"Did you two just come out of that apartment? At this early hour in the morning? Were you together last night?"Mo Wenbin"s eagle eyes pierced Kang Sola and Xue Guangxi alternately back-and-forth. "Hmmm? No one"s going to answer, huh? Huh? Huh?"
I leaned forward towards the two bewildered brats as he shoved his pouting face on them. The two couldn"t even look at him. They both looked elsewhere.
All three of them met accidentally in the third-floor hallway just outside Apartment 301. Mo Wenbin heard from the Chen couple that Kang Sola would be staying at Apartment 301, where Xue Jinxu used to live. The Chen couple asked a favor from Mo Wenbin if he could send some food up for the girl since no one would take care of her there.
"Sola, Guangxi. No one"s going to respond, huh? Why are your faces flushed red? Huh? Huh? Guangxi, your ears are red, too. What"s up with you two?"
"Wenbin-ge, it must be your imagination!" Kang Sola reb.u.t.ted.
"It"s because of you! Why are you cornering us so early in the morning! Can"t you let us be? We"re in a hurry, we"re going to miss our first cla.s.s!"
"My foot, you brat! You wouldn"t care for the life of me if you miss your first cla.s.s, I"m sure if you"re with our Kang Sola!"
"Hey, brat, in this building, I will be this young girl"s guardian. I"m not expecting you to be here in the apartment."
"Why not? It"s my sister"s apartment. Why can"t I stay here?" Fl.u.s.tered, Xue Guangxi grabbed both of Mo Wenbin"s broad shoulders. "Wait, how did you know Sola"s here?"
"It"s supposed to be a secret, d.a.m.nit!" He whined silently in his mind.
Mo Wenbin poked his ear with his pinky finger playfully, ignoring Xue Guangxi altogether. The lad shook him a little bit stronger until he spoke again.
"How else? Your sister told me."
"WHAT? Sola, they know. They already know you"re here. And I"m here, too. We"re screwed."
"Yes, yes. They know. And they asked me to check on you guys. And yes, you"re screwed. Especially you! You"re the mastermind of this whole fuss, aren"t you?" Mo Wenbin hooked his arm around Xue Guangxi"s nape brusquely and tried to castigate the lad the way he knew best.
"Ow, ow, ouch! Ouch!!!! Ahhh!!!! Mother!!! Xu-jie!!! Ahhh-ahhh!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
The two rowdy fellows must have woken up all the sleeping beings even – even the dead – from their noise early in the morning.
"Wenbin-ge, oh my, please stop! Omo, omo, omo!" She hovered her palms around her mouth, She didn"t know what to do. "I can"t get any closer, they"re too rough. Are they just brusquely playing around?"
She opened the door of Apartment 301. "At least go inside first, please! Let"s talk inside!"
"Alight!" Mo Wenbin, slightly loosened his hook around Xue Guangxi"s head but dragged him inside the apartment.
"You think you can just do whatever you feel like doing with my cousin, huh?"
"I"m not your cousin." Kang Sola silently uttered, but it was audible enough. The two rowdy fellows, especially Mo Wenbin, froze, but he was quick to recover.
"Of course, you are! Your brother is my cousin, so you are, too. That"s how it works!"
"And in this building, being the older of us three, I"m in charge, and I would look after you two."
"You said that already! OW!" Xue Guangxi ma.s.saged his nape and shoulders when finally, Mo Wenbin freed him.
Kang Sola frowned at the logic but did not say anything more. Mo Wenbin wasn"t entirely a stranger to her. Before everything messed up, they had already been friends through Xue Guangxi.
She had liked his squad a lot and at the back of her mind, she kind of wished she officially belonged with them.
Now, somewhat, in several ways than just through friends.h.i.+p, she truly belongs with them, and not quite too.
Even if she wore a frown on her face, her heart melted a bit at Mo Wenbin"s words, no matter how gruff it turned out.
Mo Wenbin considers Kang Sola his cousin, too – a family member. As simple as that. Not just through words but by actions, too.
Poor Guangxi who was just helping her with her circ.u.mstances…
When Mo Wenbin calmed down a little, the three of them all sat on the couch and off went Kang Sola and Xue Guangxi in explaining their side of the story to Mo Wenbin.
"Guangxi doesn"t live here, Wenbin-ge. It"s just that sometimes he nods off to sleep while he helps me edit my vlogs. He helps me quite a lot, actually, in all fairness to him. He helps me in all my part-time jobs and even offered this vacant apartment. I feel bad for him with how he ended up in your hands today…"
"See? I"m the one who"s helping her!"
"Hmph. You"re such a wolf in sheep"s clothing."
Xue Guangxi gawked at him in disbelief. "Seriously?"
"Okay, okay! I understand. Let"s all go down to my apartment and have breakfast. Every day, Sola, go down to my apartment first for breakfast, alright? Otherwise, I will tell you both. You"ll both get a spanking from your older siblings."
Kang Sola and Xue Guangxi looked at each other.
The Xue Guangxi exclaimed, "Okay, okay!"
"Not you!" Mo Wenbin retorted, somewhat annoyed, "You should have eaten breakfast at Chen Linyun"s house. You are so d.a.m.n lucky you still get to taste his wonderful dishes!"
"True! It isn"t as frequent but, yes, all are yummy! Yum!" Xue Guangxi instantly drooled at the memories of his brother-in-law"s splendid cooking.
"Tss."
"I only meant you"re not supposed to stay overnight at Apartment 301 even if it"s your sister who owns the house! Xue Jinxu told me that she"s only allowing Kang Sola and not you! You brat!"
"Okay! We"re sorry, alright?"
*growl* *growl*
"What"s that? Whose stomach was that? Hahaha!" Mo Wenbin inquired playfully.
"Not mine." Xue Guangxi ma.s.saged his still-comfortable tummy.
"Mine." Raising her hand, Kang Sola came out clean. "Hehehe. Feed me, Wenbin-ge…"
"That"s what I"m saying! Okay, kids, let"s go down! Come on! March on!"