C14 MIA IS LIKE A CHILD

“So you probably know him pretty well?” – Mia says wryly.

But contrary to what the girl is thinking, David denies it. He says in a slightly sad voice:

“Until now, I never really understand him. Because after all, this was just what happened when we were 6 years ago!”

“I feel him… something lonely”

The boy stands up, stretches, and answers:

“Probably, because hardly anyone ever understands him. Malcolm is a very unpredictable person”

Mia does not ask more about the relationship and the reason for the breakup of the two, as this will probably upset David. She looks at him earnestly, her face so gentle and kind; the way she looks at the sky. In Mia's impression, David is somehow more mature than Malcolm even though he is younger. But the girl is not sure about this either because she does not understand the two of them. Just a first impression. Because people have 4 faces, only one side is shown to the outside and the other three are always hidden. Like an iceberg in a deep hole.

Mia wants to know more about David, perhaps this is also the first time the girl wants to learn about a boy. She also doesn't know her feelings for him, she just feels that this guy always brings a sense of peace and tenderness.

“And, you know, Mia?”

"Yes…?"

“I am a liar. I hurt my only friend once, all because of my incompetence” – David sighs, the cool breeze blows his silver hair, glittering even more in the sun. His eyes turn to the sky, eyes like moon and stars.

Mia does not answer, partly because she doesn’t know how to comfort him, partly because she wants his sincere feelings to be fully expressed in words.

“If I hadn't said a negative word at that time just because of my pride, would he have forgiven me?... But I don’t expect anything about it, anyway, now he becomes the family heir, and I'm just a mercenary who come here to make up with him."

“No… I'm not sure about this, but if you haven't tried it, how can you come to such a conclusion?” Mia stands up and looks at David's back.

The boy with the silver hair smiles and says:

“But I am a greedy man, I never visited him, until he is just one step away from the head of the family… He is right.”

Mia doesn’t know what to say because in this case, the boy admitted all the mistakes to himself. She hesitates for a moment, then quickly replies:

“If you were his best friend, you would never do that. Is it, because of the circumstances…?” – The girl asks the boy again, hoping to receive a definite answer. She does not think David is such a bad person.

"People's hearts are very changeable, Miss Mia" – The young man turns around, says bye, and leaves.

The boy's words just now make the girl think a lot.

“If people's hearts are easily changed… Maybe Malcolm would have forgiven you soon, David” – Mia with a troubled face, eyes still following the boy, secretly hoping that he can understand that. She wants to do something for both of them…

When she goes inside, she sees Olivia, who says:

“If you feel too free, go to the reading room on the third floor to clean it up”

Mia sees a room filled with books and is surprised, she looks around and can’t stop exclaiming, for the first time she has seen such a scene. She does not immediately start cleaning, but walking around the shelves out of curiosity, she bends down and looks at the books. It's convenient to grab a comic book because the illustrations look so cute. She opens the book and falls on the floor, carefully turning the pages, she reads it slowly because she does not know it very well, suddenly there is a word she does not quite understand, she looks at it for a long time and tries to spell it. Mia's face becomes more serious.

“That word means floral” - Malcolm tells her, holding a thick book in his hand.

Mia turns her head, slightly embarrassed by her ignorance. She shyly says thanks to the man and puts the book back, intending to start cleaning. Malcolm laughs and returns to his seat. Mia sees his book and asks:

“Do you read through such a thick book?”

The boy nods and replies:

"What's up?"

Mia shakes her head but then peeks again as he is reading, seeing his serious expression make her seem to have a different look. She greatly admires knowledgeable people. He sneers.

“Do you like me so much that you look at me so passionately?

Mia denies it immediately and says he is a narcissist. Malcolm asks again:

“Then why are you looking at me so passionately” – He looks up at his kitten – “Sit down if you want to read a book.”

The first time Mia does not refuse Malcolm's offer, she rushes to the comics and sits down to choose.

"You just take whatever you want, it's okay"

Hearing that, Mia immediately takes four different books, and all of them are children's stories. She sits in the chair placed opposite the man, her face showing joy and joy.

“Why do you only read these stories?”

Mia looks at the man and replies:

“So far I have only heard stories, and only once read comic books”

“You look so childish and lovely” - Malcolm smiles, continuing to read.

Mia sits to one side, reading fairy tales, oblivious to Malcolm's affectionate gazes on her. After she finishes reading them all, while Malcolm is still reading and writing, Mia creeps back to puts away the books and continues to tidy up. She does everything in silence for fear that she will disturb Malcolm. When she finishes cleaning the whole room, Malcolm is still sitting there and continuing to read books.

"Are you free now?"

“Yes… Maybe so”

The boy smiles.

“So can you do me a favor? Don't worry, it's not something that upsets you."

Mia doesn't quite believe it, but she agrees because she doesn't know what to do right now. The man hands her a piece of paper with words on it and a blank sheet of paper.

“Can you copy it?”

The girl carefully looks around, then timidly replies:

“My handwriting is not very good…”

"It's okay. Help me!”

Mia nods and writes meticulously, she writes very slowly and her handwriting is shaky because she is not used to using a pen. He sees the difficulty in Mia's frown and approaches and takes her hand, carefully pointing her to the letter. Mia shyly says:

“I'm fine… I can do it myself”

He presses himself against her, points to a word she wrote, and replies:

"Look, I thought it is a worm!"

“I tried too…” – Mia is a little sad and replies.

Malcolm stops teasing her but devotedly teaches Mia, both helping her to stabilize her writing, and explaining the meaning of words she does not understand. Mia finally finishes, and she feels extremely happy that she can write such a long text. She says thank you to the man.

"But won't you continue your work?"

"Maybe so!"

"I'm sorry for bothering you"

Malcolm laughs cheerfully, patting Mia's head like an older brother would a sister.

“Go back to your room and continue writing a copy like that! Then give it back to me at 8 p.m. tonight”

Mia nods take the pen and paper and return to her room. The girl is thinking that she would write better and when she returned to her hometown, she would send it to Asher. Mia always wants to send a letter to her family but is rejected by Olivia because this is also a taboo in this house.