Chapter 46 - 45

𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐘𝐚𝐫𝐝, 𝐆𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐚, 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧

08:10 𝐩.𝐦.

When Peng was a child, his mother once told him that success is not something that comes all at once, nor is it something you can see clearly from a distance. Success begins the moment you refuse to give up, refuse to break, and continue pushing forward with determination....pouring all your effort and hope into reaching your goals, even if you fall a thousand times before you rise.

Those words had always been his source of strength. Whenever he felt like giving up on his ambitions, remembering them helped him stand firm again. Somehow, things always fell into place for him after that, and luck followed his hard work. If anyone asked him the secret behind his success in business....or in anything he set his mind to...this was it.

That was why, from the moment he took on this case, he never allowed himself to think of failure. Just as he had always fought relentlessly for everything in his life, he was determined to see this through until he achieved his goal.

That determination was what brought him all the way to Ghana, African to this far corner of the world, just to track down 𝐗𝐢𝐚𝐨 𝐃𝐢𝐞.

Carlos was the young man who led them there, claiming he knew exactly where Xiao Die operated his business.

If Peng thought back carefully, he would admit that ever since they left Cotonou and stopped at an intersection in Lomé, Togo, he had felt uneasy about the journey. His instincts had warned him about Carlos long before they reached Ghana, but he ignored the warning. He still did not know what held him back, what blinded him into making such a careless decision that led to everything that followed.

He slowly closed his eyes. The darkness behind his eyelids deepened in the dim container that had become his world for seven days since everything went wrong. Adjusting his position, he opened his eyes and reached for a small stone beside him. He placed it next to seven others lined up carefully.

It had been eight hours since Rafi'ah left. Eight hours since she promised to return in five hours with a vehicle that would take him away from here.

He grabbed another stone and hurled it with all his strength, listening to it strike the metal wall of the container with a loud echo.

Eight hours… or more. What happened? Why hadn't she returned? Had something gone wrong? Had Xiao Die's men found her? If they had, what would he do? Where would he run?

He clutched his head with both hands as the image of Josh's lifeless body flashed before his eyes, along with the two men who had been shot right in front of him.

What if they found him here too? What if they finished him off?

He shook his head. He didn't feel death yet...not here, not in a foreign country where no one knew him, not in such a humiliating way. There was no way his greatest enemy would send an order to kill him before he even reached him.

What Peng did not know was that Carlos was actually Xiao Die's man. Every suspicion his heart had whispered about Carlos was true. Their meeting had not been a coincidence....Carlos had sought him out after hearing that Peng was looking for Xiao Die, and Peng had trusted him completely, even following him all the way to Ghana without consulting anyone. After days of exhausting travel and multiple vehicle changes, Carlos had taken him to a house and told him to stay there while he went to confirm Xiao Die's exact location.

Peng squeezed his eyes shut again, recalling their plan...how they would enter and how they would escape.

Even though his instincts told him not all of them would make it out, he never imagined things would turn out the way they did.

He remembered looking into Xiao Die's eyes when they finally met. Carlos had introduced him as a buyer looking to purchase goods. Xiao Die looked exactly the same as he did in Peng's childhood...unchanged, untouched by time, except for his hair and beard, now completely white. Otherwise, he looked just as powerful, just as imposing.

Peng had expected to find a broken, aged man. Instead, he found someone who looked barely diminished by time.

So when Xiao Die called him by his real name instead of the alias Carlos had given him, Peng felt his heart nearly burst from his chest.

"𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑, 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑏𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑣𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙, 𝑃𝑒𝑛𝑔. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔? 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑚𝑦 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜? 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑚𝑦 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠. 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑖 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑖 𝑎𝑚 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝐼 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑚, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟

𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑎𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒."

Peng remembered how he interrupted him, shouting angrily,

"𝐷𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑!"

To his surprise, Xiao Die simply smiled and took a drag from his cigarette.

"𝐷𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦, 𝑃𝑒𝑛𝑔. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛...𝑛𝑜𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛."

Then Xiao Die looked at Carlos and the men around them. Without warning, gunshots rang out. One by one, his men fell right before Peng's eyes.

He still didn't know how he escaped. He only knew he ran as fast as he could and managed to flee with a gunshot wound to his left arm. That was how he met Rafi'ah...the woman who hid him in this container, fed him, and brought a man she claimed was a doctor to remove the bullet in the most painful way imaginable.

Today, she had promised that her cousin would be traveling to China and would come to take him away. She had warned him that Xiao Die's men were still searching for him in the area.

He had thanked her endlessly and promised to repay her kindness if he returned to China safely.

Now he sat there, waiting for her, carrying the heavy resolve he had locked in his heart since the day he escaped from Xiao Die.

If Xiao Die had known he was looking for him back then, then once Peng returned to China, Xiao Die would easily learn everything about him.

Which meant his initial plan had not been in vain...he had gotten Xiao Die's attention, exactly as he wanted.

Now was the perfect time to launch his plan against Zhan.

The only difference was that his original plan had changed. The images of Xiao Die's sons lying in pools of blood flashed in his mind.

𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑜 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛?

𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟.

****

It was never meant to happen, yet that brief moment became the reason I longed to see him again....Zhan

"𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑦, 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ?" Aunty Shui asked as she brought another spoonful of food to her mouth.

Aunty Weizu, sitting beside her, replied, "𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑀𝑟𝑠. 𝐺ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑒'𝑠. 𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝐻𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑛'𝑠 𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑍ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚, 𝑤𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒. 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒. 𝐼𝑓 𝑔𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦'𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑."

Aunty Shui shook her head while chewing. "𝑀𝑎𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠. 𝐼 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛'𝑠 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑠𝑜 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑢𝑦 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑜𝑡. 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑎 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚'𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔."

Aunty Weizu laughed, setting her plate down and pouring herself a drink. "𝑂ℎ, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚. 𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑙𝑙 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦'𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑔𝑜 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑡, 𝐼 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠. 𝐼 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑢𝑦 𝑠𝑜𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑢𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑡."

They both laughed, and Aunty Weizu turned to scold Hishan and his

younger brother Hanzi, who were playing on the staircase.

They were all sitting in Zhan's living room after visiting him. It was their first visit since the wedding. Zhan had begged them many times to come, especially since Uncle Ruobing's wife and Uncle Elder wife Yufei's mother had come too. But Aunty Shui had insisted they should wait until the initial wedding guests had reduced.

Zhan knew that Aunty Weizu had persuaded her, which was why they finally came today.

Aunty Shui turned to look at Zhan, who was holding Nan in his arms while the child slept. She was surprised that, despite all their talking and laughter, he hadn't reacted at all. His eyes looked distant, as if his thoughts were somewhere else entirely.

She stood up and headed toward the kitchen just as Aunty Weizu picked up her phone to answer a call from her mother.

When Aunty Shui reached the kitchen door, she turned back and looked at Zhan, who was sitting near the staircase while Hanzi and Hishan continued playing. She called his name.

"𝑍ℎ𝑎𝑛…"

He turned to her immediately, as if startled.

"𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒."

She went into the kitchen, placing her plate on the counter while Zhan walked in, still carrying Nan on his shoulder.

"𝑃𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡. 𝑊𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘."

"𝑂𝑘𝑎𝑦."

He turned and left, returning a minute later. Aunty Shui was covering the food on the counter with another plate when he came back.

"𝐷𝑖𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑑? 𝑂𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑?" he asked gently.

Aunty Shui shook her head. "𝑁𝑜, 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡. 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡. 𝑊𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡."

Zhan nodded, watching her, but Aunty Shui's face was serious.

"𝐷𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒. 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢? 𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑, 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠."

Here it comes, Zhan thought. He had feared this since morning, since Aunty Weizu called to say they were coming. He had known from childhood that everything he felt showed in his eyes....𝐬𝐚𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬....his eyes revealed it all. Even Nainai could tell.

He shook his head. "𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑁𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑."

"𝐷𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝐼 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒?" Aunty Shui said. "𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑙𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛'𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑢𝑠𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑'𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒, 𝑦𝑒𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔? 𝐼𝑓 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝐼 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢?"

Zhan looked down, fidgeting with his fingers and shaking his head again.

"𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝐴𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑦. 𝐽𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑."

Instead of backing off, Aunty Shui stepped closer.

"𝐷𝑖𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑌𝑖𝑏𝑜?"

Zhan looked up at her and shook his head again.

"𝑁𝑜, 𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑓𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡."

Aunty Shui stared at him for a moment, then nodded, relieved.

"𝐴𝑙𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑠𝑜. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑜 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑛. 𝐿𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑦....𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛."

He nodded sincerely. She stepped back slightly and continued,

"𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠? 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛'𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚."

He lowered his voice. "𝑁𝑜 𝑜𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑦𝑒𝑡. 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑠𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦'𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟."

"𝐴𝑙𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑦. 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠ℎ ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝑤𝑒'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑆𝑎𝑛𝑥𝑖𝑛𝑔-𝐺𝑒𝑔𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑢𝑠 𝑢𝑝....𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑧𝑢 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚."

Zhan nodded. "𝑆𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑁𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑖'𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒?"

"𝑌𝑒𝑠. 𝐼 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝐵𝑎𝑖 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑦."

"𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑔𝑒. 𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑈𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑆𝑎𝑛𝑥𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑠. 𝐻𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑒'𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛."

"𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑑𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑚𝑎𝑦𝑏𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑦 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛," Aunty Shui said, picking up her plate and returning to the living room.

Zhan let out a quiet breath of relief, grateful that he had managed to keep himself together. Only God knew that, even if someone pressed a knife to his throat right now, he wouldn't be able to explain what was troubling him. He didn't even know how to arrange the events of last night in his mind, let alone put them into words....what had happened, what had been said, and what had unfolded right there in the kitchen.

Outwardly, everything seemed normal. But inwardly, he felt as though Yibo had taken him to a world so distant that even researchers might not be able to locate it for years to come.

He walked toward the fridge to get the coconut, then stopped, his eyes replaying last night's events. He closed his eyes, recalling Yibo's voice when he had whispered that plea...begging him to stop.

"𝑊𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡… 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑑𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠…"

Yibo had kept saying it without stopping what he was doing. Zhan hadn't fully come back to his senses until he felt Yibo's hand pull down the zipper of his shirt, from top to bottom. His heart had dropped, his chest pounding violently. He had stepped back at once, and because Yibo himself seemed weakened, Zhan slipped out of his grasp, clutching his shirt tightly.

When he looked at Yibo, he barely recognized him. He looked like a small boy who had just realized he had done something terribly wrong. Yibo slowly shook his head.

"𝐼'𝑚 𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦…"

That was all he said before turning and walking out of the kitchen, leaving Zhan standing there, frozen, replaying everything in his mind.

He didn't even understand why he had pushed Yibo away. He knew it wasn't because of what Yibo had said....something else had scared him, a sudden, unexplainable fear that surged through him.

He snapped out of his thoughts, opened the fridge, took out the coconut, and started preparing the drink. But his mind kept drifting back to the night before....how he had waited for Yibo to come out of his room, how he had eventually gotten tired and gone upstairs. He had knocked on Yibo's door...softly at first, then repeatedly...but there had been no response. In the end, he had left.

He couldn't even eat dinner. He had packed everything away and gone to his room, where he changed and fell into a deep, heavy sleep...the kind he hadn't experienced in a long time. What woke him up was Yibo's voice.

He opened his eyes slowly and saw Yibo kneeling beside the bed, holding his hand. He blinked several times before his vision fully focused on him.

"𝐺𝑒𝑡 𝑢𝑝, 𝑙𝑒𝑡'𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒. 𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒."

Zhan nodded but didn't move, just stared at him. Yibo's fingers tightened around his hand, his gaze fixed on Zhan's face. After a moment, he shifted on his knees and leaned closer, supporting Zhan's cheek with one hand while his thumb brushed lightly over his eyebrow.

"𝐼'𝑚 𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦, 𝑍ℎ𝑎𝑛. 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑦𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑑𝑎𝑦."

Zhan didn't know what to say. He didn't even know what Yibo was apologizing for...the beginning, or the end? He cleared his throat.

"𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟?"

Yibo stayed silent, still tracing his eyebrow with his thumb. Instead of answering, he leaned down and kissed Zhan's forehead gently, lingering there for a few seconds before pulling away.

"𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑠."

That was all he said before standing up and leaving the room. They meditated together downstairs as usual. Near the end, Yibo received a call from his mechanic, informing him that he had returned the car. Yibo told Zhan that the car had developed a fault the previous day, so he had called the mechanic to pick it up and bring it back.

After Yibo went outside to meet the mechanic, Zhan went to the kitchen and found that Yibo had eaten the food he had prepared the night before. That confirmed that Yibo had come out to eat after Zhan had gone to bed. He pushed the thought aside and prepared breakfast. When Yibo returned, he didn't even enter the kitchen. He stood at the doorway and said he needed to shower because he had surgery that morning.

Zhan thought of showering too, but while he was in the bathroom, Yibo knocked and said he was running late and had to leave.

Zhan asked about the food from inside the bathroom, and Yibo said he had eaten. They said goodbye, and he left.

But Zhan felt it wasn't really about being in a hurry. It felt like Yibo was avoiding him....avoiding another conversation like the one from earlier. After all, he had already showered and eaten.

When Zhan came out and went to the kitchen, he realized Yibo had barely touched the food he made. That confirmed his suspicion.

So everything he had told Aunty Shui was true. They hadn't fought, and nothing serious had happened. He was just waiting for Yibo to return, to see what would happen next.

****

𝑰 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑰'𝒎 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈.... 𝒀𝒊𝒃𝒐

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳?

That was Zhan's question.

It had been just one simple line, something that could be spoken in a single breath. But in Yibo's mind, in his ears, in his thoughts, the question shattered into countless pieces. He had no answer...then, now, or in the future. He knew he had made a mistake, and he took full responsibility for it. There was no justification, no excuse that could defend him. If he had to explain, he could only say that he had lost control...that he couldn't stop himself in that moment.

He had already started losing his composure when Zhan grabbed him, when Zhan's slender fingers twisted into the front of his shirt. A thought he couldn't even trace had entered his mind. That was why he didn't hold Zhan back when he pulled away...he was afraid of what he might do.

When he returned after calming himself down, he found Zhan standing in the kitchen. Only then did he notice what Zhan was wearing...a silk shirt in soft lemon-green, beautifully tailored, adorned with subtle shimmering details that caught the kitchen light.

Zhan looked beautiful.

He looked unbearably beautiful....especially with that thoughtful expression on his face.

And suddenly, everything he had tried to suppress came rushing back. All he wanted was to feel Zhan in his arms.

From the moment he touched Zhan, everything that followed felt unreal. His heart and mind had told him that if he didn't act, if he let that moment slip away, regret would haunt him for the rest of his life.

That was why he had decided to erase what had happened...to push it out of both his and Zhan's memory. He knew how to do it. He knew how to make them both forget that night, that moment, that day.

So no matter how much Zhan's question echoed in his mind, he had no answer to give him. He would simply try not to repeat that mistake.

He rested his left hand on the back of his neck and leaned deeper into the car seat, closing his eyes.

𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦?

The ringing of his phone interrupted his thoughts. He hesitated, then opened his eyes and looked at the screen.

𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐨.

He clicked his tongue and brought the phone to his ear. Malo's voice came through immediately, without greeting.

"𝑳𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝑷𝒆𝒑𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌. 𝑯𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒚𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈!"

𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙔𝙞𝙗𝙤'𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨....𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙈𝙖𝙡𝙤'𝙨....𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙧 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜.

𝒁𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒙𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒊𝒃𝒐💚❤💛