Yibo looked at Zhan and then looked at the cover in his hand "What's that in the cover Zhan?" Yibo asked curiously, diverting the topic. Zhan looked at the cover and then looked back at Yibo "Oh...This is for you" without saying anything further Zhan turned around ready to leave. "Where are you going?" Yibo asked as Zhan slowly turned around "I'm leaving" Yibo chuckled "Yeah you are but st..." Zhan shook his head "No you don't understand, I'm leaving for US" Yibo was stunned "When...." before Yibo could say anything, Zhan spoke once again "Next week" Yibo's heart sunk "In seven days ?" Zhan nodded "I have to go" Zhan said walking away from Yibo.
A few hours later ...
"I can't believe Zhan-ge is leaving for the US, I mean I get it that it's his future, but... To imagine him not being here with us for a long time makes me sad" Ziyi said, sighing as she sipped her cold coffee. Ziyi sighed once again while diverting her eyes on Yibo who seemed awfully quiet "Yibo!" she called his name, as he snapped back looking at her totally lost and confused "Sorry...What were you saying?" he asked while blinking at her cluelessly. "I was... never mind, are you thinking about Meiyu?" she asked not sure why Yibo looked confused. Yibo was not really ready to say that he was actually thinking about Zhan, because he himself had no idea what was bothering him regarding Zhan, hence he nodded his head.
"Maybe it's for the good, Zhan-ge might get some exposure, don't you think?" she asked to which Yibo simply nodded his head. "Sorry Ziyi, I have a headache, I'm calling it a day, see you tomorrow" he said getting up, Ziyi looked up at Yibo and nodded "Sure, take rest and take some medicines if possible. I'll call you later" Yibo nodded, waving her goodbye. Yibo's mind was churning with a lot of thoughts, which made his head ache.
A while later ...
Xuan had dropped by the university to meet up with Ziyi, she decided to wait near her car as she texted Ziyi informing that she was in the university, to which Ziyi had cutely replied with a heart eye emoji. After thirty minutes, Ziyi's class ended while she found her way to Xuan and with a smile on her face, she got inside the car, kissing Xuan on her cheeks "Hey love~" Ziyi said in a low tone, while Xuan smiled as she slightly pinched Ziyi's cheeks "Ouch-What was that for?" Ziyi asked confused as to why Xuan pinched her cheeks, Xuan smirked "That was for not contacting me for a week" as soon as Ziyi heard Xuan complain, she scooted closer and hugged Xuan.
"I'm sorry babe, semester exams were killing me, now that I'm finally free with them, I'll make it upto you" She said, hugging her from the side. Xuan smiled and started the car, while Ziyi wore her seatbelts, as Xuan was about to start the car, Ziyi remembered the incident from earlier "Oh, I guess Zhan-ge is going to US" Ziyi said. As soon as she said that Xuan stopped the car and turned towards her "What?!" Xuan asked clearly a look of confusion on her face.
Ziyi shrugged "Yeah, I met Zhan-ge a while ago and he said he was planning to leave to US by next week, you didn't know about this?" Ziyi asked while Xuan shook her head "No, cause he clearly said he wasn't planning to do his internship in US and he was looking for companies here in Shanghai, why did he change his mind though?" Ziyi shrugged "Did something happen?" Xuan asked to which Ziyi shook her head "Not sure, maybe he decided to grab the opportunity" Ziyi suggested while Xuan sighed, she knew Zhan wouldn't have done that and clearly something might have happened to him that might have pushed him to change his mind.
Ziyi sighed "I'm actually dealing with a lot today" she said while looking at her phone, Xuan looked at her and patted her head "What happened?" Ziyi shook her head "Oh~ Yibo started dating this girl Meiyu, who rejected him at first, for some reason I just hate her and Yibi is too blind to see that she is not good for him" Xuan squinted her eyes "Yibo is dating?" Ziyi nodded her head "I guess I know why Zhan might have chosen to pursue his internship in US" Ziyi curiously leaned in "And what is that?" Xuan shook her head "I'll let you know after I speak with him" Ziyi nodded her head.
Later that night ...
Zhan was packing his clothes as he had very less time to leave for the US, he had been so busy the entire afternoon that he was literally tired and was ready to hit the bed even though he didn't have his dinner. As he was busily going through his stuff, he heard the doorbell ring. He put down his clothes and walked to the main door and opened the door, to his surprise it was Xuan "Hey baby brother~" she waved with two covers in her hand "I'm pretty sure you didn't have your dinner yet, let us have it together" she said walking inside. Zhan sighed, closing the door behind "What brings you here sis?" he asked, walking over to the couch where Xuan sat.
"What?I can't come to see my baby brother?" Xuan asked placing the cover on top of the table, Zhan raised his brows "Who told you about it?" he asked sitting on the couch "Can we talk about how you didn't even tell me about it, I mean I'm your sister and somehow I'm the last one to know about it" Zhan shrugged "You knew I was going to pursue to US and moreover I didn't want to waste this opportunity" Xuan rolled her eyes "I know you and you are lying, did him dating someone else hurt you that much?" she said in a low tone, till then the stone faced Zhan who hadn't been showing any emotions, suddenly felt his cheeks get moist and that's when he realized all the tears that he had welled up in his eyes, began falling one by one.
Xuan noticed it and rushed to hug her brother immediately "Oh Zhan~Do you love him that much?" she asked, comforting him with her warm hug, while Zhan nodded and hummed softly "Why don't you tell him that?" Zhan shook his head "Why not?" Xuan asked "It's too late and he will never look at me like I look at him" Xuan patted Zhan's head "You know what is love? You do not expect the other person to love you back just because you loved them, but letting them know that you loved them is something you can do, if you tell your feeling to them, it clears out your head and allows you to move on as well, allows you stopping dwelling in past and stops you from hurting yourself".
"I'm afraid" Zhan said to which Xuan looked at him "Of what? Rejection? If you don't tell him then how will you know if he likes you or not?" she asked to which Zhan hummed "But he's dating someone else and that too a girl , a clear indication that he doesn't like men or me neither" Xuan sighed "If going to US is what you want to do right now then go for it, but don't feel bad for yourself if you wasted an opportunity on letting Yibo know about your feelings" Zhan nodded his head "I'm choosing not to say to him, I want him to remember me as his friend not someone whom he became awkward after rejecting a proposal" Xuan hugged Zhan "Then be ready to face reality as well baby bro" she said while Zhan cried in her embrace.
The next day ...
"Is Zhan here?" Zhan had to meet his professor to submit his thesis paper, while waiting outside the room, someone came to see him "Yeah that's me" the guy towards Zhan "Here~ You left your passport in cafeteria" Zhan smiled taking the passport from the guy, he had not known that actually lost his passport but was relieved that the guy had found him, lately he had been so careless with his things and this just proved more that he has to be very careful with his things, he smile once again "Thank you for finding it" the guy shook his head "Actually I didn't find it, I don't know if you know Yibo, but it's actually him who had found it" Zhan was happy that Yibo had found it, but was also sad that he had not given it himself.
"Oh where is he now?" Zhan asked as he was not sure where Yibo was, "He's in the basketball court, I think you can find him there," the guy said, waving goodbye. Zhan nodded and thanked him once again.
A few minutes later...
Zhan walked towards the basketball court, he was flooded with all sorts of emotions, he was angry, sad, mostly dejected of the fact that Yibo didn't want to see him. With every step towards the court he felt the anger inside him rising, he was not sure whether he was angry because of Yibo or he was angry at himself. He saw Yibo playing in the court alone and walked towards him "OII!YIBO!" He called his name out loud, making Yibo look at him, yet he continued to play even though Yibo saw Zhan approaching him. This action made Zhan even angrier.
"Give me that!" he said snatching the ball from Yibo's hand, Zhan's action made Yibo frustrated "What the hell Zhan!" Zhan was offended seeing Yibo curse "Oh so now you're cursing at me! Fine, go to hell" Yibo rolled his eyes "The Fuck! I didn't even curse at you, but here you are wishing me to go to hell, what the hell is wrong with you?!" Zhan's anger began rising once again "I haven't even left yet and here you are fighting with me, is that how much our friendship meant for you?!" he said out loud, while Yibo rolled his eyes "Speak for yourself man, you didn't even tell me you're going to US, so that's how much our friendship meant to you huh?".
"Is that what this is about?! Fine the hell with you and your friendship, this ends right here, I guess now you're happy... You know what, now that I think, you did start off as 'Making me your slave' so I guess I was never a friend to you, just someone who helped you get chicks and now that you got one, you're throwing shades at me, I'll make this easy for you, let us end whatever this thing was" Zhan said walking away, he was angry with tears threatening to leave his eyes. Yibo sighed "Zhan I think you're being too dramatic, I'm not even sure what's making you so angry, when it should be me who should be angry at the first place".
Yibo ran behind Zhan and held his hand, making Zhan look at him "I don't know what is going on here, but I think you should calm down, can we talk this out?" Zhan chuckled "There's nothing to talk when everything's over between us, goodbye Yibo" Zhan said walking away from Yibo. While Yibo stood there totally stunned and confused.
Zhan took out his phone and called someone "Jie~ I ended everything" Zhan said with tears flowing down his eyes, Xuan spoke in a soft voice from other end "I know it hurts, but stay strong" Zhan hummed through his tears.
***
To Be Continued ...