Make Our Days Count: In Your Memory

Chapter 2: Forgetting The Past

“I met him today.” Xiang Hao Ting hesitantly said to Sun Bo Xiang, his closest friend.

“Him who?” Sun Bo Xiang asked while stuffing his mouth with the dumplings he bought for lunch.

“Him...Yu Xi Gu.”

“...Oh? So you did see him at the college today.”

“Hm.”

“So what did you say to him?”

“I wasn’t able to say anything. It was as if the words stuck in my throat; I wanted to tell so much but I knew that I shouldn’t.” Xiang Hao Ting said with a hint of sadness while still smiling.

Sun Bo Xiang looked at his friend and caught the sorrow in his eyes behind that smile. He had known Xiang Hao Ting for almost all his life now. The Xiang Hao Ting of the past was always making trouble because of his bad temper. But after meeting Yu Xi Gu in their high school years, Xiang Hao Ting truly tried hard to change his ways. It was really shocking for Sun Bo Xiang how Xiang Hao Ting changed over years, all for Yu Xi Gu. He also studied hard to get into the same college as Yu Xi Gu.

He was no more the Xiang Hao Ting of the past, he was much mature and understanding now. But that one incident changed his life and Sun Bo Xiang was a witness to all of this. He still remembered the nights Xiang Hao Ting spent crying silently. They all were helpless in that situation. It was a nightmare for all of them and especially for Xiang Hao Ting. He had barely been able to get over the accident and still he couldn’t get Yu Xi Gu off his mind. And now, after all this time, the past they were all trying to forget had appeared once again, as a completely unfamiliar person.

When Sun Bo Xiang saw Yu Xi Gu in his current state after amnesia, he was speechless. The Yu Xi Gu he knew was a loner, a person who liked to keep to himself. He had barely opened up to Xiang Hao Ting and Sun Bo Xiang after a long time in the past. But the person that Yu Xi Gu was now was nothing like the past. He was more outgoing and he also smiled more now.

It was as if Sun Bo Xiang had seen two people change into completely different personalities overnight. He still didn’t know how to feel about everything that had happened. But he knew that Xiang Hao Ting still hurt when he remembered Yu Xi Gu and their days in the past.

But the past is past now, they needed to get over it now, most importantly Xiang Hao Ting needed to get over it.
“Xiang Hao Ting, do you still remember what you had said to me after the accident?”

“I do, I know. I know everything...I know I shouldn’t be near him. I know I shouldn’t talk to him. I know I didn’t want him to remember me because I didn’t want him to remember his painful past too.” Xiang Hao Ting said with a pained expression.

“It’s fine, Xiang Hao Ting. I know you’ll be okay. Sometimes we cannot change some things, alright. Don’t hurt yourself so much. What happened was no one’s fault and at the end everything turned out fine, didn’t it?”

“Yeah. I understand. I guess I just need to focus on my college for now.”

Sun Bo Xiang really felt the worst when he saw Xiang Hao Ting like that. In what way could he comfort him, he knew how huge of a blow that accident was to Xiang Hao Ting. Some scars just take time to heal and Xiang Hao Ting still needed time.

___

‘Hey!’

‘Heyyyy, do you remember me?’

Xiang Hao Ting’s phone buzzed out of nowhere in the middle of the night.

“Who the hell is it?! Texting at freaking midnight?!” Xiang Hao Ting was annoyed by all the notifications he got.

He opened the messenger and saw 3 new messages in his inbox.

‘I know you are not sleeping? Or maybe are you? Lol.’

Xiang Hao Ting read the messages and was about to throw his phone back on the table beside the side lamp but just then a message popped up,

‘I’m Yu Xi Gu, remember? The guy you met today and gave a cold shoulder to? Hahaha’

Xiang Hao Ting couldn’t believe what he was reading for a second. It had been ages since he got a text from Yu Xi Gu; of course, he had changed his mobile too after it got ruined in the accident. He pondered for a while if he should reply to Yu Xi Gu’s message.

‘He’s just a stranger now, remember? You shouldn’t get involved with him!’ Xiang Hao Ting thought to himself with a huge conflict going on in his mind.

‘You there?’

Xiang Hao Ting’s mobile screen lit up at the notification and the next moment he was wondering what to reply with his keyboard open.

‘Hi....’ No, no that’s not it..

‘Hello’ that sounds uptight...

‘Hey :)’ what’s with that smiley emoji. And the moment he was about to clear the last message it accidentally got sent. Xiang Hao Ting panicked and tried to unsend it but Yu Xi Gu immediately read the message. Xiang Hao Ting’s face grew red with embarrassment.

‘Shit no, that sounded so cringey. What am I even doing!’
Xiang Hao Ting internally cursed himself for doing that. But before he would die from the embarrassment, he got a reply from Yu Xi Gu.

‘I didn’t know you could smile too hehe. Anyways it’s really nice to meet you!’

After reading the message, unknowingly Xiang Hao Ting teared up. Ever since the reason of his happiness disappeared, he had never been how he used to be. He would always put on a tough cover and cope up with everything. He realised then that he also smiled much less now.

‘But is it really okay to be close to Yu Xi Gu now?’

Xiang Hao Ting wondered with mixed feelings in his heart as he turned off his mobile to get things off his mind and sleep. He decided that night, that he would never see Yu Xi Gu again.