A Beautiful Paradox (COMPLETE)

Chapter 14

The sun was extending its rays of warmth through a translucent blue sky, balancing out the coolness of the wind that was tickling his face. The creek in front of his eyes was flowing ever so gracefully, the sunlit ripples of water dancing against the smooth stones guarding them in against the coarse earth. Everything was so perfect, just like how he last remembered it. Except that he was alone this time. And without Ming by his side, the place felt so dead.

Ming had left this morning. Kit didn't see Ming off, despite the attempts of his friends to drag him to the airport. Because he couldn't bear to see him leave. To watch him head off to a great opportunity. And out of Kit's life.

So, instead, he escaped to a place that Ming and Kit had coincidentally stumbled across on one of their dates. A secret spot that they shared together, a safe ground holding some of their most precious memories. In particular, it served as their hiding place when things got too tense between them. When one was upset with the other, he would come to this place and calm himself down by taking in the serene view surrounding him. And he would patiently wait until the other eventually showed up and found him. And always, at that point, they both had cooled down and were willing to talk through whatever problem or misunderstanding that they had. It was their very own hide-and-seek game, where the rules were set in place so that they would both end up winning.

But, right now, Kit was sitting here all alone. Waiting to no avail. He knew that he would be forever lost because his one and only seeker had no memories of this precious place. And his beloved seeker was no longer with him.

Holding his phone in his hand, Kit silently stared at the screen showing his inbox of voice messages. He never could bring himself to listen to all the voice messages that Ming left for him after Kit had ended their relationship. Because he knew that it would shatter his heart into a million pieces. Feared that as soon as he heard them, he would let down all his walls and immediately run to Ming. Hold him tight and never let him go. But he figured that it would be safe to listen to them now. Even if he couldn't hold himself back, Kit wouldn't be able to reach out to a Ming who was no longer on the same ground as him. Especially, right now, with Ming being in the air for the next twenty hours or so.

Kit closed his eyes and took a deep breath, preparing himself as best as he could for the upcoming moments of what was going to be soul-wrecking agony. He hesitantly pressed the play button of the first voice message. Ming's grief-stricken voice pierced through his ears and started to rip his heart apart into shreds.

"Please pick up your phone. Let's talk through this one more time. I don't understand why you're being like this. Why you're doing this to me."

"Kit, please. I can't let you go. Tell me what I did wrong and I'll fix it. I'll fix anything and everything. Just talk to me."

"Please, Kit, don't do this to me. Give me one more chance. Just one more. And I promise that I won't disappoint you."

"You know that I'm so clueless when it comes to you. I don't know what I did wrong, but I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I love you so much and I just can't do this. Please, just please talk to me."