autumn, september 5
絳 真心
yi chenhsin
yi chenhsin clicks on the refresh button 8 times and rolls her eyes so far in the back of her head that she can't even see the image of xu minghao, who plagues her mind on and on. she waits, attentively, for his email to sprout back.
chenhsin feels a squeeze on her shoulder and turns her head back to face the wrath of her portly math teacher. "10 hours of pool cleaning, chenhsin. i have had enough of you misusing our school computers."
this isn't the first time that this has happened. she's sacrificed her goody two shoes persona and finally let it go, all for the sake of xu minghao. that long limbed, b-boying fool.
man, she really missed him.
chenhsin hums to a random tune as she swipes the net back and forth across the pool, crouching with her elbow resting upon her knee and her chin resting upon the heel of her hand.
last year, minghao and she had skipped their lunch period to go swimming in the pool. though they each both received two slaps to their palms and 48 hours of after school cleaning, it was fun.
his last text message had told her that he was busy, applying for three universities and which ones he should choose, based upon the colors. chenhsin had messaged him with a four page essay on how nice the colors of each university were. maybe he was just grading it and that's what was taking him so long.
chenhsin sits herself down on the concrete, and takes off her socks and shoes before just placing them in the water. it's comforting.
no one is around at school after the final bell. chenhsin doesn't care. she feeds off of her loneliness and gains energy from being alone. but also from being with minghao. she's some type of introvert.
she has all the time in the world to think about everything now that she doesn't have someone talking and messing around. she has time to think now that minghao is gone and that's dangerous. never leave an introvert like yi chenhsin by herself.
because, you know what? missing someone sucks.
your best friend, the only person who fills up your schedule, or your only friend is gone and that really does something to someone. it hurts.
chenhsin has never had to deal with this. this is the first time she's officially alone, and though it's only for the year, chenhsin fears that it may end up being more than temporary, based on his choices.
she's falling in the water, letting all of her cramped joints give in to her stress. why do they make fun of her? is it just because her only friend is gone and she has no friends?
she can't swim. well, crap. it's been maybe almost a month since school started. the day minghao answers her will be the day she might want to try in school. her family is counting on her but she still can't find a good enough reason to try.
maybe if minghao were here, she'd find a reason to, her mind whispers to her.
she's drowning and the next thing you know chenhsin is at the bottom of the pool, allowing her body to stop twitching and to just give in to the suffocation.
but life has other plans when there's turbulence in the water and the inverted ringing meets her ears. wide hands wrap themselves around her limbs which were beginning to blue.
yi chenhsin resurfaces with oxygen struggling to course through her body, fighting the water and the chlorine that had filled her lungs. her heart beats a different way, listening to rugged breaths and seeing long limbs that are topped with messy hair.
minghao, she believes who saved her and is still coughing when her eyes transfix upon the being who saved her.
and it's not minghao.
why would it be? he's 1,000 miles away.
and it shouldn't piss her off since she kind of tried to kill herself and he saved her but she still gets pissed off.
chenhsin frowns and the silhouette of this stranger melts away, slowly but surely painting in his being. she frowns even more.
he's panting heavily, doubled over, with the lower half of his body still wading in the water and, boy is he long. his skin is golden and chenhsin feels like she's found the gold rush.
he turns to her, water glistening upon his skin and dribbling down his sculpted raspberry lips. chenhsin lets out an exasperated gasp at this, with her hands balling up into fists.
'you're not minghao,' she wants to say but instead, he beats her to it. his voice is perhaps what the flavor of dragonfruit would taste like.
"i've seen you in honors classes before but how stupid are you?"
chenhsin blinks at him a few times as a few water drops fall into her eyes from her hair.
he shakes his head and sighs, lifting himself out of the water. "if this is because of some boy, i'm going to be the one to drown myself and since you can't swim, i'll succeed."
she doesn't say anything but her emotions finally turn back on, assessing the situation with her heart and not with her brain. a small yet unpleasant frown hardens on her face.
"you don't know anything, you jerk." she's infuriated but she come up with any good insults or come backs.
he lets out a dry chuckle and wipes his nose with a fist. "of course, i do. i know a few things, not sure if you do though,"
the beautiful stranger stands up, still dripping wet and shimmering in the sunlight, and reaches his hand out to her.
"besides, a thank you would sure be nice."
chenhsin wrinkles her nose and lifts herself out of the water, still a weird shade of blue and weak from the suffocation. "no thanks, asshat."
the boy laughs. "it's junhui, and you are?"
she flares her nostrils, letting water come out. "not in the mood for pricks. thanks."
the wind rustles their hair a bit and chenhsin shivers. "hey, there's a reason i was here to be able to save you. can you come with me? please, join me. i'm rather lonely."
they stand in silence, in cool breezes as water begins to collect by their feet and gradually rain down from their faces.
she says yes.
