12 Unbroken
Yitian woke up by himself. He looked at the guy peacefully sleeping next to him and it took him a tiny bit of a time to remember what happened. And why he had someone sleeping next to him.
He had no idea when his mother would be back. And he feared what she might do if she found Chao here. But yet, he couldn't bring himself to wake him up.
Now when he saw him in the daylight, he looked pretty horrible. His skin wasn't smooth white as it was before, his eyes had dark circles underneath, almost rivaling Yitian's. He looked tired and sad. Even in his sleep.
Yitian quietly lifted the blanked and slid out of the bed. He took some clothes from the closet and went to the bathroom to change. Not wanting to wake him up, he went to the kitchen.
'Mmm, let's see what we have here,' he thought when opening the fridge. Yitian wasn't sure what Chao would eat or not, but he had some soy milk in there and the rest of the dough for youtiao.
Feeling happy, he started to make the fried sticks. It was nice to actually cook for someone who will appreciate it. He made the shapes and prepared oil for cooking when he heard the doors open. BUT. It was the entrance door.
His mother came back. He stopped pouring the oil in and waited. He did nothing wrong. Yitian tried to continue as if nothing happened. But he was too afraid that she would use the hot pan as a weapon against him. He actually learned to clean up all the things that could possibly hurt him.
Because some slaps and punches he could take, but the doctor said that his head needs healing. That the wound almost cracked his skull. Well, let's say that if your head meets concrete, it leaves some wounds.
"Hello, son. I'm sorry I'm late from work." His mother came in, as usual, all smiling.
"It's okay, mom, you said you have a lot of work." She nodded and went to change. Yitian glanced at his watches. It was almost nine. Chao would definitely wake up soon. He started to tremble. But his mom came back and everything was normal.
"So, how was your school?" she asked when she sat on the couch playing television. Just a normal parent talk. But Yitian knew how careful he had to be with his words.
"It's interesting. I learn new things every day," he said in a fake cheerful voice. And came to sit by her. Or, let's say, he sat in the moderate distance by her. She looked at him.
"You were making yourself breakfast, right? Continue..." she said. And it Yitian just a moment to decide to run away from her range of anger.
He then continued to prepare it. He was just a bit careless when preparing everything. He fried the youtiao and set them aside. Took out the soya milk and some pudding he had there.
"Will you eat, mom?" he asked her, hoping she won't. Yitian did not want to be near her when eating. Chopsticks are a brutal weapon too.
"No, thank you, son," she said and went back to watching television. Their living room was just next to the kitchen, divided just by a counter, so she could see what he was doing. His carelessness made him prepare everything in two, for Chao.
"I told you I won't be eating with you," she said in a stern tone. But Yitian was too immersed in designing everything on a plate that it would look nice.
"I know," he only managed to say, not seeing the catastrophe that was heading his way. His mom stood up from the couch, heading for the counter where two glasses of soy milk were already poured.
"Then for whom is this?" She picked up the glass and showed it to Yitian. He visibly paled and made a step back.
"Oh, I'm sorry, that was just… " he did not want to lie, he hated lying, "that's…" Yitian really did not know what to say.
"I'm not stupid! I saw the shoes!" she shouted and threw the glass at Yitian. He dodged it, so it shattered on the counter, glass shooting everywhere. He even felt a sudden pain in his back, knowing that he will have one more scar.
"Mom, it's a friend," Yitian said back quietly with his head down. But she did not mind it. She reached over the counter and grabbed Yitian's hair. She jerked so hard, he had no choice than to lift his head to face her. Or his hair would fall off.
"I do not care who it is! You are there to study! Not make some worthless friends!" His mother said and yanked his head with every word.
"He is not worthless!" he shouted with his last resort of resistance and grabbed her hand. It shocked her so much she eased the way on his hair a bit. But then she grabbed a handful of hair again.
"He is nobody! I'm forbidding you to be friends with him!" She yanked him once more, when a new hand appeared, grabbing her quite forcefully. The hand squeezed her, forcing her to let go of Yitian's hair.
"You have no right to forbid him," Chao said firmly, still holding her hand and towering over her by more than head. He looked at Yitian, who's eyes were tearing up. It was his first time that someone actually stood up for him.
"What a brat you are!" his mom shouted. It was the first time Yitian felt embarrassed more about her than himself.
"I will tell your mother! I will destroy your family if they don't punish you!" she continued shouting and Yitian's mouth hung open. He knew that something happened to Chao's mother. It wasn't probably a good idea to mention her.
"Pack some clothes, you are going with me." Chao turned to Yitian, then he turned back to face his mom.
When he saw Yitian left, he got closer to her and whispered: "Try it. I want to see it. You have no chance. And let me tell you this. If you hurt him once more, you will know what the bottom of a pit looks like." Chao let go of her and went to put on his shoes. Yitian came to the entrance and stood there with two bags over his shoulder.
"You can come here or stay with her," Chao said and saw the resolution in Yitian's eyes. No, he saw him sweep away the tears and put on his shoes. Chao was surprised. Yitian was unbroken.
