"YONG-SOO! I'LL GIVE YOU FIVE BUCKS, IF YOU WOULD JUST—SHUT THE HELL UP!"
The Korean boy snickered amidst the shrill ringing. "Wow, who took a pee in your bubble tea this morning? Is that any way to treat your cousin?" He smirked like a jackass as Wan's cell rang on and on. "That has to be that toolish boyfriend of yours from Hong Kong calling here again, am I right?"
Wan shot him a death glare before answering the phone. "Hiii," she spoke in a much different voice into the receiver. Her lips quirked up in a smile before she giggled, "Not too bad, pookie. Did you have a nice nap?"
Yong-Soo raised his voice so that practically the entire neighborhood could hear his next words. "WAN! Who are you talking to WAN!"
Wan spoke even more deeply into the receiver. "Yes, Xiang," she said in a voice approximately two octaves higher than her "yelling voice." "Yao and I did end up going to Joe's Noodle House today after shopping… he had three bowls of ramen, one with chicken, one with pork chops, and one with plain vegetables, and I had the ma po tofu and the cold ramen with chicken and tomatoes." She paused. "We were little piggies."
"WAN! Hang up right now and get back to bed!"
"Babe, can you excuse me one second?" Wan put her cell on mute. "YONG-SOO! If you don't BEHAVE YOURSELF this instant, I'LL… I'LL SELL YOU ON CRAIGSLIST!"
Someone started pounding down the stairs at that moment. A few seconds later, Yao, shirtless, wearing only boxers, stomped into the kitchen. His black hair forming a static-filled halo around his face, the Chinese boy rubbed at his eyes. "Um… will you two psychos knock it off? Wan, nobody in their right minds would offer to take Yong-Soo off your hands, so don't bother screeching like that. Thanks a lot for waking me up!"
"Look at what you've done, Wan," Yong-Soo hissed at his cousin, "you've interrupted our dear Yao's beauty sleep."
"Beauty sleep, my ass," Wan retorted. Yao winced; he hated it when his sister spoke rudely. Looking out the corner of his eye, he suddenly realized that she was studying his slender back. With a start, he hastened to turn around and conceal the long scratches standing out against the otherwise porcelain skin. Wan went on, impishly, "I think I recall seeing another body in there—"
"Is everything all right?" a British-accented voice rang from the front door.
"Eh?" Wan exclaimed, and shut her mouth at the sight of Yao's expression. A second later, Arthur cautiously strolled inside. At the sight of the nearly nude Yao standing in the kitchen, Arthur stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes bulging.
"Wait a second," Yong-Soo said. "Then who was—" Wan, who had made a fist, punched him in the arm.
"Here you are, Yao." All four kids in the kitchen jumped as Kiku stealthily emerged, holding out Yao's crumpled T-shirt and pair of shorts. "I found these in the wash." His obsidian pupils seemed to gleam a bit triumphantly in Arthur's direction, but it was difficult to tell.
"Thanks," Yao mumbled, pulling the shirt over his head, oblivious to the incredulous look Arthur was leveling at Kiku. "Well, I'm going to the mini-mart," he said quickly, trying to sound bright and casual, "I'd better get some stuff for tonight's din—"
"Yes, you had better. I'll come with you." Arthur's hand shot out and seized Yao, dragging him through the front door, away from Kiku, Wan, and Yong-Soo, the latter two who were still awkwardly staring after them. Yao looked back as he sagged in Arthur's grasp, but nobody moved to help him.
Outside, in the brisk autumn air, Arthur and Yao continued walking in silence, with the British boy staring straight ahead. "Arthur?" Yao ventured after a few minutes, trying to wriggle, but Arthur only increased the pressure around Yao's wrist.
When they had crossed the street and reached the deserted neighborhood park, Arthur suddenly threw Yao back-first against the brick wall fence. "Aiya! That hur—"
The British boy crushed his lips against the Chinese boy's, pressing their chests together as he did so that their heartbeats seemed to intermingle. As he claimed the Chinese boy's mouth, Arthur's arm circled possessively around Yao's waist, fitting the other boy's body into his. He didn't let up even as Yao gasped once for air, and then he held tightly to Yao's hands.
"Who were you talking to in there?" Arthur rounded on him, peering intently at his face. "Was it that Japanese bloke?"
Yao didn't respond. Instead, he looked up almost pleadingly at the British boy, and Arthur cursed inwardly; it was impossible not to get sucked into, not to get lost into those eyes (those golden, fawn-like eyes whose timid sweetness lured you in)…
Nibbling on his lower lip, Yao glanced to his left and finally said, in a small but firm voice, "Arthur, there's something I need to ask you."
(once Arthur started looking, sinking into those golden eyes, he knew he was powerless to stop)—
"What?"
"This all is going a bit fast, don't you think?"
Arthur blinked, and a shadow seemed to momentarily cross his face. "I see."
The Chinese boy's pulse quickened.
"Yao, if there's something I'm doing that you don't like, you only need to tell me. I know I can be a right bastard sometimes." Arthur glanced down at his feet, and when he spoke again, there was more of an edge to his voice. "But that doesn't mean you can go hooking up with whatever—"
"I have to love you the most, is that it?" Yao interrupted.
"What?"
"If I think of my gang as the most precious to me, you can't have that, can you? If I consider being with them as my home, you have to steal me away, or block them from my sight."
Arthur was silent.
"Don't ever try to make me hate them," Yao said, his eyes gleaming a bit more passionately now, "because you'd lose."
Arthur clutched Yao's chin. "Is that what you think I want?" Leaning down, the British boy kissed the Chinese boy again, deep and hard; rubbing against him with his hips but not touching further. He moved down, his tongue trailing down Yao's neck, biting his collarbone; Yao let out a soft moan—everywhere Arthur was touching him, his skin screamed out for more.
"Is that what you think I want?" Arthur repeated, in a whisper, his voice leaving a throbbing in Yao's veins. "Your happiness, Yao, is the only thing I want." Yao arched his neck up and back as Arthur left a trail of kisses on his face; with a few choice words and gestures Arthur could awaken every inch of him, make him come to life—
"I—" Yao kept his head tilted back, his eyes closed. Internally he felt as though he were struggling at a precipice; he wanted so badly to give Arthur the go-ahead to throw him off. "Don't lie to me—"
"Have I ever?"
Yao felt the fiery knot growing in his lower belly as Arthur gripped his waist, and they leaned closely into each other, breathing in each other's scent.
"I'll play it any way you want, love."
(Why was something was holding him back?)
"Arthur Kirkland," he whispered.
"What's that, Yao?"
"Arthur Kirkland."
Arthur stiffened as Yao wrapped his arms around him, placing a soft hand at the nape of his neck, where the British boy's scent seemed to gather.
"Arthur Kirkland," Yao said again, his heart beating fast, and a tear coursed down his face when Arthur twined his hand in his long hair, and his lips found Yao's.
"Hey, check out the hot chick at twelve o' clock," Alfred smirked at Austria, who was carrying a load of textbooks to their world history class. Austria grunted in response; he did not appear interested enough to turn his head, but on his other side, Yao craned his neck as Alfred wolf-whistled. Then Yao realized it was just his sister, Wan. Glaring at the American boy, Yao hurriedly stacked his own books on top of Austria's already staggering pile and broke away from the group.
"Wan, what are you doing here?" Yao hissed as he caught up to his sister.
"Relax. I promised my old physics teacher that over my spring break I'd come back here to give a speech to one of his advanced-placement classes. I just got done about ten minutes ago. Oh, uh—who's that charging towards me?" She squinted. "He looks kind of familiar."
"That's Netherlands. You used to babysit us both after school," Yao replied as a spikey-haired Dutch boy ran towards them, skillfully threading his way through the crowded halls. "Wan!" the boy called out. "Wan! Is that really you?"
"Hey, Netherlands." Wan's eyes widened. "It's been a while! I'm sorry that I didn't recognize you at first." She swallowed as she scanned him up and down. "You're two feet taller than me now!"
"Yeah, it's been years! I've missed you and the tzong you bing you used to make me as an after-school snack! Hey, Denmark, this is the girl I told you about! The one who used to watch me during soccer practice!" Another hulking figure came into view, carrying a huge black bag that might have very well been containing a concealed machine gun.
"Pleased to meet you," the Dane smiled widely. There were visible particles of fish and rye bread stuck in his teeth.
"So how have you been?" Wan asked. "How is school? Have you started applying to universities yet?"
"Uh, yeah, I'll get to that pretty soon. I'm actually on my way to mandatory study hall because they caught me last week skipping phys ed for the fourth time. But anyway. Look at what I did during lunch hour today!" Netherlands suddenly lifted up his shirt, exposing his bare chest and a perfect twelve-pack. A brand-new, golden hoop glistened from each nipple.
Wan's jaw hung open. At the sight, Netherlands's smile faltered ever so slightly. She shook her head. "Whoo-whoo! Look at that!" she said enthusiastically, pointing at the left one. Netherlands beamed.
"It really hurt, but it was worth it!" Behind Netherlands, Yao noticed Denmark rolling his eyes.
"Okay, you guys catch up, I need to get going to class," Yao said as nobody paid attention to him. Leaving Wan to listen to the rest of Netherlands's story about his piercing adventure, Yao turned around and scanned the hallway for Alfred and Austria.
"Yao," The Chinese boy found Arthur at his elbow, balancing his own stack of books. His brittle golden eyes softened, then widened suddenly.
"What is it?" Arthur frowned as he turned around, and saw Kiku standing right behind them. The Japanese boy was smiling.
"Hello," Kiku said simply.
"Hello," Yao answered.