Loveless 'solitaire' {YiZhan FF}

.11.

Xiao Zhan POV

I'm Sean Xiao Zhan, 27 years old, and currently unemployed(NEET).

Yeah, some might think "What a loser!". Splurging on parents' money and wasting away every day. To some extent, you could say that was true, till a couple of months ago. 

Everything changed with that envelope from a mystery man "Mr. Lion".

I'm still trying to find clues about that man. 

Past few days I've been cooped up in my 'locker' trying to connect the dots, basically rummaging through my past, alas! still have no clue.

I not planning to leave any stones unturned till find him.

Well, let me tell you a bit about my 'glory to ugly' past... yes... my trauma.

I had everything that most people could only dream about. Born in a rich and influential family. Loving and caring, sometimes overprotective, parents and older siblings.

Being the youngest, I was their cute little bunny.

Living a life surrounded by beautiful people and beautiful things, enjoying all the 'cream of the crop' privileges, hardly knowing the hardships of life.

My paternal grandpa used to call me 'golden flower', he said I was a luminous one, as my grandma explained, very intelligent and beautiful.

Having an IQ quite above the average people, gave me the leverage to skip grades at school. I got my doctoral degree at the age of sixteen, the youngest ever to attain such an honor at that time.

Genomics was my favorite area of study, somehow I was quite fascinated by the DNA structures. I had spent most of my younger years with books than friends.

Juan is a constant presence in my life since my preschool years. He is from a family with a long-standing history of military excellence and they own JNL Corporation, the media giant. He may look playful but believe me, that guy really knows how to get things done. To me, he is my bosom friend. 

I wanted to pursue my career in research, and Lanling biological research center offered me the perfect opportunity. I was over the moon.

This facility belonged to the Lu Group. They are the top in Healthcare and bio-research fields.

My family was quite skeptical at that time, letting a sixteen-year-old, join the research facility. But much to my pleading they half-heartedly agreed to my wishes.

 Initially was placed in the data collection and record-keeping division. Our team worked hand-in-hand with the analysis team, and that's where I met Meng Yao.

He was three years older than me, a prodigy. His calm personality and warm smile were very comforting. We hit it off fast. 

Later I came to know that he is the illegitimate child of Mr. Lu. That did not change anything between us.

I was kind of missing my family and Juan as well. Long working hours hardly gave me any time to often catch up with my family. But I was just happy to pursue my dream.

A year later, I was sent to a local facility in a suburban village to assist my seniors. The place had patients from various age groups.  Most of them were undergoing long-term treatments.

My job was to jot down my senior's input and update it to the main system. The juniors were not allowed to interact with the patients directly.

I was one of those visits a couple of months later, I met five children, their age group between 11 to 13 years. They were new here, said to be moved to this facility from other facilities for better treatment.

They were put in a different villa within the facility. The children didn't seem to be cooperating well with the staff. My senior asked me to collect some samples from the children, as I was only a few years older than them. 

The first few days were a complete failure. I was not going to give up. That's when I thought of puppets. My nanny used various funny puppets to coax me to take my meds.

 I made some puppets, even though they were a bit older to play with the puppets. At first, they teased me, I used to make all sorts of funny faces in response. Finally, after a couple of attempts, they fell for my trick.

It took me a week to collect various records on these kids. One girl and four boys. They were beautiful. During the week I learned from them that all of them were orphans, and from different children's homes. 

Lina and Lian were siblings, 13 and 11 years, they said their parents killed themselves after bankrupt when Lina was five and her brother was three.

Song and Wen were cousins, 12 years and became orphans after a fire outbreak in their village.

Yang was 13 years, he had no memory of his parents.

 I found it strange, why these kids were brought to this facility. A few weeks later I visited the main facility and sneaked into the children's villa. They were literally happy to see me. We grew closer with each meeting. These started to address me as 'bunny ge'.

When I met them, they said that lots of tests have been conducted on them, and they seemed to be scared. I consoled them, but an uneasy feeling rose in my heart.

I enquired with my senior about the children. I got the reply that they are under the surveillance of the doctors from the main lab. He also warned me not to meddle in the matter.

Meng Yao was sent to Ivanov Bio Laboratoire, in Switzerland, the lab had collaborated with ours occasionally. 

Whenever I went to the village facility, I used to sneak at the children, at times they seemed very pale and sometimes they had patched-up marks on them. I couldn't help myself feeling anxious.

A month or two later I met the children it was around New Year. I gifted them small bunny puppets and a few polaroids of our happy and fun moments. The 'quints' seemed healthy, no new patches were present, and I felt a bit relieved.

I had to be with my family for the new year celebration, and a preplanned family vacation. So I bid my byes to them and gave me a group hug, saying "we love you bunny ge, we will treasure these". I was overwhelmed by their gesture, tears filled my eyes.

After a two-week-long holiday, I was back in my facility. My mentor informed me that I would be moved to another team, which is aiding the core research and also would help me advance in the field. 

I was down, even though the opportunity was good for my career, I could no longer visit the 'quints'. I moved to the new team, in another building within the campus. Much to my surprise, I saw Meng Yao, my spirits got high. 

Meng Yao was happy to meet me too. We chatted during the break times, and he seemed distracted at times. I spoke to them about the 'quints', his eyes grew wide and turned to normal immediately. He suggested visiting the facility the next weekend as he also wanted to meet them. He also made the arrangement.

As planned we reached the place. What welcomed us was an air ambulance ready to carry five cold bodies out of the facility. My breath choked my body went limp and Meng Yao supported my weight not letting me fall to the ground.

I clearly saw their lifeless faces, looked as if they are just asleep. I couldn't believe my eyes. Mng Yao prevented me from creating a scene there. We went back, without anybody noticing us.

That was the beginning of my nightmares, their pleading for help began to haunt my sleep.