And then he came back.
The moment the lights went out, the convenience store drowned in darkness… but his footsteps didn't.
They found me.
They always do.
Within a minute, he was already standing in front of me—as if distance never existed for him. As if every path in this world was made just to lead him back to me.
No matter how far away he is…
he always finds a way.
Or maybe—
he makes the way.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice softer… worried.
"Yes, I am fine. But why did you come here? Are you done with shopping?" I asked.
"Yes, I am done with it," he said.
"Then why did you come here?"
"Cause suddenly it all went black out in the store. I thought—"
He stopped.
But I didn't let him.
"You thought I might fall from the stool when it got dark… didn't you?" I said, completing what he couldn't.
He smiled.
"No. You are a mature grown-up woman. Why should I care for it? I just came here to ask you something."
"That what?" I asked.
"That… do you wanna eat something after this?"
I looked down at the floor for a moment.
"Yuan, you know I am on a diet. Still asking me these silly questions will only make you look even more sillier."
He smiled faintly… and then turned on the flashlight of his phone.
"Yuan, what are you doing? Switch it off," I said immediately.
"I need to check."
"Check what?"
"I need to check if you hurt my girlfriend or not."
I blinked.
"But why should I hurt myself—I mean your girlfriend?" I said quickly.
"Of course you will. My girlfriend gets scared very easily."
I hit his arm lightly.
"Stop it, Yuan. You are just exaggerating. I am not that coward one."
"Yes, you are not… but still I don't know why I always have this feeling to protect you every single minute… in every single breath of mine."
My heart skipped.
"Hmmm… so Mr. Xu Yuan is flattering me and trying to conquer me completely with his charm. Then let me tell you clearly—I am already the patient of your incurable disease. You don't need to try your charm here."
He smiled.
"No matter what the situation is… you silly girl never stop praising me."
"Of course I can't. When my Yuan Yuan is that worth praising," I said, lightly swinging my legs on the stool.
He immediately placed both his hands on my knees.
"Stop moving like this. You'll hurt yourself and may fall down from the stool."
"I won't, Yuan. You just finish your shopping first. And please switch off your flashlight… it's spoiling my favourite rainy weather."
"So you like darkness in rain?" he asked.
"Not complete darkness… but yes, you can say eighty percent."
"Okay. Stay here. Once I'm done with billing, I'll come back here only."
I laughed softly.
"Yuan… why do you sound more like a parent than a boyfriend?"
"How?" he raised his eyebrow—even in darkness, I could see it.
"Like how parents say—'Stay here, don't move, don't run around unnecessarily.'"
"Of course I need to behave like a parent when a kindergarten kiddo is around me. I need to be responsible."
"Excuse me? I am twenty-three years old. A mature girl."
He smiled… and gently tapped my cheek.
"Yes, of course you are. And I am twenty-nine. Still seven years difference."
He showed his fingers—seven.
Then he left.
And I stayed there.
Looking outside.
Watching the rain.
The sudden rain of Shanghai… it always feels different. Earlier, I used to wait months for this weather. But now—it comes unexpectedly… and heals everything.
No matter how heavy my heart is…
rain always makes it lighter.
It feels like someone is whispering inside me—
Zhao Shiza… everything will be fine.
Even if the chances are zero… still believe.
Don't stop dreaming.
Don't stop being that silly girl.
Because that's who you are.
And just like that…
the lights came back.
The store filled with brightness again.
"Can't it stay dark a little longer…?" I murmured.
And then—
He came back.
Holding two big polythene bags.
I stared at him… then at the bags… then at him again.
"What?" he asked.
"Yuan… are you sure you didn't buy the whole store?"
"It looks like you left nothing for anyone else."
"Stop it. I just bought essentials."
"Essentials? THIS is essentials?"
"Get down from the stool carefully."
As I stepped down, he stopped me midway.
"Your legs aren't even reaching properly. Be careful."
"I am doing it—"
But then—
The cramps hit again.
Sharp.
Sudden.
My balance slipped—
But he caught me.
Even with both hands occupied, he still managed… one arm wrapped around my waist, steadying me.
And just like that—
My heart betrayed me again.
"See? I told you to be careful," he said.
"Things like this can happen naturally. It's not in my control."
"It is in your control."
"Yuan, I am not some fragile porcelain doll. I am a human being."
He smiled slightly.
"My silly girl… arguing so much."
"Stop teasing me."
"Then tell me why I feel like you are someone I need to guard every time…"
His voice dropped to a whisper near my ear.
My breath hitched.
"I think… we should go home."
"Hmm. Yes."
We stepped outside.
Just a few steps ahead—
Rain.
Heavy. Sudden. Intense.
We stopped.
"There… a shade. Let's go," I said.
We stood under it.
I watched the rain… getting heavier every second.
"I don't think it will stop," he said.
"I hope it doesn't," I whispered.
"What?"
"Nothing… just let me enjoy it."
I stepped forward—
But before I could—
He pulled me back.
Into his arms.
Tightly.
Too tightly.
"Yuan… you are hugging me too tight."
"I know. I am doing it intentionally."
"Why?"
"Because I know my silly girl… she'll run into the rain like a kid."
"So you won't let me?"
"No."
"Even if it means staying like this all night."
"Even then."
I sighed.
"Fine… I won't go."
He slowly loosened his grip…
Reluctantly.
As if letting go itself was difficult.
And in that moment—
Standing under the rain…
wrapped in his warmth…
I realised something quietly—
Maybe…
I was never really alone in anything.
Then he said, "I don't think so that it will gonna stop."
"Hope so it didn't," I said.
"What did you say? Come again," he asked me.
I smiled and said, "Let me enjoy the rain… let me drench myself in it."
And while saying it, I was about to go out from the shade to let the fresh heavenly water droplets pour on my skin—
—but he held my hand, pulled me towards him, and hugged me tightly… too tightly.
"Yuan, you are hugging me too tightly," I said.
"I know… and I am doing it intentionally," he said.
"Intentionally? But why?" I asked him.
"Cause I know my silly girl," he said while tapping on my head with one hand, "I know she'll get excited like a kiddo and then get herself drenched in this rain at this situation."
"So you are really not letting me?" I asked him.
"Yes, I won't. If that means standing here while hugging you like this for the whole night, then also—for your betterment—I can go any extent," he said.
"Okay, I am not going outside the shade now… you can break this hug," I said.
"If it's in my hands… then I'll always keep you like this around my hands," he mumbled.
I couldn't hear it properly.
"Did you say anything?" I asked.
"No. Did you hear anything?" he asked.
"No… it's just you were mumbling," I said.
"I am not," he replied.
"It's okay, it's okay… keep on mumbling. I won't ask you what you are mumbling," I said.
Then he slowly, very carefully, started loosening his grip around me and finally broke the hug.
Then I asked, "When will we go home? Let's go like this only… after all we are going home only. We'll get fresh and warm ourselves… and our home is not so far away from here. See, I can still see our home from here."
"Our home…" he repeated.
"You have finally learned to call it our home."
And I didn't even realise it.
"I like it," he said.
Then he continued, "Look, I know our home is very near—much near to us—but still the rain is very heavy. If we go there in this, then we will definitely get ourselves drenched in it completely, which is not good for your health. So… nice try, but I won't let you get any chance, not even by mistake, to get drenched in the rain."
Then I exhaled sharply and took out my phone from my pocket to pass the time, because this Mr over possessive boyfriend of mine will not let me go.
So till then, I opened my phone and opened Weibo again where I had left it before.
And that same video appeared again on my screen—because I had locked my phone on that video only and didn't back out of it.
But this time… he saw it.
And he snatched my phone from my hands.
"This is the main and whole reason of everything. I am going to throw it away right here," he said.
"Yuan, please don't," I said.
Then he raised his hand a little higher.
I jumped to catch it—but couldn't reach it because of my height.
"Yuan, you are really doing it purposely, isn't it?" I said.
"It's not my fault that your height got stopped at five feet one inch," he said teasingly.
"Okay fine… so now you are making it a height teasing game?" I asked him.
"Did I really?" he asked.
"Of course you are doing it intentionally. You know I can't reach your five feet eleven inch height, so definitely you are doing it purposely," I said while folding my arms.
"I think I should delete your account from Weibo. This is the main reason of every problem in our life. It keeps showing you videos of mine with other actresses—even old stuff—and makes you upset unnecessarily without any reason. I am uninstalling it right now," he said while opening my phone.
"Yuan, please… I won't get affected by these old videos of yours with other actresses and your dramas. I promise," I said.
Then he lowered my phone and said, "Yuan's Shiza's promise?"
I smiled and said, "Yuan's Shiza's promise… cause it's the only promise in the whole world on which we both believe."
Then he handed my phone back to me.
"From now onwards, these videos won't affect me. I'll definitely try," I said.
He smiled hearing this and said, "Okay… now let's go back to our home. The rain has stopped finally. But looking at the sky, we don't even know when it will come back again… so it's better to get inside our home as soon as possible."
Then we both walked out from the shade where we were standing from past few hours—
—and went back to our home…
our home…
our sweet home…