Chapter 3

In this orphanage, there's no room designated for guests. Should many guests come, the children would sleep altogether in one room and the guests would be placed in their room. If the guests were fewer, the children would share their rooms with them.

According to Aunt Nilar's request to share a room with Nobel Lin, Dun was now standing in front of the room. Then, he turned the door knob and opened it. As soon as he stepped into it, he was welcomed with the sight of stunning and marvellous paintings which occupied the whole room. In addition to the painting, colourful origami stars, cranes, and butterflies were hung from the window.

Moreover, the bedcover was in light blue colour and a teddy bear in human size was also placed near the bed. The teddy bear was given to Nobel Lin as a present on his sixth birthday by his parents. Dun, too, got the same teddy bear on that day as they were born on the same day, with a six-years age gap between them.

The yellow teddy bear Dun didn't want was handed to Nobel Lin and Dun took the white one. Nevertheless, Nobel Lin never said anything whatever Dun did.

Knock..knock..

"Come in."

When Dun heard the door knocks, he allowed the other person to come in, yet nobody entered.

So he got up from the bed and opened the door. Only then, he found Nobel Lin, standing in front of the door, whose height didn't even reach his chest. Was it him who got taller or Nobel Lin who got shorter?

"Literally, this is your room. Why don't you come in? Or you don't want to stay with me?"

Dun Nay Kha acted this way only in front of Nobel Lin alone. The boy shaked his head and tried to enter the room while trying not to touch Dun. But then, Dun stretched out his hand and stopped Nobel Lin.

"Unless you wash your hair, don't sleep beside me."

The boy gave no response. But Dun knew he agreed as the boy bowed his head. Dun put down his hand, Nobel Lin went inside the room, took off his clothes, and put them into the laundry basket in which all of his previous clothes were kept. He literally removed all the clothes on his body. Dun didn't want to see the boy's naked body so Dun immediately looked the other way. His creamy skin hasn't changed a bit even though he stayed in the orphanage for four years. Dun who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth didn't even have as white complexion as Nobel Lin had.

When the boy entered the bathroom, Dun plopped down on the bed. For now, he didn't have anyone to report his whereabouts. Moreover, he had taken a week's leave from the hospital. So Ms.Thi, the nurse, wouldn't call him either.

Reaching out the drawing book on the table, he took it in. Every drawing in the book was breathtaking scenery which was drawn with a pencil. And in every picture, there's a boy sitting with his back. In one picture, the boy was sitting, in another, he was gazing , and other poses. Was that person in the drawings Nobel Lin?

Next, he headed towards the paintings which leaned against the wall and he found the same boy in these paintings. The only difference was these paintings were colored while the book was not. What mainly caught his attention was the last painting that was covered. So to get a clear view, he removed the paintings in front of it and to his surprise, the last one was much different from the previous ones. In that one, the same boy was smiling until his eyes closed.

Was this the real Nobel Lin? Nobel Lin whom Dun knew of didn't know how to smile. This drawing seemed so animated. Nobel Lin smiled as if he was the happiest person in the world. Well, it looked like Nobel Lin wasn't the artist. His guess was right after he saw a sign under the painting and became curious who the artist was.

"Samuel Lin"

Who was he? There was no such person among Dun's colleagues. And Aunt Nilar never mentioned that person when she talked about Nobel Lin. However, the detailed expression on Nobel Lin's face from his eyelashes to his dimples was explicitly portrayed. Even he didn't even know Nobel Lin had dimples.

Dun didn't know. He didn't even once think how Nobel Lin would be like when he smiled. Did the artist draw Nobel Lin from his imagination? Or has Nobel Lin ever smiled in front of the artist before?

It took a while and Nobel Lin still made no appearance. It's not appropriate to take a long bath in this cold weather. Dun knocked the bathroom door,

"Nobel Lin, you are gonna get sick. Do it quickly and come out."

Nobel Lin made no reply. This was also a reason why Dun hated Nobel Lin. Although Nobel Lin gave a response to other people, he never replied to Dun. One thing Dun didn't take into account was whether he was harsh and strict.

"Nobel Lin! Do you hear me?"

Dun easily turned the door knob as the door was unlocked inside. When he stepped in, he saw that Nobel Lin, shrinking his body, sat inside the bathtub without filling water.

"You'll surely catch a cold in this way. I'll fill the bathtub with lukewarm water. Get out of there!"

Nobel Lin listened to Dun and stepped out of it. After testing the water, Dun turned around and looked at the boy who had nothing but skins and bones.

Even when Nobel Lin grew up, the boy didn't know to be embarrassed or afraid of. So Dun let him be.

"Come here and get inside."

After mixing the soap into water and letting the boy get inside, Dun took a stool behind him and washed the boy's hair. Instantly, the sweet scent of shampoo filled the room. Unless Dun gave a hand, the boy would undoubtedly go to bed without washing his hair.

"When you take a bath, it's not that tiring to wash your hair. And Mom also told you that you should wash your hair once every three days. Until when do I have to tell you to bathe and wash your hair, Nobel Lin?"

If someone could hear him, one would think like a father was scolding a child for not having a bath.

Since they were young, no one ever could stay calm whenever Nobel Lin was about to take a bath. If the boy ran around the house, there was always one person to grab him, another one to catch him, and the next one to bathe him. It's quite hectic at those times. At the present, the boy was not troublesome like before, yet Dun had to talk with him. Dun had no idea why the boy was scared of water.

After bathing, Dun wrapped Nobel Lin with a towel and pushed him into the bedroom. Subsequently, Dun also took a bath as he got wet. Then, he got out of the bathroom. He met with a sight of the boy whose hair was constantly dripping although he got changed into pyjamas. He got a headache after he saw the scene. The boy still didn't know how to wipe his hair with a towel. Dun quickly put on his shirt and sat down on the bed.

"Nobel Lin, come here. Don't think of touching your brushes yet. Your hair was still wet."

When Dun called out his name, he dropped the brushes and walked towards Dun.

"Sit here."

He patted the space between his legs and let him sit. Nobel Lin also sat down on his pointed space and he was switching on and off the ballerina snowball .

Wiping his hair with a towel, Nobel Lin fell asleep with his head on Dun's lap. As his cheeks are chubby, when it came in touch with his thigh, Dun felt its softness and the boy's lips were also protruded a little.

"I was patiently wiping his hair and even got cramps. Yet,you dare to fall asleep first."

Lifting the boy's body from the armpit, he placed him carefully on the bed. Switching off the light, Dun lay down beside the boy and instantly, the shampoo fragrance from the boy made him fall asleep. It's been eight years he had been sleeping alone, although he wasn't familiar with this situation, he soon hit the sack.