40 Quarreled
"And this is the alphabet. Isn't it easy?"
The three people were sitting in the car with Wang Zibo driving it, as usual. Chen Waan at the back decided to start with the basics of the language she was teaching. Korean alphabet was the easiest of all the languages she had learned till now on her own.
"Oh, it really is. I shall practice," Mo Yifan looked at how enthusiastic the girl before him was and nodded in agreement.
He had noticed it quite late but Chen Waan had totally different glow on her face when she talked about languages. It was like they were her first love. Her eyes sparkled brightly and there was a surreal happiness on her face. In all the encounters of him with her till now, this was the only time when she looked really alive. At other times, she was always somewhere else.
And this energy of hers was really contagious. He felt an enthusiasm in himself to learn more about the language or perhaps herself.
Wang Zibo looked behind through the rearview mirror once again. He was shocked to see Mo Yifan smiling, a rare occurrence. When he had brought the boy at fifteen years of age to the company with Mr. Fan, the eyes of the kid were dead.
Even though he lived in the lap of luxury, and his family was very loving towards him, he looked empty. He understood everything but he did not respond at all. The only thing he ever reacted to were musical instruments. No one knew why he was like that.
They had taken him to multiple psychiatrists but no one could really tell the reason for his behavior.
For him and him only, his dad had made an exception and took him out within a month after putting him in dormitory with other boys. He was first put in a house with him and different musical instruments. That was where he found peace and composed most of the songs.
Once he succeeded as a singer and made an official debut as one, and with therapy when he started to respond to other people, that was when he was finally taken out for the world to see. It was an unusual debut indeed and people loved it. A singer who did not show his face for a year.
This was also perhaps the reason why his dad was ready to do another experiment with the same person. This duo thing might also break the records in the future.
But even after everything, Mo Yifan seldom smiled this genuinely. Was it this girl's influence?
"And so the next phrase is 'nice to meet you'," Chen Waan continued with her lesson in the back. Wang Zibo was also happy for Fan Fan. He had lived with him for almost three years now. Of course, he was worried for him. He treated him as a younger brother now.
The more time they all were spending together, the more Wang Zibo was appreciating his dad's decision.
Somewhere halfway through, Chen Waan had fallen asleep. Mo Yifan took off his blanket and covered the girl who was deep in sleep. They arrived at home. Wang Zibo wanted to wake Chen Waan up but Mo Yifan did not let him.
"Do you know how tired she must be? It's her second day too. Let me carry her," Mo Yifan almost chided Wang Zibo.
"My bad Fan Fan. Let me carry her then. You also worked quite hard today," Wang Zibo suggested. He was, after all, taller and sturdier in build than the kid who was still growing. Mo Yifan looked at his own structure and realized Wang Zibo was correct. He let him take her to the house, but decided in his heart that he was going to work on his body.
"You go, I will tuck her in. I also need to take a few notes she had told me to take from her room," he instructed Zibo as the old guy exited the room. Wang Zibo chuckled to himself, such silly excuses.
"Mmm… grandma, wait ah!" Chen Waan mumbled in her sleep, startling Mo Yifan a bit. He had not lied to Wang Zibo actually. His aim indeed was to take the notes she had asked him to take.
They were not going to meet on any schedules for a few days anyway. And language learning needed consistent practice. So she had instructed him to take her notebook that she was preparing for him. It contained material till the next weekend which was four days away.
Mo Yifan came closer to her only to realize that Zibo had not removed her winter jacket. It must have been so uncomfortable. He slowly removed it and adjusted her to better position. He then covered her with blanket. She was putting in so much effort for him, he could at least do this much for her.
With the help of his phone, he found the notes and quietly tip toed around to leave the room.
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When Wang Zibo came downstairs after freshening himself up, he saw Mo Yifan was very seriously looking at the notes he had perhaps retrieved from Chen Waan's room. He went downstairs to tease the youth once again.
"So? Do you like it that much?" he asked ambiguously.
"Of course. Do you see how easy to understand she has made it? If she were my English teacher, I would have grasped that language much earlier," Mo Yifan did not even look up to see his friend.
"Oh? I was not talking about the notes. I was talking about the girl," there was a mischievous tone in Wang Zibo's voice. Would he see this young man finally fall for someone in his lifetime?
"What? What are you talking about? Me? Her? Please! Have you even looked at her? She is not my type at all!" Mo Yifan opposed the notion strongly, glaring at Wang Zibo for the ridiculous idea.
"And yet you smile so gently when you are with her?" Wang Zibo chuckled. It was too much fun teasing this guy. It was also perhaps to give him a push and make him think about it.
"Brother, I think you are mistaking it okay?"
"What? Do you not like her face? If she goes under the knife, she would be quite pretty," Wang Zibo probed further.
"That's not right manager Wang. He is correct, I am not of his standard. But I won't change myself for a person who does not matter to me." Both of them heard a female voice from upstairs and saw the girl standing and staring at them. Her demeanor was cold and aloof.
"Waan'er! Since when…," Wang Zibo felt ashamed. He did not realize that the girl could come out of the room. He had thought she was deeply sleeping.
"Please manager Wang, I am not that close to you. Call me by my full name. Also, I have been standing here since the beginning. But don't worry, I know my worth," she said as she descended down from the stairs. Both the guys had guilt written all over their faces.
"Chen Waan, I didn't mean it that way," Mo Yifan tried to explain.
"Whether you meant it or not, I am in full agreement with you. Neither my face is pretty enough, nor my status. And I don't blame you for saying it. Now please excuse me, I had just come here to fetch the water," she said as she headed straight to the kitchen.
Mo Yifan and Wang Zibo looked at each other and shut up by themselves. They had probably hurt her feelings. They should not have done that.
In the kitchen, as Chen Waan gulped down three glasses of water in rage, she resolved to raise her status so much, with the help these very guys, that they would never be able to say anything like this, ever.
