“Oh!” Dan exclaims with newly bright eyes. “Buns!”
He flattens his palms against the ground, swiping back and forth to reset the dirt into a clean slate. With an extended finger, he draws a large steamed bun. Upon finishing, he draws a single stick figure beside the bun.
“Master, this is you.” Dan starts, points towards the stick figure. Shifting his finger to the bun beside the stick figure, he continues. “This is a pork bun.”
“Why not beef?” Sun raises a brow, confused why imaginary food can’t be to his liking.
“…This is a beef bun. More accurately, we should think of this beef bun as ‘one bun.’ If you eat the entire ‘one bun’, then there’s nothing left, right?” Dan pauses, observing Sun’s reaction to confirm that the information is indeed as digestible as a beef bun. Seeing a nod, he draws another stick figure beside the first one, this time of a little girl. Pointing at the stick figure, Dan continues. “This is Yuyu. Yuyu is also hungry, but… there’s only one bun.”
“That’s easy.” Sun’s confident response sends a wave of excitement across Dan, Wei, and the guards betting on his speedy enlightenment. His lips curl into a soft smile as he recalls the day he met Yuyu. Though only a few months ago, the little girl’s sunken expression and disheveled hair seems like a memory from a distant past. “Yuyu can eat it.”
While everyone else sighs in response to Sun completely missing the point, Dan couldn’t help but smile inwardly at his Master’s straightforward declaration of love towards Yuyu. The simple statement momentarily distracts him from the lesson, causing his mind to wander back to those lonely nights.
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“Hey! You dirty runt!” A man yells, disgust crusted across his face as he whips his head around with outstretched arms. Upon seeing nothing but the usual evening crowd, the man grumbles. “Dammit!”
The man clenches his jaw, shivering slightly with disappointment and anger, before turning around and continuing on his way. About a block in the opposite direction, a young boy weaves through the hustle and bustle of New Hope City before darting into an alleyway. His rough dark hair hangs past his shoulders, stiff and coarse like a well-used broom, covering his sunken eyes. His clothes have certainly seen better days, but judging from the myriad of stains and tears, those better days weren’t spent on his body.
“One… two… three…” The boy mumbles as he extracts the coins from the pouch into his palms one by one. “...nine bronze. Huh? Nine bronze?! That’s it?! All that fancy silk and only n-”
The boy holds his tongue to reign in his frustration over the unrewarding heist. He lifts his hand towards the crinkle between his brows, pressing his thumb against it and rubbing the headache away. Numbers flutter through his mind, trying to calculate the best way to stretch the nine bronze coins.
Between me and the mute… four days? Five or six if we…
A loud grumble distracts the boy from his thoughts, causing him to hunch over and clutch his stomach. Almost immediately after, a loud rumbling echoes across the sky, causing the boy to lift his gaze and sigh.
Great… Stupid rain.
Wasting no time, the boy slides the coins back into the pouch and turns back towards the main road. Fighting against the pain in his stomach, he weaves through the crowd and races for the steamed bun shop he frequents. Moments later, along with the first drops of rain, he arrives at the northeast bridge of New Hope City’s central district. Urged forth by the rain, he hastens his steps.
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“Welcome back!” A cheerful voice from within the bun shop greets him. “What will it be today?”
The boy keeps his gaze low, avoiding eye contact with the young lady as he always does, as approaches the overhanging roof. Stopping just before entering beneath the roof’s shelter, he lifts his hand and extends two fingers. The young lady smiles in response, lifting a bamboo lid from a tray of buns whilst inconspicuously glancing at the man lounging in the back of the shop. Seeing him snoozing off, she swipes two buns from the tray and hands it to the boy.
“Thank you for your patronage!” The lady’s cheerful voice momentarily overtakes the crashing rain.
Awoken from his slumber, the elderly man peeks open one eye and glances at the skinny silhouette standing in the rain. He watches as the malnourished child silently pulls out a coin pouch and empties it onto the counter.
“Two for today…” The boy’s indiscernible mumbles fall flat against the crashing rain. “...The rest are for the other days…”
With that, the boy bows before turning away. The elderly man’s pupil trails towards the corner of his eye as he watches the boy skirts along the overhang of the roofs as he makes his way through the rain. Once the boy disappears from sight, the elderly man glances at the young lady tending to his bun shop. With a light sigh, he closes his peeping eye and resumes his snooze.
As the downpour sweeps away the evening crowd, sending them ducking into the closest restaurants and shops, the boy makes haste towards his destination. Feeling exhaustion creep in, he ducks into the space between two shops.
Despite the pain in his stomach tempting him to curl over, the boy presses his back straight and flat against the wall. Droplets of water drip from his hair, streaking past his cheeks and towards the point of chin. He watches, unblinking despite the droplets grazing his lashes, as the raindrops crash before him. His mind begins to wander, taking him away from this filthy reality.
A savory aroma replaces his musty clothes as an indistinct figure places a chicken thigh atop his bowl of rice, urging him to eat more. A choir of laughter washes away the crashing rain as more figures surround him, laughing merrily in each other’s company. A foreign warmth calms his shivering heart as the indistinct figure hugs him, ruffling his neatly cut hair.
“YOU!” A yell drags the young boy away from his fantasy. As he turns towards the direction of the voice, a large fist strikes him, causing him to drop the buns in his hand as he collapses onto the wet stone-tiled street. “Filthy thief!”
A man wearing fine silk clothes stomps towards the boy with disgust in his eyes. Upon arriving, he bends his knee and grabs the soaken pouch beside the boy. He flicks the pouch clear of dirt and debris before confirming that it is indeed his. The disgust in his eyes intensifies as he glares at the boy curled up on the ground.
“Think I’m an easy target, huh?!” The man lifts his feet back before kicking the boy, sending the feeble figure against the wall. Ignoring the clamoring of bystanders peering out from the two shops, he continues venting his anger with violent kicks and stomps. “Filth like you should just fucking die!”
The boy remains tightly curled up, trying his best to direct the onslaught towards his arms and legs. He clenches his jaw as waves of pain shoot across his body, accepting the punishment without making a single sound.
“ARG!” The man’s rage comes to a climax, kicking the boy one last time before spitting on his bruised and bloodied figure. With heavy heaves, the man lifts his foot once again and stomps down. “Next time, it’ll be your arms. Filthy scum.”
With his anger relieved, the man flicks his sleeve and turns away. Ignoring the bystander’s gazes, the man swipes his umbrella from the bamboo tray before pushing it open. Protected from the downpour, he steps away from the shop and disappears into the night.
The bystanders quickly return to their shopping, paying no more attention to the boy. Hearing nothing but the deafening rain, the boy slowly opens his eyes and peeks through the crack between his fingers. Before him, a steamed bun lay flat against the street. He watches as the rain breaks away small bits of the bun, wearing side to side along with the stream of water between the stone-lined street.
A stream of tears–not from the bruises on his arms and legs, but rather from the stinging in his chest–escapes his eyes, joining the rainwater beneath and weaving away between the stones. His heart feels crushed, drifting away little by little much like the bun before him. After holding in it through what he feels to be a deserving punishment, the boy finally breaks.
Go away! Go away! Go away!
He grinds his teeth, trying to stifle his sobbing.
Stupid rain…