354 5.98 Special chapter – Storm Pooper
+— Author’s note —-+
Edited by Psycho S.
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As soon as they got out of the car, Ying Xiong refused to let go of Xuan Mu, clutching onto his pants, refusing to move, showing signs of separation anxiety.
Ying Xiong emotions had heightened as he looked up at the tall trees and the blue sky. Were they going to leave him in this scary forest? The disrupted schedule and unfamiliar routine could make even the most relaxed toddler feel some tension, “Daddy.”
Xuan Mu picked up the boy and switched his gaze towards the children climbing up the rope pyramid, preventing another accident from happening, “Shh, I’m here,” he pecked the trembling boy’s forehead.
Sitting on the swing, Bing Shi observed Ying Xiong’s behaviour. Was he afraid of the children’s playground? It seemed like Ying Xiong wanted to cry, but at the same time, it looked like he was afraid to cry; he wanted to play, but was afraid to do so, “Let me hold him.”
Xuan Mu let Ying Xiong sit on Bing Shi’s lap and sat at the bench further away, waiting patiently until their stinky bun calmed down.
“Lack of activity?” Swinging the swing gently until the boy’s breathing stabilized, Bing Shi hooked the end of a leash to her bracelet and gave the handle to Ying Xiong. When she put him down, the little boy automatically sauntered towards Xuan Mu, so she tugged at the leash and fished him towards her, inadvertently starting a small game of tug of war, “Stinky bun, a truck!”
.....
“Ateluk?” Ying Xiong turned his head around frantically. Where?
Bing Shi pointed at a random path, “There!”
Holding a leash, Ying Xiong ran clumsily in the direction his mommy pointed at, but the leash he held refused to budge, “Mommy, mommy.” Come on. He used all of his strength to drag her together with him. Mommy. Come on!
Grinning, Bing Shi let herself get dragged by a toddler. She was too tall while he was too short. Holding his hands would strain her back. She noticed that Ying Xiong always moved ahead when she nudged his body. When too far behind, he would get stressed and latch onto their legs like a leech. Their goal was to teach Ying Xiong how to control his own behaviour so they didn’t have to. Getting to know the world was encouraged, but extremely traumatic things were a big no-no.
“...” Xuan Mu picked up the boy who got tired only after a few meters of running, ignoring the odd gazes from the surroundings. He was too busy draining their phones and camera batteries.
“You built up a bad habit.” Bing Shi eyed the man who spoiled the boy rotten by always carrying him in his arms, “Put him down.”
“I’m not teaching my son how to put a woman on a leash. I’m not that kind of man,” said Xuan Mu righteously.
“Yeah, of course,” Bing Shi aimed her leash still attached to her bracelet at his jelly bottom, “Bad daddy. You’re turning our son into a Michelin tire baby.” Before it could hit the bull’s eye, he caught it mid-air, “...” She looked up at his back, “You could have just said that you wanted to lead me yourself.”
“You’re overthinking,” Xuan Mu rolled the leash around his wrist until their hands came in contact, “You say I’m spoiling him rotten now, but when he grows up, I bet you’ll plead me to go easy on him.”
Letting him hold her hand, Bing Shi imagined the rigorous training her hubby was able to put his loved ones through, and she suddenly refrained from betting, “No wonder stinky bun doesn’t grow up. It’s because we give him no reason to do so.”
“Wife...”
Their bickering was interrupted by the boy who loved to snack on junk food and hated vegetables more than any other type of food. Ying Xiong pointed his finger at the ice cream truck with sparkling eyes and his mouth wide open, making woah sounds as if he saw a very precious treasure chest filled with gold, “Mooooomy.” A sound-making truck!
Xuan Mu put the truck-loving boy down, placing Bing Shi’s teddy backpack on his son instead, “This is how you should have acted when seeing my garage. With how you react, I’d think it’s a decaying ice cream truck.”
Ignoring his father’s words, Ying Xiong walked ahead in excitement. He was occasionally turning his head to check his parents’ positions, and when he was too far ahead, he was even willing to wait for them to catch up. His unknown distress didn’t fully disappear, which showed the moment he ran back to his mommy and asked her to put him on the leash, reaching his hands up towards his parents’ interlocked fingers, “Mommy, mommy.”
Bing Shi hooked the leash onto the teddy backpack in amusement, “That’s my son. Work smart, not hard.”
Feeling some physical resistance, this little thing helped Ying Xiong to walk ahead with more certainty and confidence. Children were more vulnerable to being traumatized, but with the right support, they were also able to recover faster than adults.
Just when they thought that Stinky Bun was not afraid of strangers, the child burst out in a loud cry, as if he desperately wanted to shake off an invisible monster.
“...” Xuan Mu told Bing Shi to go ahead as he blocked a very familiar person’s path. Not many dared to look him down face to face. So it would be safe to assume that this person’s identity should have been more than obvious. His son’s soul’s mortal enemy.
“How could you put a leash on that child as if he was a pet?!” Aoi Hong stepped in front of the tattooed man fearlessly, seeing that crying boy who wanted to be set free infuriated her.
Aoi Hong worked as a volunteer in the local orphanage and came here to play with a group of orphans. Even the slightest thing could have a lasting impact on a child’s development, “If the leash is your only option for keeping your child safe, then that is obviously the best choice. However, if that is the case, you should have your eye on your child as much as possible so that he doesn’t hurt himself or others. It’s...It’s more important to teach him to stay with you rather than to force him to only be able to explore so far.”
When Aoi Hong was younger, her mom just had to give her a look and she knew she had done something wrong. Her mom took her to the zoo and to museums all the time and to her knowledge, she never needed this inhuman leash.
Ziek knew she meant well but, “Shut your damn mouth up and save your educational shit talk for someone else,” he glanced at the scared children behind Aoi Hong. Cutting off the invisible leash around their necks, he gave them the ‘you messed up look’ and began to corner Aoi Hong and the kids further away from his son and wife, “Fuck off before my temper gets from high to jail real fast.”
Heck, being an asshole for a day didn’t feel half bad. Especially towards someone like Aoi Hong. Kids out there, don’t learn from this girl and try to provoke an evidently stronger, and dangerous-looking strangers on a whim. Risking your neck was not worth it. Not everyone would get interested in protecting this person like Quin Yu.
Despite the fear, Aoi Hong wanted to continue carrying on this unwinnable fight, but the crying children who tried to drag her away forced her to back out.
Xuan Mu heard the people’s whispers. Yeah, coming here wasn’t the best idea, but they had to come one day. So according to most, they were irresponsible parents who relied on the leash to keep Ying Xiong close to them so that they could scroll through their social media or be all lovey-dovey? It didn’t stray that far from the truth. They weren’t the best example of parents. He didn’t deny that. He would think so too.
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