The amount of restaurants that sold hamburgers in this country disgusted Yao. Though, he supposed every nation had their faults.
America was a large, confusing land of fast food chains and overly energetic citizens; at least, that was all Yao could tell from the few days that he had been in the country. It was nothing like China.
China was cultured, brightly colored with red and gold, and smelled of rice and vegetables rather than fried chicken and sugar cookies. He never wanted to leave the bustling cities with the polite store clerks and old ladies that visited the farmers market every Sunday. And he probably never would have if not for his father.
Niu Wang was a hard working man who, despite his hardships, loved his children and his wife. His entire world seemed to revolve around them. At least it did until Atushi Honda butted his way into the picture of Niu's seemingly perfect life.
Atushi was handsome, no one could deny it, with money to spare. Having worked with Niu at some point or another, the two bumped into each other on the street one day, chattering away while Niu's wife, who had tagged along for a day filled with the promise of clothes shopping, plotted. Rich and good looking was all that mattered to Yao's mother, who he, to this day, refused to name. She didn't deserve that right.
She had wanted a divorce. She wanted to be with Atushi, to have the money he earned in her pockets. Niu was crushed, but his heart crumbled when she demanded even more from him. She wanted their youngest son, Kiku, Yao's little brother, for her own. And she had him. At age one, Kiku was ripped away from his brother and father and taken to Japan, only to be raised by another man who would never be able to show him the love that Niu and Yao had.
Niu fell into a state of depression, like everyone figured he would. Yao, aged five, didn't see his lively father anymore. Instead of throwing himself into his work, he threw himself into a bar almost every night, drowning his sorrow with alcohol. Countless nights, Yao would stay with his grandparents. It was a childhood nobody wanted to imagine that he had lived.
The greatest day was the day that Yao's mother died eleven years later, and he had no shame in saying so. He wanted her to suffer just as he and his father had. But he never thought it would hurt Kiku in the process. After the death of his wife, Atushi fled Japan, leaving Kiku, a young child of only twelve, by himself. Child services found him later that very week, calling up Niu, and returning him to his father.
Nothing had made Niu happier than having his son back with him, and Yao felt similar. His baby brother, his daih daih, had been returned to him after so long. But Kiku was so different from when he was a baby; he was so distant and cut off from the rest of humanity. Rarely did he speak, having not remembered a lick of Chinese. Every time Yao tried to converse with him, Kiku would ramble in Japanese about how he couldn't understand what he was saying. They got him a tutor to teach him both Chinese and English; while the Chinese lessons failed, his English progressed little by little to the point where Yao could finally talk to him again.
They didn't talk about their mother, for the sake of their father's sanity and their own. She was gone, and she could no longer hurt them as she did. Their father was independent and didn't need a woman around the house to help him. That was, until he met Hei-Ran, a kind Korean woman he had ran into on one of business trips.
For months, they sent letters back and forth before she finally flew out to China to live with the Wang family, along with her young son, Im Yong Soo, whose excitement was far too much for both Yao and Kiku to handle.
But they liked Hei-Ran. She cooked authentic Korean dishes for them and told them stories that were a big change from the old Chinese tales they were used to. And finally, after two long, agonizing years, they tied the knot, finally bringing their family together for good.
Still, Yao had his doubts. What if his new mother left him and Niu like his other had? He learned that he had nothing to fear. Hei-Ran was nothing like that other woman that had ruined the only childhood he had.
Their lives had changed drastically. They had two extra bodies in the house permanently now, which meant two extra mouths to feed. Niu worked as hard as he could, taking on more hours than he was used to, just to make ends meet. It didn't go unseen by his boss, for not a month later had he offered Niu a promotion that would send him across the ocean to the United States to their corporate office. The promise of double the pay and a bigger house sealed the deal.
That was how they had ended up in the land of body spray and rap music. The books he had read didn't really explain the atmosphere of America, but Yao supposed nothing really could; it was indescribable.
Their new house was twice the size of the other they had had in China with enough space so that each boy could have his own room. It excited Yao but seemed to frighten Kiku. Alone. The idea radiated his body with a thick bile. He didn't want to be alone after all the years he had spent with their deceased mother. So after much pleading, Yao agreed to let Kiku sleep in his bed while he slept on the floor.
Days went by. Adjusting was difficult, and November was coming closer and closer to an end. The subject of school was rarely brought up over dinner, but Niu and Hei-Ran would sneak into Yao's room while Kiku was asleep. "We know it is difficult," Niu would say. "But we cannot allow you to stay out of school for much longer. You understand, don't you, Yao?" He did.
They couldn't avoid the rest of the world forever, no matter how much they wanted to. Their trust had faded after their mother betrayed them, but not everyone was like her. They had to realize that.
Yao discussed the issue with Kiku, Im Yong Soo barging in as well. The small Korean boy loved the idea of new friends and being the center of attention while Kiku was the opposite. Being the new student meant lots of staring, and Kiku hated when people stared at him. No amount of promises of things turning out all right appealed to him.
Nevertheless, they couldn't keep shying away from school. So when that fateful Monday rolled around, Yao tried his hardest to make Kiku less nervous. He woke up early to pick out his clothes for him. He made rice with miso soup and dried seaweed, just like he would eat for breakfast in Japan. Everything seemed to appeal to him, until they got into the car, first dropping Im Yong Soo off at his junior high school. They pulled up to a brick building that looked more like a prison than anything else. Yao could practically feel the fear radiating from his brother. Giving him a soft smile, he helped him out of the car, even going as far as holding his bag for him as he walked into the building, Kiku following behind him like a duckling.
The first thing they noticed was how crowded it was. Back in China, schools were small. No more than a few hundred students would clamber through the halls; but this school seemed to have thousands bustling about. Kiku clung to his arm, afraid of being swallowed by the mass sea of people surrounding them.
"Like, are you two okay?" a loud, high-pitched voice broke over the chatter of the students. Yao searched for who was speaking when his eyes landed on a petit, green-eyed man with shoulder length blonde hair. Clad in a salmon colored dress shirt and white, was that a skirt?, he waved them over to him. "You look totally lost. Like, are you new?" He looked too old to be a student but at the same time, far too young to be a teacher. "My name is Mr. Łukasiewicz. But like, nobody can say that. So just like, call me Feliks, 'kay?" Blinking in confusion, Yao could only nod as the mysterious man in the skirt pulled him away.
"Bella!" he called, tugging him and Kiku into a brightly lit office. "I think we like have some new students! Can you like come here?"
Another blonde, Yao swore, all the people in this country seemed to be blonde, poked her head from behind a door, face breaking out into a wide smile. "Hello!" she said. "You must be our two new exchange students. Yao and Kiku, right? I'm sorry if Feliks here scared you a bit. He tends to do that."
"Bella, that was like totally mean!"
Brushing off her coworker's whining, the woman continued, "We're counselors here, and we just want to make your time here as easy as possible. So if you have any questions just come and look for us. We'll be happy to help, won't we Feliks?"
Feliks didn't seem to notice. He was fluffing his hair with one hand, the other holding a small compact mirror. Pursing his lips, he blew a kiss at his reflection before examing his fingernails.
"Feliks!" Bella tried once more.
"What? Oh, yeah, totally!" he cheered happily, though Yao highly doubted he knew what they were talking about. His current opinion on America really wasn't getting much better than his initial one.
Bella grabbed two folders, handing one to Yao and the other to Kiku. "This is just some background about what goes on around here. There's a map in there along with your schedules. We called two students a few minutes ago to show you two around, but they don't seem to be – oh, Herakles, there you are!" A tall brunette walked up to the four, green eyes blinking tiredly. "Kiku, this is Herakles. He's a sophomore, since most of our freshmen are still getting used to the school themselves! But I think you two will get along nicely. I promise, he doesn't bite."
Yao took another look at the boy; he didn't know if he trusted him with Kiku. Then again, he didn't really trust anyone with Kiku. They had trusted his mother with him and look where that got them.
Kiku didn't look that sure either. Glancing between Herakles and Yao, he shuffled closer to his brother. He really could be cute sometimes. Handing him his bag, Yao flashed him a smile. What good would it be if they were both nervous? Being the supportive older brother he knew he was meant to be, he nudged Kiku closer to Herakles.
"We're going now," Herakles stated simply, turning around to walk out of the office, probably expecting Kiku to follow. Nervously sharing one last look with Yao, Kiku took off after his guide, falling in stride with him.
"Hm," Bella said, looking down worriedly at her watch. "Your guide was meant to be here as well, but I'm not sure what's going on. He's always been a good student, I wonder what's keeping him."
"It's alright," Yao assured her. "I'm sure I can find my way on my own."
"I'm sorry I am late, Ms. Janssens!" a new voice interjected. Yao looked up but realized he had to look up even more. The boy that stood in front of him was a giant. He could easily take Yao out with one hit, but he didn't believe that would be an issue, what with the softness and possible nervousness in his violet eyes.
"Ivan! Hello! I hope your break was well." But the boy had fallen silent. He nodded, eyes looking anywhere but Bella and Yao. "This is Yao. He just transferred here from China, and we needed someone to show him around." The nervousness in those violet eyes grew, and Yao's curiosity only grew from it. He looked so uncomfortable in his own skin. "That wouldn't be a problem…would it?"
Ivan looked like he wanted to say no, but he didn't. "It's no problem," he muttered.
"Great!" Bella said, clapping her hands together. "Well, I'll let you two get to it! I hope you have a good first day, Yao. Come by if you have any questions!" And with that, she retreated back into her office.
That left just the two of them. Ivan still wouldn't look at Yao, only at his shoes. Yao was at a loss for words. Wasn't he supposed to be the nervous one in this duo, not him? What a puzzling boy.
Doing the only thing he thought was right, Yao thrust out his hand towards Ivan, but it didn't seem like he would return the gesture. "I am Yao Wang. It is a pleasure to meet you." When Ivan was unfazed, Yao let his arm fall to his side. Was he offending some American custom that he was unaware about? Or maybe the boy was just shy.
"Ivan," he finally responded, though his voice didn't match his body. It was as if he had been going through puberty, and his voice just got stuck in between. It was like a bear's stature with a mouse's squeak. Shouldering his bag, Ivan began to leave the office. No words were shared, but Yao figured he was supposed to go after him.
The American people were such characters. So far he had met a mild drag queen, an overly excited blonde, a sleep-deprived boy who was somewhere alone with his brother, and now a silent giant. He felt like he had been thrown onto the Island of Misfit Toys. Nothing seemed to fit together. Well, he supposed that was all America was.
.
Somehow, Ivan always seemed to pull the short stick in life. The universe really seemed to hate him for some reason. Maybe it had something against Russians with mental disorders. All he really knew for sure was that by the end of the day he would be a puddle of anxiety.
It was when he had been pulled out of his first period class that he had gotten confused. He figured Natalia had been ditching class again to try and find him, but never would he have expected to find what he had waiting for him in the front office.
A boy, no bigger than five foot four stood patiently, a perplexed glow surrounding him. His hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and if Ms. Janssens hadn't told him before hand, he would've thought that this boy, Yao, was a terribly flat chested girl. Big, brown eyes turned their gaze to him, and he knew that the glimpse he had gotten of the boy would be his last. Staring was forbidden for people like him.
With little time to process the situation, Ivan was walking down the hall with Yao in tow. What was he meant to do now? He couldn't talk to him, but he also couldn't abandon him; no matter how afraid he was, he refused to leave Yao helpless in the middle of a three-story school filled with twists and turns.
But the thought of Toris kept weeding its way into his mind. There was always the slightest chance that this boy could turn out just like him, and Ivan could cause him immense pain that he never meant to inflict on him. Running away was the easy way out; the doors were so badly monitored that he could sneak out without anyone noticing nor caring.
"Um, Ivan," Yao's voice tore through his thoughts. "You stopped. Is there something wrong?" Ivan hadn't even realized that he had stopped walking, in the middle of the hall no less. Blushing, Ivan kept moving forward.
"So, are you a senior as well?" Yao asked, breaking the silence that Ivan had so cherished.
No. Yao was talking about himself. It was just how his friendship with Toris had begun, and he couldn't deal with that again. After that situation, he had gotten good at tuning out what people were saying. Perhaps it wasn't the most polite thing to do; but if it would save other people in the process, so be it.
Soon, it would be over, he kept reminding himself. He didn't have to befriend this boy or even pay him any mind. He was just showing him around for the day. Then they would part ways as complete strangers.
He found it harder and harder to block out Yao as they continued up the stairs. For a small thing, he really did have a lot to say; he was probably just trying to be nice. Heaven knew that someone in that school needed to be.
Stopping in front of a classroom, Ivan held his breath as he turned towards Yao. One thing. He only needed to tell him one thing, and he'd get to leave. "Have a good day" or "See you around" or even a simple "Goodbye." But when he opened his mouth, it was so dry that he couldn't get any words to come out. Luckily, he didn't have to.
"Thank you, Ivan," Yao said, sending Ivan probably the sweetest smile he had ever seen. Only then had he realized that he was staring again. But he couldn't help but do so. When people smiled at him, it was always with a hint of fear. But Yao's smile was different. The edges of his mouth were soft, and his eyes seemed to glisten in their own type of smile. It only made Ivan's mouth drier and his knees grow weaker.
Disappearing into the classroom, Yao gave Ivan one last wave. Ivan's heart thumped against his ribcage as he did. He seemed like a nice boy, but nice was just another thing Ivan couldn't get himself involved in. Nice was just a factor that added up to an even bigger disaster.
So no, that heart thumping was nothing but surprise that someone had deemed him worthy enough of such a charming smile. Right? Denial was never a good thing, but when you were Ivan, it was all you could really rely on.
Making his way to his own classroom, Ivan sighed. What had he done so wrong that he had turned out as he had? Life wasn't fair, they said. Hell no, it wasn't.
Sliding into his seat in his Calculus class, he felt a few confused gazes on him, but he simply brushed them away. They meant nothing to him. All he could think of was the heart-stopping smile a certain Chinese exchange student had given him all but five minutes before.
To be continued.