Chapter Text
Pantalone kissed Baizhu's forehead, with his hand caressing the minor's hair.
"I have to go to work Baizhu" Pantalone said as he looked at his younger brother, who was lying on the bed looking at Pantalone with pleading eyes.
"I'm going to come back in the evening, okay? There's food in the pantry if you're hungry, please try not to overexert yourself, you're still pretty sick and I really wouldn't want you to get worse..."
"I understood Pantalone, you don't have to treat me like a little child..." Baizhu answered, tired of Pantalone always telling him the same thing every morning when Pantalone had to go out to work.
"Awww, you're 10 years old Baizhu, you're still a little boy" Pantalone caressed Baizhu's cheeks while looking at him tenderly.
Baizhu laughed softly in response to his older brother's gesture of affection, gave him a kind smile and spoke "Farewell Pantalone, be careful when you are working."
Pantalone smiled at Baizhu in response "Of course I'll be careful Baizhu, I love you, please try not to try too hard..."
…
Pantalone was carrying boxes full of things to throw away from the store. The teenager's hands hurt from the time he had been carrying the boxes. The only thing he wanted at that moment was to go hug his Baizhu and sleep next to him. He was doing all this for his brother, so that he can give him the best quality of life that he can offer with his miserable salary, so that his brother can have a slightly normal childhood despite being orphans and living in a deplorable condition.
“Damn useless! “You can’t do something so simple correctly?!” the store owner shouted. Pantalone had placed the boxes in the wrong place, as a result the owner hit him on the head. “I'm going to deduct this from your salary!” the owner exclaimed forcefully, “my salary is already too low to begin with…” Pantalone thought, frustrated and annoyed by the way his boss treated him daily.
“Forgive me, sir, it won't happen again, I promise,” he responded nervously, but you could hear the frustration in his voice.
“You always say the same shit! I don't believe anything you say! you are a useless good-for-nothing!” the store manager shouted, raising his hand again to slap the minor.
The teen closed his eyes as his boss slapped him hard, the uncomfortable pain appearing as soon as he was slapped. Pantalone clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging into his skin in frustration. Thoughts of punching his boss flooded his mind, he was about to raise his fist to hit his idiot boss until reality collided with him.
“I'll be fired if I hit him right now”
“I'd rather be fired than continue working for that pig”
“...but how will I pay for Baizhu's medicine?"
“and the rent, the food, the electricity and the water…”
That's what Pantalone thought before discreetly lowering his fist. He sighed in frustration, swallowed his words and insults to say "It won't happen again" while Pantalone spoke, all that was going through his mind was his precious little brother, his the only company and family member, whom he was willing to take care of and sacrifice everything for.
He did everything for him, right?
…
The teenager was walking through the streets of Liyue. The same streets that he had been walking for almost his entire adolescence since he started working to support his younger brother. At this point Pantalone was already used to walking long distances to return to the apartment where he lived with Baizhu, after all, his work was located quite far away.
That day he had decided to take a different path than usual, he deviated from the path by which he always returned home, he did it only to see if there was a shorter and more efficient way to get to the apartment where he lived and so that way Baizhu will don't worry about him if he arrives later than usual, he didn't know that Pantalone was staying to think in the middle of the walk.
The area through which Pantalone was shortcutting was one in which he had heard rumors that it was dangerous to walk through. The teenager completely ignored the bad vibes that the area gave and all the warnings he was ever given.
A bad-tempered Pantalone, with his spirit on the rocks, was walking with his head down. His asshole boss had docked his salary for something stupid for the fourth time in the month. The teenager was already trying to think of how he was going to make it up to him. Pay the bills for the month, you had been owing the rent for a couple of months. When was the last time he paid the electricity bill? Pantalone hoped that he still had time before his electricity was cut off for not paying his bills. A throbbing pain in his head began to appear in Pantalone, it was already customary for the teenager to have a daily headache. He didn't have the money enough to be able to pay medicine for himself
A groan of discomfort left his mouth "Ugh..." the black-haired man complained. He put his hand to his hair and scratched it a little, in an innocent and naive attempt to relieve his pain. It had been a stressful day, like always, but at least he was already on his way to go to the apartment where he lived with his brother to sleep next to him.
Pantalone was so immersed in his thoughts that he realized that a man was calling him at the moment he shouted at him.
He turned his head in confusion and saw a tall man, he was possibly one of the tallest men Pantalone had ever seen, there was nothing else that stood out about his physical appearance, apart from his height he was someone who seemed quite ordinary. Pantalone's thoughts were interrupted when the man spoke to him again.
"Hey kid, do you want to make a lot of money?" The man said with a friendly smile at first glance. Pantalone's interest was piqued when the stranger told him that but soon his suspicions and doubts arose. He had always been told not to trust strangers and the man looked suspicious in Pantalone's eyes
"Why would I trust a stranger like you? I'm not stupid enough to fall for scams," Pantalone responded, looking seriously at the man. He might be a teenager and all, but he wasn't THAT stupid.
"Oh no little boy, this is not a pyramid scam, you would just have to do a little job for a 'couple' of men and those men will give you a lot of money, doesn't that sound reliable?" The stranger made a strange emphasis on "a lot of money", that raised Pantalone's suspicions but at the same time his interest was raised, he was still in a vulnerable financial situation and to make it worse with a sick brother, a little extra money never hurts..
"What kind of jo-?" Before Pantalone can finish his question, the man was already pulling him by the arm and leading him to a place unknown to him.
…
Pantalone cannot say with certainty what time it is but he is sure that it has already passed midnight. He does not know how he managed to walk to his apartment or even how he was able to climb the stairs.
His mind was spinning and replaying everything that had happened to him a couple of moments ago. He could still feel the sensation of being touched and raped by a group of unknown men. He could still remember the horrible words they said to him as they invaded him.Will that be the most he can aspire to in his life? To submit to a group of men to get money? Pantalone's self-esteem was practically non-existent after what happened. His body felt disgusting to him in every way.
He was in front of the old door, he opened it carefully so as not to wake up his little brother. Everything was dark, when he tried to turn on the light he realized that their electricity had already been cut off for not having paid the bills on time.
Feeling even more miserable than a moment ago he slowly walked to the room where he slept with Baizhu. To his surprise, as soon as he opened the door his little brother had already run towards him, hugging his battered and weak legs, he did his best not to moan from the pain and not to collapse into tears. He had to be strong for his brother.His expression turned into a soft and gentle one when he saw Baizhu's teary eyes.
"I thought something bad had happened to you! Don't be gone for so long again..." Baizhu said naively, holding back tears from coming out of his eyes. If only he knew that something bad had happened to Pantalone, something very bad.
Pantalone felt urgent concern when he saw his brother out of bed and awake at that hour, even though he should be worrying about himself.
"Baizhu, why did you stay up? You already know that you have to sleep early and stay in bed..." Pantalone responded, his voice sounding more tired than usual. The black-haired boy hugged his brother back, making him feel a little better
"You didn't come back and I was scared and and and..." the green-haired boy stuttered nervously and anxiously. Baizhu had always been a rather anxious child. Pantalone, with the little strength he had left, picked up his younger brother and headed to the bed they shared, lying down next to him.
Pantalone caressed his brother's hair, gave him an affectionate kiss on the forehead and said "I'm here Baizhu, you have nothing to worry about...okay?" Pantalone tried to sound as comforting as possible, gently wiping away the small tears that had formed in Baizhu's eyes. The youngest nodded his head at his brother's comfort.
They were both lying on the bed and hugging each other. Baizhu hugged Pantalone tighter, he had seriously been scared by him. The teenager was too physically and emotionally exhausted to be able to change his clothes. The whole room was silent, the only sound that could be heard was their breathing.
A strange desire began to arise in him, a need that made him feel hot but guilty at the same time. Pantalone began to kiss Baizhu's neck in a gentle and soft manner. The teenager was being very careful not to be too intense with his kisses. This caused the youngest to let out a small laugh at the sensation. He was still too innocent to find anything strange about his brother kissing his neck and grabbing his waist.
Pantalone's tiredness and sleep were overcoming him. He let out a yawn, hugged Baizhu tighter and with a soft voice said "Good night Baizhu."