Zhan watched A-Bo out of the corner of his eye as he headed to the door. He turned and looked at him, seeing that he was about to leave the living room. Quickly, he said, "Wait, let me go get your phone-it's upstairs."
A-Bo had already left the living room without looking at him.
Zhan stood there for two full minutes, staring at the door in surprise. Did this mean A-Bo was angry at what he said? But he hadn't said it with any bad intention. He stood in the living room, surprised. Then he clicked his tongue, went and sat on the chair, opened his backbag, took out his phone, and looked at a PDF that had been sent to him at school for one of their courses.
After a while, he stood up and went upstairs to change his clothes, then came back downstairs and cooked something to eat.
Zhan didn't come back downstairs until around five-thirty in the afternoon, because sleep had overtaken him due to the cold weather. He was adjusting his hair cap after coming downstairs to go into the kitchen when he heard knocking on the living room door and at the same time, the door was pushed open.
He turned quickly after realizing that he had left the door open after A-Bo left earlier. He stared at the person without blinking and didn't move an inch from where he was standing, so scared was he.
The man locked the door and stood there by the doorway, looking at him, smiling calmly, and said, "Good evening, Zhan."
Zhan lowered his eyes, his heart sinking deeply. His common sense didn't give him the go-ahead to be rude or anything of the sort to him. He looked at the man and said calmly, "Why will you barge into my house just like this?"
The man smiled slightly, removing the hood of his jacket, and said, "That was because you left the door open..."
Calmly, Zhan said, "But that doesn't warrant you to barge in."
The man raised his hand and said, "My bad, sorry about that, beautiful Zhan."
Zhan sat on the chair, didn't say anything else, his heart sinking even deeper. The man looked around the apartment keenly and said, "Such a nice apartment. Communal living you have, or are you the only one in this entire apartment?"
Without looking at him, Zhan said calmly, "Co-living."
The man came into the living room. Zhan glanced at him from the corner of his eye, his heart pounding deeply.
The man sat next to him, looking at him, and said, "Sorry I came unannounced. I didn't think you would be this understanding. I came to your house without your permission, and you're not mad at me. I even barged in, but you're still calm..."
Zhan smiled forcefully and said, "It's fine... How did you get to know my apartment?"
The man adjusted his sitting position, smiling, and said, "Figuring out your apartment wouldn't be hard for me in Baltimore? I care about you."
Zhan fell silent and didn't say anything. He knew there was no doubt that when he left school earlier and got into a taxi, Yoki had followed him without his knowledge. Yoki looked around the living room and said, "But seriously, I really love this apartment of yours. It's big and fine. Do you share it with Bin?"
Zhan shook his head at him. Deep down, however, he was thinking about his next move.
Yoki looked at the strands of Zhan's hair that hadn't been fully tucked into his hair cap, since Zhan was still in the process of putting it on when Yoki entered the living room. He reached out to touch the hair and said with surprise, "Is all this your hair?"
Quickly, Zhan moved away and said, "No, I won't welcome that."
Yoki opened his eyes and said, "I am sorry, dear. You've got beautiful soft black hair." Zhan didn't say anything. Yoki looked at him, speaking calmly, "Tell me more about yourself, please, Zhan."
Zhan forced a smile and said, "You see, I'm about to leave now. I'm going to the supermarket to do some shopping, and it's almost late."
Yoki laughed, looking at him intently, and said, "Is this all a way to send me away, dear?"
Zhan said, "Not at all. If I wanted to send you away, you wouldn't have come in and I would have thrown you out of the house. I just want to go shopping now because tomorrow I won't be home early from school."
Quietly, Yoki said, "Alright, get dressed, and we'll go to the shopping."
Zhan gathered the courage to stand up, then looked at him and said, "But please respect my privacy. Wait for me to come down."
Yoki smiled and said, "You have no problem, my dear."
Zhan didn't say anything else and headed to the stairs, his heart pounding deeply. He felt a certain frustration in his heart because he was only wearing a short that wasn't even proper clothing. He went upstairs, with Yoki watching him. He entered his room, locked the door, and tears filled his eyes.
He quickly went and got his phone and dialed his housemate's number. After a few seconds, it began to ring, but it rang out without being answered. He sat on the edge of the bed, wiping the tears falling from his eyes, thinking about what to do. He didn't dial his housemate's number again; instead, he dialed A-Bo's number.
In one of the bags he had brought from school, he felt A-Bo's phone vibrate. He put his own phone down, placed his head on the pillow, and burst into frustrated tears. After a few minutes, he stood up, wiping the tears that had stopped on his face. He took the bag that contained A-Bo's phone, took out the phone, and looked at it-it was almost out of battery. He put it back in the bag he had brought from school, then took his own phone and ordered a cap.
He put his phone in his bag as well, changed his clothes, put on his head covering, and came out of the room, locked it, and went downstairs.
Yoki was standing in the living room, holding a can of soft drink he had taken from Zhan's fridge, drinking it. He watched Zhan as he came down and said, "The weather is cold outside, dear. Where is your jacket?"
Without looking at him, Zhan said, "I'll be fine."
Yoki said, "OK then, shall we go?"
Zhan said, "No, I need to do something in the kitchen first."
Yoki said, "OK, take your time."
Zhan went to the kitchen, and Yoki watched him until he entered. Zhan locked the door and stood in the kitchen, waiting for his taxi, while at the same time his heart was pounding and he wiped the frustrated tears falling from his eyes. After a while, he came out of the kitchen without looking at Yoki and said, "I'm done."
Yoki stood up, adjusting his jacket, and said, "You look cute, dear. Should I give you my jacket? It's freaking cold outside."
Zhan said, "Don't worry about it." Then he headed to the door and went out. Yoki also came out, and Zhan locked the door with the key. Yoki headed to his parked car, pointing at it, and said, "There's my car."
Zhan looked at him and said, "There's the taxi I ordered."
Yoki turned and looked at him, saying, "Why? Cancel the order. I came with my car."
Zhan said, "I can't cancel it." He didn't listen to Yoki any further; he headed to the taxi without looking at him. Yoki watched him with astonishment, laughed, and said, "What? Like seriously... this little boy played me."
He leaned against his car, closed his mouth, smiled, shook his head as he watched Zhan get into the taxi. So, he thought, Zhan was trying to outsmart him. Honestly, he was smart. Yoki nodded, got into his car, started it, and followed the taxi that Zhan had gotten into.
Zhan noticed how Yoki was following the taxi from behind. He arrived at the house around seven o'clock, opened the taxi door, got out, and quickly headed into the house. Yoki also parked-he didn't even turn off the car-got out, and followed him, calling his name. But Zhan had already entered the house, his heart pounding.
That made Yoki stop, watch him until he went in, still smiling and shaking his head. Only after he had thoroughly examined the main house did he turn and go back to his car. Zhan struggled to reach the entrance door of the house, his heart sinking deeply because he felt like Yoki had followed him inside since he hadn't turned around to look.
He banged on the main living room door, tears filling his eyes. But silently, no one opened it. Only then did he notice the doorbell. He pressed it quickly, his hand trembling. He pressed the bell three times before the door was opened after almost five minutes. He burst into intense tears, looking at A-Bo.
A-Bo looked at him in surprise from head to toe and said, "What happened?" Zhan didn't say anything to him, just broke down crying. A-Bo didn't know when he shouted at him, sounding so apprehensive, "Can't you speak out? Tell me what it is? What happened?"
Through tears, Zhan said, "He followed me to my apartment."
A-Bo opened his eyes wide and said, "Who?"
Zhan said, "That man."
A-Bo stared at him without blinking, surprised, and said, "Your apartment?"
Zhan nodded, tears streaming from his eyes, and said, "He even followed me all the way here, in his car."
A-Bo said, "Here??"
Zhan said, "Yes, he's outside-I don't know if he came in or not..."
A-Bo removed the shoes on his feet, put on others that were by the door, and went out of the living room. Zhan watched him, wiping the tears from his eyes, and leaned against the wall. A-Bo went outside and scanned their neighborhood-there was no sign of any car outside. Besides, there was no one because the weather was so cold and it was dark.
He turned and went back into the house. When he reached the entrance to the living room, Zhan was looking at him. A-Bo frowned and said, "Go inside."
Quietly, Zhan turned and went into the living room, removed his shoes, went in, and sat on a chair, his heart still sinking.
A-Bo stood by the living room door, completely filled with surprise at Yoki. He even started thinking about what steps to take on his own. Every now and then, Zhan would look at him. After a few minutes, A-Bo came into the living room, looked at Zhan with a firm face, and said, "How did he know your apartment to the point of going there?"
Zhan's voice trembled as he said, "I honestly don't know."
A-Bo frowned again and said, "You-don't you dare cry for me here. Don't stress me with your silly cry."
Zhan didn't say anything.
A-Bo said, "When he went to your apartment, what happened?"
Quietly, Zhan said, "I forgot to lock the door after you left earlier. He just knocked once, then opened the door and came in because he heard it was unlocked. And I told him I was going out for shopping, and he said he would take me. After we came out, instead of getting into his car, I ordered taxi. He followed the taxi all the way here."
A-Bo said, "When he went to your apartment, didn't your common sense tell you to call the cops immediately? Because of his rudeness, didn't you even think to call 911?"
Quietly, Zhan said, "Well, my phone was upstairs, and I forgot about the cops. I was confused." He leaned back against the chair and didn't say anything else because he was already tired. Quietly, he pulled his backbag, opened it, took out A-Bo's phone, and handed it to him, looking at him. He saw that A-Bo was looking in a different direction, thinking. Zhan put the phone down beside him.
After a while, A-Bo turned and looked at him briefly, saying, "Go upstairs."
Zhan opened his eyes a little, looking at him, and said, "Upstairs?"
A-Bo gave him a look and said, "You want to go back to your house so he can find you there?"
Quietly, Zhan said, "No, I thought we would go to my apartment together."
A-Bo said, "Then come and pick me up, and we'll go." With that, he headed to the stairs. Zhan watched him go-A-Bo was all drama. Then Zhan pouted and turned his head away.
Even after an hour, Zhan didn't see A-Bo come downstairs. He stayed in the living room until he got tired, he didn't hear the sound of any worker in the house because everywhere was so silent. He leaned his head against the chair because he was tired, had a headache, and was very hungry.
He closed his eyes while sitting like that, and sleep overtook him. In his sleep, he heard A-Bo's voice and opened his eyes quickly, adjusting his sitting position.
A-Bo looked at him and said, "Oh, you didn't go upstairs?"
Zhan frowned and said, "Well, do I know where to go upstairs?"
A-Bo said, "Don't you know where I-Bo usually puts you in?" Zhan didn't say anything. After a few seconds, he lifted his head and looked at him, seeing that A-Bo was glaring at him. He stood up, took his bag, and left A-Bo's phone on the chair.
A-Bo turned and went back upstairs, and Zhan followed behind him, walking slowly. He stood in the corridor, and A-Bo's face was expressionless. Zhan glanced at him once, about to go to the room he had stayed in before at the house, but then he stole another glance at A-Bo and said, "Where am I going?"
A-Bo said, "I don't know."
Zhan turned and took the direction toward A-Bo's bedroom.
A-Bo opened his mouth in surprise, watching him, and said, "You...."
Zhan couldn't hold back; he laughed....it was no small thing that made him laugh. He held back and said, "Well, you did say where my housemate usually puts me, so I'm going there."
A-Bo, too surprised, didn't know what to say to him. He said, "Well, go and see the power of Heaven."
Zhan gave him a look, turned, and headed to the room he had stayed in when he was taking exams. He entered the room and locked the door. The room was neat, you could tell it hadn't been used in a long time. The room was very cold, like ice. He dusted the edge of the bed, then sat down, curling up. After a little while, he stood up quickly and went into the bathroom, when came out, he turned on the room heater, but it didn't work.
He was sitting on a small stool when he heard a knock at the door. He kept looking at the door, then stood up, went to open it, and looked at A-Bo.
Briefly, A-Bo said, "The workers in the house haven't resumed yet. You can go to the kitchen and sort yourself out. This is the only help I can render." Then he turned and left the doorway.
Zhan watched him go, then locked the door, went back, sat down, and curled up because he was feeling very cold, and he hadn't brought a jacket. Despite the hunger he felt, he preferred to endure it because he wouldn't go to the kitchen. He stayed there until dawn, wondering how things would go with Yoki before he could return to his own apartment. But still, he was too scared to be alone in that apartment.
He stood up and lay down on the bed after wiping it. He covered himself with the second bedsheet-there were two on the bed-but still, he felt cold as if he hadn't covered himself at all. And so sleep overtook him.
:
:
Around ten o'clock, A-Bo knocked on the door. Zhan opened his eyes slowly because he had been sleeping restlessly due to the cold. Still, he didn't turn around. A-Bo entered the room, went to the room heater, and turned it on, but it didn't work. He stood in the room for over a minute, then turned and left.
He went to I-Bo's room, opened it, entered, and took I-Bo's white duvet. Then he came out and went back to the room where Zhan was. He first checked the windows of the room to be sure they were locked, then covered Zhan with the duvet, turned, and left, locking the door behind him.
The scent of I-Bo's cologne filled Zhan completely. Immediately, the sleep he had been having left him. And he felt so warm. Quietly, he reached for his phone and looked at his call logs-still, I-Bo hadn't returned the call he had made to him at his apartment. He turned on his data and checked WhatsApp-I-Bo still hadn't left him a message, and he even saw him online.
Zhan lowered his eyes, and immediately felt tears gathering in his eyes. He left WhatsApp, went to his contacts, and deleted I-Bo's number that he had saved from his phone. Then he put his phone down, covered his head with the duvet, and cried quietly.
Around eleven o'clock, Zhan slowly slid down due to a sharp pain in his abdomen. He stayed kneeling for almost ten minutes. Finally, he stood up with difficulty and went into the bathroom. His heart sank deeply when he saw that it was his period. He couldn't come out of the bathroom.
Finally, he dragged himself out, walking slowly. Now what would he do? He looked at the white bedsheet and I-Bo's duvet on the bed. He hadn't started flowing heavily yet, but he knew it could happen now or later. Quietly, he knelt on the floor of the room. He didn't even care about the cold he was feeling.
He reached for his phone, thinking about what to do. He could order a cap to his own apartment, but he was afraid of returning to the house. He felt the sign of his period coming and slowly stood up. His whole body was weak as he went to the door, opened it, and went out. He stood in the corridor for a long time like someone guilty.
Finally, he gathered his courage and went to A-Bo's bedroom. He stood at his door as if pitying the door, then knocked gently. A-Bo, who was pressing on his phone, turned and looked at the door. Zhan knocked again gently.
A-Bo sat up, leaned against his bed, put his phone down, crossed his arms, and stared at the door. If he said he wasn't tired of this child, he would be lying to Heaven. He picked up his phone, dialed I-Bo's number with a firm face.
After a few seconds, I-Bo answered.
A-Bo said, "When did you say you were coming back?"
I-Bo said, "Tomorrow I'm going to China."
A-Bo said, "I'm tired of this brat you left me with in this country. You know I have anger issues. I can't tolerate him anymore, honestly."
I-Bo listened to him and said, "Well, you could keep his ribbon for more than two months. But you can't keep him under your watch?"
A-Bo fell silent.
I-Bo said, "Hang up, please. Mom is calling me."
A-Bo looked at his phone screen-I-Bo had already hung up. A-Bo put his phone down, his eyes on the screen without blinking. After almost a minute, he said, "What is he talking about? What does 'ribbon' mean?"
Quietly, he picked up his phone, opened the search engine, and typed: ribbon...
💚💙❤🖤