Zhan was so shocked that he couldn't say anything. He sat where he was as if water had consumed him. He was ruined-and now there was someone even more troublesome than Yiming.
Bin breathed heavily and said, "Let's go from here. I don't know how things work in this country. If it were China, I would have headed straight to the police station to file a report. Here, I don't know if that's how it's done."
Zhan couldn't get up because his whole body was cold, as if ice had been poured on him. Seeing that Zhan wouldn't get up, Bin said, "Get up, let's leave, please...before he comes back."
Zhan looked at him and said, "Leave to where? I'm not going anywhere, Bin. Should I just go back to my apartment so he can follow me there?"
Bin breathed heavily and said, "That's how it is." Zhan held his head, which felt heavy. " Bin said, "This one seems even more of a thug than Yiming. Honestly, I didn't know he was like this. I won't even take the same route as him at school anymore. If I don't dial 911 right now for them to come..."
Zhan gave him a look and said, "To come and do what for you? Don't dial. Let me leave here first." Bin went back and sat down, holding his chin. Zhan opened his bag, his whole body weak, and took out his phone. He spent thirty seconds unable to dial A-Bo's number because he hated his drama. But did he have a choice? Should he just go back to his apartment so Yoki could follow him? Even if the door was locked, he could break it and come in, and he would be ruined. Today, he had even looked at Yoki closely and seen that he looked like someone on drugs-that's why his eyes seemed like sexy eyes, but it was actually from taking pills.
Bin looked at him and said, "You have to call that hard one. Because honestly, I don't like that A-Bo. I prefer your housemate a million times better. Listen, the other day, he even chased me away just because he wanted to talk to you. Like he didn't know how we were. He treated me like some stranger that day. That's something your housemate would never do. He said 'get up'. Since that day, I've hated him in my heart. Is that how he is with that bad character? I didn't know. Even when I said 'good afternoon' to him, he answered 'good evening' out of sheer disrespect. Please, I don't like him."
Zhan said, "Well, who else do I have to call besides him?" Bin said, "When is your housemate coming back? We miss him. Let him come back quickly." Zhan said, "Okay." Then he dialed A-Bo's number.
A-Bo let it ring out, then Zhan called again, and he answered. Zhan heard him say, "What again, mr.?"
He asked hurriedly, as if in a haste to cut the call. Zhan lowered his eyes quietly and said, "He came and found us at the department...me and Bin."
A-Bo fell silent, then said, "So what happened?"
Quietly, Zhan told him what Yoki had come to say and how he and Bin had reacted.
A-Bo listened and said, "You see, this friend of yours with his foolish mouth-he's going to bring you a disaster you never thought of in your life. Who sent him to exchange words with him? Didn't he take you to where you met that man in the first place? And what do you want me to do for you by calling me now?"
Zhan hung up and put his phone down. Bin watched him and said, "What is he saying?" Zhan didn't say anything. Then his phone began to ring. He checked and saw that A-Bo was calling him back.
Bin clicked his tongue and said, "Oh! Heavens...your housemate is really trying with this A-Bo. Is that how he is? Honestly, the way you know our lecturer...that's how I see him now. He's always angry. Answer it before he hangs up. I can't tell Hailong-ge about this matter. He'll find out I went to a party after telling him I wasn't feeling well, and that I went to your apartment from school that day."
Zhan answered the call and put it to his ear without saying anything.
A-Bo said, "Did you hang up on me?"
Zhan said, "Well, what else was I supposed to do? You just scowled a person every day."
A-Bo said, "Then go and sort yourself out." Then he hung up.
Bin said, "Tsk. Can this man even be with a woman? In a world that has risen, only men surround him. But he has no sympathy at all. Just get up, and we'll go to Hailong's house. Because I don't support you going back to your apartment either. The drugs Yoki takes don't tell him the truth."
Zhan didn't say anything. He felt that even his time in America had gotten on top of him, including his studies. So now, from one person to another in his life. He felt tears fill his eyes.
Bin said, "And, that's my problem with you. Everything, you have to cry like some toddler. What is there to cry about? I have a strong mind in ways you wouldn't imagine."
Zhan just kept wiping the tears from his eyes because he was tired of it. Bin clicked his tongue and moved aside. They sat there for almost ten minutes, each with their own thoughts. In a low voice, Bin said, "You see, there your weird man comes again. This man has no direction."
Zhan lifted his head and looked where Bin was looking. Immediately, he looked away, his face firm. Quietly, Bin said, "I'm leaving before he sent me away." Then he took his bag like a coward and left the spot just as A-Bo arrived.
By the time A-Bo reached Zhan, Zhan didn't look in his direction again. A-Bo looked at him and said, "Has your disrespect reached the point of hanging up on people now?" Zhan glanced at him but didn't say anything, then looked away. A-Bo said, "Aren't I talking to you?"
Zhan twisted his face, with the cry he was holding back stuck in his throat.
A-Bo said, "You can cry for yourself, not for me. And in case you don't know... the workload on my head is heavier than all your little issues. I-Bo is the one who can combine both. I can't. I will take you home, and you'll stay there until I-Bo returns so you can continue from where you stopped. I don't have much time to be fighting with a tout because of you."
Zhan didn't say anything. A-Bo frowned and said, "Aren't you going to get up?"
Zhan stood up without looking at him. A-Bo turned and left, and he started following behind him, glaring at him. He took him to his apartment. After parking, he said, "Don't waste my time. Go in and get everything you need for now."
Zhan opened the car door, got out, and headed to the apartment. He spent almost twenty minutes inside without coming out. A-Bo's patience ran out. He picked up his phone to call Zhan when he saw a car parked right by the apartment. He kept looking at the car, and recognizing who it belonged to.
The person inside saw his car and drove slowly past the apartment.
A-Bo kept watching the car in surprise. So, the punch he had thrown at Yoki, and even his friends stepping in, wasn't enough for him? A few of Yoki's friends were also his friends, which was why the matter didn't escalate-they stepped in and calmed A-Bo down. But Yoki had been beaten before his friends intervened. That anger is what made him go and confront Zhan and Bin at their department. And now he had followed Zhan home again.
A-Bo nodded. Yoki were lucky they weren't in China. His phone began to ring; he saw I-Bo was calling and answered.
On the other end, I-Bo said, "Prince, why won't you respect the title you hold, please? Why are you like this? What made you fight with Yoki? You're in America, not China."
A-Bo listened and said, "We didn't fight. Maybe we will in the future, because I will break his arms if he's not careful. I noticed he doesn't have stamina-one punch and he went down, so breaking him won't be hard for me..."
I-Bo sighed and said, "Can you hear yourself, please? I will report you to Dad if you don't stop this thing you're doing. You keep following and punching like a boxer? Who does that, please? You're bringing down your class, honestly."
A-Bo said, "Well, who caused it? Isn't it you and this brat that made me fight? If you hadn't left him with me, would that have happened?"
I-Bo said, "No, your hands is the one that's in the wrong. Stop using us to cover your foolishness. And I didn't leave him with you because I know he's old enough to take care of himself without supervision. You're the one who voluntarily took over caring for him for reasons best known to you. And I already talked to Yoki, and he understood me. But you, every time, you have to bring chaos into it, as if you're waiting to start punching."
A-Bo fell silent. Then, ignoring some of I-Bo's words, he said, "OK, you talked to him-that's why I see his car now at Zhan's apartment door?"
I-Bo fell silent, then said, "Why did you go to his apartment?"
A-Bo hung up and put his phone down. He felt very annoyed with I-Bo. He was boiling inside. He felt like just driving off and leaving Zhan to his fate at the apartment, since it wasn't his idea for him to come back to America in the first place. He even started reversing, but then he couldn't leave. He looked again in the direction Yoki had gone and saw no car-meaning he had left. I-Bo hadn't annoyed him like this in a long time. He just picked up his phone, went to his contacts, blocked I-Bo, and put the phone down.
Just then, Zhan came out of his apartment. A-Bo didn't even look at him until he had put all the things he brought into the back seat, since he saw that A-Bo hadn't opened the booth and there was no sign he would. After securing the seat, he opened the front passenger door, got into the car, and quietly locked the door. He didn't look at A-Bo either, just as he didn't look at him. He started reversing the car.
They arrived at the house without him saying anything to Zhan, and Zhan didn't say anything either. A-Bo walked past him into the house and left Zhan with his things. Zhan took the things bit by bit and brought them into the house. A-Bo was still standing in the living room, waiting for him to finish.
Only after he finished bringing everything in did he say, expressionlessly, "Meet me in the kitchen." Then he headed to the kitchen, and Zhan followed behind him. He showed him the utensils that were set aside in the kitchen, briefly saying, "That is a no-go area. Touch anything in this kitchen except those." With that, he left the kitchen.
Zhan kept looking at the utensils-even without being told, he realized they were the ones A-Bo used. He clicked his tongue, turned, and left. After he took all his things to the room he had stayed in yesterday, he heard his phone vibrating in his bag.
He took the bag, opened it, and pulled out his phone. His heart sank deeply when he saw his housemate's number. Even though he had deleted the number, it was still on his mind because it was a special set of digits, not hard to memorize.
Zhan sat on the edge of the bed in the room, looking at his phone screen. He was about to answer the call when it stopped ringing. It took him almost two minutes before returning the call, but it rang out without being answered. He kept looking at the phone, waiting to see if I-Bo would call back, but even after ten minutes, he didn't call. That made him put the phone down quietly, stand up, and start cleaning the room.
He went downstairs, looking around for where to find the cleaning supplies. He was almost losing hope when he finally saw them in the under-stair storage. After finishing cleaning his room and the main upstairs corridor, he came back downstairs and started cleaning the main living room, including mopping. It took him almost two hours to finish all the housework.
He didn't see anything to clean in the kitchen because it was very neat and tidy, a sign that A-Bo cleaned it regularly. He returned the household cleaners he had used to the under-stair storage.
Just then, A-Bo came downstairs, having changed his clothes. He acted as if he didn't even know what Zhan had done to the house. He took his car keys from the center table, headed to the door, and left the living room. Zhan clicked his tongue and went upstairs, because he was very tired. Only after cleaning the house did he truly confirm how big it was.
✴✳✴
Some weeks later
Zhan was sitting in his room with his laptop in front of him, studying one of their courses for which they had a test on Monday. It was a Saturday afternoon. He turned and looked at his phone, which was vibrating. Bin had called him three times without him answering, because he knew what Bin would say. He finally picked up the phone, answered, and put it to his ear, staying silent.
On the other end, Bin said, "Oh, come on, Zhan, if you're going to teach me something, don't disrespect me like that. We have a test on Monday. Do you want me to fail?"
Zhan released a sigh and said, "Well, what do you want me to do, Bin? I told you to come, and you refused."
Angrily, Bin said, "No, I won't come to that house, I swear. I'll just come and have him chase me away. He's not someone who would feel ashamed of chasing me away. I won't come, because I can't avoid him if he chases me away."
Zhan laughed unintentionally and said, "I don't understand-he chased you away? Why would he do that, knowing that you come to see me?"
Bin said, "If you're not coming to school, then fine. I'll look for someone else to teach me. You know I don't understand lectures in class unless someone explains to me in detail."
Zhan fell silent, listening to him. Bin said, "Goodbye for now, please."
Zhan smiled slightly and said, "Well, let me see if I'll be able to come. It's already two-thirty. You should have told me yesterday. Are you at school?"
Bin said, "Yes, I've been at school since twelve."
Zhan said, "OK, I'll be coming now." He hung up, got down from the bed, and changed his clothes. He didn't even put on a cold-weather coat because the cold had reduced significantly. He took his backpack after putting his laptop inside, turned off the room light, and came out. He peeked downstairs from the passageway where he was standing and saw A-Bo sitting in the living room with two white men-friends of his....with wine in front of them.
He couldn't even remember the last time he and A-Bo had crossed paths in the house. It had been more than a month since he had been in the house, but he could count how many times they had crossed paths. Usually, A-Bo stayed in his own part.
Zhan left for school in the morning, and one of the house workers dropped him off. He would tell him what time to pick him up, as if instructions had been given, and when he was brought back home after lectures, he would see that A-Bo's car wasn't in the compound, meaning he had gone out. Since he stayed in his room, he didn't know when A-Bo returned home. The next day, the same process would repeat itself.
As for cooking, the three times he cooked, he saw that A-Bo didn't eat any of it-he didn't even come near what he had cooked. So he stopped and only cooked for himself. But he noticed that Chinese food items were being restocked in the kitchen, probably because of him, since he didn't enjoy Western food. Maybe A-Bo noticed that and bought the kind he liked.
As for cleaning the house, since the workers were around, he only cleaned the room he stayed in. He came downstairs, greeted A-Bo's friends, then greeted him. A-Bo didn't respond to his greeting. Without looking at him, he said, "Where are you going?"
Zhan lowered his eyes and said, "I'm going to school."
Still not looking at him, A-Bo said, "What will you do at school on a Saturday?"
Zhan glanced at him, then said, "I have a tutorial with Bin."
Only then did A-Bo turn and look at him, saying, "Are you his lecturer, you are both at John Hopkins, right? Then you're not going."
Zhan fell silent, looking at him.
A-Bo frowned and said, "Didn't you hear what I said?"
Zhan twisted his face, looking at him. A-Bo continued his conversation with his friends.
Zhan said, "Well, can he come here?"
Briefly, A-Bo said, "He won't come. Leave this living room, mister."
Zhan pouted, turned, and went back upstairs. Returning to his room, he called Bin. Quietly, he said, "Bin, the living door is locked, and no one is around..."
Bin cut him off and said, "Even the house workers?"
Zhan said, "Just find someone to give you the tutorial, Bin. Before the test on Monday, I'll go over it with you again."
Bin said, "Alright then. I never expected you to come anyway. I know A-Bo is the one who stopped you, because i felt it on my own body, honestly. From the first day we went to see your housemate and I saw A-Bo for the first time, he never settled in my heart-I felt fear of him. Please, when is your housemate coming back? It's been almost two months now. Did they award him his doctorate, or did he go to do other things in China? And as for that A-Bo, did they cancel his work, and he's starting over?"
Zhan remained silent and didn't say anything. Did talking about his housemate mean he knew when he would return? Every day, he went to bed and woke up with that worry in his heart. He didn't know why the lack of communication from I-Bo had stayed so heavily on his mind that it bothered him. Well... maybe he had his reasons. He wasn't even judging him. But deep down, he knew he missed him so much. He missed everything about him.
Sometimes, when he couldn't be patient, he would calm his heart and send him a message on We-Chat. I-Bo would reply, but casually. When he did that, Zhan couldn't hold back and would cry. The last time he spoke with him, almost a week ago, he asked him when he would return. He just said "soon," and that was how the conversation ended. After that, they hadn't spoken again until today.
Actually, it was always Zhan who initiated. Bin said, "I'll say goodbye for now. If I keep talking to you, you'll just stay silent, and I'll leave."
Then he hung up. Quietly, Zhan put his phone down on the side of the bed.
💚💙❤🖤