Chapter Text
Hong’er poked his head out from behind the merchant’s cart, slowly reaching for one of the fruits held there. His unbandaged eye didn’t leave the merchant standing across the street, and he was ready to bolt at the first moment when the merchant turned around.
His small fist had wrapped around what felt like an apple when the merchant glanced back and spotted him.
“Hey, brat!” He yelled, turning and sprinting towards the cart. “Bastard, don’t you go stealing my fruit! You gotta pay if you want some!”
Hong’er froze, and he dropped the fruit and ran like his life depended on it—because it did. If he didn’t get away fast enough, the merchant would beat him. That’s how it always goes. He tries to get food, and he gets beat up for trying.
He stumbled, dodging through the ground as the merchant threw rocks at him. Thankfully, some of the rocks hit some random passerby and they turned around and got angry at him, distracting the merchant.
He ran all the way to the dilapidated shrine on the edge of the city, collapsing as soon as he was inside the threshold.
He curled up, his breath shaky.
He was so hungry. He hasn’t been able to get food in two days.
But he didn’t cry, no. Crying shows people that he’s weak, malnourished, and defective. His red eye already does a good enough job at saying that he’s-
-he’s non-human, an alien. He’s already considered a criminal. He doesn’t need people to treat him any worse.
He brought one small hand to the bandages covering the right side of his face, his red eye, and resisted the urge to rip the eyeball out.
—
Huang Qiu walked slowly through the streets, looking around with wide eyes. He’s never been allowed to wander the city without the presence of an adult before. The experience was novel to him.
He eagerly fluttered between stalls, looking at all the things that people were selling. From where he currently was, he could see sugar artisans, dancers, merchants, and even a busker performing with sticks of fire.
Before he could explore the streets more, there was an infuriated yell.
“Hey, brat!” A merchant exclaimed, sprinting towards his cart. “Bastard, don’t you go stealing my fruit! You gotta pay if you want some!”
He glanced at the merchant’s cart, and spotted a small kid immediately turning and sprinting away, the right side of his face bandaged. The fruit the kid had been holding fell to the ground.
He’s seen the kid before, being the one that his friends always made fun of for being ‘ugly’.
He glanced around and walked up to where the merchant was now dealing with civilians angry for being hit with rocks.
Huang Qiu waited until the civilians were gone before gently tugging on the merchant's sleeve.
“What?” The merchant asked angrily, glancing down at them.
“I’d like to buy 2 apples please.” Huang Qiu said, pointing at the cart with a small finger.
The merchant relaxed slightly, nodding. “Take your pick and then we’ll discuss the price.”
Huang Qiu nodded, walking up to the cart and standing on his tiptoes. He spotted a couple of the biggest looking apples and reached forward to grab them. He then turned back to the merchant, holding them out. “Can I have these ones?”
The merchant leaned forward, studying them. “Those are going to cost two bronze pieces.”
He nodded, reaching into his sleeves and grabbing two coins that his father had given him that morning. “Here you go.”
The merchant reached forward and grabbed the coins without another word, his attention being stolen away by another customer.
Huang Qiu left after that, wandering through the city and trying to find where the small kid went. Luckily, the first place he checked was where the kid was.
The small shine truly was a sad thing, not pretty enough for the Crown Prince of Xianle.
He felt bad for always messing with him, but when he tried to get them to stop, they said that they wouldn’t be his friend. So he had started messing with the kid along with his friends.
It became a weekly thing, now that he thinks about it. They walk to this shrine, where the kid is always standing in prayer—and really, doesn’t he know that you’re supposed to kneel when you pray to the Crown Prince?—with a little white flower in his hand.
But when it was just him, he would occasionally give the kid some food that he stole from the kitchens of his house.
Today was no different.
He would walk in, purposefully making his presence known, and set down the food he had brought that day on the ground.
Today, the kid was curled up in the corner of the shrine, clutching his stomach.
He carefully set the largest apple in his hands on the ground next to him, and then backed away to give him space. “I brought an apple.”
The kid—he really needs to learn his name—glanced at him, his left eye staring him down from the corner of his eye. He shrunk slightly, but didn’t back down. “It’s for you.”
The kid slowly rose, reaching forward while never taking his eye off of where Huang Qiu was standing in the center of the shrine. As soon as his dirty fingers wrapped around the unblemished apple, he snatched his arm back to his chest and immediately bit into the apple, devouring it like he was afraid he would take it back.
Huang Qiu would never. Why would he bring food for him just to take it back?
He sat down on the opposite side of the shrine, eating his own apple. The sounds of their chewing filled the silence—his own calm and collected chewing, and the kid’s frantic and desperate chewing.
After a few minutes, he finally broke the silence with words instead of the sound of eating.
“So what’s your name?”
The kid froze, staring up at him with narrowed eyes.
“I won’t do anything with it, I promise!” Huang Qiu exclaimed, shaking his free hand in front of him. “I just want to know what to call you.”
The kid studied him, and in that moment he felt like prey when he was so often the predator.
Right as the kid opened his mouth to answer, there was loud laughter outside, and a rock bounced against the unstable walls of the shrine. Dust slowly drifted down from the ceiling.
They both scrambled to stand up, looking towards the doorway.
Huang Qiu’s friends stepped in, the group already laughing at the kid.
Shao Hui, the leader of their group, looked at him as the laughter faded out.
“Huang Qiu, why are you here?”
He glanced between the kid and Shao Hui, wanting to say what he was actually doing.
That was not what came out of his mouth.
“I was teasing him with a half eaten apple, obviously.” He said instead, his voice unnaturally mean.
(He hates it.)
Shao Hui smirked, glancing at the kid who had immediately hunched his shoulders and minimized his presence.
“I like it.” Shao Hui said. “The ugly brat deserves it.”
Huang Qiu lifted his chin, looking down at the kid. “You’re right. Those dirty bandages suit him.”
The kid shrunk back, hanging his head and pressing his back against the broken corner of the shrine.
He felt something inside of him pang, like his stomach twisting in on itself with shame.
(He hates it.)
The rest of the kids accompanying Shao Hui snickered, whispering between themselves and laughing.
“Xiao-Huang, I like the way you’re thinking.” Shao Hui said, before stepping forward and crushing the half-eaten apple beneath his boot.
“I’ll be nice since Xiao-Huang has already messed with you.” He said, kicking the apple chunks towards the kid and turning around. “Let’s go get some tanghulu. My mother won’t mind, she filled my sleeves with coins.”
The rest of the kids all followed Shao Hui out the door—there was no door—but Huang Qiu hesitated. He still had his own apple in his hand, and he’s only taken one bite out of it.
But before he could even think of giving it to the kid, Shao Hui called after him. “Xiao-Huang, you’re so slow!”
He glanced back at his friends, then back at the kid.
‘I’m sorry.’ He mouthed, before turning around and running to his friends, apple still in hand.
Inside the shrine, the kid collapsed in front of the crushed apple chunks, desperately grabbing as much as he could to eat.