Ta da!!! Update time!! *potato dance*💃💃💃

So, the good news is....*suspense drumming* I'm down with the flu!😚 Therefore.......me no idea what me wrote. 😚😚 Me potato!😚

Also, my bestie is reading this story and I'm scared!😫 You see, she used to be like my mentor in fanfic writing! She was there when I wrote my first fanfic ever. She knows exactly how bad my writing can get and I'm always scared when she reads my stories because she is a veeeeeery talented writer herself! But I love her to pieces and she is my bestie forever, even when lives keep us too busy. She is also the one who gave me my penname, "Buttonbee"😂 I can't stop when I talk about her! She is......she is my Su.💗

My squishy squishy panda hugsies to all those who commented, voted and followed! You guys are the reason I'm writing this with a snotty nose, droopy eyes and fire breath!😚😚😚 In other words, I'm all hot and bothered right now!😎😎😂

Hope you enjoy the read!

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Chapter-4

Johnny swivelled in his chair staring at the ceiling. They just had a departmental meeting about some show upgradation and stuff. Well, he was stuck with the 1-fucking-am show, no change there.

He glanced at his watch, 2:57pm. Timmy would be in his class. Maybe he could go and annoy him? What a great idea! Grinning, Johnny whipped out his phone.

The ringing went on then he was directed to the voice mail service.

“I’m coming to your school, don’t leave.”

And he was off.

It had been more than two months they had first met and it did not take them long to become friends. Timmy was the easiest person to talk to and Johnny often poured his heart out while they chatted. Although Timmy was not much of a talker, Johnny did not mind. He had his own way of getting the man talk, and thus he knew that Timmy was a music teacher at a blind school, lived here alone while his parents were back at his ancestral home, was single, loved music and literature, used to own a cat as a child but after its death never had another pet, did not like to eat vegetables, fond of meat, had a pebble jar at home (Johnny was yet to invade his home though) and had the most dazzling smile Johnny had ever seen.

But even though they were friends now, Johnny still could feel Timmy maintaining a distance. Maybe his lack of sight made him uncertain of trusting Johnny with his friendship? Well, Johnny was not an epitome of trust either but still he tried to be a bit more responsible for Timmy. He even told him that he cried watching ‘Grave of the Fireflies’ to let the man now exactly how much he trusted him. When it came to Timmy, Johnny did not mind being laughed at or called ridiculous. He just hoped that someday Timmy would trust him enough to talk about himself involuntarily.

Arriving, he asked the school security where he could find Teacher Xu and was directed where he would supposedly find Timmy.

He did not. The teachers’ room was devoid of Timmy and after asking around a middle aged lady kindly informed him that Mr Xu was taking a class on the 1st floor. While climbing up the stairs, Johnny absently thought if Timmy found stairs difficult and with that thought came another, what if someday his steps faltered and he could not maintain his balance and topple over? Johnny stopped mid step. Not because of the sudden worry that gripped him but of the fact that he was worrying for someone else, so much so that even a set of stairs was giving him a panic attack! The oddity of the situation made him pause and only after a shake of head, he was able to resume his ascending.

As an adult this was the first time he had prioritizing someone else’s well being over his own and the newness of the feeling was what making him overtly protective of Timmy. Yes, that was all to it, nothing else.

With that thought Johnny headed to the room from where the sound of music was coming. He had yet to see Timmy in his teacher-mode and the anticipation made him excited. The closed door had a small glass covered window like opening and Johnny pressed his nose against it, cupping his hands around his eyes.

A room full of fifteen to twenty tiny little kids, sitting on equally tiny chairs, surrounding a small piano where sat Timmy and all were singing in various tones. Johnny could not see Timmy’s face, just a part of his right forearm with the sleeves rolled up to reveal porcelain skin with dark hair dusted on it.

Had a man’s arm ever looked so beautiful? Wait, did he just thought Timmy’s arm beautiful? His arm? What the fuck?

Peeved by his own thoughts, he waited for the current song to end and knocked when the kids were clapping and giggling hard by the end. Timmy leaned back in his chair and finally Johnny could see his face. He wore clear glasses today.

No homo. Just bro. Besties. Dudes.

“Yes?” Timmy enquired, unseeing eyes casted at the general direction of the door. The little faces all around cocked their heads too.

“Um, it’s....me, Johnny.”

“Johnny?” The surprise in Timmy’s voice was evident, the frown between his brows too. His steps were steady, certain as he got up and came to the door. Timmy had told Johnny that he had no problems navigating in a place where he had gone more than a couple of times.  He said he counted the steps.

The door opened and Timmy looked at Johnny’s right, “Johnny Huang?”

Johnny scowled and moved to stand in front of Timmy, “How many Johnnys do you know?”

Timmy’s eyes went wide and Johnny’s scowl deepened. Damn, how the hell his eyes look this beautiful even behind glasses? What kind of sorcery is this? He should not go around looking like this!

Wait, no that's not- what?

“What are you doing here? It’s- I’m in the middle of a class!”

“Didn’t you get my voice mail?” Johnny asked and peeped over Timmy shoulder into the classroom. “You might want to get back. One little monkey is trying to climb up your piano,” he snickered watching a small boy wrapped around one of the legs of the instrument, trying hard to get on top.

“You- wha- huh?” He turned towards the room and yelped, “Wong! Not again!”

The chipmunk, Wong, did not abort his mission till Timmy went to the spot and grabbed him.

“How many times do I have to warn you not to do this? This is not a tree!”

“How ‘d I know? I can’ see!” Wong replied remorselessly, evoking peals of laughter from his peers.

“Being cheeky aren’t we?”

“No,” Wong negated confidently.

This entire scene should have been funny as hell, watching Timmy getting outsmarted by a two feet tall tyke but Johnny’s smile dimmed. The teacher student duo was facing each other but both looking off centre, not having the concept of eye contact. Wong’s eyes were really small, like two black lines and he blinked a lot; Timmy’s eyes were huge, beautiful......and empty.

He looked at the other kids, some with eyes like clouds, some had white rings around their pupils, and those who had partial vision wore glasses with thick lens, eyes flickering back and forth sometimes. They were just like any other kids, innocent, playful, curious but their night was eternal. They would stay forever in the darkness without knowing how the world looked like.......how their own faces looked like.

And Timmy grew up just like this. Johnny swallowed the unnamed feeling inside him thickly and cleared his throat. That little sound earned him the attention of the entire room. The kids seemed confused as to where to zoom their attention, still too young to sharpen the hearing senses. Although, Timmy straightened up.

“Kids, we have a guest among us.”

“Um, hello!” Johnny greeted uncertainly.

He was not prepared for what happened next, and by the look of it Timmy was not either. As soon as the introduction was done all the kids faced the general direction of Johnny’s voice, some faced the other way, and suddenly broke out into singing in variable tones and pitch.

“Woah!” The exclamation slipped out of Johnny and he took a step back. Should he run?

“No! It’s not- Nooo, stop stop!” Timmy rushed to put an end to this cacophony and most of this students stopped immediately except for a few who still continued to sing at the top of their voices. “Stop your singing! This is not the guest we talked about. This Sir is from the radio.” Then he looked at a spot where he thought Johnny might be and explained with an embarrassed laugh, “Sorry about that. Actually we were practicing for our school’s anniversary where these kids will perform in front of some guests.”

Finally understanding what prompted these little hellions to burst out singing, Johnny moved forward to stand near Timmy so that he would have an idea where Johnny was and smirked, “That was one hell of a performance, though.”

Looking sheepish, Timmy replied, “They are not quite ready yet. Anyway, kids, this is Mr. Johnny Huang, from the radio.”

“Hello, Mister Huang,” came the greetings of twenty voices piercing Johnny’s eardrums.

“Hello,” he greeted back awkwardly, not having the least bit of experience how to interact with kids.

“Do you make the clown voice?” Wong chirped from the back.

“And duck voice too?” Another followed.

“Duck voice duck voice!” The children yelled and clapped.

Johnny was not sure what were they talking about and whether it was expected of him to make a duck voice but thankfully Timmy came to his rescue once again.

“No, he does not make duck voice or clown voice. And is this how you are taught to welcome a guest?” Sounding terse, Timmy addressed the kids who began fidgeting.

“Sorry, Mister Radio,” a little girl apologized; her eyes were closed and was gripping the sides of her tunic. Johnny felt a strange sensation within him that could only be described as “awww”.

“I’m sorry, kids, I’m not the duck voice man. But do you want to listen to some songs? I can play them on my show for you!”

A collective happy whisper rose and the bell rang at the same time. Timmy looked relieved for some reason.

“Okay, children. Class is dismissed for today. Please practice the song at home. Thank you.”

“Thank you, teacher.”

“Now form a line.”

The kids began to shuffle and extended their hands to know where the others were, then they put their hands on the shoulder of the ones standing before them, thus forming a line. Timmy began to touch their heads and Johnny realized he was counting. When this was done, Timmy went to the door, hand sliding against the wood to find the handle and opened it. A guard was standing outside. He greeted Timmy, took the hand of the kid standing at the beginning of the line and steered them out of the class.

Once the class was empty, Timmy closed the door and moved his head uncertainly, not knowing where the other man stood.

“Do you have to go to another class now?” Johnny asked, more for Timmy’s advantage to find his location.

Timmy changed his posture to face him, “No, not today. My classes are finished but what are you doing here?”

Johnny shrugged, “I was bored.”

“And you thought it would be entertaining to disturb me in the middle of my class? And who let you in? It’s not the protocol!”

“Well, I told them I was from the radio station and your Principal seemed to be missing, so that made things easier.”

Johnny saw Timmy rubbing his temples and grinned. He loved getting on his friend’s nerves!

“Johnny you can’t barge into my.....“

Johnny tuned out. Seeing Timmy all riled up was amusing. When he was annoyed his nose tip turned red like it did now. Adorable.

Shit. Best not look at it much.

“Have you had your lunch yet? I’m starving. Let’s go out and eat.”

Timmy groaned in frustration, “Have you not been listening to me? I’m busy!”

“But you just said you’re finished with classes for today!”

“Well, I have other work.”

“Like what?”

“Like not having lunch with you! Honestly, Johnny!”

Johnny cackled in glee, annoying Timmy further. “If you don’t come with me I’ll climb up your piano like Wong!”

In an instant Timmy’s face turned horrified and he tried to get to his piano but bumped into a chair.

Johnny almost flew to catch him from falling down. Wrapping his arms around Timmy’s torso and waist, he steadied him. This was the first time he came this close to him. They met only a couple of times before today and neither time they had any reason to come physically close. But now that he had Timmy in his arms, he had a revelation-

Timmy smelled like baby talcum powder!

Surprised, Johnny tried to take another whiff but got caught red handed.

“Are- are you sniffing me?” Timmy asked incredulously as Johnny retracted his hands.

“No! Why would you think that?”

“I heard you sniffing just now!”

“I have a bad cold!” Johnny fibbed.

“You are such an awful liar.” Timmy shook his head and hobbled to the piano to close the lid and collect some music sheets.

“Soo, are we gonna hang out?” Johnny enquired.

“Would you leave me in peace if I refuse?”

“No,” Johnny replied way too happily.

“Then what other option do I have?” Sounding dejected he made his way to Johnny, “I honestly regret that phone call.”

“No, you don’t,” Johnny sing songed and they left the roomT, Timmy sometimes dragging his hand on the wall to keep the direction.

XOXOXOX

“This school anniversary thing, someone important coming?” Johnny asked biting into a pastry.

They had come to a nearby cake shop and after knowing Timmy had a sweet tooth, Johnny had ordered loads of sweet delights even though he did not like sweets that much.

“Not really. Those trustee board members, some local big names and all. You know the drill of such occasions,” Timmy answered. He had donned on his dark sunglass again, much to Johnny’s displeasure. He liked to look into Timmy’s eyes.

Nodding knowingly, Johnny hummed, “And those chipmunks are going to sing there?”

“Yes,” replied Timmy with a chuckle.

“Heh, if their performance is gonna be anything like the way they sang for me, I doubt they are going to impress anyone,” and Johnny laughed at the memory, remembering those red little faces screaming.

But Timmy did not join in. With a perfunctory smile he replied, “That’s all right. They don’t receive praises much anyway. They are habituated with the disappointment. If nothing else they would get some pity claps.”

The smug smile slipped off Johnny’ face to replace it with guilt and shame. He did not mean to belittle those kids or Timmy. But thinking back to his words, he realized just how big of an insensitive prick he sounded. He intended his remark to be a joke but why make a joke out of something that was important for others? Or was it because of the entitlement of an able bodied person? JingYu’s ears felt hot. He constantly complained about his own life but what about Timmy? What about those children? In this world of visual sensibility and happenings how did they cope up? How Timmy coped up? Had he ever thought that? Was Timmy accustomed with disappointment too?  Wong’s words came to his mind. Though taken lightly, that kid really did not have any inkling about the difference between a tree and piano. He just knew what his small hands could feel.

Laughing from afar was so easy. But living? That was another matter altogether.

He looked at Timmy. Easting his cake silently, head bowed down, hand finding the plate easily because he calculated the position. But if Johnny were to take the plate away and put it elsewhere Timmy would have no way of finding it. His hands would drag all over, everywhere, trying to get a hold, failing, getting lost more and more, waiting for someone to find it for him. Waiting for his pity clap.

There was a pain inside Johnny’s throat that did not go away.

“Timmy?”

“Hmm?” Timmy hummed, chin tilting up slightly.

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it,” he waved it off with a smile but that made the pain inside Johnny more intense. Did he laugh off every time he was let down? Because he had no other choice? No better expectation?

“It’s not nothing. It’s...” he licked his lips, a crease between his brows; never before had he faced this kind of self evaluating situation. “I know I am not a very sensible person and its may sound horrible but I’ve never really gave a toss about it; hell, sometimes I even put effort to come off as insensitive as I can manage but... I should have known, should have had some idea about what the life must be for those kids. I mean, it’s not rocket science, is it? All we need to do is to give some attention. Deliberate ignorance is not excusable. I’m sorry. And....” he hesitated. He did not want Timmy to think ill of him but this was not about him. “And I’m sure you know by now exactly what a selfish bastard I am but Timmy,” he paused, suddenly overwhelmed by the desire to hold the man’s hand, “I’m trying to learn.....from you. Will you teach me?”

Johnny never knew how much a pair of eyes could hold a person’s expression till he could not see Timmy’s because of those dammed dark glasses.

Timmy’s voice sounded baffled when he spoke, “Teach you? What are you talking about? What will I teach you?”

“To see,” throwing caution to the wind Johnny held Timmy’s hand lightly, “...through your eyes.”

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Any thoughts?😶