Patters of soft tiny feet on the floor echoed in the house when the doorbell rang in the evening. The cartoon airing on the TV was forgotten at the moment while its viewer jumped up from his blue plastic chair to answer the door.

“Door!!!” his excited little voice reverberated across the living room to the kitchen when Xiao Shan peeked out of the kitchen.

Before she could tell the little boy to look before opening, the lock clicked and his voice again came to her ears. “Uncle Kris!!”

Kris chuckled loudly at the boy and to his self as he squatted to the boy’s eye level. As a routine, the boy raised one hand to take the flowers from him and another to hook around Kris’s neck. And easily, the latter scooped the boy into his stronger arms and carried him up. The five years old boy whooped in delight at the height he gained.

“How’s the little prince doing today?” Kris asked, stepping into the house carrying the boy and closing the door behind him with his foot. “I heard it’s you went to the zoo today.”

The boy, already nicknamed the ‘Little Prince’ by the people around him, grinned wide to show his baby teeth. Hugging Kris’s neck close, he launched into a fast and limited vocabulary explanation of his adventure at the zoo with his mom.

“Bear, giraffe, and monkeys…”

Just then, Xiao Shan came walking out of the kitchen carrying two plates of dishes she had been cooking just as Kris was lowering the boy back to his feet. She placed the plates down onto the dining table and instructed briskly.

“Xing, please go and switch off the TV. Then go wash your hands, dinner’s ready.”

The little boy, Xing turned to beam at his mom. Without any objection, he nodded and ran off to do as told, but not before giving the bouquet of tulips to his mom. His voice could be heard cheerfully saying goodbye to his favorite cartoon character when he switched it off. Then he was off to the washroom.

Xiao Shan looked at the flowers and sighed softly but loud enough for Kris to hear. “Kris...”

“What, I can’t buy you flowers now?” he defended quickly. “Honestly, if you’ll just tell me what your favorite flower is, I wouldn’t resort to buying a different one every month.”

“I thought I said no.”

“You said no before Xing was born. Then you said no because he’s just a baby. After that, it was because he’s too young. He’s five now. He can walk, talk and even brush his own teeth. And it’s still a no from you.”

Xiao Shan shook her head. Placing the flowers onto the table as well, she replied, “Kris, you’re a great guy and Xing likes you. But…”

“But it’s still a no,” Kris cut her short. Turning away to break their eye contact, he pulled a chair to take a seat. Xiao Shan sighed again. He opened his mouth to add more when Xing returned, practically skipping now while dragging his favorite Donald Duck stuffed toy. The conversation officially ended.

“Mommy, can Donald eat with us?”

Xiao Shan smiled at that naïve question. Bending down and caressing his hair, she nodded. “Sure… But only if you promise to finish all your vegetables.”

“Ok!” little Xing agreed promptly. He raised his hands to be carried and Xiao Shan picked him up in her arms.

She gently tucked him into his personalized chair, a stack of plastic chairs so that he’ll easily reach the height of the dining table. Xing placed his toy on his lap and proceeded to pull his plastic plate closer to him as his mom returned to the kitchen. He looked up to see Kris staring at him and grinned innocently in return at the older man.

Kris unconsciously pulled his face into a frown but quickly turned impassive when confusion crossed Xing’s face. A smile came back onto Xing’s face again. The little boy was easy to please and even when the boy was not asking for anything, Kris sometimes finds himself trying to make the boy smiles. It’s understandable because Xing has a contagious laugh and eyes that sparkles when he’s happy. His energy was unlike anything Kris has seen before.

Everyone who laid their eyes on the little boy took a liking to him immediately. His grandparents especially doted on him so much that he was practically royalty in their eyes. It was also how the nickname ‘Little Prince’ came by.

Kris, having already graduated from medical school and in his second year of residency, at times hated Xing. Unlike the little boy, he has to spend the most of his days in hospital. And when he does get off, he has to share Xiao Shan with the boy. It wasn’t a competition to Xing but Kris sees it so.

Even though the boy was only five, Kris has already begun to see the reason behind all the love for Xing. He was loveable, and the fact Kris likes him too puts the former in a love-hate relationship. And already, Kris could see where Xing’s looks came from. – The father!

The more he looked at Xing, the more he was sure why Xiao Shan was in love with the other man; the other man that he could never replace. And Xing would forever be the reminder.

“If you don’t hold onto me now, you’ll lose me,” Kris muttered under his breath when Xiao Shan finally returned with three bowls of rice. He casted a wishful look at the mother and son, a picture he could never be a part of. He’s just the outsider.

*

Lu Han checked the ID on his phone and did a double take when he didn’t recognize the strange number. His two managers, accounts and sales, were looking at him, waiting. Their meeting came to an abrupt halt with the interruption from his phone.

Quickly apologizing, he answered the phone with a curt ‘hello’. He didn’t like to be interrupted during his meetings and definitely didn’t like it when it’s from an unknown number.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Lu, I’m calling from Eastern Bank, my name is Lin.” A young man’s voice greeted from the other end of the line and automatically, Lu Han rolled his eyes. It’s been the third call from the bank this month and he’s sick of it.

“Is there a problem?”

“We call to inform you that Mrs. Lu has swiped her credit card for a purchase of a watch costs RMB150000.” Lu Han almost choked on his own saliva at that piece of information. But he was careful not to display any emotion in front of his employees.

“As it is a large transaction, we would like to inform you sir. And as it is the third large transaction this month, Mrs. Lu has exceeded the credit limit.”

Lu Han cursed inwardly. It’s the second time in two months. What is his wife doing with all those things?

“I understand. Thank you for calling,” he replied calmly and ended the conversation. Then, he placed the phone back on its spot and nodded to his managers to resume the meeting. He would have a talk with his wife at night.

Ann sipped the decaf latte slowly while watching a group of young women modelled the latest spring collection. Her friends were sitting around her, on lavish couches, also sipping their coffees and eating cupcakes. But they were missing a member.

“I can’t believe Ying can’t make it because her kid is sick,” one friend piped up, shaking her head when a model stopped in front of her. “I have to beg to get these VIP passes.”

“Her kid is sick, what do you expect her to do? She can’t just tell the nanny to take care of it,” another friend answered. “If it’s your kid, you wouldn’t be here either.”

Ann made a tick on the pamphlet she has in hand with a pencil, making note to reserve the black dress that just came out. She was very blatantly ignoring her friends, like how she always does when they are talking about children. She has nothing to contribute.

“Please… My boy is very healthy. He gets vaccinated on time and monthly visits to the doctors,” the first friend said. She peered at Ann’s booklet and added, “Nice choice, Ann. I think that dress will look great on you.”

“You’re worse than Ying,” another friend cut in. “Who takes their kid to the doctor every month?”

The first friend turned in her seat to cast a disgruntled look at the person who spoke up. “Do you know how dangerous the flu is these days? You can’t be too careful.” She faced front again. “I envy you, Ann. You don’t have to worry about all these details.”

“Yeah,” the rest agreed almost immediately. “When are you and Lu Han finally going to have kids?”

Ann finally tore her eyes away from all the clothes. “Lu Han and I are not planning to start a family that soon. We’re still young; we should enjoy our lives more.”

“Honeymoon, huh?” they teased. And Ann beamed at that statement. Smilingly, she answered.

“Yup, honeymoon. The world is our oyster.”

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I've officially ran out of ideas so just decided to jump forward to five years later. (-_-lll) Now I need to wait for EXO's new mini album to be released for more inspiration. Lolx... I'm so excited for that!! ^^

Hope everyone enjoy reading this chapter. I try to make Xing as adorable as possible. Hehe..

And as always, comments, upvote & subcribe. Thank you~