All That We Held Dear - YiZhan (COMPLETED)

Arc III - Out of the Frying Pan - Part 3

Xiao Zhan, coat in hand, stood in place as Auntie Wang grew more and more agitated.

"That can't be right. I spoke to him not even two days ago. How could he... No. Yes, of course, of course. Have you tried... Right. I... Yes. Alright. I will call you back when... Yes. No, I know that. Yes. Ok. I will take a look. Bye now."

She hung up but didn't put away her phone.

"Everything ok?" Asked Xiao Zhan.

"Just give me a moment," she said as she opened an app.

He recognized the well-known banking application and looked away. His eyes fell on Yibo, and he felt his face grow warm at the thought of what he'd almost done. Was it creepy? He was unconscious, after all. Plus, they had only ever kissed that one time... Maybe it was a good thing he'd been interrupted. Then again...

Xiao Zhan's train of thought was interrupted by Auntie Wang's annoyed huffs, losing patience as she tried to input her password and got it incorrectly for the third time. Finally, she shoved the phone at him.

"I can't do it. I'll say it. Just type it in," she said.

He hesitated a moment, but the expression on her face told him that more than password safety was at stake right now. He took the device, entered the information she dictated, and quickly passed it back to her.

After a moment, she sighed heavily and sat down. She then opened a different app, this time without his help. As she tapped this and that with her finger, her eyes widened. She took a sharp breath.

"No. He wouldn't..."

She scrolled some more, then she covered her eyes with her hand, the hand holding the phone dropping heavily in her lap.

"Auntie?" Xiao Zhan said, worried.

She looked up at him. All colour had drained from her face. Her brow knitted. She kept opening and closing her mouth, unable to speak. Without waiting for an answer, he hung her coat back and crouched in front of her.

"Auntie. Who was that? What is going on?" He asked.

"It was my sister," she replied in a hushed voice.

"What's happening?" He asked gently.

She looked up at him, eyes brimming with tears.

"What am I going to do?"

"About what? What's wrong? Please tell me."

"It's my brother, the one who's been managing Yibo's finances. He's gone missing."

The fact that she'd referred to her son by his actual name put Xiao Zhan on high alert. He did his best to hide it.

"Missing? Could he just have gone on a vacation without telling anyone? You said you spoke to him recently. Maybe he'll get in touch soon."

She shook her head and then hastily wiped the tears away from her eyes.

"It's not just that, Xiao Zhan. I tried to call him yesterday because he was supposed to transfer me money from Yibo's account to pay the ICU bill. It went straight to voicemail. He also hasn't been responding to my texts nor my emails."

As she spoke, she shook her phone as if to prove a point.

"I called again this morning, but his phone number wasn't in service anymore. I was worried something might have happened, so I asked my sister to go to his place and check on him."

She took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eyes.

"He emptied his apartment. He's gone."

She paused. He stared at her, confused, his brain refusing to acknowledge the obvious.