1 Chapter 1:

Creak…

The door slowly inches open, and a little head sticks out, glancing around with furtive eyes. Hollow cheeks and pale skin surround thin lips and dark eyes peeking out barely above the handle of the door. Across the hallway, a boy is leaning on the railing, and seeing this sight, he laughs. The teenager has silky blond hair and warm blue eyes, reminding the boy behind the door of the sky.

The child runs over to the teen, lifting up his arms for a hug, and as he is picked up and swung around, his lips stretch into a smile. The two boys, one thirteen and the other only ten, lived in apartments next to each other. The older one, Lan Yue, lives with his aunt, and ever since he first saw the younger boy, he has been coming over to play almost every day. Although the child was withdrawn and frighted of him at first, he managed to get him to open up around him.

Lan Yue could still remember the first time the boy talked to him. It was around two weeks after they had first met, and Lan Yue was chattering away to the boy about random things, like the people in class and how annoying his aunt is. He was comparing the boy to one of the people in class, a short cutie named Xiao Mu, when the boy cut in.

"Shen Li."

"What was that? Wait, you talked to me!"

The boy was scowling, but to Lan Yue it was like he was pouting, and appeared very adorable, like a sulking puppy.

"Shen Li. My name. Not Xiao Mu."

"Of course, you're not Xiao Mu."

Lan Yue beams, and rubs Shen Li's head, causing the boy to shrink slightly and glare at him.

"Do it again!"

"….What?"

"Talk to me!"

~ Back to the present ~

Lan Yue, thinking of that moment, grinned down at Shen Li, and decided not to put him back on the ground. The boy wriggled, as if needing to show resistance, but then hooked his arms around Lan Yue's neck. He was just too cute!

Pulling him closer Lan Yue begins strolling slowly to the park opposite the apartment block, where they spend most of their time together. As they walk, Shen Li clings to him, staring at his face from the side.

"What's up? Something on my face?"

The boy in his arms nibbled on his lips, slightly tense, and whispered something softly, so softly in fact that had Lan Yue not been focusing on Shen Li 100% he might have missed it.

"You… Don't hate me, right?"

Blinking, Lan Yue was stumped for a second, then pulls him close, tucking his head in his chest.

"Definitely not."

"…Really?"

"Of course. I love you heaps."

And he did. Though he was perhaps only fully realising it now, the boy in his arms had become almost like a brother to Lan Yue, who had never before had a sibling. It was rather curious, that Shen Li, who he'd known for less than three months, had become more important to him that even the classmates he'd know for years, but he felt like he wanted to take care of the boy, and ever since he saw him so gloomy, he wanted to see him smiling.

"Promise?"

"I promise. But did I do something wrong? Is the way I'm holding you painful?"

Lan Yue saw the Shen Li's face, which had previously relaxed from his promise, tense up even more severely than before. Worried, he stroked the boy's back, urging him to calm down.

"…Everyone hates me. Mummy says so."

The boy drooped, like he was expecting Lan Yue to suddenly realise his hatred for the boy (not that it existed). By now they had reached the park, so Lan Yue settled down on a swing, and pushed off.

"Your mum said that? When?"

"…This morning."

"Why? Did you have a fight?"

Lan Yue lowered his tone and was speaking softly, rocking back and forth on the swing a bit like comforting a baby.

"…A fight? I guess..."

"Well, remember this Shen Li, every time your mother, or anyone for that matter, tells you something bad, you come to me, okay? And I'll tell you that I love you, until you believe me."

"I got it..."

"Promise?"

"I promise! So swing faster! We haven't once gone off the ground you know…"

Smiling, Lan Yue sped up, going higher and higher until the swing was almost horizontal in the air, however the moment Shen Li wasn't looking, his smile disappeared.

The next day, Lan Yue got up especially early and although he was tired, he rushed out past his aunt who muttered under her breath after he was out the door. Lan Yue screeched to a halt outside his door, and very quietly walked up to the door beside it, the one Shen Li lived in. Sliding down the wall, he sat and listened to any sounds coming from inside.

At first there was nothing, and he was about to go back and eat breakfast when a woman's shrill voice was heard.

"Get up! You're in the way you little brat! Can't you just sleep somewhere nobody goes?"

A thud sounded, and a boy's low groan echoed in Lan Yue's ears, repeating again and again.

"Don't you glare at me like that! I'm the one who gave birth to you, if it weren't for me you wouldn't even be here, and everyone would be so much happier!"

Although Lan Yue stayed outside the door until the people inside quietened, nothing after that registered. He stared blankly, shocked and horrified, until heels clacked on the wood floor, gradually getting closer to the door.

Snapping out of it, he ran back to his house and hid in his room, going over everything he had heard. Breathing deeply, his eyes, though still shocked and wide, gradually filled with determination. Although there wasn't much he himself could do, his aunt was rather influential, and he knew that if he gave her what she wanted, she would agree to his request.

Steeling himself, Lan Yue walked out of his bedroom, going into the living room and facing his aunt.