32 Portrait of a Man in Pain

"Mo Aini."

The voice of the man in the dream and the man he's facing now overlapped, and Mo Aini felt like he was wakened up again from the daze. "H-Huh?"

"Do not touch me." Hu Chuntian said sternly.

Something seemed to interfere with Mo Aini's realization, like he can feel the cogs in his brain revert and restart. What was he thinking about again? Why is he so focused on Hu Chuntian's scars?

Nevermind, he will ponder over this later. The Tiger Emperor is grumpy.

"Oh..... Sorry, Da Ge." Mo Aini bowed his head. "I'll draw you now."

Hu Chuntian eyed him warily until he got a meter away from him, then asked. "How should I pose?"

Mo Aini's mind is still messy, so he went again with another dumb "Huh?"

Hu Chuntian rolled his eyes. "I'm just the model. You're the painter. You should be the one to tell me how to pose."

"Oh.... Then..." Mo Aini stood from the bed with canvas in hand. He set up the easel and put it there. He thought carefully and said:

"Can you.... lay in the bed like you were from the hospital?"

Hu Chuntian was weirded out by this request but did as told. "Alright. And?"

"Take those sheets over there and pretend they were bandages you were wrapping on your arms." Mo Aini tapped the pencil on his chin. He tried to find a better angle and eased his easel there.

"Is this good enough?" Hu Chuntian showed him the wrappings.

"Don't wrap it the whole way, stay still in that position... There." Mo Aini nodded. "Good, good."

Mo Aini began making guiding lines and just some studies on the general composition of the work.

Only the sound of pencil scratching on paper can be heard in the room, along with a few heavy breaths and sighs. Hu Chuntian was surprisingly patient. He didn't complain about getting numb from staying in that position for such a long time. Sometimes, he stole glances at Mo Aini, who seems to be taking his task seriously.

Because of his weird behavior and sudden whims to act crazy, Hu Chuntian never took this guy seriously. He was a wimp after all, someone inferior. But he soon realized that Mo Aini is good at many things. Looking at how focused he was on each action he makes and his adept precision, he had a strong aura to him, like someone who is sure with what he is doing. Not to mention that he is smarter than him when it comes to academics.

He felt like it was wrong to look down at him. Under his silly guise, this person is a senior, someone who is much more experienced than him. He doesn't know why but he finds that..... He wanted to know more about this person after all. Who is he really, and who is Hu Chuntian to him?

"Da Ge, turn your head a little to the left." Mo Aini instructed.

".....Don't call me Da Ge anymore." Hu Chuntian said. "I don't really like it. And aren't you the master artist here?"

"Heh! I'm not really a master on anything." Mo Aini kept his eyes on the canvas. "But thanks for the compliment."

(After all, I'm just an unemployed lout who signed a contract while I'm drunk. If I'm really good at art, I should have gotten a job and this never should have happened.)

"What do you want me to call you then if you don't like me to call you Da Ge?" Mo Aini asked. "Oh, also, you can rest your arms now. I'm just adding in some details."

Hu Chuntian stretched his arms to the back of his head. "Whatever you want."

"Hmm...." Mo Aini tapped his pencil on his lips again. Hu Chuntian finds that unnerving because it makes him pay attention to those soft lips unconsciously. "How about A-Tian? You won't mind?"

"I said call me whatever." Hu Chuntian growled, but he felt another sense of deja vu from the nickname.

Mo Aini mindlessly nodded, finishing up his sketch. He seems to enjoy doing so and his lips quirk up a bit every now and then after tilting his head to see the different angles. Hu Chuntian continued watching, finding him..... somehow fascinating to just observe.

"Ok, A-Tian. It's all done!" Mo Aini looked at his own work, very satisfied. "A-Tian really is a good model..... So pretty....."

Pretty. He wouldn't describe Mo Aini as pretty. He wasn't aesthetically pleasing to look at, but he wasn't 'ugly' either. All his features are plain and simple. But the way he talks, the way he moves..... it's unexplainable. Hu Chuntian is just drawn to it, like how we're drawn to abstract paintings.

[Hu Chuntian is comparing you to an abstract painting right now.]

(Really? Fuck, I complimented him and that's what he thinks of me? I take it back!)

Annoyed, Mo Aini flipped the canvas and made an exaggerated bow. "There you go, Da Ge! I hope you're satisfied. This abstract-looking ugly commoner will be leaving the Mona Lisa model now!"

"Wait." Hu Chuntian called out before he goes to the door.

"What is it?" Mo Aini turned back, trying not to show his irritation.

"Take it with you. I don't want it after all." Hu Chuntian said. "I don't need to get to class A from the work of a third-rate amateur artist like you anyway. I'm better of relying on my smarts."

(THIRD RATE???? AMATEUR????? Fucking piece of mother shitting-----ugh!!!!!!!) Mo Aini spewed all the curses he have on his arsenal.

"Ohhhhhhh I'm SORRY that it wasn't up to your taste, A-Tian!" A vein popped on Mo Aini's forehead yet he kept a plastered smile. "SORRY for wasting your time. This third-rate amateur will get this awful portrait out of your sight now!"

Mo Aini took the canvas with both arms and slammed the door behind him.

"Fucking narcissistic arrogant prick!" Mo Aini sulked as he stormed off on the stairs. "I'll prove to him that his scummy taste in art is trash! I will get into Class A with this portrait!"

As Mo Aini left, Hu Chuntian lay on his bed and took the stuffed tiger. He raised it with both hands, sighing and talking to it. "Lucky him, Hu-Hu. He's surely getting to Class A with something as beautiful as that."

He hugged the tiger plushie and rolled to the side, closing his eyes. "Now I'll have to spend my lunches alone like before...."

Maybe it's better this way. He never liked being around Mo Aini anyway. And Mo Aini would probably hate him now from what he said. He'll find another wimp to leech off his grades to, get to Class A, and take back Mo Jiagei from that pesky little rat.

Yes. After all, it's Mo Jiagei that he likes, right?

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

Hu Chuntian dreamed that Hu-Hu became a majestic tiger god floating in the sky, with flowy Daoist robes to boot.

"You shall not let go of the boy, Hu Chuntian." Hu-Hu's voice boomed like a thousand loudspeakers surrounding him on all sides.

"What boy?" Hu Chuntian was lying in an endless field of pink sakura petals.

"You must remember. Remember!"

"Remember what?"

"Defeat the evils of these worlds. Break through and find yourself, tether your souls together! Only then can you find a real utopia for the two of you!"

After that, he was swallowed by a bunch of 0's and 1's, the world turning to a black vortex that swallowed him.

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Hu Chuntian woke up in a pool of sweat that morning. He was still shirtless, and the night before was cold before. Hu-Hu who is now back to cute tiger form greeted him.

He grumbled and throw the stupid stuff toy to the wall. He grabbed a pack of cigarettes from the drawer and took a smoke. "Stupid stuff toy giving me nightmares so early in the morning. Did that Mo Aini passed on negative energy* to you last night?"

"Mo Aini....." He blew a whirl of smoke on his open window, hand hanging lazily on the frame. "He's really something else."

Hu Chuntian ignored the dream and decided he doesn't want to see Mo Aini anymore. He can't understand him or the dream, and what he doesn't understand, he gives up on. Just like his studies.

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

On the next seven days after the sketching, Mo Aini and Hu Chuntian went on complete separate ways. Hu Chuntian went back to skipping classes and getting into trouble as much as he could, so Mo Aini did not have to act as his loyal lackey and focus on making the best portrait in his life. Which Mo Aini was thankful for, finally, that Tiger Emperor left him alone! Everything is as it should be!

At lunchtime, he did not eat and stayed in the room painting by himself. He never talked with Hu Chuntian again, and focused on playing Cupid as much as he can during club meetings. Hu Chuntian didn't join the club meetings too, and Shu Chuanli asked him about it, but he just shrugged and said they're not really close.

Soon, the deadline for the nude portrait came. As expected, the teachers love it so much that he was sent to pack his stuff and move to Class A automatically.

"What a genius! And may I ask what's your inspiration for this, my boy?"

"So much subtle sadness and anguish in the expression, the scene looked so real and lifelike! But why is he bandaging his wounds?"

"Is he a soldier from the war, perhaps?"

"An activist that has been hazed by the authorities?"

"Er.... no, actually. It was...." Mo Aini stole a glance at the empty seat beside him. "It was the pain of my friend, that even I didn't know he was hiding until now."

"Oh, what a good sitter* your friend is! You should thank him before you move to class A!" A bespectacled teacher with a long goatee said.

"I will..... If I'm able to." Mo Aini took one last look at the Hu Chuntian painting, feeling strangely disappointed. He took his backpack and left the room.

And so, Mo Aini got into Class A like he always wanted. He wore a face mask and didn't introduce himself so his sister wouldn't recognize him. Shu Chuanli was sitting beside her, and he was seated diagonally from Shu Chuanli, which was hella convenient.

While Mo Jiagei isn't looking, he tapped Shu Chuanli's shoulder. "Hey, it's me. Jie Taime."

"Oh, Jie-kun! Congrats on getting into Class A!" Shu Chuanli happily said. "It's very rare for someone to get here without taking the monthly exams. There's still two weeks until then, so let's try to stay at Class A, ok?"

"Mn." Mo Aini nodded. This got him thinking...

(Will Hu Chuntian even get to Class A? He went back to his delinquent ways, he'll never catch up in just two weeks—)

(Wait, why am I so worried about that arrogant bastard anyway!?)

[Maybe it's because you care about him.]

(Pfft, I would never.) Mo Aini scoffed. (System, you're so silly sometimes. Like with that Personality: scaredy-cat shit.)

[But was I wrong? User Mo Aini seems to forget that systems can never be wrong.]

(Shut up!!!) Mo Aini says....

.... yet he still ends up going to the cherry blossom tree anyways.

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Hu Chuntian burned another hole at the tree bark with his cigarette.

"Are you copying the guy who made scratches here, A-Tian?"

Hu Chuntian turned around, blue eyes wide. It's like he saw a unicorn or something.

"You didn't really think the portrait was ugly, did you?" Mo Aini squatted beside him. "You knew it was going to get the owner into Class A so you let me have it, huh?"

"You got into Class A?" Hu Chuntian pulled another cigarette. "Whatever. And I'm not copying the lovesick poet, I just hate this tree so I'm vandalizing it."

Mo Aini looked at the cigarette holes. Exactly seven holes. They haven't seen each other for seven days. His lips can't help but quirk up from this.

Mo Aini passed the book he was carrying to Hu Chuntian. "Here, I got this from my new classmate. It's a complete reviewer for the next monthly exam."

Hu Chuntian eyed him and the book cautiously. "What do I need this for?"

"There's only two weeks left until the monthly exam." Mo Aini smiled conspicuously at him. "You should study a whole lot more seriously, A-Tian, if you want to get into the Class A like me. You still want to be with my sister, right?"

"....No."

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