He wasn't born with the name Kris, but Wu Fan.

Young little Wu Fan was given birth in Guangzhou, the place turning into his hometown for ten short years. The first three years barely counted, he didn't have a single memory of what had happened.

Having to move away from Guangzhou was one of the hardest things he had to live through as young Wu Fan -- he didn't understand anything anyone spoke, nor get why people there weren't speaking in Mandarin. There was once when his classmate had stolen the jade pendant hanging loosely on his neck, saying it was too lame to be paraded around. He had cried the entire lesson through, till Baxter had decided to return the faded jade. The red string was lost in the process of them passing it around though, so Kris held onto it throughout the entire day at school, afraid of someone else taking it away.

Kris had finally met Henry and Amber at grade ten, the worries of being the only Asian in his clique had dispersed at last.



The jade pendant had stayed against his chest since then, he gets possessive over anyone trying to get a closer look at it. 'It looks as though my great great great great grandfather owned it.' Henry would make a quick spit at it.

There's a deeper history behind this jade, and Kris knows it.

But just what?

Often, he'd wonder how long this has been passed down. Jade doesn't fade that easily, unless it's fake. The dealer at the pawn shop says it's unlikely that the jade they held onto was made of nephrite. It was at least two centuries old; people didn't have such ability to remake a perfect copy of the real gem -- and even if it was indeed a fake, it wouldn't have faded that prettily.

The jade shone a washed out green, the darker parts of the jade illuminated under bright lights. There had been a particular time under the baking sun of summer, Kris had spotted a sliver of gold under the inner circle of the pendant. It seemed like there were wordings, but they were really too small to be deciphered by him. Moreover, it was just half a character, how in the world was he supposed to know what it meant?

His mom had called him a liar, that after so many years of looking at the jade, there was absolutely nothing such as a sliver of gold. Kris brought it out again, looking closely every time the sun was at its' brightest. It took him four days to finally be able to see the gold carvings at the side once again. He had tried scratching at the gem, but to no avail -- nothing happened, other than the fact that his nail had been scratched from all the constant grinding.

It had taken him another summer to finally make out the first two words. Kris had decided that it was 'Ai Fei' (probably so). But he doesn't get it. What has a beloved concubine have to do to the jade?





"Do you and Tao know each other from somewhere before?"

"No."

"But you guys were shooting each other such disgusting flirtatious looks! It is hard to believe the fact th-"

"Lu Han, can you just drop it? I have never met your friend, and we most definitely did not 'shoot each other disgusting flirtatious looks'." Kris says firmly.

"Whatever, okay? It's none of my business, but Tao is only fifteen, so I hope you'll keep your hands off of him." he sighs, "You may be our prestige guest, and though Mr Wen has instructed us many times to take good care of the exchange students, but if you ever so even get a weird idea of Tao then stop before anyone gets hurt. You're just staying here for two weeks anyway." Lu Han shrugged, turning to continue his walk back home.

It had seemed as though a stone had fallen onto Kris's heart; feeling somewhat heavy and burdened. Right, I'm just going to be here for two weeks anyway.

The longing feeling to meet the familiar stranger tugged on the back of his mind, unwilling to fade like the jade did.





"I'll just leave you two to talk then, I'll be at the comic store." 'Since I'm such an unwanted fool going between the both of you.' Lu Han mutters under his breath as he walks away.

There was so much tension.

Kris catches the way Zi Tao his chapped lips. It was the first time he had seen the heavy bags under the tiny slits of his eyes. His black sweater hardly covers his collarbones, no surprise that he's shivering under the strong wind. Suddenly, the urge to merge his head with the wall seemed tempting.

"So..." Zi Tao begins, rubbing his eyes with the side of his fist.

"Have you been to Canada?"

"Uh... no. I've never even stepped out of Qingdao once in my life." He said it in a matter-of-fact tone.

'So Guangzhou's out then.'

Because Kris couldn't figure out what the heck was that awkward eye contact all about. At one point, he thinks he sees a flicker of recognition in his eyes but only to fizzle away when the damn old monk called. I just cannot get a single moment of peace with this boy, can I?

"I'll talk to you at lunch tomorrow? Ask Lu Han ge to direct you to the back of the library; it is very much quieter there."



I could only nod and watch him retreat back into the temple. For a moment, all I had wanted to do was to grab him by the back of his loose-fitting tee -- to make him stay longer and just to once again look at him.

I just couldn't find the strength to do so. 

Was it alright to have such lingering feels for a boy so young?

Because I think it's fine to falter in the presence of such a familiar stranger.





The hardest part is not to walk away from his shadow, but the tingling feeling down my spine whenever I look into his eyes. I do not understand why I feel quirky when I see him. My years of training in wushu has not taught me how to stop being weird when he is around. I have hardly met him for four hours, but the confidence he exudes is something I already envy.

I am a little angry that Abbot Ma called me back, but on the other hand, he had help me snap out of the tight little chokehold the exchange student had me in. It made my head spin and stomach turn... I could barely speak. He had asked me if I have ever been to Canada, but I have not. There was confusion. So much confusion I could not catch. Was I confused, or was the foreign exchange student confused? Maybe I am too young to understand.

There was a lot of silence as well, but my mind was at war. Master Ma was right... I do need inner peace.

There was nothing Zi Tao could do; sitting at the side of the pond and staring at the koi fishes swimming around. The lilies had sprouted beautifully, pink carefully mashed with white, only to contrast with the green of the pads.

It was almost night, the backlights at the streets lighting up the temple. Zi Tao was glad that none of his teachers had decided, for once, to bother them with their constant nagging and demanding homework. Just because they were the best school in the city didn't mean they didn't have a life to attend to.

"How long more must I stay here?" Zi Tao mumbled to himself, picking up a pebble and throwing it against the wall.

"You may go now."

Young Zi Tao's face lit up at the voice of Abbot Ma, only to fall back as he sees him sighing and shaking his head. "What seems to be the matter, Abbot?"

"You have not achieved inner peace, Zi Tao. In fact, you seem to be far more unsettled than before."

"You cooped me up here from early afternoon all the way till night. I was not even allowed to go for wushu!" he retorts.

"But Zi Tao, you have to understand --"

"No! I'm telling Mom on you!"

Zi Tao left, leaving the Abbot befuddled at his sudden outburst.

May inner peace find its own place in the little one's mind soon.



--
Good day people! This chapter is not as long as the rest (it's 1.4k words this time round~) since I've been out the entire day today. 
Comments are not necessary but very much appreciated! :D