Synergism

Chapter 4

The soft scrape of Yibo's shoes on the cement were louder than the sobs he tried to choke back as he made his way home after watching his friends graduate. In the end he wasn't able to hang around to celebrate with them as he initially intended. He just wasn't strong enough to pretend he was okay and maintain a happy demeanour while Zhan treated him like he didn't exist.

He had bummed a ride off of Jason to go to the graduation ceremony since the asshole had taken his motorcycle keys away from him. Jason accused him of reckless behaviour and that he was in no condition to be riding a motorcycle around. Yibo wiped the tears off his face and let out an unsteady breath. Maybe Jason was right. Maybe he was behaving like he didn't give a fuck about anything anymore in retaliation to being treated like he was nothing by Zhan. He even knew he was being a tad bit immature, hoping if he acted out that Zhan would come running. Unfortunately, he learned the truth a couple of months ago, when he ended up having his head in a toilet after getting plastered on tequila shots at a party he hadn't even been invited to. It was Mel and Hiroko that had found him and then Jason that had taken him back to his place. In the morning, Jason told him how Mel and Hiroko called Zhan first, but he told them he was busy and to call Jason instead.

After that night, Yibo had basically locked himself in his room, barely leaving it for anything, including going to class. That lasted a week until his parents received a phone call from the school and confronted him about his behaviour.

"Yibo Wang!" his father yelled, storming into the kitchen. His mother was following close behind his father as they came to stand in front of him.

Yibo knew what was coming and hence decided to plant himself in the kitchen. He overheard his father on the phone with his teacher and then the worried whispers between his parents. He knew he deserved to be yelled at and he'd take whatever punishment they wanted to give him. Yibo looked up from his soggy bowl of cereal and whatever his parents saw made them pause.

"Sweetheart?" his mother whispered, and that was all it took for Yibo to break.  He dropped his spoon into his bowl with a clatter and tried to hide his tears with his hand.  His mother rushed over to him and quickly wrapped her arms around him as he cried into her stomach.

"Why..." he cried, "Why doesn't he... he want to be my friend anymore?" He knew his parents noticed how Zhan hadn't been over in a long while. His body shook as he sobbed, soaking his mother's silk shirt.

"Oh sweetie, I know it hurts," she said while holding back her own tears.

Yibo heard the scrape of a chair and knew his father had taken a seat across from him. Embarrassed with his outburst he shifted back from his mom and wiped at his tears. "Sorry, mom," he mumbled, looking sheepishly at the wet splotches he left on his mother's shirt.

She patted him on the shoulder and shook her head telling him not to worry about it. He almost missed the look his parents quickly exchanged as his mother picked up his bowl of cereal and took it to the sink.

"Did he give you a reason son?" his father's voice was calm when he spoke.

Yibo gave him a short nod, not trusting himself to open his mouth lest he started crying again.

"Then you need to respect his decision," his father said, gently. "You can't control someone else's actions."

His mother came back to take the seat beside him and he could see her eyes were red-rimmed. "Maybe what both of you need is some time and space to grow. I know you're heartbroken, sweetheart, but none of us have a crystal ball. All we can do is hope things get better in the future."

"But until then you need to ask yourself if falling apart is all you can do to obtain what you want in the future," his father added. A strained silence followed before he added, "We'll let you think about that and we will be here to listen if you need us."