D-3 (1)

Xie Yang was so tired that he drifted off to sleep almost immediately after greeting Leo, but the unfamiliar room made it hard for him to fall asleep properly.

This restless state instead caused him to recall some unpleasant memories, his barely conscious mind weaving them into a nightmare, further disrupting his rest.

The first rays of the summer sun shone through the window, enveloping the dark room in dim, golden light that illuminated the figure on the bed.

The youth, seemingly disturbed by the light, frowned before opening his eyes and squinting at the light. He sat up in bed and dazedly looked out the window, his thoughts unknown.

After a while, Leo walked in to see Xie Yang looking at the bright window with his hair disheveled and noticeable eye bags. Feeling his heart soften, he sighed before going over to the bed and lightly calling out.

"Good morning, Xie Yang rise and shine. It seems like someone didn't sleep well." Leo said in a gentle whisper, breaking Xie Yang out of his daze.

Xie Yang turned his head to the voice calling him and saw Leo patting his head, supposedly trying to smooth his misbehaving strands of hair. He didn't feel Leo's touch but his presence evoked a sense of peace in him as if finally finding a safe space after wandering for a long time.

Xie Yang gave Leo a bright smile, almost competing with the golden rays for brightness, and greeted him in his hoarse morning voice.

"Good morning, Leo."

Leo nodded to accept the greeting and let Xie Yang linger in bed for a little longer before urging him to get ready lest he be late.

Xie Yang, pleased by Leo's concern, got out of bed and took up his towel to go to the bathroom. This time, he wasn't hounded by his bratty brother, leading to a peaceful bath.

He still got out early, afraid to have his good mood ruined by interacting with his "family", though his concerns were unfounded as it was still too early for them to be awake.

Xie Yang quickly got out and went to his room to get changed. He checked his schedule for any new classes requiring different books and arranged his school bag. While arranging, his gaze fell on the drawer containing his important documents.

After a moment of thought, he decided to bring them along as well. He had virtually zero trust in the people he lived with, and he feared his mother would retaliate by taking away or hiding the documents while spinning them to be for his grades, probably using the excuse that the CSATs were close and he should be focusing on that instead of competitions.

After making sure he had everything he needed, he grabbed his phone and checked the time, which was 6:30 AM.

It was pretty early since morning self-study classes were canceled, but Xie Yang would much rather go to school early than have to interact with his "family".

Seeing that he had everything he needed, he quickly got out of the house and made his way down the street to his school.

Early mornings in summer were the most pleasant with fresh dew on the leaves of roadside trees and bushes. The weather was just perfect with warm sunlight and cool morning air, both neither too hot nor too cold making one want to sleep in.

Xie Yang yawned as he walked down the street focusing on the chirping of birds and rustling of leaves trying to stay awake, though it seemed to have the opposite effect.

On the way, he passed by the breakfast stall which he had bought breakfast from yesterday.

Being early morning, the stall owner was just taking out the freshly fried youtiao. There was also a steamer rack containing hot baozi and freshly squeezed soy milk as well as other breakfast food tempting travelers with their delicious smells to find out if they taste as good as they smell.

Having not had a good dinner, this temptation worked on Xie Yang causing him to walk over to the stall and order a bunch of food to enjoy.

He sat on the stools by the side of the stall and looked at drifting clouds in the sky while he waited for his food.

He didn't have to wait long as the stall owner quickly brought out dish after dish of delicious foods, a serving of Lanzhou (hand-pulled) noodles, extra spicy with lots of broth and spring onions, a serving of tea eggs swimming in sauce, a serving of meat baozis with tiny drops of steam on its thick skin, golden youtiao sticks and many more.

Seeing the full, the stall owner was apprehensive about whether the skinny-looking Xie Yang would be able to finish everything and advised him not to force himself and overeat and that he could pack the leftovers for him.

Xie Yang thanked the kind owner and looked at the different mouth-watering dishes.

Out of years of habit or a momentary impulse he wanted to show Kai what he was having, not knowing whether he wanted to brag about the extravagant display or lament his absence in the front of such good food.

He took out his cell phone, took various pics, and sent them to his husband, after a moment of thought he added a message. Having satisfied his wish, he picked up the chopsticks and started to eat.

At this time, Zhou Kai was woken up by the special ringtone he had set up for his special person's texts and calls.

He squinted his eyes to see Xie Yang's which were just pics of a delicious-looking breakfast spread waking both him and his appetite. Although, he'd never been the picky type, the breakfast his sweetheart was having seemed so delicious making him crave the same.

Under all the tempting pics was a small message, just 10 words yet Zhou Kai read them again and again and even pinched himself once to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He jumped out of bed and ran straight to the bathroom to get ready.

The cell phone abandoned on the bed showed a chat screen with a contact titled "Sweetheart" and the last message read,

"I'll buy some for you. Come to school early today."