Specials and Alternate Universes
Modern AU
“So, what is this about your stalker?”, the beautiful man asked, sitting on the huge office table and looking through the documents. His boss was, as always, quickly finished with everything and didn’t require any help from him at all, giving him enough time to catch up on some gossip he had heard from the ladies outside.
“So, what’s this about your old childhood crush?”, his boss countered. He looked handsome in the black suit with his bright, violet eyes. Those and his silvery white hair hinted at a genetic mutation, but rather than fearing him, women were swooning in his presence. The beautiful phoenix eyes captured their hearts instantly.
Besides, his boss was very kind and comfortable to be around – if only he didn’t tease him.
Xue Hua flushed bright red and whipped his head back to look down at the documents. “I don’t know what you are talking about!”
Shi Yue set down the pen after signing an elegant name, then smiled dotingly at his assistant. “Ooh, you know. Dark skin. Blue-green eyes. Black and gray hair, a bit messy. Muscular and handsome… Should I continue?”
Flustered, Xue Hua nearly crushed the papers. “Tha-That does indeed sound like someone I know, but he is not my crush.”
“So going to the cafe together was not a date?”
“Not at all!”
“Where he ordered your favorites without needing to ask you? Took off your jacket? Pulled out the chair? Listened to you complain for three hours with a silly smile and then paid for everything before accompanying you home?” Gosh, this was funny.
The papers slipped out of Xue Hua’s hands as he stared back at Shi Yue, his mouth agape. “H-H-H-How do-do you k-know?!”
“As if I’d let just anyone go out with you”, Shi Yue humpfed with a raised eyebrow. “The moment you so happily talked about the time of your date with him on the phone, I got someone to follow you. Just to be safe.”
Xue Hua held back from screaming. This was way too embarrassing! Did that mean Yue had photos and everything?! Even if he wouldn’t admit it out loud, he had spent those hours like a lovestruck fool, constantly talking to distract himself, otherwise he would have just stared at Mingtian all starry eyed and started to stutter!
It couldn’t be helped, he hadn’t seen him since several years and he had just grown more attractive! How was that fair!
Shi Yue laughed, then let his assistant off. “Alright, alright. I’ll stop. Don’t cry, okay? I just wanted to tease you a bit.”
“You have your own matters to focus on! Don’t just follow me”, Xue Hua awkwardly grumbled, then got off the table to gather up the papers.
The office was lavish and beautiful, the table made from dark wood and the expensive chair behind it the heart of it all. It was to be expected that the CEO of a huge security company that worked for all kinds of stars and politicians would have such an office.
Carefully, Xue Hua stacked the papers and placed them on the side before walking around the table. He didn’t look as good as Shi Yue in a suit, but it was expected of him to wear one. Since he had a rather soft face and fluffy, bright colored hair though, he hardly looked intimidating. Well, that was why he was Shi Yue’s assistant and not a bodyguard (even though he was incredibly good at fighting). Besides, they both had rather unusual looks.
Shi Yue chuckled, then opened his drawer and pulled out a single page of paper before handing it to Xue Hua who looked over it.
There was a single good photo attached, contrary to the usual times when Shi Yue investigated someone. Usually, there’d be a whole stack of information and dozens of photos, so this was already suspicious enough.
Xue Hua took off the photo and looked at it first.
The man in the picture looked right into the camera despite the surroundings and angle suggesting that it was shot in secret. His gaze was curious and non-hostile. Generally, the young man looked quite sexy with a pair of tight pants and a very simple, white shirt.
“Is this your stalker or are you going to stalk him? Because honestly, I can’t imagine someone who looks like this needing to stalk anyone else”, Xue Hua said a bit doubtfully. If this one rang at your door, you at least wouldn’t reject befriending him. He had that aura even through a photo.
Shi Yue didn’t answer, so Xue Hua laid down the photo and placed his attention on the single piece of paper before growing rigid.
“You’re kidding.”
“I’m not. This is the info I got”, Shi Yue sighed, fully understand the other’s confusion.
Somehow, the cute man was… a contract killer that worked even with the police. It was to the point that the police had to absolve him of a number of smaller crimes just because he kept on getting rid off their heaviest bounties. No one had any idea how he did it, but even the greatest crime syndicates would go down if he put his eyes on them. He travelled all over the world, but for the past three months, he had been in A City… Following Shi Yue.
He had gotten the info only due to his connections and failed to find any reason as to why the young man would stalk him. It couldn’t be a mission or he would long be dead – someone had definitely entered his room while he was sleeping, several times.
“Is he just… an actual stalker, maybe?”, Xue Hua suggested, scrunching his thin eyebrows. There was near to no information at all. Just a description of his looks as well as a short list of exemplary targets he had successfully killed. There was also a note on his character, stating that he was near unreadable and had unstable moods.
“What do you plan on doing about him?”
“I have no idea at all.” How could he work against someone if he didn’t even know their intention?
***
One block farther away, in a very common apartment, a young man was dazedly staring at the magazine in his hands.
On the double page, a man in a black suit was shown along with an interview and a description of his business. It was too bad that the image wasn’t a poster. The man was brushing his white hair out of his face as he walked somewhere, distracted by something to his side and thus slightly tilting his head to his left.
A man stepped into the room, knocking against the door in passing and looking around wryly. Four legal posters, fifteen cutouts from magazines, around forty screenshots from videos and another thirty photos that were absolutely not legal, enhanced to be in the size of photos depending on their motive. Meaning, the more stunning the photo, the larger the print.
“Wasn’t he supposed to be your, I dunno, target? For killing?”, Mingtian asked with a twitching smile and tried to tug the magazine out of the youth’s hand – and failing.
“Hmm”, the other hummed, still staring at the page and debating if he should cut out the photo and hang it up and then put the interview into the folder with other facts, or put the interview along with the photo into the folder. Or hang both up?
“…And what happened to the guy who put up the bounty?”
“Kind of dead”, he replied simply, gently fiddling the page out of the magazine.
“Oh”, Mingtian said, dragging the sound. “Kind of. What a coincidence.”
“What a coincidence indeed.”
A hand descended on his black hair, ruffling it up violently. Squeaking, the youth shielded the magazine.
“Xie Yi, you stalker!”
“Who is stalking anyone?”, Xie Yi complained and placed the magazine into safety before pulling over a plushie… In the form of a white-haired man. Pouting, he placed it under his chin. Mingtian groaned and rubbed his face. “I am merely making use of skills to get a few photos that are nicer than what the usual paparazzi get.”
Mingtian pointed at the wall with both hands, exasperated.
“They’re nice photos. Nothing wrong with hanging them up.”
He waved his arms over, pointing at the plushie.
“Coincidentally looks alike.”
Pointed at the folder full with information.
“Had that gathered for the job.”
Growled, then opened the laptop violently, typing in a string of numbers for the password – and pointing –
– “It’s a nice number.”
– “That’s a fucking birthday!”
-before showing the game that had appeared on the display. A visual novel, a dating sim. The capture-target stood leisurely leaning against a wall, his long white hair loosely tied up.
Xie Yi shrugged and busied himself with brushing through the hair of the doll in his arms. “Juxian made a game and I wanted to play it. And?”
“Xie Yi, are you in denial or are you lying because you know exactly that I’ll get mad?”, Mingtian growled, turning around to stare deep into Xie Yi’s eyes.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
The red orbs quivered, then moved to the sound.
Xgbkilcu, Zlcualjc gfjmtfv bea tlr ijguf tjcvr jcv qeiifv ja Wlf Tl’r mtffxr ktlif mbwlcu mibrf fcbeut obg atflg cbrfr ab abemt. “Bllllv. Vabq rajixlcu tlw.”
Wlf Tl ogffv tlwrfio, atfc yifk eq tlr mtffxr. “Gbc’a kjccj! Lf’r tjcvrbwf jcv mbbi jcv clmf! P ilxf obiibklcu tlw, la wjxfr wf tjqqs!”
“You’re probably scaring the poor guy to death”, Mingtian cursed. “He’s got a killer following him around!”
“No way”, Xie Yi rejected instantly. “I gave him a present before and he’s using it. He’s definitely not scared.”
(Elsewhere, Shi Yue wrote into his notebook with a slightly awkward face. It was a really nice notebook from overseas and he liked it a lot, he would just feel better if he knew why in the world a contract killer would leave a notebook behind for him. It had been wrapped in a cute bow though, so he guessed that it must be a present, and he wasn’t dead yet, so there was that.)
“Oh my god”, Mingtian cried out. “Kid, why.”
Xie Yi ignored him and threw himself back onto his bed, turning on his stomach and waving his legs around like a little girl in a movie. “It’s fine, I’m not hurting anyone.”
“You really are head over heels.”
“I don’t wear heels?”
“I feel bad for the guy”, Mingtian muttered, looking at his little brother. Xie Yi wasn’t a bad person at all, he was just… complicated.
***
“I think this is unfair”, Xie Yi complained and pushed the frozen Mingtian farther into the seat so he could sit down as well. “You’re telling me I have to give up, but here you are, running after your childhood friend. Hi, by the way.”
Xue Hua was frozen, his face depicting something between disbelief and surprise.
Mingtian cursed mentally, then pulled Xie Yi under his arm and laughing awkwardly. “Sorry, he’s my, uh, little brother, I guess. He’s a bit cranky recently, he doesn’t mean to be rude.”
Xie Yi pursed his lips and glared up, fighting free and then looking over Xue Hua before smiling brightly. “He looks like a good person. Great!”
Mingtian flushed slightly, as did Xue Hua. While the other was fidgeting and flapping his mouth open and close, Mingtian was still trying to get Xie Yi out of the seat on the bench. Thankfully, no one in the cafe cared to watch their antics, or Xue Hua would have run off.
“Don’t be stingy, introduce me”, Xie Yi whispered, tugging at Mingtian’s sleeve. The older man sighed and rolled his eyes up, then gave in.
“Uh, Xue Hua, this is Xie Yi. He’s pretty much my little brother, just not by blood. Xie Yi, this is Xue Hua, my childhood friend.”
“Crush”, Xie Yi corrected and earned an instant hit on the head for it. “Ow! What?!”
Thankfully, the relationship between him and Xue Hua was at a point where their feelings were pretty much confirmed. They were too awkward to actually act out on them, but it was obvious enough that they existed.
Xue Hua showed a shaky smile and his cheeks flushed red. “It’s… nice to meet you.”
He had to alert his boss. Urgently.
Xie Yi tilted his head at Xue Hua when the other did a weird movement, but then decided to ignore it and focused on stealing food from Mingtian instead. “Hey, hey, Are you gonna stay in A City with Xue Hua? Then I’ll stay, too. You can’t leave me all alone, ‘kay? I’ll keep staying at your place.”
The other man twitched up, his eyes widening and turning to Mingtian who rubbed his neck.
“Well… That was the plan”, he coughed and averted his eyes. “And I didn’t intend to leave you behind. You can just stay here in A City as well. And find another job.”
He whispered the last sentence. He understood that Xie Yi was used to killing people. They both had lived in the lawless Z City for years and met there, so both of their hands were stained with blood. Xue Hua knew of that but didn’t mind, to Mingtian’s relief. As he had said; it wasn’t like he and his boss hadn’t killed people during their work, either.
While they were conversing surprisingly amicably, someone else was rushing over to the shop.
With wide steps, Shi Yue half ran into the store, not sure what to expect. The button that sent him a signal couldn’t transmit any information except for the danger level. It wasn’t overly high, but high enough to call him over directly.
He spotted Xue Hua easily enough and moved over, scanning over the two heads before him. One should be that Mingtian, the other was… who?
Xue Hua looked up and saw his boss, then smiled with a very uncomfortable look. “Uh, Boss Yue, hi! …Let me introduce you: These are Mingtian and… Xie Yi.”
Shi Yue stopped dead in his tracks, just far enough that he could look at the beautiful young man who had turned to look up at him with wide eyes.
“He’s… a nice guy”, Xue Hua added. Xie Yi was quite cute, really not like a killer at all, so that just made him more confusing.
Xie Yi jumped from his seat, prompting Shi Yue to jolt back warily, but suddenly his hands were grasped in smaller ones. The wide, amazed eyes were right in front of him, sparkling like the setting sun.
“Wow! It’s Shi Yue! Mingtian, look! It’s actual Shi Yue! Look, I told you he is handsome!” With an overly delighted tone, Xie Yi looked back and forth between Mingtian and Shi Yue, obviously excited. Shi Yue, on the other hand, stood stunned and looked at the attractive little face that was beaming at him. His cheeks felt a bit hot.
“He looks nicer when he’s awake”, Xie Yi giggled and Mingtian freaked out.
“Xie Yi!”
“Ah, Shi Yue, that new suit looks great on you! As expected from tailor-made work! It’s the new synthetic fibre, right? Great quality. But anything looks great on you. Hey, why don’t you sit down as well? Although you can probably make better coffee than the people here-”, Xie Yi chirped on and on. His eyes were forming two slit moons from smiling and his black hair moved up and down with every over his overjoyed fidgets.
He could hardly hold his excitement, the white cheeks beginning to flush adorably, prompting the people in the cafe who had glanced over to let their eyes linger.
Mingtian was pulling at his hair in a panic, already jumped up, Xue Hua was watching with a conflicted gaze and Shi Yue…
Was just seriously doubting his previous missing interest in men. Maybe he should overthink that attitude.
What if Shi Yue and Xie Yi messed up, turning into two little children with no memory of their adult selves?
“Wife, look at our adorable children!”, Mingtian bellowed as he threw the door open.
Xue Hua stared back at him with completely blank eyes, the brush in his hand slipping out and dirtying the table.
He didn’t know what to comment on first…
Mingtian was absolutely not allowed to randomly barge into his room. Also, since when had he been his wife and…
What exactly was up with that?!
Seeing Xue Hua take on the stance of blatantly staring in response to a completely ridiculous appearance, Mingtian did not hesitate to show his explanation.
He raised his two arms and the two little figures, their small heads still covered in snow, stared up at Xue Hua with wide eyes.
Both were perfectly silent, but it was of a different type. One was silent because he had nothing to say, the other because he didn’t know what he could say. He looked quite adorable with his dumbfounded, confused look.
“They’re adorable!”, Mingtian exclaimed, holding them up with slightly quivering lips.
“I mean, I agree, but what in the world-”, Xue Hua shouted, jumping up as his brain processed who Mingtian was carrying there.
Tiny Xie Yi and tiny Shi Yue were maybe barely four years old and staggered a bit when Mingtian placed them on the ground.
The black-haired little thing looked around in obvious confusion, then used his short legs to waddle over to the other child and reached out to grasp his sleeve.
The small Shi Yue looked like a little prince as opposed to the messier Xie Yi and stood quite calmly, even though his eyes showed the same confusion.
“I don’t have the slightest idea”, Mingtian uselessly commented. He squatted down and pulled them both into his arms, squashing his cheek against his partner’s head. “I found them like this. I think they might have fiddled with an ancient array but I can’t help them because they don’t seem to remember anything.”
“What do you mean, don’t remember anything?”, Xue Hua worriedly asked and hurried over to peel Shi Yue out of Mingtian’s clutches before looking into the bright eyes.
Shi Yue and Xie Yi both still had the auras of cultivators and the mutated colors of Shi Yue’s hair and eyes suggested that their core had not been changed. They had simply been turned little.
“Hello”, tiny Shi Yue mumbled and gave an awkward bow.
Xie Yi twitched at seeing Shi Yue do so, then struggled free from Mingtian’s grip and repeated the movement before continuing to stare at Shi Yue.
“I mean that they don’t recognize me. They seem to kind of recognize each other? Not really, though. More of a familiarity. Look at this”, Mingtian squeaked.
He placed his hands under Xie Yi’s arms and pulled the boy away from Shi Yue.
Shi Yue made a small, shocked “Ah!” before immediately trying to catch up with Mingtian, who was retreating.
The beast stood up, raising Xie Yi up high.
The black-haired boy looked down for a moment, then began to struggle with a hurt expression on his face.
“Waaah…”, he cried out, his eyes turning watery. The small hands desperately reached downwards, where Shi Yue was tugging and pulling at Mingtian’s pants. When that didn’t help, he first tried to hit him and then climb up, the frantic face turned upwards to Xie Yi.
“Look at how adorable this is!” Mingtian could barely hold himself back from squealing.
Furious, Xue Hua reached out for the figure in his hands and set him downwards. “Stop this! You’re making them cry!”
Once Xie Yi had the floor beneath his feet again, his expression turned a bit stupid. Shi Yue, however, let go off Mingtian and ran right over to pull him behind Xue Hua, glowering at Mingtian in the process.
Xie Yi reached out to hold onto Shi Yue again, sniffling quietly.
“There, there”, Xue Hua hummed soothingly as he reached out to caress their heads. “The bad guy won’t hurt you.”
“Oh my god, look at them”, Mingtian squeaked. “Look! Mini-Yue is protecting Mini-Yi! This is the best start into a new year, ever!”
Xue Hua turned a complicated gaze at the minimized versions of their partners. Well, they were indeed adorable. And seeing Yue so openly attached to Xie Yi was quite cute, too.
“The sect leader is returning in a few days, no? Their cores and health are fine. Let’s allow them to play like this for a while. Neither of them ever had a common New Year’s as a child.”
Mingtian’s face was starting to turn a bit more doting as he tried to coax Xie Yi out from behind Xue Hua.
“I… Why not.” They were in one of Shi Yue’s private homes, anyway. It wasn’t like there were any sect members around who could see the situation and cause trouble.
“Do you two want to play in the snow?”, Xue Hua asked quietly, unable to keep his lips from tugging into a very light smile at the sight of the children.
Xie Yi’s eyes lit up and he nodded hurriedly. His lips were pressed together and he stared at Shi Yue.
The other child hesitated but ultimately nodded. His small hand took Xie Yi’s, holding it tightly, before he looked up at Xue Hua in a gesture of expecting the other to lead them out.
Xue Hua patted their heads and stood up, shooing Mingtian out first.
The world was white. Except for the yard that was regularly cleaned out, the snow was piled almost as high as the children and was still falling. Everything was quiet.
“Did their clothes adjust automatically or did you dress them?”, Xue Hua asked. He watched the two of them closely – Shi Yue looked around comfortably and Xie Yi stared at a small bump of snow for a while before jumping on it, crushing it under his shoes.
Both were dressed in thick, warm robes with animal fur and high boots. It made them look quite round. Shi Yue even pulled out gloves from his robe, putting them on by himself, and Xie Yi mimicked him.
“Automatically”, Mingtian responded. He was already beginning to roll up snow for a small snowman.
Attracted by the weird thing the beast was doing, Xie Yi snuck up at him from behind. Mingtian grinned broadly but did not react so as to not scare him off.
“Should we light the lanterns already? Can the kids even stay up until midnight?”
“No way. We should start an early celebration for them. We do have firecrackers somewhere… Give me a minute. Don’t tease them!” Xue Hua took the situation very seriously and already ran back inside to search for something to light up the lanterns with and the firecrackers.
There were dozens of red lanterns with signs on them placed around the building but none of them were lit. Besides, the sun had only just started to set.
Mingtian’s body was shaking with held-back laughter.
Xie Yi wanted to see what he was doing without appearing on his vision, so his glorious idea was to climb onto Mingtian’s back and look over his shoulder.
Because, obviously, Mingtian couldn’t notice him that way.
Then someone began to tug at Xie Yi’s feet, trying to get him off and the boy made unhappy noises.
“Oh my”, Mingtian said very slowly and drawn out. “Hmmm, my back feels so heavy today. I wonder if snow fell on it?”
He turned his head deliberately slowed down, waiting for Xie Yi’s sound of shock and the hurried footsteps away.
He glanced over his shoulder.
…The pile of snow at least hid most of their bodies. Not the top of their heads, their arms, their brightly coloured sleeves and Xie Yi’s giggles, but they were trying.
Mingtian was swooning.
He hadn’t thought he would like children this much, but these two were tugging at his heartstrings.
It was funny to see how they, despite their currently locked memories, were still acting a lot like themselves.
Only that little Shi Yue was a bit more introverted and little Xie Yi a bit of a coward – nothing he would hold against three or four-year-old children.
“I think I heard something behind that pile of snow”, he said loudly and moved his foot to make it crunch on the ground. “Maybe I should check?”
A kid-sized snowball flew at him. He almost evaded it out of habit but decided against it in the last minute.
He gasped. “What! Oh no! I was hit! Where did this come from!”
Two more balls flew at him and two pairs of eyes peeked out from behind the snow.
The two balls hit him after he moved right into them. He went down to his knees again.
“I am being attacked! How fero-… uh, brutal? Mean? I am hurt!” He hissed dramatically and let himself fall to the side. What kind of words would kids that age understand? “Oh no! I hope no one comes to attack me while I am weak!”
Xie Yi giggled and ran right out with a pile of snow in his hands.
He threw it at Mingtian, who was starting to laugh, and then himself right after. At that point, with a little figure having thrown himself at his stomach, Mingtian couldn’t hold it anymore.
Even when Shi Yue came afterwards, throwing a second pile onto his face, he couldn’t stop laughing.
Besides, Shi Yue joined the fight by trying to keep Mingtian’s legs down.
The beast raised one and heard the delighted sound coming from the white-haired boy when he was suddenly being lifted up.
That was the scene Xue Hua came out to.
He stopped in the doorframe and watched for a while. He made his way to light up the lanterns as quietly as possible.
A few minutes later the boys were exhausted. Mingtian picked them up and hugged them against his chest, to Shi Yue’s chagrin.
“This looks comfortable”, he commented with a grin.
Xue Hua had brought out the lounge and a number of blankets. Before it was a table with a steaming tea-set and some smaller pastries.
Xie Yi’s eyes lit up at the sight of it. “Candy!”
“Almost”, Mingtian laughed. “Do you want some?”
“Un!” Xie Yi was sat down on the lounge and wrapped in a blanket with Shi Yue, who was eyeing the tea.
Xue Hua gave Xie Yi a pastry and lovingly looked down at his partner. “Do you want to drink some?”
“Yes, please”, Shi Yue politely mumbled, his short arms extending up.
Xue Hua handed him aa high cup with only a bit of tea so that he wouldn’t spill it. “Careful, it’s a bit hot.”
Shi Yue nodded seriously and began to blow at the tea before sipping at it. He drew his legs to his chest and made himself comfortable.
Xie Yi snuggled up to his side, yawning.
“They don’t even reach my waist. I’d keep them exactly like this”, Mingtian lamented. This shouldn’t be permanent.
“I don’t think Yue is interested in getting raised by you”, Xue Hua quipped with an amused glance at the white-haired one, whose nose would scrunch up every time Mingtian approached him.
“I’m not forgiven for taking Xie Yi away from him. Sheesh, it was only a second”, Mingtian complained with a pout.
Shi Yue’s eye wavered. He looked at Xie Yi, then back at the man and opened his eyes.
“Not allowed!”
“Not allowed what?”
“To take him!”
Mingtian squatted down again and leaned on his arm. His turquoise eyes were twinkling. “Not allowed to take him because..?”
“Mine”, Shi Yue declared righteously.
“So he belongs to you?”
“Un!”
“What if he doesn’t want to?”
Shi Yue showed a hint of shock on his face and hurriedly glanced at Xie Yi. The other boy finished his pastry with wide eyes and began to smile foolishly. “Want.”
“See! He is mine, so… so… You are not allowed to take!”
Mingtian snickered, his mischievous expression staying. Xue Hua rubbed his forehead.
“Do you like him that much?”
“Like!”
“Mingtian. If Yue remembers this, he will kill you for making him say such things.” Xue Hua sighed and fed Xie Yi another pastry.
Mingtian stole one from himself and winked at his future mate. “This is the only chance I’ll get to hear it in the near future. Isn’t it funny?”
Xue Hua refused to admit that, in fact, it was kind of amusing to see his partner being played so easily.
“Shi Yue, Shi Yue”, Xie Yi chirped. He tugged at the other’s arm to catch his attention. “Eat one, too!”
He held out a pastry that Xue Hua had given him.
Shi Yue’s face relaxed again and he nodded with a happy expression.
“Aah… It’s depressing to think that they’ll go right back to being complicated again once this is over.” Mingtian grumbled for a while. He joined them on the lounge and placed Xie Yi on his lap.
Xue Hua came up to sit beside him, taking Shi Yue.
“Hm…” Xue Hua was getting a bit distracted. Children were so much more adorable than he remembered… Just that if Shi Yue got together with Xie Yi, he’d never see a little one.
Uh, so there was another possibility. He was only deliberating it for a bit.
“Drink some tea to warm up.”
“Mingtian. I can be considered an ice-phoenix.”
“I know. Drink some tea to warm up.”
Xue Hua sighed and took the cup.
Night was falling. Stars were beginning to appear in the cloudless sky and the light of the lanterns shone gently.
Shi Yue moved to get off Xue Hua’s lap and forced himself into the gap between the two adult men. Xie Yi, seeing him do that, made a pitiful face at Mingtian.
Mingtian endured it for five seconds before he scooted over and left his little brother a gap to sit in.
Squished together and with pastries and tea, both boys looked the happiest in all of the evening.
Somewhere down the mountain, the first people were beginning to launch fireworks. Both children twitched at the high whistling and the following explosion, then exclaimed in delight.
“It’s so pretty!”, Xie Yi shouted, pointing at the sky and standing up. Leaning on Mingtian, he hopped up and down. “So pretty! Me too, me too!”
“I want, too”, Shi Yue added hurriedly, turning to see the doting expression of his partner.
“Of course you can”, Xue Hua hummed. “Let’s light some fireworks together.”
There really was no danger doing that with two high-level beasts around. They could play as much as they want.
“Happy new year”, Mingtian said a bit early as hee handed Xie Yi a sparkler to light the fireworks.
“Happy new year”, the kids echoed and started their fireworks.
Flowers bloomed up in the sky in all colours.
They refused to go inside until they were so tired that they fell asleep curled against each other on the lounge, the white of their breath making small clouds in front of their flushed faces.
Xue Hua carried them inside with a hushing motion and Mingtian followed with a warm heart.
When the array naturally ran out a day later, Xie Yi found himself unable to remember the past day but in an inexplicably good mood.
Shi Yue, on the other side, sat outside drinking his tea and glaring at Xie Yi’s beast who was rolled up on the ground.
For some reason, he found the sight of him really annoying today.
Mini yi and mini yue are too cute I want them
Ugh I found the stalker story surprisingly hilarious, and the new year one fricking adorable.
I…really want a continuation of these shorts. 🥺
Are A city and Z city a reference to One Punch Man? 😂
No, giving cities simple letter names is just The lazy way of writing common in chinese novels 😀 And in One Punch Man too, apparently xD
The mini version of them is so cute