Wizard of Oz || Zuo Hang✓

Twenty-One

Yanni: hey Prince Charming!

Prince Charming: hey, how are you doing?

Yanni: better than last time to be honest.

Prince Charming: is your issue solved?

Yanni: not exactly, but after some time you start to forget right?

Prince Charming: I guess so, I just hope you feel better much sooner though...both mentally and physically.

Yanni: thanks for the care, I'll be fine : ) actually everything's fine except my boyfriend (or whatever he is now) is blaming Zuo for something he caused.

Prince Charming: ever since I started hearing about your boyfriend, he sounds like a real pain.

Yanni: uh well...he is sometimes, if not most times. Zuo is a really great person and I honestly think he's cute but we're s different.

Zuo felt very shy at the statement, and the fact that this time it was a compliment directed to him as himself. He never in a million years thought Yanni would find him good-looking, but apparently she did. He didn't think he was even good enough to be compared to people like Zhixin and Xinhao.

Prince Charming: really? He's cute?

Yanni: yeah definitely! I even had a little crush on him when we were kids, but I don't have it anymore for obvious reasons.

Prince Charming: no they're not obvious reasons.

Yanni: because we're different now, he wouldn't like me. He probably likes his best friend Vicky.

Prince Charming: no he doesn't.

Zuo facepalmed at his answer, it was written in such a rush that he forgot that he's talking as a chatbot and not himself. The thing was, he didn't want her to assume that he liked Vicky...when in real sense, he was now very sure that he liked her.

Yanni: Lol how do you know he doesn't? I'm sure he does.

Prince Charming: well with the way you make him sound, he doesn't seem like the type to fall in love with his best friend.

Yanni: lol maybe, anyway it doesn't matter. I shouldn't be getting any wishful thoughts. 😊

Sometimes I imagine, if there was a guy with your personality and Zuo's looks, he'd be the most perfect guy ever.

Zuo felt complimented again, well that was him. He was the one who was a combination of his chatbot personality and his appearance. If only he had the courage to approach Yanni in real life, then probably him and Yanni could have been good friends, or perhaps more.

Prince Charming: maybe Zuo has my personality.

Yanni: No that's a far stretch, no human boy can have your personality.

Oh, there's an option to send photos here?

Zuo observed the option which he didn't quite recall putting. That was probably because he based the entire interface on normal social media sites. It would be weird to be able to send a chatbot photos and have them analyse it, it was a bit too advanced, but probably only geeks like him knew that. Or at least he hoped so.

Prince Charming: yeah I guess.

Before Zuo could think of what to write next, he was surprised by a photo he received. It was a selfie of Yanni sitting on her bed, but her face was completely stripped of makeup. She looked quite different, she looked more innocent and younger, and more especially, she looked much more like his former friend in elementary.

A smile appeared on his face as he looked at the photo, completely enthralled by her appearance.

Yanni: do you think it would be a problem if I showed up like that at school? My mom thinks it is.

Prince Charming: no, it's definitely not a problem. You look really pretty.

He didn't know if the last part was appropriate or not, but he was too captivated to care.

Yanni: aww thank you Prince Charming! I'll try to convince my mom that my chatbot thinks I look cute.

Prince Charming: you're welcome.

When Yanni left to have her supper, Zuo couldn't help but continue staring at her photo. She was so beautiful, more than he had remembered. He could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks but thankfully he was alone, at least for that moment.

When his mother walked in, he quickly closed his laptop.

'Zuo, I think you're spending too much time alone.' She put her hands on her waist. 'What do you do in here all day? You're always on your computer.'

'Well it's what dad requires of me isn't it?' he answered quickly.

'No it's not, and he wants you to have supper with us tonight, not in your room.' She finally noticed his blush, and she raised an eyebrow. 'Oh, you have a girlfriend don't you?' she smirked.

'No...' he quickly shook his head.

'It's okay, I never thought this would happen,' then her face suddenly got serious. 'But you don't have to neglect your family because you have a girlfriend now okay?'

Zuo forced a smile, not having the strength to convince his mom otherwise. He knew she couldn't believe him when she already made a firm conclusion of what was going on.

'Now, let's go have supper.' She told him.

'Yes mom,' he agreed, too happy to even care about the fact that he was being pushed out of his room.