"Gege. You haven't paid me my can of paint yet."

"..." Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"I could... Maybe send it to you tomorrow-?" Xie Lian offered.

"Hm," the boy pretended to consider this and then briefly nodded his head. "Gege, why don't I help you? It seems like you could use some help."

"Oh, that will be incredible," Xie Lian said gratefully.

"Mn, just let me pack up my materials while Gege can tell me what the dogs look like." Hua Cheng glanced over at the art supplies on the sidewalk along with a portable wooden easel that Xie Lian hadn't noticed earlier. Xie Lian presumed this boy was probably some sort of street painter.

"Alright, there's E-ming, who's a black lab..."

...

They found the dogs.

The dogs were not together, however. Xie Lian found E-ming barking at a squirrel up on a tree in a nearby park. The squirrel was a daring one, pelting E-ming with acorns.

Xie Lian dragged the dog away from the little rodent. He could have sworn the animal stuck its tongue out at E-ming. Poor E-ming.

Afterward, Xie Lian and the street painter boy search for Ruoye. It took them a while to realize that they could have used E-ming's sense of smell to help them.

E-ming found Ruoye or rather Ruoye was just waiting for them by the area where Xie Lian met the boy. Looking quite pleasant too.

The streak of red paint was gone also, and Xie Lian did not think Ruoye was the one who cleaned it. Yes, Ruoye is a smart dog but Xie Lian hasn't taught her how to clean up messes yet.

"Well, at least both of you are here now. Don't run off like that again, alright?" Xie Lian was relieved.

Ruoye responds by wagging her tail while E-ming chases his.

"Really now, I was quite worried," Xie Lian scolded them.

The boy chuckled, "Gege, you must be too nice to them, aren't they spoiled."

Xie Lian offered an embarrassed smile. Then his phone ranged.

"Hello?" Xie Lian picked up the phone, eyeing the energetic dogs. The last thing he wanted was for the dogs to run off again.

"Xie Lian dear, it's me, the errands are taking longer than I expected, you don't mind watching E-ming and Ruoye for an extra hour? You can bring them to Puqi Park, they love that place." ...it wasn't Xie Lian the one spoiling them.

"I'll pay you extra for it, dear! See you in an hour!" and then the lady hung up.

Xie Lian: "..."

Oh, well. Xie Lian didn't have anything else planned today, so he supposed he could spend some more time with these cute (although naughty) dogs for a little longer.

"E-ming, guess we are going back to that park!"

Xie Lian turned to the boy.

"Thank you for helping me today, sorry to have bothered you, I promise I'll send the money by tomorrow."

"It was my pleasure helping you, Gege. Say, are you going back to Puqi Park? Mind if I walk with you? I was heading there myself."

"Of course! Er..." Xie Lian furrowed his brows when he realized he never got the boy's name.

"San Lang. Gege can call me San Lang."

"San Lang then! I'm Xie Lian. I hope I haven't interrupted any plans you had today."

"Gege hasn't." Hua Cheng smiled as he watched Xie Lian blink at his persistence in calling him Gege.

"Oh... By the way, San Lang, why is it that you think I'm older than you?" Xie Lian asked as they walked to Puqi Park.

"Gege can say... It's a gut feeling :)"

.

..

...

When the two boys and two dogs arrived at Puqi Park, Xie Lian found a two-person bench to sit on.

So of course Ruoye sat on the bench next to him. Looking more dignified than Xie Lian thinks he would ever be.

E-ming decided to take a nap by Xie Lian's feet.

Hua Cheng took out his portable wooden easel and began setting it up.

"San Lang, are you a street painter?" Xie Lian asked.

The boy looked up. "Gege can say that, I earn a decent amount of money from it." the boy shrugged, "Quite a lot of people liked to be drawn."

Xie Lian observed the boy in front of him. Well, who wouldn't want such a good-looking boy to draw their portrait? There were probably many who were willing to pay to sit and stare at the boy for an hour while he focused on painting them.

(I mean wouldn't you???)

As though he could tell what Xie Lian was thinking, Hua Cheng laughed and said, "Gege, it's my talent I'm selling, not my face."

Xie Lian smiled back, "Couldn't it could be both?"

"Hm, Gege, why don't I paint a portrait for you? Then you can decide whether it's my talent or my face," Hua Cheng jokes.

"Oh, I'm sure it's both, San Lang. But why not? Although I haven't paid you your can of paint..."

"If Gege let me paint you, I'll consider it payment for the paint."

"..." Xie Lian was amused. "Alright, then."

"Gege, why don't you hold Ruoye on your lap? We can move E-ming to the side."

(To the side: out of the portrait)

"Ah, okay."

...

Xie Lian walked out of the bathroom, dressed, using one hand to dry his hair with a towel.

"Hey, Xie Lian." Shen Qingqiu greeted him when he walked into their shared bedroom. Shen Qingqiu was reading on his tablet, on his bed, against the wall.

"Hey."

"Nice painting you got there, did you paint it?"

Xie Lian smiled, "No, a friend painted it for me."

"Oh. Well, they're sure talented, must be an art prodigy."

Xie Lian laughed, "You are right."

Shen Qingqiu went "mhm" completely engrossed in the novel he was reading.

Xie Lian walked to his closet, glancing over at the small portrait of himself that he hung next to his bed. He smiled. It really was a beautiful painting. Captivating.

Then he froze.

Xie Lian slowly walked closer to the painting, unable to look away. There was something on the painting that Xie Lian hadn't expected.

The painter had signed his painting. Now, that itself wasn't an abnormal thing to do.

But clearly, this signature left by its painter was the same signature of Xie Lian's pen pal!

There couldn't be another person with such a unique signature! The owner's signature and handwriting are one of a kind!

This only means one thing.

Oh boy.

Thank you for reading!

('▽')/✨

Comments and votes will be (highly) appreciated! As usual!

Word Count: 1246