All That We Held Dear - YiZhan (COMPLETED)

Epilogue 〜 Moments - Part 3 ・Crossroads

〜Leap of Faith〜

Yibo reaching out to Xiao Zhan had been a turning point. Since their separation in Korea, he'd felt like time had been dragging on at an excruciatingly slow pace; however, once they'd reconnected, the year had come to an end in the blink of an eye.

At first, their interactions had been limited to the occasional text, and Xiao Zhan had consciously relinquished all control and allowed Yibo to take the lead. This was in line with the promises he'd made the previous summer, but also because he didn't know the man's state of mind. Although they were now communicating almost daily, Yibo wasn't — for the most part — forthcoming when it came to his emotions, and Xiao Zhan, although he wanted nothing more than to ask, didn't pry. He didn't even dare share much about his own healing journey for fear that it might burden or confuse Yibo and cause him to change his mind. This, of course, was far from optimal and was a great source of anxiety for Xiao Zhan; however, he knew that no matter how he wished for it, a speedy reconciliation was impossible, especially since, as far as he could tell, Yibo hadn't recovered the memories of their time together. Determined to make things work this time, all he could do was take a passive approach and wait patiently.

Nevertheless, although Xiao Zhan continued being careful not to ask anything of Yibo, over time, he'd grown more confident and — on every topic except what had transpired between them — had found the courage to express himself more straightforwardly without hiding his emotions and needs behind fear. To his surprise, this was well received by Yibo, who'd also started opening up a little more about his own struggles with life in America. All the while, the previous summer's events remained a taboo that neither of them seemed willing or able to break. Xiao Zhan couldn't help but wonder how long they'd be able to continue on this path before they were forced to address it. And when they inevitably did, he worried it might destroy everything all over again.

Chinese New Year rolled around, and for the first time in a while, Xiao Zhan declined invitations to take part in the special broadcasts in favour of spending the holiday back home with his parents. He'd expected Chen Hao to protest, but his manager had accepted his decision without even batting an eyelash, proving once again that Chiyou had chosen her successor wisely.

His stomach full of his mother's delicious cooking, Xiao Zhan sat in the living room with his parents and distractedly watched the show he normally would have been on. Having just sent well-wishes to Chiyou, who was celebrating in Singapore with Dr. Park, and texted Mrs. Zhang to wish her and her family a Happy New Year, he returned his phone to the coffee table. For a moment, his screen remained lit, showing his wallpaper, the pottery sherd picture Yibo had sent him a few months ago. Although he couldn't be certain, he had a feeling the man had carefully selected the image before texting it. Whether it was the case or not, it mattered a lot to him and seeing it whenever he used the device was a good way to remind himself to be patient. He also thought it amusing to see the confused expression of people catching sight of it; nobody had dared to ask him about it so far.

Unaware that he'd dozed off, Xiao Zhan was jolted awake by the sudden loud vibration of his phone on the glass coffee table.

"Who's calling you at such an hour?" Asked his mother, annoyed at having been woken up herself, as he leaned forward to grab the device.

"It's not the same time everywhere," said his father with a knowing look at his son.

As soon as his eyes fell on the screen and he saw the American number, Xiao Zhan's heart leaped, and he was fully awake. Although Yibo had recently been exchanging text messages daily, they hadn't spoken on the phone nor sent each other voice messages yet. In fact, he'd convinced himself that it wouldn't happen for quite a while since he wasn't about to do it, and Yibo had never brought up the topic. This last thought made him worry that the man might be calling with bad news, so he got up; he didn't want to cry in front of his parents.