Mizpah《Zhanyi version》

Epilogue

Present time . . .

"Why ten years? Why . . . ? Was it because we were never meant to be together?" Yibo looked sideways, staring out of the window, his breath soft but steady.

Slowly Zhan's hand crawled to Yibo's, and Zhan took his hand in his, and for once Zhan's hand was not cold as the dead, and Yibo noticed because he turned around, his eyes unreadable.

"Zhan, maybe it's better if we just turn into strangers, just stranger who know too much of each other to be actual strangers, maybe that's all that's left for us now . . ." Zhan shook his head, taking a deep unsteady breath, holding Yibo's gaze.

"Listen, Yibo, I know I shouldn't have waited ten years . . . I remembered you clearly after I woke up, I knew you weren't a dream but a reality, but the thing that kept me away from you was that I did not remember anything more than our days together and your name, I never asked where you lived nor did you asked me anything, Yibo, do you even know my surname?" Yibo slowly shook his head, thousands of words were hanging between us ion the air, yet not even one was said.

"Yibo, my surname is Xiao, I have had hired thousands of detectives and fired them, throughout those ten years I hadn't stopped searching for you, I went through countries, field, cities, towns and whenever I could, but I did not find you . . ." Yibo stared at Zhan, still emotionless.

"Of course, you wouldn't be able to find me when it's your heart that is trying to run away from me Zhan, do you love me, Zhan . . . ? If so I can forgive, but not forget the past, but if you don't love me we will only remain too familiar strangers . . ." While Yibo talked Zhan slowly took something from beside him of the chair, it was purple lilacs.

Carefully Zhan placed them in front of Yibo with a small smile, "Yibo, do you know what the flowers meant I gave to you on the day I disappeared?" Yibo warily shook his head, the streak of daylight falling onto his face while the first few people awoke.

"White and yellow Chrysanthemum symbolizes the words goodbye when we meet someone and say hello the worst thing to remember is that there is always a goodbye, but I did not want to say the word because I trusted my heart that there would be a day we would meet again. That's the reason why I gave you the Chrysanthemum instead of saying goodbye . . ." Yibo's hand went to the purple lilacs on the table which shone beautifully in the morning light.

"And then, what is the meaning of purple lilacs?" Zhan and Yibo's eyes collided, one had the eyes of the constellation, deep with stars shining through them, and the other sight was bright like the calming sea on a beautiful sunny day, two opposites, but in the end, the opposite always attracts . . .

"Purplelilacs symbolize the beginning of a pure and innocent love story, so Yibo, do you want to dive into this adventure of pain, scars, happiness and healing with me? We will run, and we will fall, but in the end, we will be together. And to me, that is all that matters, the past is what happened, and we can not change that instead, we can change the future that is waiting for us, are you ready to give me that chance . . . ?" Zhan took both of Yibo's warm hand into his, their eyes still locked, thousands of words were spinning around them, none were spilt because they couldn't describe the moment they were in, this was full nostalgia with a droplet of love . . .

"If so, then I want you to make one promise with me," Zhan nodded even before Yibo could finish his sentence, making Yibo smile, the first-ever smile since this day after he realized the man sitting there was Zhan.

"I want you to promise me that there won't be any secrets between us anymore, never, okay?" Zhan immediately nodded like a puppy, and Yibo couldn't hold back a smile while he awoke out of a daze.

"Zhan, how long have we been sitting here?"

Without glancing at the watch around his wrist, Zhan answered casually, "four hours."

"WHAT!" Zhan slowly put a hand against his ear, to be sure he wasn't deaf because of Yibo's scream.

"Bo di, this whole café is owned by my cousin, Wang Zhoucheng, and he left me to clean today," Zhan held up the keys with a small smile, making Yibo stop fumbling around.

"We are no ordinary couple, are we, Yibo?" A small shake from Yibo's side made Zhan sigh deeply before Yibo continued, "Zhan, we are nothing near ordinary, but that is a good thing, we don't need to fit in the crowd, we can be ourselves, I mean every star shines differently, and all that matters to me is that we can finally be together, but will your parents approve me?" Yibo looked down at his hands, the atmosphere going down too.

"Yibo, I am sure my parents will love you because who wouldn't, your kind, good-hearted, polite and everything a parent would wish for," a tear slipped from Yibo's eye while Zhan was talking, and without a second thought, Zhan went to sit next to Yibo, embracing his crying baby lion without asking a question.

"My dad left this world a few months ago, since that day I was all alone Zhan, I was tired, and I thought you forgot about me, every night I stared out of the window, reminding myself you would be looking at the same sky that I am looking to, but then always would the question appear, would you remember me?" Zhan slowly stroked Yibo's back, Yibo's head leaning onto Zhan's shoulder like they used to do.

"Of course I thought about you Yibo, there did not pass a single day in which I was not thinking about you, I had been longing for you, searching everywhere, and I reminded myself that we were soulmates, so our paths must cross someday, and see? It did . . ." Yibo only gave a wry smile, while yawning, his head still on Zhan's shoulder.

Without the exchange of more words, Zhan carried Yibo in bridal style, towards the room above the café.

The sun had come up, the first few people stepped out of their houses, and the two lovers slept in the embrace, Yibo's head on Zhan's shoulder, hugging Zhan like he was a teddy bear, still scared that Zhan would disappear the next day again . . .

As if it was too good to be a real dream . . .

~The End~

Word count: 1161 words