AN : This definitely ended far longer than I planned it to. But anyway, have some flashback, and Asians.
滴水之恩，当以涌泉相报 (Chinese) [is pronounced 'dī shǔi zhī ēn dāng yǐ yǒng quán xiāng bào'] - A drop of water shall be returned with a burst of spring
The saying means "Even if it was just a little help from others, you should return the favor with all you can when others are in need" ; I think it fits this chapter very well. What do you mean, I took a complicated title? *whistles*. in fact, I took it from Wiki Quotes [I still had to search for an adequate saying for over 15 minutes ; hngh]
Word count : 2328
One of the things Yao Wang was the most unsure about in his life was his physic ; he had been mistaken for a girl more times than he liked to remember. Many times, he had thought about cutting his hair or working out but in the end... He didn't want to do either of it, which was why, when he turned eleven, he looked for something that could make people shut up about his gender and just admit that he was a guy.
Yao started kung-fu.
Which was, on a bright April morning, exactly what turned into the second thing that made him the most unsure about his decision.
He did not particularly like to travel, but since he had landed in Europe he would at least make the best out of it. Right then, he was in a particularly strange place, with awkward dark streets and a cat's cry somewhere far away like in those cheap American movies where someone would pop up any second to threaten him for his wallet.
He had seen the group of young men (how old were they? Not possible over twenty, right?), looking at something on the ground as if it where particularly interesting. He wouldn't have minded all that much if it weren't for the fact that one of them suddenly kicked whatever it was on the cobblestone and everybody around him laughed. He heard a whine escape, too.
Yao walked over, suspicious and dreading what it could be at the same time. A youngster turned around, eyebrow raised, and shot him a glare that was midway between boredom and interest.
"What do you want, woman? We have something here to take care of, so fuck off." Well, that was rude, stupid little brat.
"If you can't use your eyes correctly, you shouldn't talk at all, aru." When he heard Yao's voice, the teen (now the Chinese man was sure, those were still kids) started to laugh very loudly, and his friends turned round to see what had gotten him in that stage. Upon seeing that strange person, they just stared. What had that girl just said? Something funny probably, because she was currently blushing her cheeks off.
It was when a few of them had taken one or two steps back that he finally saw what it was they were all excited over. Him.
A kid.
Yao saw red. A group of about ten kids were fighting against one single person? That was cowardly and disrespectful! He would not let that happen! He pushed the bunch aside, helped the kid get up with one arm wrapped around his waist and the other one holding his hand just next to his own face, and started to walk away. That is, before he was quickly interrupted by the same guy than before.
"Hey, bastard, what are you doing? That's none of your business, go away!" Yao felt the kid he was almost carrying stiffen, then he heard a soft voice murmur into his ear "He's right, sir. Leave or you'll regret it. Thank you."
Yao did not let him go, although he was starting to get slightly nervous. He hadn't thought about it, but maybe this kid wasn't as innocent as he looked? Still, ten against one was against all codes of honor he had ever learnt, and honor was important. He walked past the one who was blocking his exit, and away.
"What's your name, aru?" he asked the kid who was holding onto him like a lifeline. "Mine is Yao Wang, aru."
"...You're new here, right?" Yao nodded, the kid chuckled. "I guessed so." he chuckled and then coughed, and the Chinese man noticed for the first time how badly bruised he was. His left eye was already swollen, his lips had numerous cuts, and various bruises were blooming on his slightly pale skin.
"What the- Get back here!"one of the teens shouted, and quickly got a knife out of his pocket and, wait a second, was he really thinking about stabbing him with it?
Yao smirked. "Unknowing idiot, aru." he laid the kid on the ground (not too gently but it wasn't his fault, after all), and in one swift motion, took the arm of the other teen and whirled him around, twisting it in a painful position behind his back. He then clutched his wrist tighter, and the knife fell to the ground. He violently pushed him down on the cobblestone with his foot, the arm still pressed against his back with Yao's shoe.
It was fun. Yao hadn't had any fun since he'd left China for this godforsaken place. It was a nice change.
The fact that such an effeminate man could handle one of them with so much ease apparently scared them off, and while another was brave enough to look like he wanted to fight back, he quickly changed his mind when he saw the other teens run away, and followed them. Yao let the other kid who was still on the ground go after he heard something incredibly similar to a whine.
"You deserved that, aru!" he screamed into the direction where all the teenagers had run off into. He then turned around to help the other kid get up, but he had already sprung to his feet, and was staring at him.
"You're strange." Wait, what? The unusual statement was followed by a large grin. "I like that! That was amazing! Where did you learn that?"
Yao smiled. Nice kid. "Back in China, I was born there, aru. And you..." he trailed off, looking at the kid's eyes. He was surely Asian too.
"I was born in Korea! Oh, how rude of me! My name is Yong Soo. Thank you for... well, everything!" They shook hands, when Yong Soo winced and stared at his fingers. Shit. Looked like that time he had broken his thumb, only this time it was his ring- and middle finger.
"What did they want from you, aru?" Yong Soo kept on staring at his fingers, silently avoiding the question.
"I guess they didn't like me... quitting." he looked up quickly, a large smile all over his face. "Maybe we'll meet again here, you never know, right?" and then he ran off, clutching his arm.
Yao stood there, thinking in silence.
"Strange kid, aru..." he whispered.
The wind blew a strand of hair into his eyes.
(- -)
If he had to be perfectly honest, at the beginning, Yong Soo was someone who didn't bother him. He was just... just being a weird teenage-kid. Stalker-ish-weird. But that was okay, because he mostly just wanted to talk, or show him things that were supposedly created in Korea, although the little 'Made in China' etiquette on the side probably wasn't lying.
Until one day, he did what had caused Yao to retreat even further into his shell of complex. He had actually tried to grope him. And succeeded to. The worst part of all, though, was that he hadn't tried it anywhere, but on his chest. Where something was missing, since he was male.
Yao hadn't appreciated (What was that for, aru?), Yong Soo looked like he was about to try it out again. He did.
Yao ran away, a dark blush already making its was to his cheeks and probably to the back of his neck. He heard the kid shout behind him, and then follow. That was not good! He had to escape somehow, keep on running, find a place where he could hide-
There was a restaurant. An open restaurant. It didn't look particularly good or bad, it was just very plain. A golden lettering read something that was close to Chinese, but he did not even have a spare second for that. Yong Soo was following him! Following him! Yao ran in, and almost leaped behind the counter, where he crawled into the furthest corner and curled up into a ball. He knew he was trembling. Not that he was afraid, but groping him? The kid should have known better. Finally, he started to breath again.
Until he saw a pair of very dark, very surprised eyes staring down at him from in front of the counter. He had no idea how old this person could be, but probably older than the Korean. Yao looked at him as pathetically as he could, whispering, "Please, don't tell him I'm he-" before he was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. He bit into his hand, his knuckles turned white, his eyes clenched shut. From then on, he was only aware of his own heartbeat and breathing.
Had he listened to what had happened, he'd known that the man whose counter he was currently hiding under was the owner of the restaurant. That he knew Yong Soo. That he hadn't given him away.
After what seemed like an eternity, the man ducked and stared at him again, his eyes darker than ever. What had happened? Was he angry? Oh no! What if he was a freak, too? Then, a hand entered his field of vision to help him get up. It was pale, thin, probably because of hard work and a lot of worrying. He suddenly felt sympathy for that man. Yao took the extended hand and got up, apologizing profusely and thanking him for everything.
The man just stared, silent. "Are you new here, sir? I cannot remember to have ever seen you before."
Yao waved it off. "Don't start with the 'sir', aru. My name is Yao. Yao Wang. Pleased to meet you, aru!" he said, smiling at him.
The other man bowed down. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Yao-san. My name is Honda Kiku."
This was the exact moment both their lives were about to change, as cliché as it sounded.
(- -)
"So you own this place, aru?" Yao questioned, sitting at a table of the cheap-looking restaurant, munching on one of the rice and salmon sushis Kiku had prepared for him because 'you look very tired and stressed, Yao-san.'. He took another one with the chopsticks he had been given, waiting for the answer.
"I do, for now." Kiku looked down. "But I will not for very long." Yao stared at him, the slice of salmon fell down on the plate, as he had somehow twisted his sushi bizarrely and was now holding it upside-down with his chopsticks.
"What do you mean, aru?" he asked, putting the rice support on the plate and trying to get the fish. Damn, he couldn't grab it!
"As you might have noticed, the restaurant is not working very well." The Chinese had a look around him, ignoring his salmon for the time being ; he'd get it later. But Kiku was right : he was the only customer. "I have about four regular customers," Kiku continued. "But it seems people here do not like Japanese food very much. They usually only eat the sushis. Except for my Greek friend, that is." he chuckled darkly, but quickly regained his composure. "In about two months, I will have no other choice but to close the restaurant."
"How long have you been working here, aru?" Yao asked suddenly. Kiku looked thoughtful for a moment, before he replied "For about a year. It was hard work to get everything right, but apparently, it cannot be helped."
True to his direct nature, Yao couldn't help it. "Would you accept any employees, aru?"
For the umpteenth time, Kiku stared at him as if he had said something particularly strange. In fact, he had. "Yao-san, I... I cannot keep the restaurant open for longer than two months, I cannot possibly employ someone..."
"And if that someone invested, aru?" Kiku turned silent. If someone invested, he might get out of it. But there was nobody who could help him out, even less lend him money. "I... do not know. Perhaps there would be a chance, but there is no one who could-"
"I would." They looked at each other, Kiku's face the very definition of shocked. "My family is not poor, aru, and I am a good cook. I used to cook a lot, back in Jinan, aru."
"Jinan...?" Kiku only managed to utter.
"It's the capital of the province of Shandong, I was raised there. But whatever, aru." Yao said with a wave of his hand. "I landed in this town and don't know what to do, aru. I could help you."
"Yao-san... We met about fifteen minutes ago! You cannot make such decisions this light-"
"Who said it is easy for me, aru? But I would like to help you, you seem to worry a lot, aru." Kiku didn't move. "That is, if you accept my offer, aru."
"I... I do not know what to say..." It was true. How was he supposed to react? Except for his four regular customers, nobody had ever showed any act of kindness towards him, Kiku wasn't used to it. And there came a man he had never heard about who proposed to invest money in the restaurant he had spent the last year of his life taking care of? It was too good to be true. He looked up, hesitant and biting his lower lip. "What... What would your conditions be?"
Yao thought about it for a second. What would he want? Well... "An income, a job and maybe a place to sleep would be great, aru! This stupid town has nothing like an acceptable hotel, I even saw one with rats, aru!" he looked up at Kiku, tried to study his face, but his expression was being far too neutral for him to decipher anything. "Do you agree, aru?"
"… I do."
The repairing and renovating of the restaurant started three days later, after they had bought dark red tapestry, white tins of paint and gold paint to write Chinese sayings in a decorative hand on the wallpaper.
AN : I try not to overdo Yao's "aru"s, just as I didn't use any "da ze" for Yong Soo since I didn't find any adequate place for it. I don't want it to sound 'artificial' either, that's why. Yeah. Yao kicks major asses here, by the way. And honestly. WHO didn't mistake China for a girl the first time they saw him?
Don't answer that, please.
By the way, I spared you the whole little paragraph that was supposed to be the description of how exactly they fixed the restaurant.
Yong Soo Im [25] He was 19 when he first met Yao, who was 27, while Kiku was 25. His parents are engineers and he's used to people with a lot of money, but he still has both his feet on the ground.