❝ ──chapter eight, pink
roses for graduation. ❞
𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐘𝐔𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐄𝐃, she looked the two boxes infront of her. she's been saving since grade 11 for her brother's graduation gift. unexpectedly studies things went sorta south in grade 12 for her as she barely had any time and energy to go out. which was a reason a huge chunck of her monthly allowance was saved up. originally she planned to get brother an expensive gift with all the saved up money and the money she got on lunar new year. however duan jiaxu came along and she got close to him.
she wanted to give him a gift too. even if he can't remember her in future years atleast her gift will be there with him. she had gotten him a watch. it wasn't exactly expensive but it also wasn't cheap. it was vintage watch which costed her a little over 2000 yuan. she got her brother a jacket.
so here she saw with her siblings and father at sang yan's graduation ceremony. "sang yan over here" the sang family heard as sang yan went over to his friends.
yue looked at jiaxu. her breath hitched in her throat. he was looking just. . . charming. honestly she had no words to describe how great he looked. her heart started to beat rapidly. she felt so flustered that she wanted the ground to swallow her. she went and stood slightly behind her father. she had seen them numerous time throughout the year so why was she so nervous.
she saw her father take the group photo of the guys. qian fei, junwen and sang yan went to another friend group who called them for photos.
sang yue avoided looking at jiaxu. maybe if she won't look at him she won't feel that way right? but at the same time she wanted to get a look at him. which could possibly her one last look. she zoned out not hearing the conversation her father was having with jiaxu. "let's go take photos with your brother" sang rong said as his youngest daughter followed him like a duckling following his mother. sang zhi too was far more flustered to say anything.
this left jiaxu alone with sang yue.
"it's been a long time mèimei" he said as the two halted.
"this is for you" she said handing him the pink roses bouquet. "for me? i thought this was for your brother" he said taking the bouquet from her hand. "gēgē" she called as she handed him the gift wrapped watch "your graduation gift."
"were you actually serious about it? i thought you were joking" jiaxu said gently taking the gift from her hand. "oh it's seems heavy what is it?" he asked. "you'll know when you open it" she said looking away from him. "sang yue you shouldn't have wasted your monthly allowance this way" he nagged. the said girl made a face. "i rarely went out anywhere this year due to studies to a huge chunck was saved. i am not wasting it. i am spending it the way i like it. afterall this one is for my gēgē. i wish you a happy graduation" the girl replied nonchalantly.
"thank you i really like it. then i wish my mèimei an excellent result in gaokao exams and hope she gets into her dream university" he said.
an announcement was made which said all graduating students have to be in the auditorium. "gēgē you should go ahead. i'll go and find my brother" she said.
"it's okay i'll take you there. i"ll text your brother come on" jiaxu replied.
sang yue nodded and followed him. they were halted by his friends who wanted to take a photo with him. "by the way who is she?" one of them asked. "my sister" jiaxu replied. sang yue sighed internally. another reminder of how he viewed her. she's learning to accept it. she figured that when she'll go to university she'll see him less and end up getting over him.
"mèimei can you help us take photos" one of the guys with camera said. "sure" she repiled. he showed her which button to press.
"three. . two. . one" she said taking a photo of the group. she saw jiaxu talking to the professor and then to his friends "two minutes" he mouthed to sang yue who nodded at him. she heard how all of them will part away after graduation.
"gēgē does it mean it'll be hard for you to see your classmates after graduation?" she asked him as soon as they were gone. "i guess so. you must've felt the same on you last day of high school right?" he asked. she nodded remembering the conversation she had with her freinds. xukun was gonna apply to a university in shanghai, yangyang was gonna apply to one in shenzhen. mei was applying for a university out of country and she was gonna apply to yihe university.
all of them will be heading different ways. "then me?" she asked slightly feeling dejected knowing this was probably the last time she's gonna see him before university. "you? you're not the same as them. they won't be like my dear mèimei who says i am not handsome" he said the last part jokingly. he added and "gave me flowers and a graduation gift."
"alright. . gēge" she nodded smiling. maybe it was time she too should give up on her crush start seeing him as her brother. "but you should also visit your gēgē during your breaks in university" he said the girl nodded once again.
jiaxu turned, "xiaozhou do me favour" he called as the said friend walked to him. "help the gēgē and mèimei take a photo" he said. he handed her the flowers and asked her to hold it for him as she stood behind her. "both of you look at the camera" the friend said as he took the photos. the duo posed for different poses at the friend took photos.
𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐘𝐔𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 packing up for the night. tomorrow was her first gaokao exam so she was doing one last revision. afterall the nerves too kept her up. she had lost the track of time. she was studying in the kitchen so the light was still one. she saw jiaxu supporting her brother in coming home. "is he crying?" she asked from behind jiaxu who was startled by her presence. "oh my god you scared me. why are you still up?" he asked back to the girl who just shrugged.
she heard her parents come in. "aye xiaoduan you're here too. sang yue why are you still up?" her mother asked concerned. "i was about to sleep" the girl repiled. "it's late you should've been already asleep by now" she scolded her before turning to sang yan. li ping thanked jiaxu for bringing her son home. sang yue hugged her father who stood next to her. she noticed sang zhi too came in.
"yueyue xiaoduan will spend the night here. get him a new towel and a toothbrush" her mother ordered. the said leaned forward to ruffle sang yan's hairs knowing how much he hated anyone but him touching his hairs. she dragged jiaxu to sang yan's room. she opened sang yan's closet for him and fetched him a towel and toothbrush from the guest room.
𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄 night sang yue could not fall asleep. not only the anxitey from tomorrow's exam kept her up but also upon seeing how her brother's friends parted ways she was thinking about how even her friends will inevitably part ways too. she saw him sitting outside from her balcony so she went downstairs. "why are you still up?" the older asked. "can i sit there?" sang yue ignored his question. the guy however agreed for her to sit next to him.
when she was seated she asked "jiaxu gē why are you still up?"
"i. . . i'm not used to this bed" the guy replied.
"weren't you saying you wanted to sleep at an inn nearby? would you have been comfortable there?" she asked again looking at the sky.
"no but i said that because i did not wanted to trouble your family"
"see mom was right it's better you stay here instead of going there. and you are not a trouble" sang yue said those words so nonchalantly because she knows letting him stay for a night won't be a trouble for her parents. however only the guy next to her knew the effects of her words that had on him.
"what about you now?" he asked again changing the topic so that he won't feel emotional. "i am nervous" sang yue replied honestly.
"i am also scared of the aftermath" she added.
"aftermath?"
"hmm one of my friend is going to shanghai for university, other is going to shenzhen other is going to shenzhen and the last, mei she's applying to university abroad. i am honestly scared to part ways with them. i've known them since elementary school" she replied.
"it's late you should go to bed. if not you'll feel sleepy during the exams" jiaxu said but was ignored again.
"are you upset?" yue asked.
"no. why would i be?"
perhaps because it's late at night, he has an urge to spill out his feeling "sang yue, let gēgē tell you a little secret." duan jiaxu looks at her. "gēgē has a creditors, a lot debts." sang yue looks back at him. "you owe a lot of money?"
duan jiaxu smiles and says: "not money." he thinks about it and says "you could say it is money too."
"is it because of any promise?" she asked.
duan jiaxu is stunned but he hides it very well. he has no idea how the younger knows it. sang yue who just somehow understood that he surprised said, "alot of kids in my class date and make promises to be forever so when they break up they're always blaming each other and bringing up the ridiculous promises. so that's why i guessed."
sang yue realized her calling the promises ridiculous infront of him was careless of her to do so. she rephrased herself "jiaxu gē i think whatever promises you made would probably be relevant afterall you're more knowledge."
sang yue honestly had no idea what to say but she keeps on fucking up so bad.
duan jiaxu is startled, then he laughs. this time sang yue feels that his mood has turned better. after a while, he pinches her cheeks lightly "i maybe more knowledged but even i could make mistakes."
"you should go and sleep" he said the girl just nodded and went upstairs.
the next day, duan jiaxu takes the earliest flight back to yihe. sang yue who was getting ready for school saw him leaving from her balcony. the guy waved to her before she went in again. he stopped to get a last look at her and when she did not came he decided to leave. but she came back to for one last goodbye.
it was dark yet she still wanted to see him. he waved his phone indicating he texted her. the girl nodded. she waved again. accepting this is the last time she'll see him. she watched him leave. she stood in her balcony till he was out of sight.
she went in and saw his text. it read, gēgē is taking a morning flight to yihe. please tell that to your parents. also remember to do well on you exams today. good luck.
she texted him back, thank you...don't forget to eat your meals and gēge you don't have to send me gifts.
•˚. *࿐ 𝑲𝑶𝑲𝑶𝑺𝑩𝑳𝑨𝑺𝑯𝑴𝑬𝒀'𝑺 𝑵𝑶𝑻𝑬 ▬▬▬ btw i've made some changes in the previous chp. you saw jiaxu gave her perfumes. i changed that instead of perfumes he gave her mary jane heels the photo is attached in the chapter. and above i've attached the photo of what sang yue wore and the photo of the roses bouquet