After the girls shooed them away, Gabriel and Misha awkwardly glanced at each other with a fake smile on their lips before tacitly leaving the campsite. Then, following the signs, they took a trail that passed through the luxurious forest and strolled to the beach in silence. Since it seemed like the boy didn't want to talk, the teenager wisely kept his mouth shut and silently enjoyed the scenery.

Gabriel made sure to walk at a slow pace so the child wouldn't have any difficulties keeping up with him. Moreover, the path was sinuous, with many roots and stones, and they had to watch their step. He was also careful because Misha seemed to get exhausted quickly, and it would be quite troublesome if the kid was too tired to walk on his own.

From time to time, the teenage boy stopped in his tracks to look around as if something had suddenly piqued his curiosity. In this way, the teenager let the child rest without hurting his pride. If he were to ask him if he needed a pause, he was pretty sure the boy would blow his top. After two months, Gabriel had more or less understood what kind of personality Misha had, even though the child tried to hide it.

The beach wasn't too far from their campsite, and after 15 minutes, the forest gradually faded, leaving only a few trees standing tall in the sand. Near the entrance of the trail, there was a parking lot packed with cars and an impressive log cabin. There was a constant flux of people coming in and out. Inside the grey cabin, the front desk where people had to register to enter the camping was busy handling the incoming campers. The place also served as a small canteen in the afternoon and sold many commodities.

Gabriel and Masha went to the public bathroom inside the log cabin and changed into their swimming trunk, putting their clothes in the teenager's backpack. Then, they went out.

Pursing his lips, Misha glared at the shirtless teenage boy, and then looked down at his c.h.e.s.t, which was a pure, silky white. With his small hands, he patted his flat stomach, and he felt the urge to cry. The perfect muscles he had painfully and carefully developed over the years were gone, disappearing into smoke just like that.

For the past two months, Misha had avoided agonizing over it, distracting his mind with something else. But now that Gabriel was exhibiting his fit body for everyone to see, he couldn't help the jealousy creeping up on him, making him want to hit the teenager a few times, just to vent his pent up frustration. And he did just so, furiously kicking the teenager's calf.

Startled, Gabriel shifted his gaze from the crowded beach to the boy, staring at him with a puzzled expression. In response, the child glared at him, or more precisely, at his stomach as if he wanted to drill a hole in it with his eyes.

"Is there something wrong?" asked the teenager with a gentle tone.

"No, nothing," answered Misha as he turned his head, acting as if he wasn't the one who had kicked him a moment ago.

In his heart, he sulked, 'Tsk. I'm so more fit than you as an a.d.u.l.t, so don't be too proud of yourself.'

Gabriel didn't ask further. He was used to Masha's mistreatment, so he didn't think much of Misha's sudden fit of anger. He only thought that the two of them were indeed siblings, hitting people for no reason.

When the teenager was about to propose to have a swim, Misha opened his mouth and said with a domineering tone, "It's hot. I want to eat something cold!"

Then, the little boy glanced at the teenager over his shoulder, his arms crossed in front of his c.h.e.s.t, which made him look like a small boss who was unhappy with his employee. The moment the child started to pull pranks on the teenager, he had thrown the gentle and well-behaved act aside, becoming bossy whenever his family wasn't in the vicinity. However, the kid himself didn't seem to realize it, and so the teenager pretended not to notice it, complying with his absurd orders.

Although his mouth twitched a little, Gabriel still answered with a soft voice, "Ok. How about buying a popsicle?"

"Then go and buy it. I will wait for you here."

"I promised your mother to watch over you. I can't let you stay alone in such a crowded place."

"The stall is just over there!" replied the boy, pointing at the cabin a few meters away, which had an open stand beside it that sold cold drinks and snacks. "It's not like I'm going to run away, and if someone I don't know get close to me, I just have to scream."

"…"

Misha avoided his eyes, adding with a small voice and a sullen face, "It's hard to run in the sand…"

There was a silence between the two. Then Gabriel turned his head, putting a fist in front of his mouth to kill the laughter that wanted to escape from his throat.

"Don't laugh!" roared the child, his cheeks suddenly bright red. 'Why did I blurt out the truth like a f.u.c.k.i.n.g idiot!?' Misha was depressed. Indeed, he wouldn't try to flee because running on the beach was too demanding for his weak body. His legs would probably give in to the fatigue after one or two meters, and he would fell headlong into the sand. Just walking was already hard enough, he didn't want to think about running.

"I'm not laughing, I'm not laughing," chuckled the teenager, which earned him a few punches from the little fury. "Ouch, ouch, ouch. Ok, ok, I get it. Have some mercy!" smiled Gabriel as he ruffled the boy's hair before adding, "I will go buy your snack, so can you watch over the backpack?"

"Hmpf!" pouted the child, arrogantly lifting his chin with contempt and disdain. Although he appeared grumpy, Misha still extended a hand to take the backpack from Gabriel and then watched his back as the teenager sprinted to the stand.

Throwing the backpack at his feet, Misha smirked. Clearly, Gabriel didn't trust him and wanted to buy his popsicle and come back as fast as possible, just in case he took the opportunity to disappear into the crowd. Well, Misha wasn't as anxious as he was in the beginning, thinking that his pranks were doing an excellent job and were slowly wearing down Gabriel's patience. Moreover, seeing how much his mother worried because of his hospitalization, he couldn't even imagine how she would react if she learned her baby boy went missing. Would she die from a heart attack? He didn't know, but he didn't want to risk it.

Thus, Misha wouldn't resort to such a stupid plan anymore.

While the child was waiting for his personal errand boy to come back, a group of children, three boys and one girl, approached him. They stood in front of him, staring at him curiously with a hint of mockery in their eyes.

The tallest boy, who stood in the middle of the group, looked down at him, sizing him up without an ounce of shame. Then, he said with a scoff, "Don't you know that girl must wear a swimsuit?"

Misha blinked. It took a few seconds for his brain to process the brat's words. Even then, he didn't immediately understand what he meant until he realized the kid was talking about him, angering him to death. 'What the hell is wrong with this guy's brain!?'

"What are your eyes for? I'm a boy!"

"Don't lie! You're clearly a girl!" sneered another child with that kind of righteous gaze that made Misha want to stab his eyes with his fingers.

"For f.u.c.k's sake, I think I know my own gender better than anyone!" answer Misha through his teeth, telling himself to take a deep breath and calm down.

It had been a long time since anyone tried to tell him what his gender was without taking into account his words. It had happened quite a lot in his youth, but to him, it was a long time ago, and he had long tossed the shameful memories aside. Now that he was experiencing it again, he suddenly understood why he ended up with so many anger issues. With a bunch of idiots surrounding him, it was no surprise.

"Pfft. With that soft voice, even if you swear, it doesn't sound convincing at all," laughed the third boy.

Misha felt like a vein popped on his forehead.

"It's wrong for girls to show off their b.r.e.a.s.t, you know?" added the little girl with furrowed brows.

A second vein popped.

"Stop trying to pretend to be a boy, no one will be fooled! It's not because you're wearing a swim trunk that you aren't a girl anymore," sighed the tallest boy, shaking his head as if the small child before him was nothing more than a joke.

A third vein popped, and Misha decided to forget about patience and maturity. Anyway, he had never been good with verbal jousts, so he may as well knock some sense into those brats with his beloved fists.

---------------

Author's note:

Author: Here the appearance of some cannon fodders!

MC: Didn't we already have a cannon fodder? *Stares at Gabriel*

ML: ...

*Silence*

ML: How many times do I have to tell you that I'm the ML of this story?

MC: Hmpf.