As Misha said, Dereck's grandmother, Elizabeth, was half-deaf, and she indeed didn't notice them when they slowly walked down the stairs. Every step they took made the stairs creak, but the old lady didn't react, not even tilting her head toward the noise. Her hands never stopped, and she continued to knit the pair of slippers, glancing at the TV from time to time. She didn't seem that much interested in it, maybe because she couldn't hear clearly what the newscaster was saying. Because there were no captions, there was no text to help her understand what was going on on the screen – Elizabeth probably didn't know how to turn them on, if she knew of their existence.

With a pounding heart, the two boys observed her every move through the staircase railing, waiting for who knew what. They knew what they had to do, but the first step was always the most difficult one. They only had one chance, and they were afraid to mess it up because once caught, sneaking out would become impossible.

To leave the house, they had two choices. The first one was to walk through the front door, but they would have to pass through the living room to reach it, which meant that Elizabeth would inevitably see them. The second choice was to use the backdoor in the kitchen. However, the living room was an open room. Dereck's grandmother only had to turn her head to see what was happening in the kitchen. Even if there was some furniture that could hide them while they moved around the room, the kitchen was mostly empty. It wasn't the best place to play hide-and-seek.

In this house, sneaking out was quite tricky, and that wasn't only because of the position of the doors.

The foundation of the house was slightly raised. Therefore, the windows on the first floor were higher than usual, and with their small body, the two boys couldn't jump out of them without hurting themselves. Although Misha was reckless, he still didn't want to go back to the hospital, at least not so soon. He had enough of it for a few months. Hence, they quickly disregarded that idea. Then, they thought of climbing out of the bas.e.m.e.nt windows, but they had to walk through the living room to reach the stairs that led to Elizabeth's apartment, which wasn't any better than walk directly to the front door.

Afterward, Dereck thought of telling his grandmother that they were going to play outside for a while, then use this excuse to leave and buy whatever Misha wanted to buy. However, this plan also had a big loophole. There was a bay window that overlooked the backyard, and he knew his grandmother would sit beside it to watch over them while they played outside. They couldn't leave under her watchful eyes. She was half-deaf, but not blind.

Therefore, the only choice left was the backdoor in the kitchen.

The two boys looked at each other, and Misha nodded, signaling that it was time to move out. They couldn't exactly stay in the stairs forever.

Just now, Elizabeth glanced at the TV before turning back her eyes on the slippers. Relying on his previous observation, Misha thought that she probably wouldn't lift her head for a moment. Thus, it was the best time to sneak out.

After taking a deep breath, the two boys silently made their way toward the door, half-crouching. For once, Misha felt lucky to be so small. It was easier to hide behind the furniture. Although the old lady's earing wasn't good, Misha didn't want to try his luck, and he was careful not to make noise.

Once they reached the sidewalk in front of the neighbor's house, they stopped to run. On the one hand, Dereck was not in shape, and it didn't take long before he was out of breath. On the other hand, Misha's present constitution was also not too good, almost as bad as his friend. He couldn't sprint for long, or else he would feel like his lungs were on fire.

The two boys stood on the sidewalk, panting heavily. One was chubby while the other looked like a doll. They inevitably drew the attention, but Misha didn't care, ignoring the passersby's gazes. Well, in the corner of his mind, he still wanted to tell them to piss off. Luckily, he was over the moon and didn't bother with them.

Finally, Misha was about to take the first step in getting rid of Gabriel, which made him feel somehow ecstatic. While he was stuck in his hospital bed, he dreamt about it every single day. Now that he could work on his plan, it was no wonder he was in a particularly good mood.

With a bright smile, Misha looked at his friend and said, his tone childish and mischievous, "Our first stop is the drugstore!"

A bit puzzled, Dereck asked, "Why?"

"You will know soon enough," laughed the boy before taking the lead. However, after a few steps, he stopped and turned around. "Do you know where is the drugstore?"

"No?"

The two boys looked at each other, not uttering a word. Misha hadn't come to this neighborhood for a long time, and he didn't remember where the shops were, while Dereck was a kid who rarely went out except for visiting his friend's house. In short, neither of them was familiar with the neighborhood, and they didn't know the way to the drugstore.

The chubby child scratched his cheek, glancing to the left and the right, unsure of what to do now. As for Misha, he had the reflex to search for his cellphone in his pocket only to realize that he didn't own one at this age. He couldn't look up the address of the nearest drugstore on the internet, so he didn't have a choice but to use the old-fashioned way.

Without a word, the boy walked toward two young women who were chatting while jogging. With a polite but firm tone, he asked, "Excuse me! Can you tell me where is the drugstore?"

When they heard him, they stopped running and looked at the cute child before them with a hint of curiosity and worry in their eyes. Such a small kid shouldn't be wandering around alone. Although Misha was almost ten, he still appeared to be at most seven years old. With his rosy cheeks and big blue eyes, he looked like a little angel, which softened the girls' heart and triggered their maternal instinct.

Before they could answer the boy, another child joined them. This one was chubby and seemed a bit older, but he had an honest and candid face that didn't lose to Misha's angelic appearance. Immediately, they felt a bit reassured to see another child accompanying the first one. After a round of questions, the girls decided to escort the two children to the drugstore. Once they reached it, they asked over and over again if the boys were sure they didn't need them to show them the way back. Misha insisted that they would be fine, and they finally left, albeit a bit reluctantly.

Because Misha knew perfectly well what he wanted, he didn't need to run back and forth in the store. He rapidly found what he was searching – Misha often visited the drugstore in his past-life, making him quite familiar with its usual layout. Without any hesitation, the boy took a bottle of laxative under the curious stare of Dereck. He hesitated a second and then took another one. Satisfied, he quickly went to the cashier's counter.

However, Misha was doomed to left the shop empty-handed. The cashier refused to sell a bottle of laxative to such a young child, much less two. What if the boy drank all of it and emptied himself to death? This medicament was too dangerous in the hands of a child. Without the presence of an a.d.u.l.t, there was no way the cashier would sell it to him, no matter what the child said. Acting cute or glaring at him didn't change his mind, either.

With a belly full of resentment, Misha thought of stealing it, but the cashier was now paying attention to them, which restrained their actions. Moreover, they had nothing to hide the bottles. He, as well as Dereck, didn't bring a backpack, and their pockets were too small to hold it. Stealing the laxative in this situation was nothing but a pipe dream.

In the end, the boys could only leave the drugstore empty-handed.

Once outside, Misha glared at the store as if he was wondering how to destroy it. Despite his disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e, he still turned on his heels with a straight back. After all, the laxative was only one item among the list Misha had made. In the hospital, he had too much time on his hands, and he did think of a few nasty pranks. He also asked his roommates for some ideas, and the noisy one had quite a lot to say.

Well, their shopping session was only starting!

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Author's note

ML: What were you planning to do with that laxative?

MC: Feed it to you, of course!

ML: You know, it doesn't taste really good, and I would probably notice there something off with the taste if you mix it with something.

MC: So what? If I take the time to cook you something and put the laxative in, even if it tastes awful, you're still gonna eat it all, no?

ML: …

MC: I ate all of your burned meals in the past, so shut your mouth and eat what I'm telling you to eat! My poor stomach had it really hard back then, so don't you dare complain!

ML: Fine, fine… (╥﹏╥)