Two kids suddenly burst into shrill cries, fighting over food, forcing Hiền to rush over and break it up. Taking advantage of the distraction, Đông Anh quietly slipped upstairs.
He followed the voice coming from a separate room at the very end of the hall, moving closer, then pressed an eye to the crack in the door. Inside, Dung was swinging a rattan cane, striking Little Hunch square across the backside.
Whack!
"This one's for beating all the nasty tricks out of you."
Whack!
"This one's to make you listen if you want people to play with you."
Whack!
"And this one's to make you less selfish if you want people to love you. How many times have I told you this, and you still won't listen…"
Just as Dung was about to land the fourth strike, Đông Anh stepped in.
"Stop it! You're gonna kill the kid!"
"Who said you could come in? Get out!"
Ignoring Dung's bark, Đông Anh lunged for the cane. In the struggle, his hand accidentally hit the bite mark on Dung's hand, making the man grunt in pain.
"Sorry…"
Guilt written all over his face, Đông Anh looked at Dung—completely missing the boy in the room. The kid let out a feral growl, shoved Đông Anh to the floor, and sprang on him, sinking his teeth into Đông Anh's shoulder.
"Ahh!" Đông Anh froze in horror. The harder he tried to push the Little Hunch off, the harder it clamped down. At last, he shot Dung a desperate look for help.
Standing over the scuffle, Dung's brows drew together, but he made no move to pull the boy away—just spoke, cold and flat:
"Phong, stop. If you keep biting, I won't care about you anymore."
"Ahhh… Do something!" Đông Anh cried out, twisting and clawing to pry the kid loose.
"Sit still! Don't pull him off!"
Dung kept his tone calm. From the look of things, he knew better than to wrestle with someone mid-rage, you'd only get yourself torn up worse. He snapped out another order:
"Phong, let go or I'll never love you again!"
At that, the Little Hunch finally unclamped his jaw. Đông Anh shoved him away, sending him sprawling.
Dung darted forward, scooping Đông Anh up and putting himself between the two.
"Out. Now." Dung's eyes locked on the bite mark marring Đông Anh's shoulder. Keeping one hand on the younger man's back, he steered him out the door. Over his shoulder, Dung shot a warning at Little Hunch: "Stay put. Don't come near."
The boy snarled again. The one good eye he had was now rimmed red—half fury, half the threat of tears.
Once Đông Anh was safely in the hall, Dung stepped out and slammed the door shut. He led Đông Anh to the tea table by the stairs on the first floor landing, pushed him into a chair, and hurried off to fetch the first-aid kit.
"Take off your shirt—let me see the wound," Dung said. When Đông Anh didn't move, he added, "It's not like I've never seen you bare-chested before. Come on, hurry up!"
Đông Anh had just undone three buttons when Dung boldly yanked one side of the shirt off his shoulder, eyes fixed on the bite mark.
"That little hunch—of all the people to sink his teeth into, he had to go for the golden boy. Now I've got no idea how I'm gonna make that up to you."
"I don't need anyone making it up to me—least of all you."
"You said it yourself," Dung replied, deliberately brushing off the boy's sulky tone as he worked on the wound. "That kid bites like a dog, scratched the skin all up. Lucky it didn't bleed much."
At the mention of blood, Đông Anh's eyes dropped to the bite mark on Dung's hand. Deep imprints of teeth, some still seeping red. "Your hand's bleeding."
"It's nothing. What's a scratch to the rich is a gut shot to the poor. I'm used to it."
Đông Anh shot him a sidelong look, tired of the jabs, and pushed his hand away. "No need, I can do it myself."
"Sit still. You can't even see what you're doing," Dung said, blocking Đông Anh's hand and going back to cleaning the wound.
After a stretch of silence, Đông Anh asked, "Dung… does that kid… go off like that often?"
"As long as you don't grab his stuff or get under his skin, he's harmless."
"I… did I do something to get under his skin?"
"No. You grabbed something from him."
"I… what did I grab?"
Dung gave him a knowing smile and didn't answer. He capped the bottle of red antiseptic, tidied up, and said, "All done. Nothing serious. So… you're not gonna tell your dad about this, right?"
"You still haven't answered my question."
"Because… you stole the attention I usually give him."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Dung sighed. "Forget it. Bottom line is, that kid really is a little demon. Just stay away from him." Meeting the questioning look in Đông Anh's eyes, he added, "So… the good-hearted Út won't be telling anyone about this, right?"
Đông Anh nodded, then pulled Dung's bitten hand toward him. "Let me clean that for you."
"Thanks—ow!" Dung didn't get to finish the sentence before Đông Anh pressed a wad of cotton hard against the wound. "Ow—damn it—sir—"
"What? I already agreed not to say anything to anyone. Why are you whining?" Đông Anh said with a face of pure innocence.
You're just… so damn good-hearted it hurts." Dung gritted his teeth through the sting. "Ah—thanks—ow—you…"
Seeing Dung squirming and twisting from the pain, Đông Anh couldn't help but laugh. The sound was so unguarded that Dung's mind froze for a beat. In that instant, the words of Madam Kim drifted back to him: "One day, you'll protect that boy's purity of your own accord." Right now, all Dung could see was Đông Anh—pure as could be—gently tending to his wound."
"Tell me about Little Hunch," Đông Anh said.
Dung eyed the bandage on his hand, then spoke slowly.
"That kid was born a freak—left at the orphanage gate. At first, some folks tried to stop Mother Xuân from bringing him in, saying he was the spawn of the devil. But in the end, he was lucky enough to be kept."
"He's had that temper since he was little?"
Dung nodded. "Yeah, like the old saying goes: human nature starts off bad. You know, the older he gets, the more sly tricks he pulls to grab people's attention."
"The candy thing this morning, that was him?" Đông Anh asked.
Dung sighed. "Think about it, sir. Say you were planning to adopt that little girl who gave you the candy. Then you unwrap it and find all that filth inside—would you still take her in?" He clicked his tongue, weary. "That little hunch knows he's never gonna be adopted, so he makes damn sure the rest of them end up stuck here with him."
Hearing that, Đông Anh felt his heart sink. Dung noticed and gave him a light tap on the forehead.
"Don't you go feeling sorry for a demon—especially one starved for affection."
With that, Dung got to his feet and headed downstairs.
"Where are you going?"
"Getting your lunch. You're already late for it."
Dung carefully carried two bowls of rice upstairs and set them out on the table. Đông Anh couldn't help but laugh at the arrangement: soup already poured over the rice, with vegetables and side dishes neatly lined around the rim.
"The little imps here like to eat this way. They put all the stuff they don't like around the rim. I don't know what you likes or hates, so I laid it out this way so you can pick."
"I'm a university student, thank you very much!"
"More like a pampered rich boy," Dung muttered.
They'd barely had a few bites when Little Hunch came sniffling toward them. Dung shot to his feet, blocking Đông Anh, and barked:
"Stay right there. Don't come any closer!"
Ignoring him, Little Hunch threw his arms around Dung's legs, sobbing:
"Don't leave Phong. Don't hate Phong. You have to love Phong…"
"Phong, cut it out!" Dung tried to pry the kid off.
"No, you have to love Phong."
Seeing the boy cling to Dung like that, Đông Anh suddenly understood what Dung had meant earlier: Because you took his stuff. So that's it—Little Hunch was afraid Đông Anh would steal Dung away from him.
When Đông Anh bent down to touch the boy, Dung stepped in.
"Back off, sir. I told you already."
"Don't worry, I know what he's afraid I'll take." Đông Anh turned his gaze to the boy. "Phong, listen. I'm not here to take Dung away from you. So don't be scared, don't cry anymore, okay?"
"Sir!" Dung warned when he saw Đông Anh patting the boy's shoulder in comfort.
This time, Little Hunch looked at Đông Anh, but still refused to let go of Dung.
"No one's gonna take any love away from you, I promise. Besides, I'm here to… play with you…"
Đông Anh glanced around for something to "bribe" the kid.
"Hey, you must be hungry, right? Come over here, I'll feed you."
He sat back down, picked up his bowl, and scooped out a big spoonful.
"Lots of good food today. Come on, Phong."
The kid glanced between Đông Anh and Dung. Only when Dung nudged him away with his foot did he finally shuffle toward Đông Anh. Looks like hunger could still tame a demon. The kid obediently let Đông Anh feed him.
"Open wide… mmm… good?"
Little Hunch nodded, his cleft lip curving into something like a smile. Dung finally relaxed and sat down across from Đông Anh, watching the older boy tend to the younger one. Then he pushed his own bowl toward Đông Anh.
"Have your food, sir. I'll feed him."
The kid perked right up and ran over to Dung. Feeding duty switched hands. With things calm again, Đông Anh lowered his head to eat. After a while, he remembered Dung still hadn't eaten, so he scooped up a big spoonful and nudged him.
"Open up."
Dung froze. Here he was, feeding Little Hunch, and now someone else was feeding him back. The sight was as funny as it was touching.
"Come on, open your mouth."
Urged on, Dung reluctantly obeyed. Little Hunch saw this and let out a peal of delighted laughter.
"That's the first time he's laughed like that," Dung said excitedly.
"Then you better take another bite for him to see!" Đông Anh quickly scooped up another spoonful.
"What are you staring at me for, sir?" Dung asked as he swung the door shut. He pointed at the thin mattress on the floor. "That's all I've got. Stretch out there for a bit. When it cools off, I'll run you home."
Đông Anh glanced around Dung's room—stripped bare. A thin film of dust clung to the lone stool, like its owner hardly ever stayed here. In the washroom, Dung was dunking his face into the basin, his shoulders sagging with fatigue.
"Sir, something on me? You've been staring."
Đông Anh said nothing, eyes fixed on him.
"Sir," Dung called again, walking over and sitting beside Đông Anh.
"Today I can see Christ in you."
"Huh?"
"I mean—you could only be that patient and loving with the kids if Christ were in you. Otherwise I'd have a hard time believing you're the same Dung Tây I've met these past few days."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Dung said. "But let's park the Christ talk. First—sleep."
He flopped onto the mattress, turning his face to the wall. Đông Anh could only shake his head.
"If you'd ease up on the kids, they'd love you even more, especially Little Hunch."
"He doesn't love me. He wants to own me. Looks like you still don't know much about love."
"Maybe so…" Đông Anh nodded. "…I need to observe love a little more. So whenever you come here, remember to take me along."
"No. There's no love here—don't get yourself tangled up. And don't go handing out love unless you're sure the other person loves you of their own accord." He pointed at the bandage on his hand. "See this? Love thrown around carelessly means blood."
"I see. You bled for the kids like Christ bled for mankind…"
"I'm begging you, no more sermons. Sleep, or I'll fetch the rattan cane."
He tugged Đông Anh down onto the mattress and, without asking, ruffled his hair. "Close your eyes. Sleep. Be good."
Đông Anh didn't resist the soothing, but his eyes refused to shut; there was still too much he wanted to know. "What makes you willing to care for them and protect them?"
"I never do anything willingly…" Dung answered, eyes already sealed with sleep. "I do it to pay off debts or because it pays…"
Silence. Only Dung's easy breathing. Đông Anh slid Dung's hand off his head and turned away, as if put out by something.
"Fine. I'll go do the military training by myself."
"Huh…" Dung mumbled into his dream.