Jian watched the foreigner walk up to his grandfather with a frown. 'Is he going to kick out my grandfather because of me? I can't have that!'
He shot up ready to talk to him. But to his surprise, he watched the man talk softly with a smile on his face and gestured to somewhere else. His grandfather was relieved of the burden of heavy bricks and moved to another sector where people were typing things together.
He stood there in a daze. 'That man is helping him... oh...' He sat back down, peering at him with interest. 'That man must have realized that my grandpa is too weak to lift heavy bricks like that...'
His worried eyes fell on his grandfather, who seemed to be happily chatting while tying some logs together.
Jian smiled. 'At least my grandpa is safe and sound. It's all good.' He sat down on the small ledge by the tree and picked up the book he had tossed away.
Math homework and other worksheets were still left undone.
He quickly started to complete them. Occasionally, he would gaze up at the man who was overseeing the construction process. 'Who is he anyway? He looks too posh to be working as an engineer.'
His interest in doing his homework slowly waned. He quickly turned to a clean page and started to slowly sketch the man. The foreigner was tall, taller than anyone in this place. He had white hair that was completely uncommon.
'He looks like an alien.' Jian smiled to himself at that thought. He had only heard rumors about the other alien kind. He never had the honor to meet them. But this is how he imagined those kinds would look like.
Ethereal, tall, and strong like a warrior.
He then looked at his scrawny arms and hands. 'I'm also their kind, but why do I look so lanky? Tsk, it must be malnutrition.' He was never fed properly, and after the alien attack, he had to forage to feed himself and his ungrateful grandmother. He never gained any bit of fat or muscles.
'Guess my genes are flawed. Why else would I be here? An alien kid in a human world.' There must have been a reason he was here. His parents must have abandoned him, knowing that he was a weakling.
There are some creatures in the world that use that tactic.
The weakest of the children are abandoned to take care of the strongest.
'Guess a weakling like me deserved to be abandoned.' He let out a small sigh as he gazed at the finished portrait. He was able to capture the man's handsome and sharp features with a small sketch.
'If I was as strong as him, I wouldn't have been abandoned.'
"Wow, you've really captured his frowning face," a voice suddenly came from behind.
Startled, Jian dropped the book.
"Sorry if I scared you," a tall, blond-haired man stood behind him with a smile on his face. "I think you did a great job at drawing his face. Look at him, always with that frown on his face. Tsk, he never changes."
He walked up to him and picked up that book he had thrown off. "Here."
Jian gazed up at him vigilantly. 'When did he get close?! I didn't hear anything!'
His ears were quite sharp, but he did not capture this man's footsteps at all!
He took the book carefully.
"What is your name, kid? You look too young to be working in this place."
"I'm just with my grandpa... I will not disrupt work."
"I know." The man sat down beside him.
Jian scooted away, putting a bit of distance between them.
"So, you never told me your name?"
"Jian." He gazed at the man.
This man too was a foreigner with pale green eyes and bright blond hair. To be honest, he looked like he walked out of one of those Greek paintings. He looked unreal.
'Why are these men so handsome!'
"Yoo-hoo." The man waved at his face. "Did you get seduced by my face?" The man smirked widely.
Jian smiled. "No, but I admit you are very handsome."
"Better than him?" The man pointed to the white-haired guy.
Jian gazed up at him. Accidentally, their eyes met.
The white-haired man looked at him unblinking, as if he was trying to assess something. 'Why is he looking at me like that?'
Suddenly, a sharp pain in his head pulled him out of his thoughts. Jian held his aching head with a frown.
"So, who is handsomer? Me or him?"
Jian chuckled softly. "You're handsome."
"I knew it. At least one person has a good pair of eyes." The blond guy patted his back. "You're so interesting for a human." He stood up, patting his back. "Will you come here tomorrow?"
"Huh? Yeah, I think."
"Good. I'll come by with some snacks for you. Stay well and join our company soon. We could use that exceptional eyesight of yours," the man winked and walked up to that white-haired guy.
They both chattered happily.
Occasionally, the white-haired guy looked his way and left.