18 Mister & Misses

"Where are they?!" Yi Fan swept his gingerbread eyes across the front gate.

Tiny little children skipped along home in their cute uniforms. Some wore cream-beige cardigans in medium, making them even more adorable. Though the school did not have a required dress code, most of the moms bought uniforms from the same study academy to make their children as charming as possible. There was a certain appeal about a uniform that looked off with teeny little kids. Unlike the moms's desired effect, what stood out in Yi Fan's eyes was that every single kid was wearing a uniform! None of them wore a dress like Yi Fei or sports shorts like Xiao Ming. Just be sure, he even checked all of their faces to no avail. Anxiety and unrest filled Yi Fan's heart as he ran around the huge school building, searching every inch and corner for the pair.

'Not you, not you, not you! Where are they?!' Yi Fan was sweating bullets. Yi Fei was an innocent girl who couldn't do anything by herself. What would happen if she encountered kidnappers?!

Yi Fan hurried to the next destination before being stopped by a high-pitched voice.

"Yi Fan," It sweetly called out his name.

Yi Fan hurriedly glanced over, his heart desperately hoping it was Yi Fei. However, he recognized this needy tone, and it expectantly turned out to be one of his classmates, Ming Xi. She was a rather cute girl whom a lot of moms were fond of. However, Yi Fan wasn't particularly fond of pesky Ming Xi and would usually ignore her. This time, however, he purposely stayed in place this time because she might have some valuable info on Yi Fei.

"Yi Fan, I'm scared!" Ming Xi turned on her puppy dog eyes. "You see, you see, there was a septapus!!"

'Septapus? What goes on in her brain?" Yi Fan raised his eyebrow eccentrically.

Ming Xi did not take any notice of Yi Fan's expression at all. Ming Xi truly only cared about the other girls glaring at her in envy and she dismissively eyed them, declaring that even they put together couldn't even match up to her pinky toe! Ming Xi thought, 'Is there any other girl who can grab good-looking Yi Fan's attention?' Despite being insanely popular with girls, the suave and athletic Yi Fan would usually ignore all the girls except his precious sister. They could only interact with him on relevant school matters, but even then Yi Fan would calmly brush them off within mere seconds. The heated gazes strongly directed at Ming Xi only provided Ming Xi with a greater reason to show off her lovely smile.

"Ming Xi, I have to go look for my sister. You can talk to me about your septapus next time—" Yi Fan hastily replied.

"Wait!" Ming Xi shouted. Yi Fan couldn't go now! The girls would only think that she was bothering him with class duty. She had to enforce that Yi Fan was hers and they couldn't touch what she owned!

She held onto Yi Fan's sleeve and stood her ground. "You're looking for your sister, right? I saw her over there!"

"Where?!" Yi Fan stopped in his tracks.

"Follow me! I'll show you!" Ming Xi kindly smiled, gaudily holding Yi Fan's hand as she joyfully skipped away. The girls would definitely think they're dating now! Hehe, it's my awesome victory.

---Meanwhile in the infirmary

"She's okay, right?" One of the boys asked.

"Yes, she's okay. Despite the blood loss, she only needs to rest for a day, and she can come back to school tomorrow in tip-top shape. I already informed her parents," The nurse said.

She eyed the couple of boys who were mumbling amongst each other. They weren't sure if they should go or stay because of their guilty conscious. Each one of them felt that they were somehow also at fault, but were unable to recognize the actions that were appropriate to take.

"If you're not waiting for her parents, you should go." The nurse encouraged them in the right direction. She sighed in her heart as she watched the boys perk up their ears like bunnies.

Again, one by one, they started to agree and slowly left the office. They obviously didn't want to play anymore and decided to head home for the day. Obscurely managing each other a goodbye, they thought on their actions of today...

"Where's my daughter, Yi Fei?!" A motherly figure slammed the door open.

The pretty lady wore a simple one-piece dress with a checkered apron. Her baby hairs stuck to her sweaty forehead and she heavily panted, hastily looking left and right for her daughter. When her eyes landed on the sleeping girl on the linen bed, she vocalized a hefty sigh.

"Who did this?! I WANT TO TALK TO THEIR PARENTS!" The lady savagely screamed. She redirected all of her anguish and worry towards the only other person in the small room, the nurse. The wide-eyed nurse jumped at her loud cry and backed away in fear.

"M-Mrs. Mo, your daughter was playing soccer, and she got a small injury. After resting for a day—" The nurse tried to explain, but it was no use for angry Mrs. Mo.

"THIS IS A SMALL INJURY?! I'M GOING TO SUE THIS GODDAMN SCHOOL, AND I'LL ESPECIALLY TALK ABOUT YOUR INADEQUACY TO INFORM ME OF MY DAUGHTER'S HELPLESS STATE! YOU DARE TO HARM MY CHILD...!" Mrs. Mo huffed and puffed, threatening to throw down the nurse's mental straw hut.

"Honey! Calm down," Another man came in, this time slim and weary. He looked like a typical office worker with his worn glasses and business-casual suit. His face didn't have any sharp features, but he had strikingly beautiful brown eyes. His eyes glanced at the nurse for a second, curling up as he smiled silently.

"WHY SHOULD I CALM DOWN WHEN OUR DAUGHTER IS—" Mrs. Mo was getting more enraged by the second, all her worry was turning into anger. Mrs. Mo wasn't someone who could be handled by anyone.

"Honey, we need to know at least what happened. Let me take care of this, okay?" Mr. Mo held Mrs. Mo's delicate hands tenderly, kissing one of them. He gently smiled at Mrs. Mo, and she finally somewhat relaxed. Her tense shoulders loosened up, and she was quieting down at his consolement.

"Y-you're right. I'll be outside," Mrs. Mo said. He had established his character of reliability several times in the past, and Mrs. Mo instinctively felt reassured by his presence.

Mrs. Mo's feet were already worn out from running into the school with her cheap slippers still on. The school was quite far away, but the Mo Family only had one car and it was used as Mr. Mo's transport to work on a daily basis. So when Mrs. Mo got the news, she immediately ran out with no hesitation. Only when Mr. Mo coincidentally saw her running miserably on the busy sidewalk did she finally rest for a few minutes in their drive.

Mr. Mo quietly waited for Mrs. Mo to fully step outside. When she did, Mr. Mo's semblance completely changed. It became frigid and chilly in the room as if they were actually in an icebox.

"You said that... our daughter, despite her already notified health conditions, was playing soccer?"

The nurse gulped. Why did she gulp? She didn't know either. But before she could muster a reply, the door slammed open again. This moment, a panting young boy who looked somewhat alike to Mrs. Mo entered gallantly.

"Yi Fei! Is she in here—"