Shen Wei
A week came by and I haven't seen Zhao Yunlan anywhere. Maybe I was just a mommentary distraction and he had his fun. How irresponsible and childish. Well, I did eat for free that one time but even that felt humiliating. I was certainly surprised at myself when I found myself looking for the frivolous man amongst the crowd the next day. How foolish of me and... strange...?
What an even greater shock when I had exited my appartment a week later, only to stare face-to-face with him. At first, I panicked inside. What does he want from me? How did he manage to find me? Is he a stalker? Why is that silly expression plastered all over his face while he's holding his arms above his head in a gesture trying to show he's of no harm to me. At this point, it hardly mattered whether he was wielding a weapon or tried to show he's harmless, the whole situation could alarm anyone.
Before I could come up with a single word, Zhao Yunlan, started to speak quickly.
"Hey, Shen Wei!"
Such familiarity, I didn't remember ever getting so friendly with this chaotic stranger.
"So... This is TOTALLY a coincidence, okay?"
Like I would be that foolish to believe that.
"I just moved to the appartment accross from you. Funny, right?"
More like highly disturbing.
"Well, I guess it was PARTLY a coincidence."
Okay, here comes a ridiculous explanation...
"So I was shown maybe five appartments? I did see the nametag with your name over there and I remembered you, I definitely DIDN'T KNOW it was you, okay? But it may have played a part in me choosing this place...?"
I watched him nervously scratch his head. He was obviously now waiting for me to react. Whether I believed his story or not, however, at that point seemed already useless. I turned on my heal and started to walk through the hallway. As expected, soon I could hear fast strides catching up to me.
"It's a pleasant coincidence, right?"
How obnoxious.
"I wouldn't call it that," I refuted. Neither pleasant, nor a coincidence. "However, I guess, it is a fact I will have to learn to live with. I doubt you will go search for a different appartment, even if I asked you to."
"Right?" The tone of his voice sounded too cheerfull which was what made me look at him. He was grinning like a little child, I sure didn't see why he should be so confident about stalking someone. But his smile felt too bright, so somehow my reason weakened slightly. It was true, I haven't felt any malicious intent comming from this person. To not be affected by the silly grin, I looked away, descending the stairs, yet he kept up with me. I wondered how long will he keep on folowing me.
"Where are you headed? Not that I want to know, just making small talk..." he added quickly.
If you don't want to know, don't ask, I thought with a sigh.
"I can give you a lift, you going to do your touring?" he offered, shamelessly not giving me any space to ignore him.
"No. Thank you." I declined, already getting tired of the meaningless conversation. Noticing him still following me all the way to the parking lot, even though finally silent, I stopped. I turned to him, noticing an innocent smile painted on his face again. I didn't say anything, he was more the one that should do some explaining.
After a few seconds of my pressuring silence, he averted his gaze to the side, laughing nervously. "S-so... I guess, I will... see you around?"
"Sure, we are neighbours now," I stated the obvious.
Somehow I couldn't help but look back after pulling out of the driveway, seeing the a bit dejected expression of Zhao Yunlan... I felt my heart squeeze slightly.
* * *
I must say that I had anticipated us meeting sooner. Another two days have gone by without any disturbance. I was a bit surprised as how the existence of my neighbour bothered me and was quite disturbed by the fact of how much time he had occupied my thoughts but I was reassuring myself that I will soon get used to him and all will be as quiet as before. Though, maybe the fact that things were too quiet was what bothered me the most. How was I supposed to get used to him when I hadn't been meeting him? This way I will be just as caught by surprise when I meet him, as the last time.
And I was.
It was already dark outside but the streets were safely lit by streetlights and still full of passers-by. Out of the corner of my eye, I had noticed that I will soon be walking in close proximity to a person crouching on the sidewalk. At first, my instincts told me to ignore this situation, however I had rationalized myself almost immediately, I should at least see if that person is only drunk or needs my help.
When I turned to look at him, I immediately recognized my newly acquired neighbour. I hurried to see what was wrong, bending down to him.
"Zhao Yunlan..." I put my hand on his shoulder. I smelled alcohol but as he looked up I could see he wasn't just drunk but genuinely in pain.
"Shen Wei..." His eyes were bloodshot and his voice almost a whisper.
"What's wrong?" I asked, eyes checking for any sort of injury.
"It's fine, it's just my gastritis acting up..." And yes, he was definitely clutching his stomach.
"I will take you to the hospital," I told him, taking out my cell phone to call for a driver.
"I'm not going to the hospital," the foolish man forced a pained smile. "They'll just want to put tubes down my throat. Home... I have medicine there, it always helps..." The begging and hurt, tearful look...
I felt my heart beat quicken at that. I nodded and called us a taxi.
Was it compassion I had felt? But how could I feel compassion when I certainly never felt an abdominal pain that would bring me to my knees. Was it the need to assist a neighbour in disstress, since that was the right thing to do? And why would I even stoop to something as ridiculous as taking him home? Stomach pains as severe as this should definitely be looked at by a doctor in a hospital, even if he says it's fine, it should have been the logical thing to do to not listen to him and call an ambulance nevertheless, right?
Yet here I was. In a taxi with a man who seemed exhausted and sick and hurt. Did I feel pity for him? Or a sense of responsibility? But why? I barely knew this man, what was my responsibility for him going drinking and causing himself a gastritis? Why should I feel responsibility over a man-child that had attached himself to me by his own will? It was none of my bussiness!
To make things even worse, I felt a bumb on my shoulder. Why would he...? I sighed. He looked asleep and whether it was intentional or not, his head rested on my shoulder. And I didn't have the strenght to push him away. He was feeling bad afterall and whatever comfort he might have found in such a simple gesture, I guessed, I could have provided it. I noticed a glance from the driver in the mirror and glared at him, so he quickly looked at the road again.
Sigh...
What am I going to do with you, Zhao Yunlan?
* * *
Hey, guys! So here we go, another Shen Wei perspective! X3
I wanted to thank you all for picking up yet another of my stories, though highly experimental. I swear, I want to keep this in 10 chapters max, nothing long like Serum or nothing infinite like Teach Me Magic. XD
And I also wanted to thank you for this amazing support that I get from you with every update. I'm not doing well mentally lately and things are starting to get scary inside my brain but writting helps me immerse myself somewhere else other than inside that Xue Yang-type of scary world of my depression. Like I swear while typing this I stopped for a moment staring, only imagining how I want to rip off the skin on my chest starting from my clavicules... I should incorporate Ye Zun somewhere again so I can vent these things in a safe artistic way... I remember I got a bit of praise for my Ye Zun in Serum and his psychopathic scenes, now you know where I get the inspiration. XD
Anyway! I listened to the Interstellar main theme while writting the last bits and damn I got into Shen Wei - or at least, I thought so. XD That's Hans Zimmer for you... <3