His swan | Huaze Lei

Chapter 17: Why was I so blind?

"Huaze Lei, what happened to you?" Shancai asked as she got closer to him. "Ever since you came back from Paris you have totally changed." Shancai noticed.

"Are you worried about me?" Lei asked the girl.

"It's normal to be worried about friends, isn't it?" Shancai asked as she sit down next to Lei. "Is it because of Jing?" Shancai asked curious.

"I don't even know anymore." Lei confessed as he sighed and put his head on her shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Shancai asked surprised.

"10 minutes. No. Five minutes will be enough. I am fine during the day, seeing my friends and Meiling around me is helping me, but I can't deal with it at night. Can you give me a hug?" Lei asked feeling vulnerable.

"Why don't ask that girl to hug you?" Shancai asked confused.

"I don't want to be touched by a woman I don't know. Especially after what she said to Meiling." Lei said.

"What about Meiling? She gives warm and good hugs, doesn't she?" Shancai asked with a smile trying to make him smile but Lei's eyes started to water.

"I don't think she wants to be around me." Lei said as a tear fell down.

"What do you mean? Earlier you two seemed to be alright at dinner. Even at school." Shancai said confused.

"It seems like it, but I know it's not the same. When we were little Meiling did everything in her power to make me and the guys smile. She will listen to me singing, play with me, draw with me. We will do all the things I liked to do but the guys didn't." Lei explained and Shancai nodded as she listened. "But that day at the airport, when she asked me to stay, when she started to cry I couldn't do it. I couldn't stay and wipe her tears away. I couldn't do one thing for her after all the things she has done for me." Lei explained and Shancai started to feel a little jealous but aside from that fhe felt slightly sorry for the boy she loved and the older girl that was kind enough to help her when she needed it.

"I will never forget the day I arrived in Paris. The way Jing looked at me and smiled bright, I felt no remourse about my friendship with Meiling. But as days went by, me and Jing started to do a lot of things me and Ming would usually do. At that time, I wasn't aware, but when Jing started to spend more time working and away from home, I realized I was waiting for her to do things together. But with time, I didn't missed Jing that much in comparasion to how I missed Meiling. I was back to being that little kid that will always hide in his shell afraid." Lei said and Shancai sighed and nodded. She knew that Lei was probably confused about his feelings for Jing and Meiling. She would lie to say it didn't hurt to see the boy she liked thinking of another girl, but it was worse to think he was feeling guilty because he thought he lost Meiling in his chase for Jing.

"Lei...While you were away Meiling was not the same." Shancai said and the boy looked at her confused. "She will rarely smile. A frown was always present along her features and her cheerful side was nearly gone. When me and Quinche had to play against F4, she acted different from her usual self. She looked angry, and hungry for revenge. But now that you are back, she looks like she enjoys life more. So don't be sad, because I think you brought along with you Meiling's smile too." Shancai finished smiling and Lei looked down at his hands as a small smile appeared on his face. "Well, it's pretty late. We better head back." Shancai said and Lei nodded.

"You got back first. I will come soon too." Lei said and the girl nodded and walked away. Lei looked back at the ocean and sighed. Was Meiling truly happy that he is back? Was their friendship alright? He was confused. Meiling rarely showed her anger and emotions to others, but when she did that meant something important happened to her. Was he still someone that important to her that she will be that affected?