Ignoring was easy from some point, Yao admitted. After three or four days, the infants had become more quiet. Their aging process or something-was abnormal, just like other nations, and now they had learned the impressive skill of keeping their mouth shut. From the reports he got from the delighted and adoring servants, they were now crawling around. The boy, to the shock of the nurse, had somehow been caught playing with wood-pointy wood. The obvious blood of the thick-headed Goguryeo. It wasn't like he saw them anymore. Yao sighed, pouring his tea in a cup and sipping slowly.
To his surprise, Kiku and Mei had been seeing the twins-a lot. It wasn't like he hadn't expected that coming. Especially when Kiku had been all excited every time Baekjae had come. It had been very upsetting when the boy had started calling him hyung. Of course, he had talked Kiku out of it very reasonably, that this was China, not uneducated Baekjae, and it would be better if Kiku called Yao nisan or ge-ge. The boy had done so, but very grudgingly. I never should have invited Baekjae over in the first place.
A knock on his door disturbed his thinking. "Yes?" It was one of the servants. "Lord Kiku and Lady Mei wanted me to ask you if you would come visit as well-" The man gulped and turned the color of putty. "Ask them if they think I have enough time for playing." "The Lord and Lady would be disappointed-" Yao waved the man away, impatient.
The present rulers of Tang weren't the best he could have received, and the idiots were always weaker than their subjects. Every part of his body hurt. Somehow, it got him wondering how Silla was doing. If his beliefs were correct, the children were Hubaekjae and Hugoguryeo. Which meant only one of them were meant to survive. He had a bad feeling Silla wouldn't be the one to live this time.
Thinking about the girl made his head spin again. He reached for another cup of tea when there were loud noises from somewhere in the house. It was Kiku and Mei. The children were laughing in loud voices, when they knew better to. Yao stormed out the door, preparing to give them a lecture about being quiet when the adults were working.
"Did you just hear that!" "I did, I did!" He found all of them sprawled on the floor of Kiku's room. Normally the children would sit up straight at the sight of him, but when Mei saw him, she pulled on Yao's sleeve. "Ge-ge, he just said his first word!" "His first word?" Yao's face turned pale. Was this what the ruckus was about? "Come on, say it again!" Kiku smiled at his younger sibling. Ha Eung smiled-a rather sweet smile-and spoke loudly, "Zhongguo!"
Yao bit down on his lower lip. "His first word is you!" Mei beamed at him, but Yao didn't know what to make of this situation. Zhongguo was the name for him in Chinese, yes, but where the child had picked that word he had no idea. The children had a nurse of Silla descent who spoke to them, Mei spoke Chinese and Kiku obviously spoke Japanese to them-but no one would have said that word in front of the child.
"Zhongguo?" The boy repeated the word, frowning now. Apparently he had expected praise to come, but wasn't receiving the desired results. "Good job, Ha Eung." Kiku patted him on the head instead, and Mei gave the boy a hug. The chocolate eyes still stared at Yao. "Zhongguo." It was a teary word, and Yao dreaded what would come afterwards.
It was just then when a small hand wound around his leg. Yao turned his gaze to the other child. Ha Yeon. That was what Silla had called her, and the girl gave him a look that strongly reminded him of Goguryeo. As if she was blaming him for not complimenting her brother. "How about this one, has she said anything?" "No." Kiku replied while he still patted Ha Eung on the head. "Just compliment him, older brother." Mei sighed, looking tearful herself. "He's expecting to be praised, but a scary adult keeps on glaring at him. How must he feel?"
Yao opened his mouth to protest that he was not a scary adult, and that he had been the one to bring the twins into the family. It was frustrating, being berated by his own ward. A memory suddenly appeared in his aching head. "Look, father!" Little Jin held up a calligraphed letter for his father Tzu. The Lord Jia gave him a blank expression, just as he had done to so many of his other sons and daughters. "What about it?" "I did it for you!" The Land of Tzu frowned at the Kingdom of Jin-"Is it special?" "No, but-" "Go. I have better things to do." Little Jin had bowed and fled, shedding many tears.
He wasn't little Jin anymore. He was Wang Yao, Tang. His father Tzu-Wang Jia had disappeared as he became the sole kingdom. And yet it remained as a stinging memory, being rejected, denied of praise. He glanced at the back of the room, suddenly. As expected, two figures were giving him a look. One of pure misery, the other of pure anger. "His first word is Zhongguo?!" Goguryeo looked like he really wanted to die. At this little finding Yao smirked, feeling a inch of victory.
"This isn't funny, ge-ge! He's going to cry!" Mei's words brought him back to earth. Sure enough, the boy's face was crinkling and the small hands were darting to his face. "Zuòde hǎo.(Good job)" Yao patted the boy on the head just like Kiku had done. It was surprising what the compliment could do to the little boy. He was now smiling, a pure grin. "Zhongguo." The boy reached out to him, and some instinct in Yao made him pick the little boy up.
"He's going to hurt my son!" Goguryeo looked horrified. "Shut up, hyung." Baekjae smiled tenderly, watching the exchange. Yao pretended not to notice, but felt some embarrassment surging throughout his veins. You are China! China doesn't go holding little children! He quickly lowered the boy back to the floor where his twin awaited him.
"Kiku, Mei, you have been good siblings to your new sister and brother. As a result, I will grant you two wishes." It only seemed right that the older boy and girl be rewarded as well. "Can you bring me one of the dragon lanterns from the palace?" Mei asked, curious. Yao nodded, feeling a bit ashamed. He actually had a storage room for leftover treasure, and lanterns were among them. And here his ward was, asking him to give him a leftover lantern.
"I will give you your lantern. In fact, I will give you five." Mei bowed to him, then gave him a hug. "Thank you, gege." She quickly tore away, knowing he disliked hugs. "And Kiku?" Kiku seemed to be pondering. The boy finally spoke. "Could you grant me one of the treasures you recieved from Lord Baekjae?" Yao's eyes narrowed for a moment, but then ne nodded. A present couldn't do the boy any harm.
"You may have the brush that the lad gave me." Kiku smiled and Yao didn't like it at all. It had been unpleasant when the Japanese had sent their soldiers to help the Prince of Baekjae-resulting in another war, the Battle of Baekgang. "I will leave. And children, play quietly. You are disturbing me." "Yes, Yao-nisan." There was a small voice at that. It was a voice though, and Yao turned from halfway going. "What?" "I didn't say anything." Mei shrugged. "Not me."
"Appa." The sound came from the little girl. Ha Yeon. Instantly, Yao's head began to hurt again. "She said something!" Kiku looked very happy, toying with the little girl's hand. "Can you say it again?" "Appa." Ha Yeon spoke proudly as she reached for Kiku's other hand. "Do you know what that means?" "It...It..." He didn't know what he was supposed to feel now. This girl didn't exactly have an appa or an abuji. And it was all his fault. Yao clenched his teeth, hating the foreign word with every bit of his body.
Mei looked slightly scared at his expression. "What does this mean, older brother?" "Nisan?" Yao knelt down, looking the child in the eye. "Not appa. Orabuni." The child cocked her head, looking curious. "Appa?" "No!" He glared into the innocent eyes. Why did the girl have to upset him when he had been in a jovial mood? "You may call me oppa. Orabuni. But I am not your appa."
"Older brother, stop shouting! You're scaring her!" Kiku actually talked back to him. Yao blinked, realizing that the children, formerly smiling, now had looks of terror and fright on their faces. He didn't want to look in the direction of the ghosts. He could actually block out their voices if he tried. "That no-good, son-of-a-dog, yelling at my daughter like that-" Yao failed at blocking the voices, and sighed. "I am...sorry." Without another word, he fled.
It wasn't like he hated children, as Yao thought over it carefully. Kiku and Mei had been well-behaved and quiet. It was just that-Kiku and Mei didn't have parents, and even if they had, at least they weren't the children of his victims. And to hear the word 'father' from one of them-it had driven him over. The nation sighed, pulling out a piece of kanji. He needed to draw, he needed to do something.
The door opened a crack. It had already been opened-was it the wind? As Yao walked over, he saw, to his surprise, Ha Yeon. She had somehow crawled into the room. The toddler stared up at him with huge, scared eyes. Of course, he had yelled at the child. It disturbed him that the girl had Silla's eyes. Another nation to hate me, or be scared of me. His plan of making the nation worship him wasn't exactly working. "Oppa." The girl pointed a finger at him. "Yes." Yao sighed. "Orabuni?" "Yes." He replied, picking the child up and setting her down on a chair.
China picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and gracefully drew a curved line. He would draw the peony for today, and he would settle for the bamboo tomorrow. As he drew a second line, he noticed that he was being stared at. Intently. The girl was studying his move. "You want to try?" He handed the girl the brush. It was something given to him by Goguryeo, coincidentally-before he had gone into war with the lad.
Ha Yeon just looked at the brush. "Oh, you don't know how to draw." Yao sighed once more, then lifted the child into his lap. He took the girl's hand, positioning it below his own. Gracefully, Yao drew the peony along with Ha Yeon, who continued to look. The peace was good, and the quiet was good. As he looked at the child, he could see something like determination in her face. A feeling that baby nations weren't supposed to have. Strange, really.
The picture was finished, and Yao hung it to dry. "Good job." He lowered his ward back on the floor. "Yao." He didn't register his name being called. "Yao-oppa." Yao stopped in the middle of sitting down himself. The child was smiling at him. "How-how did you-" This was most confusing. The girl pointed at the brush with one finger. His name was engraved in gold, Wang Yao.
So, these children had high intelligence. At least their brains were from their mother. Yao patted the girl on the head. "Yes, Ha Yeon. I am Yao-oppa." Perhaps their presence would be more bearable.
Author's Note: Appa means 'father' in Korean, along with 'Abuji', while 'Oppa' and 'Orabuni' means older brother.
Plus the prompt is that if the children touch anything that belonged to their desceased parents, their memories related to their parents or their knowledge is invoked. That's why little Korea can say 'Yao' without being taught the Chinese Characters. The knowledge of Chinese Charcters already existed in the nations.
THANK YOU AGAIN FOR READING SUCH A CRAPPY STORY.