Did you not..?"
"Did I not what..?"
"Did you not give her your time..? Did you not want to sleep with her...?"
Yibo looked at Zhan and looked like he was thinking about something. Zhan had his eyes wide open listening to what Yibo was saying, it was like he was trying to find something to make himself believe that indeed Yibo still cared about him. He was still clouded from right or wrong cause in his mind...Yibo was the one to blame. Yibo didn't want to keep things away from Zhan so he told the truth.
"My relationship with Sharon was complicated, maybe it was because she was older that she acted more like my mother when she reasoned with me. Back then...I needed a friend, a partner who would understand me. I used to date women my age, buy after all he troubles that I always found myself in in these relationships..I decided to date older women, well..Sharon was the first and last woman I dated before I dated you.
She was too controlling and she didn't care how I felt, things had to be done her way or noway at all. Back then, I hadn't met you. She found out I took a role as a fast car driver,the movie was like the American fast and furious..in some aspects. And my role was a driver who had special skills that no one had . I was supposed to go under harsh training for that role and she didn't like that. Because she works in this industry, it didn't take long for her to find out Andi thought she would be cool about it but I was wrong.
In turn I got scolded and threatened right after I asked her why she went ahead and cancelled my contract. She said she will pay for the cancellation and I didn't have ti worry about anything. The thing is l don't care about money,I will still leave it behind when I leave this world, and my soul will not have it in its next life. So...I try to focus on doing what I like to do and spending money where I think it's important. I had told her about us breaking up before and she refused.and threatened to expose our relationship.
Well..I didn't care what she did, I guess I was a child in her eyes and that made me feel weak that I stayed with her. Even after hearing so many times that she was unfaithful and would bring actors, models and even business men into my apartment which I had lived in before I met her. I didn't care what she did anymore as long as I could find a way to leave her. I didn't want to catch diseases , so I didn't let her touch me, I didn't want her anywhere near me and started asking for overtime.
Yibo displayed helplessness and even Zhan could see that his past with Sharon was not a good one. Yibo got inside the blanket, leaned his back in the headboard and continued.
My manager knows everything about her and licking he tried to find ways to break up with her which I could later use to sue her if she ever leaked our relationship to the media. Then catching her doing those acts in my house was the first one, but she because cautious that she would go to hotels. I remember how upset she would get when she would see me wearin certain clothes and I would come home some days and found the genitor down the basement parking going through them.
I became depressed in a way that I began to take on more dangerous sports and no matter how much I would get bruised or how many broken bones I would get..I still didn't stop. I started to enjoy the pain I felt when I get injured and it became some sort of an addiction for me. I thought, it was good the pain I felt inside was shown on the outside and I began to get addicted to more extreme stuff.
When I met you at the Day Day Up show, I wasn't expecting anything. My manager had forced me to take the job and I bet you could tell with his quiet it was that I was bored. My mind was looking for something risky to do next after the show was over. Well ....that was the first time I started to host it, but the way we talked during and after the show really got me out of that pain addiction.
A smile played in his face as he remembered the past. He remembered his first impression of Zhan, how he was shy, how he smiled and the way his ears heated up when the attention was brought to him during the games they played on the show.
I even made a friend, Wowkie..well..he was the one who contacted you about me asking for your WeChat. (Chuckle) You know...at that time,I had already found a new apartment, the one I have now. I made sure it had everything I need but less security. I wanted it like that cause then people won't think someone as famous as me could live in the place. I didn't live there until I had finally broken up with Sharon. That day...when I first laid my eyes...I knew you had to be mine. I had to make you mine..
I had never felt that way about anyone before and I didn't get confused. That for me was shocking considering that I had never had feelings for a guy before, romantic feelings at that. Weeks and months passed and I still found myself thinking about you."
Wang Yibo brought his hand to Zhan's face, ran his fingers along his jawline before he held Zhan's cheek and rubbed his thumb on his cheek, he smiled and continued.
"All I thought about was your big beautiful eyes, your lips...your long eyelashes that flattered everytime you blinked–.."
Zhan cut his sentence and asked curiously while trying not to loose the softness and warmness he felt against Yibo's hand and said
" Why does it sounds like you mind only had erotic thoughts about me..? The way you're describing your first impression of me...you don't even sound like I'm a man"
Yibo chuckled and said...
"Aren't I being honest about how I felt back then..? Why isn't my honesty appreciated?..huh? Or do you wish for me to stop..?"
"No..sorry,"
Zhan answered quickly with a smile on his face. He was kind of happy about how what he heard Yibo say about him, in a way...his heart became a little less painful with all that Yibo was saying. Yibo glanced at him and he could see that Zhan's mood was better. He had forgotten Zhan's smile, how the corners of his eyes curved down when he sincerely smiled. These days at work was the same as home, he hardly smiled and when he did, it didn't even reach his eyed like everyone knew it did. It was like he was smiling only to be polite, and nothing else.
"The rest of the story you know, if you're still not clear about something then you can aske anytime, and I will truthfully answer you. So... dont blame yourself for what happened between me and her. Our relationship was done way before you and I didn't realise, I just found that out when I met you..that's all. "
Zhan looked at Yibo with his big eyes looking right into Yibo's. He hasitated for a minute and Yibo was patient to let him build his words before he spoke. After a minute or so Zhan said in a sad tone...
"I hear you, I'm sorry I behaved the way I did before."
Yibo smiled and held his hand in his and said..
"It's okay, I'm sorry too. But Zhan gē..when are you going to stop being hard on yourself..? Do you know how precious you are..? How beautiful you are..? Can you please stop thinking awful about yourself...? I don't like it when your confidence is trampled and you being the cause of it. "
Zhan looked at their intertwined hands and smiled faintly. He almost wanted to feel confident in every way and everywhere, but there was always something that got him to remember what or how he really was and his spirit would suddenly crambke. A tear fell down his eye but he still kept his smile and he simply answered with an "MN"
Yibo laid him down on the bed and embraced him in his arms. Zhan nestled his head on Yibo's chest and he smiled as he felt Yibo's heartbeat drum right next to his ear. How his chest heaved up and down, his breathing soft and silent like he was trully frozen in the inside just like people had said..
Silence took over the large room as if they were sleeping. They were enjoying each other's warmth and left the peace of their minds which had been mangled for so many months to their contentment of their minds and hearts. Just as Zhan was beginning to get sleepy, Yibo spoke and said..
"Zhan gē, are you asleep..?"
Zhan stirred as if he wanted Yibo to believe that he was not sleeping. He had missed Yibo so much and the him laying right in his chest felt like a dream. Like one of the dreams he had of Yibo talking to him that he sometimes found himself speaking to himself for almost an hour only to be snapped back by the knock on the door.
He hoped that Yibo doesn't find out about the state he was in when he left him alone in the huge mansion. Even though there were people around during the day, he has to sleep alone in the huge mansion all by himself when Barry and other slept in their house at the back if the mansion .
The maid quarters were also not far from the house but they were a little further from the mansion. Zhan perked his ear and raise his head a little to give his whole sleepy attention to Yibo before sleep finally took over without him hearing what Yibo wanted to say. So he answered ..
"Not yet, but I will soon. What's wrong..?
Yibo didn't feel sleepy at all, his mind was whispering erotic words to his body and then his body reacted to it. He felt hot that he even wanted to take down the blanket when he decided to ask Zhan first if he was sleeping so that he could move.
"Can you...can you please move over to y-your side.?"
"Why..?.what's wrong..? Sorry..let me move.."
"No..no..just that...I can't sleep with you like this."
Zhan quickly sat up after hearing what Yibo had said. He wondered why there would be a problem when they used to sleep like that but Yibo never complained before. Yibo looked at him and he saw that Zhan had misunderstood him yet again. But he knew he couldn't come out and say straight what his problem was. He pulled him again and made him lay in his chest again and said..
"Ah..ah..alright, you can sleep here then. Just don't look at me like that will you.."
Zhan slept back onto Yibo's arms and he smiled a he nestled himself even closer than he was and hanged his leg ontop on Yibo's . His thigh was on top of Yibo's and and he smiled as he stretched his hand across Yibo's chest to his shoulder. Yibo's face suddenly felt very hot from Zhan's movement.
He did t want to sleep yet since they had just spoke after so many months of being away from each other. He wanted to lay awake and discuss other things with Zhan. He felt like there were still some many things that they needed to discuss and that they should do it before they went to work the next day. That was because Yibo had already realised how Zhan felt and what he thought about the things Sharon did and said..
He wasn't sure if Zhan was confident enough or if he was string enough, mentally, to make him stop saying too much when Sharon happens to come back again the next day. Knowing Sharon for eight months if their relationship, Yibo knew that she would come back after witnessing defeat and try to pick in Zhan again. If she did, that would mean trouble in their side.
He realised that if Zhan was to challenged Sharon again after she said disrespectful things to him, she would result to the lowest as in hiring someone to follow Zhan around do that she could know more about him. Being the one who always wants to win, she would dig up some dirt on Zhan and use it against him for either favours or release it on the internet.
He really didn't know what to do at that moment cause when he opened his mouth to talk, Zhan would move and he would feel to hit to even breath a word except for the hit breath. That happened almost everytime he opened his mouth, like Zhan had times his movements. He stopped trying to speak and when he did..Zhan raised his head and looked at his thigh which was ontop of Yibo's when suddenly his breath hitched and his eyes widened.
He moved his eyes from side to side, trying to figure out what he just felt and it what he felt was indeed what he was thinking he was feeling then...(deep breath) it was bigger than he ever knew it to be. That wasn't all...it was still growing big and the hotness around it made him have all kinds of sensations. He was so nervous that he held tightly to whatever thing that he could closely grasp, without realising he was holding Yibo's shoulder.
He dug his nails in Yibo's shoulders and all Yibo could do was to close his eyes and not show his pain. He knew Zhan was doing that out of the closest thing in his mind. He also knew that he was the reason and he just laid there, pretending to nit feel any pain. Zhan couldn't help but move little by little so that he could lay good on the bed and off of Yibo.
He just didn't know that the more he moved, the more he made the snake beneath his thigh move up. Inch by inch..Zhan moved and when his leg was almost off Yibo's thigh, Yibo spoke and Zhan froze.
"Zhan gē ~, do you even realise what you're doing to me..? It's not gonna stop growing if you don't lay still."
Zhan instantly felt cold air rushing through his whole body. He was quick to close his eyes and lay still, pretending as if he didn't feel the snake slithering across his thigh and to his knees. Growing by the second and slowly trying to move up and out, but because there was no meal for the snake to eat, it just slithered across and lay there. Zhan was so shocked at the size, it was just like that, he would stay with Yibo and all seemed to its usual size and length, but when he spends time away from Yibo...it seems to grow further than he last saw iland felt it.
Just like that, they fell asleep, Yibo had already forgotten that he wanted to discuss something important with Zhan and only remembered when Zhan had fallen asleep. He knew he couldn't wake Zhan up cause he seemed really tired, so..he made a mental note and hoped to not forget the next morning.
Morning came and went and soon it was afternoon. Zhan put his charger inside his backpack and Yibo slowly packed his stuff while looking at Zhan. He finished and waited for Zhan to finish packing before he went closer to him and whispered on something in his ear, Zhan moved away quickly and liked at him in the eyes beifre seriously slapping his arm.
Zhan was a little angry at what Yibo had said and like other BTS videos...no one knew what they were talking about. Yes..they were always teasing each other when they were still filming and even after the shooting, the crew and colleagues thought they were just being playful even when in reality they were discussing what they wanted to eat when they get home. Whatever it was, no one took it seriously except their fans who put one as two together.
Even so, others just thought they were being like that to popularize their drama while some thought it was the real thing. There was no way to find out if really they were more than friends or not. So they just let it be. Yibo and Zhan just need took it to heart even though they read what they about what their fans wrote about them. Some were too and some were bad, but all they wanted to see was if there was any truth to what they were speculating. The rest, they just took it as just fiction.
Zhan finished what he was doing and went out with Yibo following him closely. Once they reached the basement parking, Zhan who kept on sighing at the one who kept following closely behind without saying anything. They were about to reach the car when Zhan finally stopped and turned around. His eyes were darted at Yibo and Yibo was just smiling as if he didn't know why Zhan even stopped.
"Yibo..why are you following me..? Don't you know that we're still at work..?"
"Zhan gē, let me ride with you today."
Yibo said with a smirk and Zhannwas shocked. How could You ask to ride with him when he knows very well that they should keep a low profile. It didn't make sense to Zhan at all when he said...
"Are you crazy..!! People will see us. No...you take your car lie always. I'm leaving ..!"
Zhan turned around and was about to leave when he heard Yibo say..
"Do you mean I have to take a taxi home.? Zhan gē, Ba gē went to take care of some business. So are you saying I should find my way home ..? How cruel."
Zhan thought for a moment and finally gave in and just nod his answer. Yibo was happy riding the same car with Zhan, they had always used two cars and would always arrive at different times. Today was the best day of his life. Getting in and settling himself inside as if he didn't own the car, he smiled and they both sat at then back. Baba just smiled and looked through his rear view mirror and saw Yibo's smirk. If he didn't know better , he would say Yibo came up with an excuse to.ride with Zhan.
But he was right, there was an urgent matter that needed to be looked into and he went to attend that. Three minutes into the the road, Yibo was smiling from ear to ear while teasing Zhan in the backseat. He was immitating Zhan when he told Sharon where to get off. Zhan's face flushed and ear became red with that. He kept on telling Yibo to stop teasing him or he will drop him where they were.
It went on like that until Yibo stopped talking, his smile dissapeared and he kept looking to the front in the rear view mirror and back he took out his phone and pressed a speed dial. The call was connected to the other end and Yibo spoke..
"Larry gē, I'm sending you a number plate, please run it for me and tell me if it's anyone I should be worried about. "
"Yes sir..!"
Said the one on the other end of the phone. Yibo looked at Baba in the mirror and Baba seemed to have been waiting for his signal when he just nodded his head a little and kept his eyes on the road. Zhan who was busy on his phone didn't realise the actions from Yibo and Baba, but he heard what Yibo was saying over the phone and he wanted to ask to make sure if everything was alright.
"Is everything okay..? Which plate are you talking about..?"
"Nothing , I just forgot to ask Larry gē to check it for me and I remembered about it just now. It's nothing to worry about."
Zhan was not convinced, of course he couldn't be. He was not stupid and also oblivious to his surroundings. Baba had taught him well since the last couole of months and he knew a things or two, here and there to know that Yibo was lying to him. He fioded his arms and looked at Yibo with an expression that read.."do I look stupid..?" When Yibo sighed and spoke.
"Ok Zhan gē, fine...you see that car at the back..? It has been following us since we left the agency. I might be wrong but I don't want to take any chances. "
"I saw it too, at first I thought it asnt following us, it's rush hours so it's not strange to see cars following for a distance. But this one is surely suspicious. "
Yibo first thought Zhan didn't see the car, he just didn't know what Baba had taught him and what he actually knew. Baba drive for seven more minutes and the car was still following them when he stopped near the mall. Yibo got out and Baba drive off, this confused Zhan and he liked around to see where Yibo was going and when he saw Baba drive the again and got to the road, he didn't know what was going on.
"Baba gē..why is Yibo getting off here?and why are we leaving him behind..?"
Baba didn't was about to answer when a text interrupted and after reading the text, he stoped talking. This made Zhan realise that the text might be from Yibo, telling Baba not to tell him what was going on. That was indeed the case, but Yibo wrote the text for present and future preferences as he wrote...
"Zhan gē doesn't need to know these kinds of stuff."
Baba understood what it meant and he stopped talking and rather focused on the road. Zhan stopped asking and he seemed to be angry at about being kept in the dark. That night, Yibo came back home four hours since Zhan and Baba last saw him get off near the mall. Zhan was sitting up on the bed, waiting to hear the door open while nibbling his fingernails. He was anxious and worried at the same time.
If the car was really following them, then it meant that he could be in danger wherever he is. He had already sent dozens of texts to Yibo and Yibo didn't reply to any of them. He was getting worried by every minute that passed by, waiting like that felt like forever, he tried calling but his calls weren't being picked up. The phone rang until it went to voicemail.
That made things worse, he was wanted to go down and ask the Baba and Larry if Yibo had called or something , but he remembered that Yibo told him to not go outside at night, mainly because the person who worked for Sharon who was spying for her. Yibo knew who it was and he just didn't have the energy in him to confront him. He was working outside in the garden and didn't get to get in the house. He was incharge of the back garden and Zhan always used the front entrance from the gates and not the back in the garage.
It was almost midnight when Yibo arrived. Zhan was already sleeping by then but he was not sleeping peacefully cause he had slept sitting, his back against a pillow. His phone was on his hand and his left thumb was on Yibo's number. Yibo peeked at him and took his phone and out it in the nightstand. He looked at it and saw that Zhan had been trying to call him multiple times. He took it his phone as he was confused why Zhan's calls didn't get through, only to find his phone and his battery dead.
He frowned as he looked at it, sighed and then went to take a quick shower before he could joing Zhan. Since he was fine and knowing that Zhan slept worried, he woke him up so he could again sleep properly on the bed. He say in the bed, looking at Zhan and flicked the hair on his face as he called his name.
"Zhan gē~.."
His voice was so nice and smooth, he called again a dozen times before Zhan woke up. Yibo smiled and kissed his forehead while calling his name again and adding some sweetness to it.
"Zhan gē, Zhan gē ... I'm here...can you wake up and for a second..?"
Zhan stirred in his sleep and his eyes began to move around from inside his when they suddenly opened .Yibo's smile grew deeper and wider, he couldn't take his eyes off of Zhan. Zhan imitated Yibo's smile subconsciously and it took just almost a minute before Zhan remembered that he had been waiting for Yibo. He quickly sat up and looked at Yibo and asked.
"Where have you been..?"
His question was not interigative, his voice was rather calm. His expression showed that he was confused and worried since he lat saw him saying something to Baba on the side of of the road near the mall. Yibo hanged his head and his smile dissapeared before he it went cold again. He wasn't cold on Zhan but rather at the situation he had gotten himself in.
He sighed and said...
"I was out, I...Uhm..let's sleep. We have to wake up for work in a few hours. "
Yibo was about to lay down, when Zhan grabbed his wrist and pulled him a little to sit still. His eyes had changed, he looked somewhere between irritated and annoyed because he saw clearly how Yibo was about ignore his question. Zhan spoke again, but this time a he couldn't hold in the worry he had for Yibo.
"Yibo, please tell me where touched been.."
"Alright, don't get upset, I went to see another direction about a movie. Don't worry...I'm fine, as you can see...( Smile) let's sleep "
Zhan felt as if there was more to what Yibo said, but he thought again that Yibo had answered him rather that saying he didn't want to answer because he didn't wanti to lie to him, which meant he wasn't lying. Zhan laid down and went to sleep, Yibo breathed out nervously and slowly while looking super nervous that even his breaths trembled as he breathed out.
A week passed and everything was going great between Zhan and Yibo, well....except the part that Yibo didn't want to touch Zhan more that he had to. He didn't want to kiss him, touch him in a way that would make Zhan think that he wanted something. He even avoided looking at him in the eyes , but except that...everything else was great. Yibo still treated Zhan the same way as he always did if not more. Zhan could see that he was getting soiled, if Yibo didn't bring him flowers, then he would be rubbing his feet, giving him a massage and Al thise sweet stuff.
But even as sweet as he was, Zhan still felt that something was off. Yibo came home later than he did before, he would disappear at work and Zhan would be looking everywhere for him. He would give Baba some orders and leave secretly after he saw that Zhan was busy and would come home a little before midnight. Thus became tiring for Yibo and Zhan couod see it. He would sometimes reek alcohol and it was like he came home at the time he knew Zhan had already fallen asleep. This time...even if Zhan wasn't sleeping good, he would leave him just to avoid his questions.
That became too much for Zhan but he never showed Yibo that he was unhappy. Just like that late afternoon, Yibo dissapeared again and Zhan just sighed as he just realised that Yibo had already left. His heart was begging to ache with what he called"a secret relationship" and he just couldn't do anything about it. They were both public figures and needed to keeps things a secret until necessary.
But even so, Zhan's heart couldn't help it...it didn't want to keep a secret to his mind and when his mind was aware that Yibo was his...it started to relay painful thoughts. Those thoughts in turn went back and hurt the heart again and again. The mind is trully a wicked core that destroys mostly than builds. It questions everything it sees and it it doesn't understand, it just comes up with its own conclusions and it doesn't matter if those conclusions hurt the heart or not.
With his mind working overtime like that, it would obviously make his body weak, and it did. He was beggining to get tired and it didn't matter how long he slept, his body would just be too tired that he would drag himself out of bed every morning. He was used to how things were between him and Yibo and he just didn't know what else he needed to do to keep their relationship.
It was simply getting too much for Zhan and he sometimes wondered if it was even worth it. He really liked Yibo, no...he loved Yibo ... trully loved him and he had made a promise to himself that if he was to break up with Yibo, then he would move far away from China and live his life peacefully... alone.
Yibo had changed his pattern of coming home ater before midnight when Zhan was asleep, to after midnight to not coming home. At least that's what Zhan thought when he opened his eyes and he saw Yibo's side of the bed still as he had left it last night, and night before. It had been two day that Zhan realised that Yibo was not sleeping on the bed with him.
Two weeks has passed and the pattern still continued, it was begging to become normal for Zhan and even though he had a choice to go back to his apartment, he still thought hat he needed to talk to Yibo first. But that was getting impossible since Yibo would always sneak out from work when Zhan isn't looking. Yes...he would literally sneak out so that Zhan doesnt ask him questions about where he had been.
It was midday and Zhan was looking at Yibo gong through his phone, he was smiling and Zhan wondered why. If his phone was working normally to a point that it even shows him interesting stuff...then how come it doesn't work when he calls or sends him messages?. Yibo stood up and went to the bathroom after putting his phone in his pocket. Zhan sighed and looked around and he saw that everyone was busy doing their work, so he thought it was a good time to follow Yibo to the bathroom and talk to him.
This was getting too tiring for Zhan, to discuss their relationship in a bathroom at work. He was about to stand up after he picked up his phone when he heard the staff talking about something that caught his ears.
Staff 1: "hey...do you know what Mr Wang Yibo had been working on lately..?"
Staff 2: "no...why..?
Staff 1: " my friend, you know the one I told you about who works in a restaurant..?"
Staff 2: "oh! Yes I remember her. So...what about her.?"
Staff 1: "well...a few days ago she called and she was so excited and all saying that atleast she had met his idol. She was telling about how I would always talk about how I always brag about working with celebrities and now she had personally met the man of his dreams."
Staff 2: "ok...but what does that have to do with Mr Wang Yibo..?"
She peeked and looked from side to side, checking if no was was close enight to hear what she was about to say. At that time, Zhan had areald sat down and pretended to be working on his phone when she lowered his voice and tid her friend. Even after lowering her voice, Zhan could still hear everything she was saying because they were at a desk very close to the cough he was sitting on. The staff continued and said....
Staff 1: " Mr Wang Yibo is the man of his dreams..get it..? She saw Yibo in the restaurant she works at, and get this...he was with a woman. But when I asked her to describe hlthe woman, she gave me Miss Sharon's description. I found that weird cause what business could she be having with Mr Wang Yibo.? If it was about work, them she was supposed to to talk with Mr Wei about it, so why would they meet at a restaurant that far to discuss it. Well...that doesn't really suprise me.
I had my suspicions about them sice I saw how she would handle herself infront of Mr Wang Yibo. He would even let her do whatever she wanted and even touch her, I mean...the Mr Wang Yibo everyone knows doesn't like physical contact. So why would he let her if they were it dating...?"
Staff 2: " But I also saw how he would cringe at her touch, I think he was just holding himself since she was a big shot and would always bring work to our company. Mr Yibo also Mr Wei have a good relationship, so I think he didn't want to ruin the cooperation between her company and Mr Wei. Did you see him dissapear to the bathroom that day she almost touched him..? Damn...when he came back, he had changed his shirt and wore a shirt sleeve, and I could see goosebumps in her arms. I thought that he took a shower again and came back all clean from her touches. How cold..!"
Staff 2 was smiling as she spoke, she was telling what he saw between Yibo and Sharon, just so that her friend doesn't get swayed easily. She has been in this industry for a long time and with the experience she had..she knew what you see isn't always what it was. Even so..her friend still continued..
Staff 1: " my friend also said the same thing as you. She said when Miss Sharon touched him, he would stare at her in a creepy way and she would look uncomfortable to a point where she would remove her hand. Anyway...she said they went there for two nights and had never seen them since then. It is possible that they changed location maybe avoiding ti be spotted."
Staff 2 just looked at her and sighed before continuing with her work. She saw that there was nothing she could do tomteach her friend better judgement so she just let her be. They continued their work and Zhan was still sitting there, frozen to the couch after what he had heard. What happened to the promise the kept to each other to tell no lie..? What happened to Yibo staying away from Sharon because he said he doesn't ha e feelings for her..? What happened to all the oromises they gave each other..? That they would love each other and they would not let anything or anyone come between them, he thought.
It was so impossible for Zhan to bear the ache in his heart, he felt unable to breath. The phone in his hand slowly slip an felt down on the carpet below, his head remained low and it looked like he wasn't blinking. Baba was making coffee for him while chatting to one of the staff members and when he went back to give the coffee to Zhan he saw that Zhan wasn't himself.
He wondered if something had happened or if work was beggining to strain him. He knew that Zhan and Yibo had been working hard and that Yibo even agreed to take some of the work that he had rejected just so that he would help unload Zhan's pile of work. He had simply asked Mr Wei to ask the other party if Yibo could work with them instead of Zhan. But it was a relief since most of them had already wanted to work with Yibo in the first place but would choose Zhan because Yibo would refuse to work with them.
He still refused to do dramas but he had said that if it's a movie then he would reconsider. Still...Zhan had been drained lately and even the three bodyguards saw that but didn't say anything. Even so...the sight Baba was looking at wasn't a good one, Zhan was distant and he had called him twice already but he had not responded, it was when he called his the third time that Yibo looked to their direction and saw Baba standing next to Zhan...calling out his name. Yibo had come back from the bathroom and was siting by the table working in his laptop when he removed his hands from the keyboard and secretly looked at Zhan.
He got worried and took out his phone and dialled Zhan's numbers, Zhan's phone vibrated on the floor before Baba picked it up and silently put in in Zhan's hand, squeezing it a little to get his attention before he left it in his palm. Zhan quickly came back from his frozen state amd looked at the phone ringing on his palm when he blinked a few times, looking away from the phone. Yibo wanted nothing but for Zhan to look at him, he wanted to check and ask through the phone if he was alright. But Zhan looked anywhere but Yibo's direction, this made Yibo worried as he kept his airpods on so that no one realised that he was the one talking to Zhan.
Well...that's if Zhan answers his phone, which he didn't. He looked at it and threw it on the couch beforbleanif back to the backrest of the couch and closed his eyes before releasing a deep breath of air he didn't now he was holding. He didn't spare Yibo even a glance and Baba knew why, I mean...the three bodyguards knew why Zhan's spirit was so low but what could they do or say without making their boss look like a complete asshole. So...they just kept things to themselves.
Baba looked back at Yibo and their eyes met, Yibo had supriced look on his face. It was the first time that Zhan didn't answer his call except for the times when be would be busy to see or hear it ringing. It was so heart wrenching to see Zhan ignore him like that and he wondered what Zhan might have heard or seen that made his look like he saw no purpose in life. Yibo raised his head up and down quickly to give Baba a signal to tell Zhan to pick up the phone.
But..for the first time since he has started working for Yibo, baba shook his head. He actually refused to follow Yibo's order. He looked away from Yibo and picked up Zhan's phone, placed it in his jacket pocket and sat down next to Zhan. He didn't want to say or do anything that would alert others that Zhan was not ok, so..he sat there next to him, to make him know that he was not alone. That he cared for him, and that message was sent to Zhan because for the first time since Baba became manager, he had never saw him sit down.
He acted more like a bodyguard like a manger even when he did his job deligently. Asking Zhan if he was up for the job, checking if there were flaws to be fixed or reject. Checking the distance and the location where the shooting would take place and all that.
He had currently recieved offers as a Min lead to two dramas and Baba was helping him choose which he could work with. But at that time, between going back and forth to and from Mr Wei's office had been their daily job. He had scheduled a meeting with Mr Wei in less than ten minutes and Baba knew he had to bring him back from his sorrowful daze to work.
Zhan felt the air in his lungs drain out as he sat up, he felt as if he would even know the quantity that was left if he could. He looked at his hands and all he could see were blurry fingers which looked nothing like his, he felt his eyes burn and he saw a drop of water fall down to his hand. That's when he realised that he was crying, he was crying....in the most wrong place of all. Where gossip spreads like wild fire and turn it's blazing flames that are being carried by the wind to make a firenado.
Baba just didn't know what to do, no one understood better than he did. He had found himself in those situations before and the latest being the one where Zhan helped him and Larry talk things to where they are now. All he could do was help Zhan up and take him and walk out if the office, he felt his emotions starts to remained him of all the unfixed broken parts of his relationship with Larry and how it was unforgotten by Larry but not by him.
All the punishment he got which he didn't deserve or whic were too harsh for the level of mistake he had made at the time. All the unspoken 'I love yous' that his heart missed dance around with and his mind would feel at ease with. All the disregarded gazes and actions he had that didn't give the attention he needed. All of them were coming back at that exact time, playing his head like a circus bear riding a mini tricycle which was strained by its weight, just like how his thoughts strained his mind from seeing the positive things in his relationship with Larry.
It was clear for Barry to see that the problems between Zhan and Yibo was weighing down on Baba. He had to see everything that Zhan had to go through and didn't want to understand Yibo's point of view. Barry also saw Yibo's struggles and thought Baba was being unreasonable when the topic arises. The only person who was oblivious to all that was Larry, and Baba wanted to keep it that way since he wanted some time to figure things out. Yibo watched on as Baba closed the door behind him and leave to take Zhan to the car downstairs.
He came back and went straight to Mr Wei's office and when he came out, Yibo stood up from his chair and quickly went to stop him by the door. He was so mad that he kept his fingers clutched, he stood there hold shut the door just as baba was holding the handle about to open. His eyes were burning with anger and he was shaking to a point where his voice trembled as he spoke angrily at Baba and said...
"Ba gē...where's Zhan gē...? What's wrong with him..? And ...why are you ignoring my orders..?!"