The more you love, the more you suffer . . .
***
Wang Yibo's POV
Cherry blossom petals danced on the warm breeze of the hot summer evening while soft strokes of moonlight glimmered on the golden decorations of the shrine, and I took in a deep breath.
I got kept safely in the tender arms of someone, someone very familiar because the warmth that the person developed around us was a safe feeling, and my feet moved swiftly with his movements while my body took over the lead, I was dancing in his embrace, safely away from the monsters of the world that were lurking in the darkness of the corners because with him I was safe like he promised me.
The safeness wouldn't last long anymore, and so thus, I took every second into my heart and locked it up there.
But then I spoke the familiar words that were putten onto my lip, waiting to be said, and broke the icy silence that the night created between us, unable to stop myself from letting them slip, "your love is like a sandcastle that'll fly away with the slightest breeze." I leaned closer into his embrace.
Our feet kept moving, almost did I collide with him, but he, the gentleman he was, helped me like he always did, it was as if our feet knew their way out without us, and I listened to his uneven heartbeat that reminded me that I was still alive after all.
Once again, I slowly but surely opened my mouth, only to listen to the soft words that escaped, "I'm trying to enjoy whatever I can until it comes crashing down." I heard his soft breath slightly hitch, yet he didn't show anything on his face that was hidden behind a well-built facade, his features delicate like porcelain in the shadows of the moonlight.
And for a fracture of a second, just one glimpse second, I felt like a fairytale princess, but unbeknown to him and the outside world, this would all end, even before anyone could blink twice.
But maybe instead of waiting for my prince on the white horse, I should be waiting for my dragon to rescue me. After all, not every fairytale ends with a happily ever after . . .
"Is that so?" His familiar voice was hoarse through the quiet ballroom, and the silence spell of the night got broken by now, "I hope your expectations aren't too high, or you might be disappointed." his eyes were dark as always and were able to be compared to the dazzling night sky because his inside his soft dark eyes was a whole universe with shining stars visible.
Though besides that, this time, I could see that he was giving me a sign of warning, and I almost wanted to laugh if it wasn't for his stable voice that sent cold shivers down my spine because he had never sounded so different.
And I tried to stretch my neck to look at the person I recognized as my someone whose name was on the tip of my tongue, yet it seemed lost in the fog of my mind, from the moment I woke up in this embrace while we were dancing, somewhere I was afraid to see who he actually was, but I couldn't wait, he had let me wait too long.
His face was one daze, and I kept trying to focus on it while our feet swept over the floor as if we were flying with no worries following us, and I wanted to sink down into the feeling of safeness I had been longing for since a kid, the warmness that only one and only that one person could give whose name had faded with the years that had passed.
And the time froze while our eyes collided in that one endless haze of moment . . .
Zhan.
BAM.
I rolled off my bed with a loud thud as the door of my room slammed open, my alarm going off as crazy as a shadow lingered above me, making a high pitched scream escape from my lips, "AAAAAAHHHH!!!"
"So you're alive, after all, lion cub?" The voice was mocking as I glanced up, looking right into a pair of soft brown eyes that were different from the ones I was used to looking into as her face was exactly the same.
"M-Miss Chen?!" She smiled, raising one eyebrow as she also extended one hand, "did that thud really made you lose your brain cells, little lion?" My mouth went open, but no words came out.
"Are you gonna stand up today?" I blinked before quickly standing up, closing my eyes as I looked at the ground.
"W-wait, how did you break into my house? Where you the one sending me those pills?!" She ruffled a hand through her hair as I looked at her; she had a messy sweater and looked different from her dream version, way more human and relaxed.
"Listen little lion cub, we don't have much time," she said, walking around in my room, towards my window and peeked out, "you're not safe here, Zhan will be coming here in a few minutes, and-"
She got cut off when hasty footsteps were coming up the stairs as Miss Chen leaned against my window, smiling mysteriously, her gaze on the door.
"WANG YIBO!" BAM.
The door was smashed open as I saw a messy Zhan standing in the doorway; I blinked, once, twice, thrice.
His eyes were locked into mine, and I saw the worry disappearing like snow for the sun, and my heart couldn't help but miss a beat when his eyes softened.
"I feel like a third wheel~" Both Zhan and I suddenly turned to Miss Chen, who raised a cocky smile, clapping in her hands; as I turned my head towards Zhan again, I saw how he shot death glares to Miss Chen, who ignored it.
"Okay, are you done glaring, Zhan." It wasn't a question, more like a demand asher voice sounded powerful and scary.
I bit my bottom lip as I glanced between them; suddenly, I felt like I was the third wheel in this room, in my own house.
"You know he's not safe here, Zhan." I frowned as Miss Chen spoke up; who was he?
"What do you wanna do, drag him down along? He has nothing to do with this all, and you know should know that better than whoever else Zhouxuan." Zhan's voice was colder than the first time I met him; it was as if there was no emotion displayed.
"If you don't take the risk, I will; they wouldn't have tried to persuade him if he wasn't worth anything!" And suddenly the penny fell, they were talking about me!?
"Uhm-"
"Zhouxuan, you had given up a long time ago, or do I need to remind you?" It was as if I was air to them, I couldn't even speak up, and slowly my blood started to boil.
"So you wanna repeat the same mistake! Was one not enough! Do you really think they would risk doing something like this for anyone regular! He is them worth something!" That was the droplet.
"That "he" is just standing here in the room, and that "he" can hear you both clearly, and if it wasn't clear, you're standing in that "he" his house and in "his" room. But I will give you both space until you both calm down! And don't go search for me, or I won't return." I grabbed my jacket, wanting to walk past Yibo and Miss Chen, not forgetting to glare at both, but just when I was about to exit, Zhan grabbed my wrist.
"Yibo," he whispered my name with pain filling his tone, but all I did was shaking his hand off hardly and walking away, out of the room, out of my own house, out of their damned problem!
***
As the morning air touched my face, I groaned, not even understanding how I got myself into this kind of trouble, "YIBO! YIBO!" I looked up when someone started shouting in this early morning while trying to indulge further into my jacket.
"Yibi!" I mentally cursed myself for not bringing my glasses as I saw a running figure who was waving his hands at me; I blinked, rubbing my eyes, trying to see who it was.
"What are you doing up so early, Yibo" Finally, now he is closer, I saw it was Zanjin, and I flashed him a small smile.
"Couldn't sleep, so I decided to go out and take a stroll." My voice sounded hoarse as I continued rubbing my eyes.
"Mind me joining?" I shook my head as I started walking again with Zanjin next to me; having no destination to go, I just walked down the town; we walked in the quiet peace of the morning as we walked by shops that finally started opening with the early dawn people coming out of their houses too.
"Yibo." I hummed in response, yawning and smiling when I saw children coming out of their houses with a smile; a long time ago, I was one of these kids, I thought.
"Do you believe that there is really something good left on this world?" The question struck me into awe as I glanced at Zanjin, who kept his face emotionless.
"Of course, there is, you see those children?" I pointed at the laughing children who ran over the streets before continuing, "they are the symbolism of pure, when a child is born it's a white paper, only the parent and the environment teaches them how to be. And a long time ago, I learned to appreciate what we have because it's all we have."
"Don't you ever have the feeling technology is destroying our lives, Yibo?" His question seemed specific, but his face let nothing go as I pondered about his question.
"Yes, it does, it has improved many things, but also worsened way more things in exchange, sadly we can't change the things at once, all we can do is try to work against the system because it's always easier to walk with the herd than go alone." He kept silent, only nodding at my answer as his eyes seemed to have zoomed away.
"Someday, it will take everything over, won't it?" He mumbled the question softly under his breath as if he wasn't talking to me but more to himself.
"You really think technology will get to that extent of an upper hand?" Zanjin gradually turned to me, blinking as if I just woke him up out of a dream daze as he gave me a small smile that was spooky, a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Perhaps it already did, Yibo." My eyes widened at his sentence as he started walking again.
"I gotta go, Yibo; I promised my mom to get some groceries; see you Monday!" He waved with a big smile as he ran off; he was indeed a weird boy, but not in a bad sense.
As I was about to walk home again, I saw a small note on the ground which hadn't been there just a moment ago, if I'd remembered it right; it must have slipped from Zanjin's pocket.
I bent down to pick it up and turned it around to read the familiar sentence that sent shivers down my spine.
Isn't it time to remember and awake?
My hand slowly went into my pocket while I tried to push away the thought that crawled up from the back of my mind, nagging at me.
And I got out another small piece of paper, the note that was left inside my house after the first time someone broke into my house; I looked from Zanjin's sniper to the one in my other hand.
Only to realize one scary fact; it was the exact same handwriting, no other chance . . .
Word count: 2049 words