Broken Bond: Between Vices and Virtues (BL)
Chapter 53: Knoa meets a stranger

Chapter 53: Knoa meets a stranger

The little kid peeked through his fist rubbing his eyes, which halted after hearing his father. He looked around, but couldn’t find anyone aside from the small figures he couldn’t even recognize from the distance.

His head then spun to Knox, his rounded eyes filled with innocence and bewilderment. Knox chuckled in amusement. He stood Knoa on the ground and settled his chin on his tiny shoulders, then he pointed at the gravestones before them.

"Knoa, these stones...are where your grandma and grandpa lie."

The kid’s mouth opened, and a glint of horror passed on his face as he promptly looked back at his father and shouted, "Papa, grampa, gramma, buried?! We...stepping on them! Papa, why?!"

His hysterical reaction almost sent Knox to the ground laughing on his stomach. A child’s ignorance of things sometimes is funny and adorable. He rubbed Knoa’s back and cleared his throat to erase any trace of laughter in his voice.

"It’s okay, baby. Grandma and Grandpa are sleeping underneath. And I’m sure, they are happy to see you here, so why don’t we lay the flowers on their stones?"

Knoa looked at the flower basket and poutingly asked, "But Papa, how...they smell flowers if they sleep? They won’t wake up?"

Knox started pulling the flowers from the basket and arranging them underneath his mother’s gravestone. He smiled as he remembered something from a book he read once, and he thought that it would be helpful to explain things to his son.

He began, "Grandma and Grandpa won’t wake up ever again. They would lie here until you grow up Knoa, but that doesn’t mean they won’t smell the flowers," he paused as he saw the kid’s confused expression. Is it early to tell him the concept of death? Knox asked himself.

Either way, he decided to explain further, "Knoa, they won’t be able to see them, but they are watching over us. So, I’m sure they can smell the flowers. They can be the wind that blows your hair, or the butterflies sniffing the flowers."

Knoa’s innocent eyes followed the mentioned butterflies that hovered around the flower basket. He sat on his butt and grabbed a daisy, the butterfly flew to it and his face beamed from his newfound knowledge, "They like them!"

"Yup, let’s hurry and arrange the flowers! Go and give flowers to your grandpa, okay?"

"Okay!"

They split the flowers and mumbled a simple prayer after. Once the sun completely disappeared into the sky, Knox picked up his son and walked down the aisle again after saying their goodbyes.

Shawn was on the phone when they came back to the car. His back was turned on them while he sat on the round concrete bench under the acacia tree. It seemed like he was in the middle of an important call so Knox didn’t announce their presence and just opened the car door.

Knoa yawned and he started blinking drowsily, so he decided to snug him on the neck pillow and short blanket they brought. It didn’t take him long to finally drift to sleep.

He moved to the driver’s seat and started the engine. At the same time, Shawn opened the passenger’s seat aggressively and peeked his head in, relief washed over his face upon seeing them, "Oh my god, Knox. I thought someone was about to carnap this car!"

He screamed quietly when he saw Knoa sleeping in the back seat. Knox gave him an apologetic look and mumbled, "Sorry. Get in the back seat. I’ll drive."

Shawn obeyed. Once he was settled at the back, he whispered, "Are we going back tonight?"

Knox shook his head as he steered the car out of the parking lot. "No. Let’s just stay at a hotel for tonight and go home tomorrow. Oh, but if there’s something you need to do—

"Nah. That’s fine with me," Shawn agreed. He recommended a place to spend the night and Knox drove the car to that hotel. It didn’t take them long to arrive. It was a decent mid-rise hotel that offered a reasonable price for a room.

Shawn took two adjacent rooms and after getting the keycard, they all went upstairs, ready to throw their bodies on the bed.

Before Shawn entered his room, he turned to Knox and asked, "Knox, I’m just going to order room service, is that okay? Or do you want to go down instead? I’ll watch over Knoa."

"No. Room service it is. I feel so tired after only driving three hours," Knox answered the younger omega, "Can you add some milk for Knoa?"

Shawn raised his thumb up and entered his room. After laying Knoa in bed, Knox decided to take a quick warm shower before dinner arrived. Fifteen minutes later, Shawn knocked on the adjacent door and Knox let him in.

The three of them ate dinner and went to bed after an hour of eating which they spent just watching drama on the television. The morning after, Knoa woke up livelier than ever, however, his father was still sleeping soundly beside him.

"Papa..." he shook his father, but Knox did not wake up. Tired of stirring his father from sleep, the little kid jumped out of bed and went to the adjacent door. Without knocking, he turned to doorknob open with his little hands and stepped inside.

Fortunately, Shawn was already awake, rubbing his damp head with a towel as he stared outside the window. He jolted from his reverie when he heard the door open and his eyes widened upon seeing a figure with a height not even reaching the doorknob, entered.

"Knoa! Why are you here? Where’s Papa? Did you open the door by yourself?"

Shawn’s barrage of questions was ignored when Knoa headed straight to the table where a few empty cans of beer and an opened large packet of chips were. Shawn quickly followed, and before the little kid could grab the leftovers, he snatched them up with a nervous laugh.

Knoa looked up at him with teary eyes. "Uncle Shun...Knoa hungry..."

"What? Where did all the food you ate last night go? You’re hungry this early in the morning," the kid just frowned at him and even side-eyed the cans on the table. Shawn immediately picked those up and threw them in the bin. He was unable to sleep last night so he went down to buy some beers and snacks, and had a drink before going to bed.

"Knoa hungry!"

"Where’s your Papa?"

The kid pointed at the door as he spoke, "Asleep. Papa won’t wake up. Uncle Shun, feed Knoa."

Shawn sighed in submission. The teary eyes, pouty lips, and chubby cheeks of the kid were stabbing his heart in cuteness. He agreed, "Okay. Let me write something for your Papa first. He’ll go ballistic if he doesn’t find you in here."

He left a note on the nightstand next to Knox, before swooping up Knox in his arms. He took Knox to a restaurant on the ground floor and ordered a light breakfast meal for the two of them. Knoa gobbled the French toast like a starved child, his clumsy hold on his fork while munching the food was earning giggles from Shawn and the other customers.

"Slow down, Knoa. What the heck did you do last night that you’re this famished?" Shawn asked the kid as he reached his cheeks and wiped the syrup that splattered on his face.

Knoa grinned widely and shouted energetically, "Pillow fight! Papa lost! I won!"

"Aha! No wonder you’re hungry!" Shawn chuckled with the kid. He looked at him fondly and somehow forgot to focus on his food until his phone rang and his mother’s name registered on the screen. The amused look on his face was replaced with a frown, and he couldn’t help but think, ’They’ve been calling me since yesterday. When the hell will they give up?’

He took the phone and faced the glass windows as he pressed the answer button. He could see Knoa from the corner of his eyes, but when his mother yelled and nagged at him through the phone, his frown deepened and he lost focus on the kid eating before him.

On the other hand, the little guy had finished his food and reached for the glass to sip water, but his attention was caught by the glittering chocolate mousse cake on the table next to them. His mouth drooled from observing the chocolate syrup atop the cake dripped onto the plate slowly, and his newly filled stomach grumbled again.

He slid out of his seat and moved to the neighboring table where a man busy scrolling on his tablet was seated. His crossed legs were slightly swaying and his straight posture was tall even when sitting.

He exuded an unapproachable aura because of those burrowed eyebrows, pressed lips, and sharp eyes glaring at the gadget as though there was something unpleasant in it. Knoa hovered at the table, but the man hadn’t noticed him yet.

When the little kid’s intrusive thoughts won over his reason, he stretched his hand with his index finger out and scooped the dripping syrup on the cake. His face brightened when he succeeded in getting a taste, but then a shadow loomed over him that halted his joyful movement, his finger caught on his mouth and his eyes shook from the grim face of the shadow’s owner.

A baritone voice echoed, "That’s mine, kid. Why are you tasting my cake without permission?"

Knoa gulped and slowly hid his finger at his back. He puckered his lips and answered adorably, "You...not eating, so Knoa helped."