A real surprise

When Míngzé first bought this, there had been a plan. It was supposed to be a small Christmas present. For some reason or another, he never managed to give it to Sāng. Then the whole ice lake fiasco happened and now he felt like it was no longer a Christmas present, but rather a Thank you gift. That had not been his intention. The gift wrapping had small Santa Clauses on them, so hopefully his intention was clear.

A sigh rolled over his lips as he stood in front of the other’s door. Normally he would know if Sāng was home, but now he had no idea. The small present, a wrapped bottle of one of the cheaper Don Julio tequila resting in his arm. Míngzé held his cane in his other hand before finally knocking on the door.

All he could do now was wait. Then there was a sound at the door and he knew Sāng was home. Perfect. If it had been otherwise he feared he would never be able to give him his present. “Hi,” he said when the door opened.

Míngzé got a better hold on the present, holding it against his chest so that Sāng would see it immediately. It took a while but finally the door opened. Perhaps the other had been busy with something else. There was a small smile on his lips, one that slowly disappeared from his face as the other spoke. That was definitely not Sāng. He was hit immediately by a familiar yet uncomfortable feeling.

“You.”

Normally Míngzé had trouble recognizing people he did not know that well, but he would not forget that voice easily. His voice sounded much colder and there was not a trace left of the smile he wore earlier.

Did he make a mistake? Was he at the wrong door? It was definitely a possibility. “I’m sorry, wrong door.” He held the bottle closer to him, covering most of it with his hand as if the other might pull it out of his hands at any moment. Míngzé tried to sound as neutral as possible, but he could hear how displeased he sounded.

Míngzé made to walk away. After the last time, he really did not have any desire to talk to this man. To think they even lived in the same building, which was strange too. He was sure he did not make any mistake when he first knocked on the door. Then how did he end up here?

Behind him he heard the other’s voice telling him to wait. How he wanted to simply continue and ignore his request. Instead he stood still again and looked over his shoulder, his eyes narrowed. There came a sorry, which only made him further narrow his eyes.

“Helping me?” he repeated with a raised eyebrow. Míngzé turned around again to face the other. Vince had said sorry three times in less than a minute and as far as he was aware, the other sounded genuine. But was it enough? “You called me an empty husk, without even knowing me,” he said through gritted teeth.

That day, it was those words that in the end had stayed with him until even now. Everything else had been Vince pushing his buttons, making him relive things he rather forgot about. But those two words— It reminded him of that empty part of him he always carried with him. A while ago he lost something, and he could feel its absence even if others were not aware of it.  

It was always difficult for him to truly understand people. There was so much that was lost to him due to the simple fact that everything non-verbal did not exist to him. Now it was no different. Míngzé looked at Vince as the other once again uttered a sorry, and then another. His eyes were slightly narrowed. At least he understood where he went wrong last time, but it happened and that was the real problem.

Starting this discussion would be a waste of time as Vince already understood. From what Míngzé had gathered the other was rather young, at least early twenties. That was probably part of the problem. A soft hum left his throat. He was way too stubborn to simply forgive and forget. Things were not that easy.

Upon hearing the mention of the present in his arms, Míngzé pulled it a little closer. “No need,” he said calmly. It was his present after all and he did not even know why Vince was here in the first place. Now he knew he was not mistaken and this was indeed Sāng’s place, only he had a visitor. “I’ll give it to him some other time.” While it was only a simple present, it was still personal. He did not need someone else to give it.