Meng Tian Tong and made an earnest promised with him by linking their pinky fingers together.

Meng Tong Tian obediently sat up straight.

"I"m warning you, if Gu Hai shows up and asks you where I"ve been for the past few days, you better not say you and I have been sleeping together. Do you hear me?"

"Why?" asked Meng Tong Tian as he blinked his eyes, a twinkle danced in those innocent orbs.

Bai Luo Yin tone of voice stiffened, "You don"t need to care about why. If you say anything, I"ll make it so that you won"t be able to see him later on."

"Ah?" Fear immediately kissed Meng Tong Tian"s face as its changed into a shade of grey, "Then, I absolutely won"t say anything."

Feeling relief and at ease, Bai Luo Yin turned the lamp off and went to bed.

—-

The next day, bored from staying at home, Bai Luo Yin went to play basketball early in the morning. Around the afternoon, he went to look for Yang Meng and stayed at his house for a while. In the evening he returned home just as dinner was being served.

Every Sat.u.r.day, Aunt Zou would make a big table full of delicious foods. And for Bai Luo Yin, this was truly one of his greatest pleasure. Today was no exception. He quickly washed his hands and sat down at the dining table. By this point his mood was extremely good as he stared attentively at the table of delicacies in front of him.

"Gu Hai didn"t come today either?" asked Aunt Zou.

Bai Luo Yin nodded his head. Just when he was about to pick up his chopsticks, a call came through.

"Yin Zi, I"m almost at your house."

Anxiousness immediately poured down on Bai Luo Yin as he quickly replied back, "Didn"t I say you can"t come here?"

"You"re really at home? Didn"t you say, today you had to go to your uncle"s house?"

Bai Luo Yin"s mood did a complete 360 and became quite sour, "They don"t have food, so I have to return home to eat. After I finished eating, I"ll head there."

"Then that"s perfect timing. I just want to come over and take a quick look at you.  I"ll leave right after I get to see you."

Bai Luo Yin wanted to say something else, but Gu Hai had already hung up on him.

Looking at the table of delicious dishes, Bai Luo Yin couldn"t help but become worried.

How is this okay?

Bai Luo Yin thought, if Gu Hai were to see this, he would definitely think: Is it really appropriate for your family to be having a lavish dinner, with all these meats, when such a huge accident had occurred?

"Auntie, quick. Take all these good foods away. Gu Hai said he wants to come here. This, this, this………put it all in the cabinet. After Gu Hai leaves, we can eat again."

As he said this, he carried a bowl of meat away.

Aunt Zou stared blankly at Bai Luo Yin, dumbfounded, "Yin Zi, why are you taking it away? It"s fortunate that Da Hai is here at just the right time ah. I even wanted to add a few more dishes!"

"I want to eat meat!" cried out Meng Tong Tian who sat to the side.

There"s no time for explanations. If you guys don"t want to take it away, then I"ll do it myself.

As these thoughts danced around his head, he quickly picked up another small plate with spare ribs on it and went to hid it.

Aunt Zou became even more confused and immediately looked at Bai Han Qi, asking: "What"s wrong with this kid?"

"I don"t know, protecting the food? Maybe he doesn"t want Da Hai to eat any of it? He wouldn"t go that far though…right?"

Bai Luo Yin returned and picked up two more plates of fried dishes. Before he turned to leave, he warned them again, "Remember what I told you guys that day. Don"t reveal anything."

Aunt Zou"s face was riddled with even more confusion than before.

Unable to look on, Bai Han Qi patted Aunt Zou"s shoulder, "Children nowadays are under a lot of pressures from studying so they like to look for some sort of fun at times. Just let him be."

Soon, Bai Luo Yin then a.s.sisted Grandpa Bai and Grandma Bai back to their room. A couple of seconds later, rice and other delicious foods were immediately sent to them.

Enticed by the smell of the food, Meng Tong Tian could not help but to squeeze his way into his grandparent"s room and refused to come out.

While they waited until Gu Hai arrived, the dining room was infiltrated with a gloomy and depressing atmosphere. Only Bai Luo Yin, Bai Han Qi, and Aunt Zou, the three of them sat, circling the big table. On the table were a pot of plain white porridge and two small plates of salted pickled vegetables.

Bai Han Qi is slightly embarra.s.sed as he greeted Gu Hai into the house, "Da Hai, you"ve come?"

Gu Hai smiled, nodding his head.

Aunt Zou who was at the side, heaved a deep sigh. It was evident that she was rather distraught at this outcome, "Da Hai ah, I"m terribly sorry. You finally came to visit us, and there"s only a pot of porridge and nothing better to serve you……"

Gu Hai consoled Aunt Zou, "Auntie, it"s fine. The porridge you made, smells just like some delicious meat."

Aunt Zou"s expression stiffened as she awkwardly smiled, "This kid, your mouth is still coated with sweetness."

"I"m not kidding," said Gu Hai in an extremely earnest tone, "I really smell meat."

Bai Luo Yin almost spouted the porridge in his mouth out.

—

The two sat outside in the courtyard and exchanged a few words. At first, Bai Luo Yin thought that Gu Hai"s intention for coming over was to investigate him. But, after only a couple of sentence later, he discovered that Gu Hai truly just wanted to see him. He didn"t deliberately delay the time nor did he snooped around the house for anything.

It was clear in the way his eyes were solely fixed and engrossed in Bai Luo Yin, that all his attention, couldn"t be bothered to travel elsewhere. After feeling as if he had sufficiently looked at Bai Luo Yin, Gu Hai prepared to take his leave.

It was only until Gu Hai"s shadow had left the front gate, did Bai Luo Yin then, let out a sigh of relief.

When he returned to the kitchen, he looked at Aunt Zou and said: "We can bring those dishes out now."

All of a sudden, Bai Han Qi smacked the back of Bai Luo Yin"s head, "You childish kid, you definitely don"t have any good intentions."

"Meng Tian is still in his grandma"s room. I"ll go to call him over," said Aunt Zou.

Bai Luo Yin and Bai Han Qi proceeded to take out all of the meat and vegetable dishes from their hidden compartments and placed them one by one on the dining table again.

When Aunt Zou arrived at Grandma Bai"s room, Meng Tong Tian was nowhere in sight. Grandpa Bai slowly said: "Just a moment ago, that kid saw Gu Hai and chased after him."

Aunt Zou was well aware that Meng Tong Tian loves to stick to Gu Hai like super glue, so without asking any other question, she returned to the dining table alone and ate her meal.

"Gu Hai gege!" shouted Meng Tong Tian.

Gu Hai turned back and upon seeing a small body rushing toward him like a flying arrow, he quickly crouched down and caught him. Less than a second later, he took the chance and hugged him.

"Hehe……" Gu Hai smiled and pinched Meng Tong Tian"s little face, "How come I didn"t see you just now?"

"I was in grandpa and grandma"s room all along."

Are you Addicted?