CH 52.2

A short while later, Mu Mu’er walks behind Bai Yao and mumbles, “Mu’er wants to be upstairs.”

When Bai Yao does his prep work, Mu Mu’er is usually playing by himself upstairs. He comes into the kitchen after Bai Yao has opened the restaurant.

“Yeah, go. You can play with the Moon Rabbit,” Bai Yao retrieves his phone from his pocket. He wants to let him play it as much as he wants today.

Mu Mu’er’s mood visibly improves a little. He tiptoes to the door and looks through the gap. Mu Yi is not looking this way, so Mu Mu’er quietly makes his way out.

He did not forget to take the box of chocolate with him.

Mu Yi is sitting on a booth seat outside, which Mu Mu’er realises he has to pass by going upstairs. He continues tiptoeing while holding his box of chocolate and Bai Yao’s phone dearly. He’s also bending down a little… Like a little grey hamster.

Bai Yao couldn’t help but smile looking at him sneak upstairs with haste, before closing the kitchen door to focus on prepping.

There is a notable decrease in customers as the tourist season draws to an end. The restaurant is still filled, of course, but there are no more patrons waiting outside. A table would remain empty for some ten minutes at a time before the next customers arrive.

Mu Yi is sitting at a corner booth with his legs crossed. He knocks on the table with his index finger at a regular pace, and his posture remains almost unchanged throughout.

He receives several phone calls in the meantime, but he did not even stand up. He speaks sternly to whoever is on the other side of the phone.

When Bai Yao is serving meals, he happens to see Mu Yi looking in the direction of the stairs, expectant.

Still, there is a big difference between Mu Yi and Mu Mu’er, he thinks. He would attribute it to Mu Yi’s eyes, which have a somewhat uncommon coldness to them. Gaze into them long enough and you’ll find yourself frozen to the bone before you could reach deeper.

He also draws curious gazes from some customers, given his unusually uptight clothing and the lack of meals on his table. He almost looks like an investor of the restaurant or something.

Bai Yao continues his observation of Mu Yi through the window in the kitchen during a lull in orders.

A whole six years. He really finds it hard to believe that Mu Yi was even remotely expending close to full effort to look for Mu Mu’er. How could he have not found him when they’re mere train stations away? Six years the older brother has left his intellectually incapacitated younger brother a drifter outside, starving, wounded.

“Owner!”

“Is the owner here?”

The soup is already boiling. Bai Yao snaps back to reality, and realises a table has been calling for a while already.

He goes outside, and apologises first.

“How far along is our salad?”

“Please give it another minute, and it should be right along.”

Bai Yao’s mood is affecting his work. In the kitchen, he realises he’s completely missed this table’s order. He hasn’t even started on any of their orders.

Normally, the four hours of busy work in the kitchen passes in the blink of an eye for Bai Yao, but not today. He feels like it’s been a century when he finally sees the last customers off.

Mu Yi does not seem at all impatient for someone who’s been sitting from 4 until the restaurant closes at 8. His back remains straight throughout, as if the wooden booth seat is actually a comfortable sofa.

At half past eight, sharp, Mu Mu’er comes downstairs for Bai Yao for dinner. On normal days, Bai Yao would have already finished cleaning the restaurant proper, and finished cooking dinner for Mu Mu’er. If Mu Mu’er is hungry, he would have come down earlier for snacks.

However, today, he completely forgot about Mu Yi, and he runs right into him. Mu Mu’er goes into panic at the bottom of the stairs, before turning his body around. He looks like he’d immediately dash back upstairs if Mu Yi says anything.

“Mu’er…” And Mu Mu’er legs it as soon as Mu Yi speaks.

Not upstairs, though, but towards the kitchen. He runs like he’s being pursued by a sly fox who’s decided Mu Mu’er would be his dinner today.

Bai Yao is wiping his hands while leaving the kitchen at the same time, so the dashing Mu Mu’er runs right into his lap. He looks up, sees Bai Yao, and immediately tries to get a hug, and begins burrowing his face into his waist, as if he could actually hide himself inside Bai Yao.

“Yaoyao.”

“Mmhm.”

Well, Mu Mu’er’s older brother is watching, so Bai Yao really should not keep hugging his younger brother shamelessly. He thinks a little, before pulling Mu Mu’er a little by the shoulder towards the side.

Mu Mu’er has never been pushed away by Bai Yao before, and looks stunned. Then his head droops, and appears quite hurt.

He doesn’t say anything though, but he also takes a small step back from Bai Yao.

Bai Yao immediately regrets it seeing how sad Mu Mu’er looks. He almost extends his hand to give Mu Mu’er a hug by reflex, but he stops, his gaze landing back on Mu Yi.

The mood is quite tense. Finally, Bai Yao asks out of politeness, “would you like dinner?”

Mu Yi takes it, “if you would have me.”

Dinner is extremely quiet, and even the normally voracious Mu Mu’er doesn’t have an appetite at all. He says he’s full after just a few bites.

Bai Yao sees that he hasn’t even eaten half of his usual fill. He’s definitely going to be hungry tonight, so he starts filling his bowl with food for him. Mu Mu’er does not refuse anything Bai Yao picks for him, but he does eat much more slowly and far less enthusiastically than normal.

When he’s finally full, he settles down, and sits there without saying a word.

Bai Yao has never seen Mu Mu’er this quiet ever since they started living together. He resembles a little blade of grass in a gloomy rain. Drooping, unenergetic.

He can’t help but lose his own appetite a little, too. Under the table, where Mu Yi can’t see, he takes hold of Mu Mu’er’s hand, and holds it.

Mu Mu’er’s response is unenthusiastic, however. He merely lets his hand rest softly within Bai Yao’s palm.

Mu Yi also doesn’t eat much. His eyes remain glued to Mu Mu’er the whole time, and he also stops the moment Mu Mu’er stops eating.

Before he could say anything, though, Bai Yao tells him, “he sleeps early. I’ll take him upstairs now,” then he pulls Mu Mu’er up, and leads the boy upstairs without waiting for Mu Yi to respond.

At the bottom of the stairs, though, they are followed by footsteps.

Mu Yi has followed right behind them. Halfway up the stairs, Bai Yao turns around to tell him, “we’re not open for business upstairs.”

He doesn’t have the mood to or feel like controlling his tone. The frostiness is chilling.

The refusal is quite apparent, and so Mu Yi stops. He watches Bai Yao continue to ascend the stairs while holding Mu Mu’er’s hand. Before they reach the top of the stairs, Mu Yi mutters something. It’s barely audible.

Mu Mu’er does not hear it clearly as he is walking before Bai Yao, but Bai Yao’s hearing is sharp enough to hear.

“I want to hear him call me ge once more.”