A knock raps on the door making Pu Li Ming shoot up with big wide eyes, staring at it.
Another knock and Pu Li Ming scrambles up, almost stumbling on the leg of the table.
“Li Ming?” Mother Pu asks in concern, curiosity clear on her face.
“It’s Zhou Fi Hai!” Her only son shouts back, rounding the corner, “He’s taking me out for a treat and then to the park today before class!”
“I see.” She says as she hears the door swing open.
“Hello, Xiao Ming.” She hears the voice of the young man she’s met far too many times than she expected.
“Hi!” Greets the delighted voice of her son. She immediately melts and softens at the sound of joy in his voice.
“Are you ready to go?” The older asks.
“En!” Her son enthusiastically answered, “Oh wait, I need to grab something real quick from my room—” the sound of quick footsteps before the thudding on the stairs, “Be right back! You can go inside! Mom’s in the living room!”
Then the slam of Pu Li Ming’s bedroom door. After a slight pause, a small chuckle rang through the corridor before the other made his way to the living room as well.
“Good day, Aunt Pu.” Zhou Fi Hai greets with a nod of his head.
“Good day to you as well, Zhou Fi Hai. And please, call me Mother Pu.” She says with a smile before gesturing to the couch, “Please, have a seat while you wait for Li Ming.”
“En.” Zhou Fi Hai says with a grateful nod and sits down.
Afterward, neither of them tries to fill in the silence. Mother Pu continues to sip her cup of coffee while Zhou Fi Hai scrolls through his phone.
Eventually, it is broken, “Thank you.” Mother Pu said.
Zhou Fi Hai hummed in question before turning from his phone to the other.
She looks at him with wary but happy eyes and repeats it, “Thank you.”
Zhou Fi Hai glances down and turns off his phone, “…what for?”
“I haven’t seen him this settled in his skin since before… before.” Is the response.
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.
They both turn as Pu Li Ming makes his way downstairs with his usual sling bag, “I’m ready to go.”
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“Goodbye, Mother!” Pu Li Ming says, giving her a kiss on her cheek as a goodbye.
“Goodbye as well, Aunt Pu.” Zhou Fi Hai says, bowing his head a little.
–
Zhou Fi Hai took him back to one of the cafés they frequented, this way he knew Pu Li Ming wouldn’t have trouble choosing what to order from the menu.
Aside from his usual, there’s a lone bao bun that came with it.
“You always eat bao buns, are they good?” Zhou Fi Hai asked, taking a small bite of his sandwich.
“Ahh yes. It started as one of the few things I could eat, Wenduo would buy me some from a store close to his apartment. Then afterward, I got used to it in a way. In the end, I find myself kind of looking forward to eating a bao bun in my day.” Pu Li Ming explained.
“I see, I might start calling you baobei since you eat it so much.” Zhou Fi Hai teased.
The younger man immediately flushed and sputtered.
Zhou Fi Hai laughed and dropped the topic right afterward.
Once Pu Li Ming eventually finishes his food, the two move towards the park.
This specific park wasn’t too far from the University which was convenient for Pu Li Ming.
There, they settled just under a large mango tree, pacing down a blanket that Pu Li Ming had grabbed from his room.
Zhou Fi Hai had his back pressed against the trunk of the tree as he held a book in his hand.
Pu Li Ming was supposed to be settled right beside him with a textbook in his clutches. Eventually, the younger man moved to lie down and set his head on the other’s lap.
The older man raises his eyebrows, onyx eyes filled with amusement as he pinches the other’s nose, “You’re awfully spoiled, Xiao Ming.”
“Probably your fault though.” Is the snarky remark after Pu Li Ming swats away the hand.
Zhou Fi Hai lowers his book to better look at the other and pokes his forehead, causing the younger to whine under his breath.
“Spoiled.” Zhou Fi Hai insists teasingly.
With a small huff, Pu Li Ming covers his face with his textbook, blocking both the sun and Zhou Fi Hai from his sight.
With a chuckle, Zhou Fi Hai puts down his book with a properly marked page. His other hand comes up to sweep the younger’s hair off of his forehead, scratching lightly at his scalp. The other was placed gently above the other’s chest, feeling his heartbeat.
A sigh of relaxation and contentment is let out as he goes back to leaning against the trunk.
The feel of a steady thump on one hand, long cream soft locks tangled in the fingers of the other, the smell of vanilla-scented shampoo mixed with grass, and the sun softly shining down on them through the gaps of the leaves.
It’s a perfect day, Zhou Fi Hai thinks.
–
The older offered to take him for lunch as well, but Pu Li Ming declined with a shake of his head.
“I’ll just have lunch with Wenduo and Phan.” He insisted, Zhou Fi Hai couldn’t do anything else but agree with a nod of his head.
“Text me when your class is about to end, okay? I’ll come pick you up.” Zhou Fi Hai says.
“En.” Pu Li Ming said obediently nodding at the instructions.
Zhou Fi Hai could just see this younger man as a long-haired breed of a dog, “Good.” He tells the other, a bit of amusement in his eyes.
The light-colored eyes practically shined in brightness at that.
Soon enough, Pu Li Ming goes to meet with his friends after buying a tray of food for lunch.
He settled into his seat right beside the other two who greeted him without even looking up from their food or textbook.
Pu Li Ming started to dig in after greeting back.
Then he notices eyes on him. Shang Wenduo’s stare dug deep into him, causing Pu Li Ming to eventually look up and meet his eyes, “What?”
“You’re… eating.”
“Li Ming’s what now?” Feng Phan immediately asked as he arrived with his tray of cafeteria lunch.
“He’s eating.” Shang Wenduo said incredulously.
Feng Phan quickly sat down beside him and put his tray on the table to also look at Li Ming.
“You’re eating!” He said.
“Yes, and?”
“You don’t exactly eat at school, or in front of us.”
“I do eat, you guys, come on—”
“Not properly, or not proper meals I mean.”
“It’s not that big of a deal.”
“It kind of is though.”
“To be honest, I feel like a proud father watching my baby learn how to eat by himself now.”
“That’s kind of weird, Wenduo.”
“Shhh, it makes total sense and I know you feel the exact same way.”
“Not really.”
“You lie.”
“Definitely, not. I am more curious as to why the change.”
“Oh, it’s… well. It’s a very complicated story. But it ends with Zhou Fi Hai basically giving me a dietary plan I have to follow? He thinks I’m too thin for some reason.”
“Definitely not because we can see your noodle arm—”
“I’m sure he’s worried and is thinking about your well-being. The dietary plan isn’t too bad, is it?”
“…no, not really. It’s kind of reasonable, I guess.”
“That’s great, Li Ming.” Feng Phan said with a smile, “I’m glad you’re taking care of yourself.”
