Not in Love

New Start

When Yibo approached the private rest room at the far end of the second floor corridor, he felt he heard a scream. But he didn't see anyone around so he proceeded to open the door. As he touched the door handle, he heard someone yell "NO!" from inside. It was definitely not a mistake this time. But the door was locked from inside and he couldn't get in. So he banged on the door repeatedly.

"Hello.. who's there? What's happening? Open the door right now or I will call security"

He was shocked when the door opened and Xiao Zhan stood there with an embarrassed look on his face.

"Zhan ge! What..are you ok? What's wrong? Was it you? Why did you scream?" Yibo asked Zhan holding to his shoulders.

"Bo di..I'm fine. Calm down"

It was then that a shadow walked out from behind the wall. It was Lay.

"Hey Yibo! Didn't mean to startle you" Lay said sheepishly

He looked at Lay and then examined Xiao Zhan head to toe. Yibo was startled at Xiao Zhan's appearance. His lips were swollen, his hair disheveled and his shirt was rumpled. Yibo was furious when he understood the meaning behind the scream.

"Zhan ge..are you sure you are fine? Did he do something to you? Tell me" Yibo yelled rolling his hand into a fist and almost jumped on Lay to punch him in the face even without waiting for Xiao Zhan's reply. But Zhan held him back in time to stop the attack.

"Yibo.. what are you doing?" Lay complained

"Stop it Yibo..It's not what it looks like. Don't hurt him..he didn't do anything" Xiao Zhan spoke

"What the hell do you mean ge.. look at you.. you are trembling..I'm going to kick this son of a ...."

"Yibo! That's enough! I'm not some delicate flower that you need to protect, ok. I can take care of myself. Trust me when I say, whatever happened here..happened because I wanted it. This is personal between us and you better not get involved" Xiao Zhan scowled at Yibo.

"Ge..but.. I was just trying to help"

"Well, I don't need your help Yibo. We are not friends anymore remember. So please don't be bothered. Leave me alone" Xiao Zhan snapped and walked out the restroom leaving the shocked Yibo behind. Lay followed him out.

Yibo was appalled with what just happened. He was unsure of his feelings at the moment...was he furious that Zhan ge had moved on from him so soon, or jealous that he chose Lay over him and shocked with what he just almost witnessed. Regardless, he was hurt. Hurt by what Xiao Zhan said, hurt but knew that he deserved this slap back from Xiao Zhan after what he did to him.

They had not been on talking terms lately, just the occasional acknowledgment of each other's presence when they meet in events or award shows. But Yibo had been keeping tabs on Xiao Zhan online. He reads through all the news, watches all his performances, hears all the rumors. He would never concede but he misses his Zhan ge more than he ever thought he would.

So he had seen Lay and Zhan's performance together on new year's eve and seen how their popularity rose among the fans..how the most popular CP in the country was now being replaced by this new sudden pairing. He wasn't happy with everything going on around Xiao Zhan but he had no right to interfere, so he let go hoping the craze will subside eventually.

When Yibo arrived at the Awards show that night, he was seated 2 seats away from Xiao Zhan and Zhan was engaged in a conversation with Lay. They exchanged a brief glance and Zhan returned to the conversation. He did not really see anything out of the ordinary between the two except for the occasional chatter or locking eyes in the passing. But he did observe that both of them disappeared back stage together just before it was his turn to perform and when he didn't see them at their designated seats even after his performance he just thought they left. He just never expected them to...never expected to run into them in the restroom like this.