You're Special to Me

As Wolfe Fang got off the fancy limousine he rented to the bus stop near the Beijing Capital International Airport, he saw a girl walking with a doll in her hand.

"This is my special friend, Bao-Bao!" She exclaimed.

By hearing this, the same breeze that passed by Leon Mo earlier also came to him.

Wolfe Fang remembered. They were more than just childhood friends. They were special to one another.

-----------------

Wolfe Fang's life had been dull before he met Leon Mo.

His mother often call him a very fat wolf that can only eat and eat and do nothing good besides eating.

One day, Wolfe got tired of it and sneaked into his father's car. That was how he was found by Leon Mo in the fields singing "Tomorrow" from his favorite movie so far in his 5 years of life: Annie.

But he didn't know the title of this show. He didn't really know the name of any of the characters, even the main girl, or what the story is about.

But this song was stuck on his head whenever he feels lonely, and instantly became a comfort song for him.

Little Wolfe was lonely all the time. He doesn't have friends like all the other kids on TV. His mom never let him go outside much.

She said it's too dangerous to be outside, and when there's danger, a fat boy like him wouldn't be able to run fast.

They're always changing 'homes'. Little Wolfe could not count with his little fingers and toes how many times he had ride an airplane already. How many bedrooms he slept at, or how many countries he had seen. It doesn't matter anyway.

He can't appreciate the sights and the thrill of travelling because to him, it's all the same. They're always moving.

Someone who is always roaming around the Earth, with no special place full of memories in their heart, does not have a home.

Little Wolfe feels sad about this, but his tiny brain hadn't realized that this was the reason he was sad.

So everytime someone asked him, he just says "I don't know".

Mom always asked why was he sad even when he had all the toys he can have, everything that he asked for was given to him.

What mom doesn't know is that little Wolfe just wants a home, somewhere he can stay for a very long time and miss when he leaves.

Ah, if only young people can communicate these things. That is the greatest sadness of a child, having too little vocabulary and understanding to express themselves, yet the emotion is still there.

Somehow, even though he doesn't understand a single thing about Annie, he felt that he can relate to her through the song.

This feeling of hoping for a home someday... Is this what that curly girl was singing about too?

Is that why she keeps saying ' tomorrow '? Because tomorrow, she won't be sad anymore?

"Tomorrow. You're singing Tomorrow from Annie, right?" The perfect boy in front of him asked.

Leon Mo was his very first friend. He said his voice was bad.

But at least he taught him how to sing. Out of all people, it was Leon Mo who taught him how to sing.

After introducing themselves, they talked for a while about nonsensical things that only children can find interesting.

Like how that dragonfly's wings were so cool, and how big the mountains is, and how blue the sky was.

But Leon never found it boring, and Wolfe doesn't feel so sad and lonely anymore.

When they ran out of things to talk about they chased each other on the fields, always changing on who's chasing whom. There are no rules.

And when they get tired of running, they laid down on the grass and sang 'Tomorrow' again and again as a duet.

"This is fun." Leon muttered softly after the 37th repetition of Tommorrow.

"I think so too." Wolfe agreed.

He turned to the side to face Leon. He poked his cheek for a bit, feeling the warm, smooth milky white skin. " You look pretty, like a perfect doll."

Leon turned to face him too. "No, I don't. You look prettier, you look more like a doll."

"I'm fat." Wolfe just said.

"So?" Leon frowned.

"Mom said fat people can't be pretty."

"Eh? I still think you look pretty." Leon shrugged. "Like a doll. I saw this girl playing with one at my school. She had two dolls going on a date, one of them is a boy doll with black eyes. He was very pretty, he looks like you."

Wolfe touched his own face subconsciously. "Shouldn't the girl doll look prettier? Mom says girls look prettier than boys."

"Meh, I still think the boy doll looks prettier."

Leon plucked some grass and tied them about in a bunch of knots. "Why do you think I look like a doll?"

"Oh, not like the dolls girls play with." Wolfe shooked his head.

"We went to this big house with many drawings and paintings in the wall and stuff. There were big dolls there, they're as tall as mom and dad, and they're very hard like rocks. They look scary at first, but they're actually very pretty, like you."

Leon chuckled, throwing his grass knots aside. "Those aren't dolls, they're called statues. Adults use them to remember someone special."

"Oh..." Wolfe's eyes glimmered as if every single thing he learned is absorbed right through his very core. "But aren't dolls also someone special to the owner?"

"Yeah, but they're different." Leon rubbed his chin, thinking of a way to explain. "Dolls are what you play with and statues are art, something you can't just touch."

"Why not?" Wolfe asked.

"Because they're special."

"You can't touch something special?"

"Hmm, I guess." Leon was also confused by this conversation, so he just concluded with these words.

Wolfe was silent for a while, staring at the sky.

"I think you're special." He suddenly said.

Leon sat up and wore an expression in his face while looking at Wolfe. Wolfe doesn't know what it means, but.....

All he knows is that expression makes him feel warm inside his chest, like when he's happy about something.

"...Why do you think I'm special?" Leon asked him.

"I don't know. I just think you are." Wolfe replied. His hands were behind his head, his eyes were starting to droop down.

He then had a thought that made him scrunch up his eyebrows. "If you're special, then that means I can't touch you?"

"You can. You already did so earlier."

Wolfe frowned and sat up. "But you said statues are something special, and special things can't just be touched. So that means I can't touch you."

For some reason, this statement made Leon feel annoyed. "You can touch me. Here."

He took Wolfe's hand and placed it on his cheek. "I think you're special too, and I also want touch you."

"But you just said we shouldn't—"

"Then special things can touch each other, special people can touch one another." He placed a hand on Wolfe's cheek too.

Wolfe's cheeks immediately turned warm red.

"R-Really?" The way Wolfe stares at him is as if he will 100% believe everything Leon says.

"Really. We're both special. You're special to me and I'm special to you."

---------------

The dramatic Wolfe almost died from cringe of the memory. He shook his head to wave it away.

"Special, my ass! Uggh.... Disgusting. To think I said those things with that Lion King Shizi." He lowered down his cap.

He is wearing too much cover today, thinking someone might recognize him.

But he was also secretly hoping someone would recognize him even with the mask and sunglasses, because of his narcissism. He is one ot the most famous stars in Broadway after all, he just won his third Tony Award.

But to his disappointment, no one in China really knows or care about Broadway that much.

He just clicked his tongue and huddled his fur coat closer, really annoyed.

Why did that girl have to call her doll her 'special' friend? It could have been 'precious' friend, 'greatest' friend, 'lovely' friend.....

"Excuse me, are you Wolfe Fang? The one from the theater adaptation of Red Riding Hood?"

The actor's eyes lit up. Finally, a fan who recognizes him.

He turned around while smiling. "Yes, that's me—"

"Your acting sucks. It's too melodramatic."

Of course, it was the annoying lion.

Fate is really awful to him today, maybe it's a bad omen and he should book the next flight back to NYC after all.

"What are you doing here, Leon Mo?" He said lazily. "Oh, we're in China now, aren't we?"

He shifted into Mandarin, and asked with the same dry tone. "What are you doing here, Mo Shizi?"

"I should be asking the same question, Fang Huilang." Leon answered in their mother tongue as well. "By the way, your accent is as horrible as always."

"I don't have much time to practice unlike you Mr. Worldwide who gets to travel and learn new languages thanks to the Interpol."

Despite Mo Shizi's dissing about his accent, Fang Huilang still answered quickly and perfectly. The old lion is probably just teasing him for no reason.

There was an awkward silence between the two, and they just waited as cars passed on the busy streets of the bus stop.

"I got a call from my dad. My mom got in an accident." Mo Shizi finally answered the other's question. "And you?"

"Same thing. My mom is at the hospital with my dad." Fang Huilang checked his phone. "What a crazy coincidence. Where is your mom right now?"

"At the Duanxiu Hospital." Mo Shizi peered at Fang Huilang's phone. "Wait, don't freaking tell me—"

They exclaimed at the same time. "They're at the same hospital!?"