Unfortunate Event IIII

He was clearly a little boy, but to Li Qinyang he looked as if he could be a bit older than her, or he could just be the same age, she wasn't sure.

Li Qinyang didn't bother to converse or acknowledge the other boy in the small space, other than to look at him. She turned back around, and she continued to bury her head in her knees. Some tears still leaked from the corner of her eyes, but she didn't cry out loud, she would have felt too embarrassed for the little boy to witness that. Whilst the little girl was still in her thoughts, she became unaware of the boy's next sudden movements because before she knew it she heard the soft pattering of footsteps draw closer to her. Rapidly raising her head, Li Qinyang looked up in time to see the boy take a seat next to her on the stair.

Usually, Li Qinyang would be the friendliness of all the other children and would always invite other kids to play with her, but in this moment she really couldn't find it within herself to say anything to the boy so she again proceeded to bury her head in her knees hoping to have some peace to herself not wanting to think of anything at all.

However, it seemed that the boy didn't get the message that she wanted to be left alone, "Why are you sat here all by yourself?"

Li Qinyang continued to ignore the boy hoping that he would take this as another hint.

He didn't, "Where are your parents?"

At this question, Li Qinyang went completely still, the tears starting again. The boy obviously heard this since in the next second he asked, "Are you crying?"

There was obvious concern in the boy's voice, but for some reason Li Qinyang didn't understand, the boy also sounded a little bit scared?

Li Qinyang raised her head to look at the boy sat next to her, he was already staring back at her, his eyes wide and a bit frightened. Her eyes on the other hand, were red and swollen like a panda's. Seeing her eyes, the boy began to laugh teasing her, "Your eyes make you look like a panda!"

Li Qinyang clearly did not find his teasing funny as she stared back at him, her face straight, not amused. Seeing this, the boy immediately stopped laughing, "Sorry, I shouldn't have laughed at you like that," he began clearly repentant, "I was trying to cheer you up."

"By making fun of me and by calling me a panda?" she deadpanned before adding as an afterthought, "even though pandas are cute."

The boy seemed a bit embarrassed after being put on the spot by her. Seeing this Li Qinyang began to feel a little guilty. He had already apologised after all, and he was trying to cheer her up despite not knowing her or having any obligation to. With this knowledge, it was Li Qinyang's turn to apologise, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so rude. I just wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone right now and you kind of bothered me."

"Do you want me to go and leave you alone then?"

Li Qinyang thought about it for a moment. She did want to be left alone before, but maybe this boy could help to distract her mind for just a little while.

"No, you can stay," she began as she watched the boys face slightly light up, "for now." She finished the sentence watching the smile on the boy's face dim a little. She started to feel a little guilty again.

"Why are you here in the hospital anyway?" she questioned him.

The small smile that had still been in place previously, completely vanished from his face.

"Are you here to visit someone?" she continued to question him, not noticing at first the darkening of his expression. His eyes, bright only a few moments ago, were now cold. Not hearing any answers from the boy, Li Qinyang turned her head to the side to glance at him, she had been staring at the wall in front of her previously, and only then was it that she noticed his drastic change in expression. She was confused not knowing what she had just said that could have upset him. She thought back to her previous words. Maybe something happened to one of his family members and he came to visit them, she thought to herself. She might have made him sad she also thought with remorse. She of all people should know what that feels like since she was in that exact same position right now. She thought that they both needed a little distraction so she wiped her eyes with her shirt's sleeve, drying any left over tears that were still damp on her cheeks, fully turning her body to face him.

"Hey, do you want to play this with me?" she asked holding her hands up, palms facing the boy.

The boy turned to look at her puzzled, not getting at what she was suggesting they play.

"Do I want to play what with you?"

"Here, i'll teach you," she began to explain the game to him. It was a simple but fun clapping game. She began to teach him the clapping pattern, and he caught on fast doing it easily. As they started playing the game officially, Li Qinyang began to sing a song that she knew, singing along to the rhythm of the clapping. She was concentrating on not messing up the rhythm of the clapping, staring at her hands whilst also singing so she didn't notice the mesmerised look on the boy's face until she glanced up at him to make sure that he was also concentrating and not about to mess up their rhythm. She was startled, almost completely messing up the rhythm and her singing, which she was just making sure that the boy didn't do the very same thing with his clapping. Embarrassed and a little shy that she had so much attention on herself from him, a hue of pink spread across her cheeks. She ducked her head back down, trying to soley focus on her hands and the sound of her voice.

Once the song that she had been singing ended, the clapping of the rhythm also came to an end. The boy spoke up then, complementing her, "Your voice was really beautiful," he began, "I don't think that I could ever forget such an amazing voice."

Li Qinyang turned her gaze away from him suddenly shy again. Seeming to notice her shyness and embarrassment, the boy stopped his compliments probably not wanting to make her any more uncomfortable. It looked like he decided to change to another topic.

"So... how old are you?" he asked her.

"I just turned five." she answered proudly.

"How old are you?"

"Me, i'm-" he began but was interrupted by the sound of the staircase's door quickly and loudly swinging open, the sound and sudden movement making him distracted. Both Li Qinyang and the boy turned towards the door behind them to notice an older man walk into the stairwell. The man seemed to be out of breath, and it looked like he had been rushing to and from somewhere.

"Young Master." The man huffed out the title, his voiced was strained and an undertone of anger could be detected in his address.

Li Qinyang turned to look at the little boy next to her. She knew that the man must have been talking to the boy since the three of them were the only ones in the stairwell. And listening to the older man's adress of the boy, she realised that the boy sat next to her must be from a rich household. For the first time since she saw the boy, she took a glance down at him to see what he was wearing. He had on a fancy button down shirt, dress pants and a tie that hung lose around his neck. However, what she also noticed as her eyes went further up the boy's body was that his face was now cold and emotionless as he stared at the man above them.

"I have been looking for you everywhere," the older man continued on clearly not noticing the little boy's mood worsening by the second, "where have you been all this time?"

Li Qinyang became worried.