Hey lovelies!
Sorry for the delay. Was busy writing my other fics. Things are heating up, though! Also, I'm terribly bad with Chinese names, so, if any OC name struck as odd, just let me know, all right?

My special koala hugs with a plate full of cookies for those who left comments/votes. Thank you for taking the time to do so, sweeties!💗😄

Enjoy the read!
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"

I dig it when you have a smile on your face
This inspiration's got to be on the flow
These invitations got to see it and know

It's just warm love
It's just warm love"

-- 'Warm Love' by Van Morrison

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Chapter-4

Timmy shoved half of the sandwich into his mouth, bulging up his cheeks.

“Slow down, will you? Don’t eat like a tramp!” His mother, Jun, chided while buttering up a toast.

Timmy stuffed his face with the remaining half of the bread, leaning forward to his mum, chewing  with his mouth open.

Jun wrinkled her nose and slapped his son’s wrist lightly, “Won’t you ever grow up, Timmy?”

Timmy shook his head and grinned. He gulped down his mouthful with some milk and got up.

“Wait! Why are you getting up? Finish your breakfast!”

“Can’t, already running late, mum!”

“Late? It’s 8:30 in the morning. You didn’t even want to get up at this hour before, not even for the classes. And now, you’re always running off to somewhere, hurrying in and out all day. Something you want to tell me, Tim?” She arched a delicate eyebrow meaningfully.

He put his jacket collar up and said with a cheeky voice, “I’m a responsible adult now.”

“Yes, you gave a fine demonstration just a while ago.” Ling smiled at her son fondly, “Eat something later, please. And remember to call if you’re going to be late, all right?”

“Yes, mum.” Timmy kissed his mother’s cheek and hurried to the door.

“Oh, and grandma’s coming.”

That almost made him skid to a stop.

“What?! Nana’s coming?! God, when???”

Because Nana meant the world to him. He didn’t know how much he missed her, wanted to see her till his mum told him that she was coming.

“Tomorrow. Her flight is in the afternoon. Your dad wants you to go with him to the airport.”

“Of course I will! Yesssss, Nana’s coming!!!!”

He left his home with a huge smile splitting up his face which only broadened as he neared  the convenience store where JingYu worked in the mornings.

Time for his next move.

XOXOXOX

JingYu had to man the cash counter today. He didn’t usually; his job was at the back office but the employees had to adjust when there was a shortage of staff, like today. The store was predictably empty at this hour. He rubbed his head and scroll through his phone. One of his friends was nagging him for doing a modelling project. He ignored the message once again. Fashion industry posed no interest to him. True, he needed the money, but modelling...? Nah.  JingYu stifled a yawn and swept his eyes around and.....isn’t that Timmy Xu? !

JingYu looked closely. Yes, it was Timmy, surfing through the aisles. “What is he doing here?!” He muttered to himself. Given it was a convenience store, open to all but somehow it did not feel like a coincidence to him. JingYu arched his neck as Timmy disappeared into a turn.

JingYu slumped into his seat, shoulder drooping, feeling grumpy. The less he wanted to think about this kid, the more he popped up everywhere around him. What was the deal with this boy anyway? He mentally smacked himself, urging his brain to concentrate on his job, which was important, not on Timmy, who was not important. An old lady came to check out her buyings. The way Timmy surreptitiously came out of an aisle and stood behind the lady didn’t skip JingYu’s eyes either. He huffed and began to process the groceries.

Timmy was next. He stood in front of the counter and tried to look surprised seeing JingYu there. It was so fake and childish that JingYu openly rolled his eyes.

“Hey! You work here?!”

No shit, Sherlock. JingYu didn’t say that aloud though. He just stared at this kid, eyebrows raised. Without his ‘cool as a cucumber’ façade, Timmy looked quite sweet and awkward and....cute, JingYu noticed. Wait, did he just thought Timmy as ‘cute’? Nope, no no no. Nope. No-pe.

“You come here often?” JingYu tried to block his pervy mind and asked a random question.

“Yeah, uh, no, not often, but sometimes, yeah.”

“Mmhm. Did you buy anything?”

“Oh, yeah, here.”

Timmy had bought an Oreo.

JingYu looked at the lonely packet then up at the boy, then back at the Oreo again. After shuffling through the aisles that long this was what he ended up with?

Timmy must have sensed JingYu’s exasperation as he offered a travelling mug at him, “Oh, here, have this.”

“That’s not from our store.”

A nervous laugh, “No, it’s just a hot chocolate....uh, I have a spare...well, it’s for a friend but he didn’t come, so, here, have it.”

JingYu took the Oreo to check it in, “Thanks but I don’t take what is intended for others.”

“Then, take mine!”

Exactly how old this kid is? “No, that’s okay.” JingYu said and added quickly when he saw Timmy’s face fell, “And I can’t take anything from the customers during my shift anyway, so, don’t take it personally, all right?”

“Oh, yeah, sorry, I forgot. Yeah okay.”

“Do you want anything else with your oreo? Some Kinder Joy eggs, maybe?” He couldn’t help teasing.

“Get lost,” Timmy pouted, paid the bill and left.

JingYu looked at his back and smiled, remembering that adorable pout.
Shit. No, not adorable. Absolutely not! There is nothing adorable seeing a grown man pout. NO. NOOOOOOPE. STOP IT!!!

XOXOXOX

After around three hours, his break came and JingYu went out to stretch his legs. Nothing was more tiring than sitting for hours and billing groceries. He rolled his neck and almost sprained it when he heard the voice.

“Finally got your break?”

And of course, it was Timmy.
JingYu looked at the boy with open shock!

“Have you- have you been waiting here this whole time?!!”

“What? No! What do you take me for, your stalker?” The boy looked quite affronted.

“I didn’t say it was for me... Anyway, what are you doing here standing outside?”

“I came here to give you this.”

Another travelling mug of hot chocolate was shoved at his hand.

“Bought it for you.”

JingYu blinked at the container, not knowing what to think of it. Touched? Yes, definitely. But he was a bit peeved to. What on earth....why....

“But...you didn’t have to. Timmy...”

“If you don’t want it, you can throw it away anytime.”

For some reason Timmy was offended. JingYu didn’t know exactly why but he felt that as the older one he should ease things up. After all, it’s not a crime to bring hot chocolates for a colleague, right? Whom you’ve met just a couple of days ago, right? And talked for just a few minutes.....that doesn't sound very normal....umm...well, fuck it.

“Thanks, I...appreciate it.” He gave a genuine smile, “I’ll be honest with you. I was quite surprised but I shouldn’t look the gift horse in the mouth, should I?”

“No, you shouldn’t,” Timmy said and took a gulp his own drink.

JingYu looked at this bizarre boy minutely. There was something about him that made JingYu stop and take notice.

“Let’s sit over there and finish our cuppa,” he said after awhile and they sat on a bench not far from the store.

An Oreo was offered to him.

“You love chocolates, don’t you?”

“Yep.” Just that one syllabic answer.

JingYu took the cookie and was about to take a bite when Timmy almost shrieked, “Not like that!”

“Huh?”

“You don’t eat oreo with hot chocolate like that.” Timmy uttered every word slowly, as if talking to an especially dim kid.

“Then how do you eat it?”

“You have to dunk it in the chocolate first and then eat it.”

He couldn’t control the full blown laugh that rushed out of him. That was probably the cutest thing he had heard a so called adult say. The contrast between that boy in that back alley with a burning cig and this boy who was teaching how to eat Oreos was so vivid that it threw JingYu off completely. He ruffled Timmy’s hair teasingly, “You’re such a strange kid,” and dunked his Oreo into his hot chocolate as instructed. The ridiculousness of the entire situation made him laugh once again.

And then he noticed that the boy opposite him was strangely quiet. 

Shit, did I embarrass him? He observed the pink tinge on those cheeks and those downcast eyes. I shouldn’t have laughed, shouldn’t have ruffled his hair. We are still relatively strangers to each other. I shouldn’t have...

“Hey? I’m sorry I didn’t mean to laugh, it’s just I haven’t had Oreos this way since I had been a child. It just brought back good memories, you know. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t-“

“No! No, I didn’t- I, it’s nothing. I didn’t mind at all. I was just being stupid but ‘m glad that it made you remember good things.”

The atmosphere felt tense suddenly. Timmy bit his lips, JingYu’s eyes followed the movement, and when he realized just what he was doing, he averted eyes quickly.

What the hell was wrong with him?

They sat in complete silence till JingYu cleared his throat.

“Uh, looks like my break’s gonna end soon.”

Timmy got the message and he hurriedly got up, “Yeah, sorry, I wasted your break, once again, he he.” He was still acting nervous and JingYu had no idea why so.

“No, that’s okay. I had a good time. Thanks for” he indicated the cups and the cookies, “everything.”

“No worries. It’s nothing. So, umm, I should go now, yeah..okay.”

JingYu nodded. Timmy nodded back and after standing there and looking at JingYu for another moment, he left.

JingYu didn’t know what exactly happened that turned the joviality of the moment into tense thickness, but one thing he realized: hot chocolate sometimes could warm the heart too.

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A/N: For those who are not familiar with the proverb 'look a gift horse in the mouth', it means we should not judge the material value of a gift.

Comments/votes are very much appreciated.😊