New day

Huobai woke up into the bright and sunny room, completely opposite to his mood. He kept dreaming about dying and a grim reaper. So he felt as if he was run over by a truck.

It was a school day, and he woke up exactly as he did many mornings before. But it was different today. Normally, he was all happy to go to school, meet his friends. But today, he just wanted to stay at home.

"Boubui, breakfast is ready. Come down fast so you won't be late!" his mother gently said from behind the door, after knocking on them.

Huobai really wanted to laze around, because he felt like doing nothing. But one thing he learned when he was young. It wasn't a good idea to piss off his mother.

Even though she didn't look like it, she was fierce and could boss around even his father, who was pretty dominant himself. For Huobai it was a surprise he grew up not being timid. Maybe he took after his mother in this.

But, well, scared of her anger, he got up and prepared himself in the bathroom. Then he put on a school uniform and breathed in and out, not ready to open the door.

"Zhang HUOBAI! Get your body in the dining room, or I will go up and smack your head!" she yelled probably, being down by the staircase.

For Huobai, this was a warning sign. He didn't care; he wasn't mentally prepared. He slammed the door open and ran down to the dining room. Without a word, he sat down.

"Good boy. Now, we can talk and eat." She pointed at the chair and Huobai sat down. It went against his personality, not to say something back, because he really hated to be bossed around. But seeing her expression. He kept being quiet.

"You will normally go to school. And no arguing. I already talked to teachers and everyone knows your situation. They have to be quiet about it, you have only injured your knee, for others," Song Fei stated and put a French toast into Huobai's mouth. He held back not to make a disgusted face of how sweet it was.

And what was with her obsession with western cuisine for breakfast? Honestly, he felt that beans would soon flow out even through his ears, how often they had them. He took the toast in his hand and swallowed.

"When are you having another fashion show or something like that?" he asked, dying to get her out and live peacefully again. By himself. Song Fei laughed.

"Not in near future. I told my agent that my boubui needs me. So, I'm free to take care of you." She bowed down and squeezed him in a hug, showing that she was a lot stronger than she looked.

He wanted to escape. And really fast.

Now he didn't mind going to school at all. Now it actually seemed like a good idea to go there. He could take his friends and classmates, but he couldn't take more of her care anymore.

"I will be late!" he untangled from her hug and fled the house, almost running into the car that was waiting for him.

The servant wasn't fast enough in opening the doors, which resulted in a comic scene when the two of them stared at each other in panic. But Huobai hopped in soon and told the driver to hurry away.

When he arrived in front of the school, yes they allowed his car in. He had to breathe in again, because he felt a surge of panic. How could he face them? He fainted last time so embarrassingly and had to be carried to the hospital. His image was ruined.

But maybe that was for good. He wanted to get some space between him and them. So that if.. if something bad happened, they wouldn't be so hurt.

Huobai got out of the car and looked around. He saw none of his classmates, nor someone who really knew him personally. But still. He was stared at.

When he got out, not only girls, but boys too, were staring at him. Normally, no one was allowed through the gate with a car. No matter how privileged your parents were.

But he could. And he tried to look as cool as he could when he saw the number of people staring at his car.

He had taken his pills in the morning, so his knee wasn't acting up. He wasn't limping and managed to hold his head high, even though he was embarrassed.

Since he was a little kid, his mother taught him how to be proud of himself. Of your look. She, as a model, had to have a lot of confidence in her body. And she taught him the same. But now his amount of confidence was dangerously low.

"Young master Zhang, your mother ordered me to pick you up…" the driver that got out and opened the door for him said. Then he looked around and leaned closer to Huobai.

"Call me when and where. I won't say anything." he smiled and passed Huobai his name card with his personal number. Huobai accepted it and gratefully smiled. At least someone got his feelings.

When Huobai entered the school, followed by the gazes of his schoolmates, he tried to be as nonchalant as possible. As if nothing happened at all.

"Zhang Huobai!" He heard Kai's voice, and before he managed to turn around, heavy body ended up sprawled on his back. It was so heavy he had to brace himself, so he wouldn't fall down.

"Idiot, get down! His knee is injured!" Jinyi shouted and Huobai heard smack, so he probably accompanied his exclamation with a hit over Kai's head. But it worked.

Kai got down from Huobai's back, cheerfully jumped in front of him, and greeted with a smile plastered on his face. Somehow, it disgusted Huobai so much. He loved when they had fun before. But now?

"Morning," he said, walking around Kai. He entered the classroom without looking back and sat on his chair. It pained him to do that, and even more, when he heard Kai ask what was wrong with him. But it had to be done. Better now than later.

But it wasn't only Kai that was confused. Jinyi was too, and all of his classmates were looking at him, either with pity or curiosity. Suddenly, for him, now, all the attention Huobai was getting was uncomfortable. But the teacher came in and saved him from the attention.

He went through the day without talking to Kai and Jinyi, even though they tried and talked to him. But soon, Jinyi even stopped Kai from talking to him.

Soon, everyone else stopped looking at him.

And that made Huobai calm down. He was left alone. Finally alone with his pain. Which started creeping up on him again. But he didn't care.

Or at least, he kept telling himself this over and over again. Like everything, he did today. He kept telling himself it needed to be done. Because it would be really painful if he didn't do that.

He was limping from the school, gaining some stares, and just ran away from everything.