Dealing with Tigers

And that was the beginning of our story. Needless to say, that woman was Hua Hua, and the two boys were naturally Li Kexuan and Ba Ba, both architecture students a couple of years ahead of me. Ba Ba was a tall, muscular black superman without a single hair on his head, very cool, but once you get to know him, you find out he’s very thoughtful, caring, and loving. In France, Hua Hua and Ba Ba treated me like a baby, never forgetting to clean my mouth after meals. From then on, I considered them as my second parents. The other, thinner one was Li Kexuan. He was very good-looking, with a refined, almost purifying aura. He was popular, but his popularity was directly proportional to his shyness. When girls approached or asked him out, he would blush and decline, saying he would only date someone he liked. Such men are now nearly extinct, so I enjoyed being around him, not just because it raised my social standing, but also because he was so well-behaved, never yelling at me. I loved watching him get shy, so I would take advantage of him all day, asking him to feed me, carry me, and even help me comb my hair, and he would endure my antics with gentle patience. Gradually, I started to take advantage of him more tenderly. It was around that time I stopped cutting my hair. One day, he took me to see his solo exhibition. Holding my hand, he showed me each piece, and finally, in front of a massive castle blueprint, he said, “This is my dream, I will succeed, and soon.” “Yes, I believe you!” His works were truly beautiful, each a piece of art. He looked at me with infinite tenderness, “One day, I’ll buy an island and build the most beautiful castle on it, for you and me.” I was speechless; that was the first time my heart raced and my face flushed, and I saw that he felt the same. Then, my first kiss was taken by him, so gently, and I didn’t resist, letting it hide in his lips. His was the same. That was my first love, with a gentle, innocent boy. When I was upset, he would let me bite his arm, and when he was upset, he would hold me to sleep.