Begin Again

Chapter 15

With nowhere else to go Zhan went to Ziyi's apartment. As soon as she saw him, she embraced him and he began to cry. He sobbed as Ziyi consoled him, while he held the only thing he had left in his arms.

"Zhan..," Ziyi saying putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You need to stay strong for her."

"I know.. I know...," he said wiping his tears.

"What do you plan to do? You know my offer still stands. You can stay here until you settle into a new place."

"I'm not sure. I still need to get the divorce papers in order. I went to the apartment and got all my important documents. I left everything else behind except my backpack with some clothes and some things Yanli might need. I could go back to my parents' home, but they're older already and retired. I don't want Yanli to disturb them."

"Stay for as long as you need. It gives me an opportunity to see this little angel," she said as she caressed Yanli's face. " I have to head to class. Help yourself to whatever you need."

"Thank you Ziyi."

-

Over the next few days Zhan talked to a lawyer to work on the divorce papers. Zhan kept getting calls from the hospital, but he ignored them. He wanted nothing else to do with Xuan or his treatment.

He was staying in Ziyi's small apartment. She had a small 1-bedroom apartment, but luckily it had a small office. That was where Zhan and Yanli were staying. Zhan also barely had any money. All the cards he shared with Xuan, he left them in the apartment. He had a few hundred dollars he took that were inside a drawer for emergencies to help him get by until he could find a job and settle into a new place.

One morning, after Ziyi went to class, Yanli began to cry for her bottle. Zhan quickly prepared it for her and began to feed her when the doorbell rang. With Yanli still in his arms he went to the door and opened it, and to his surprise it was none other than Wang Yibo. It had been months since their night together.

"Zhan-ge."

"Yibo," Zhan said unable to believe that Yibo was standing right before him.

Zhan was feeling so many emotions as he stood in the doorway. Yibo was standing before him. They stood staring at each other for a long time until Yanli began to cry. Zhan had somehow shifted the bottle and Yanli wasn't able to suck the milk out anymore.

Zhan broke eye contact first as he looked down at Yanli and fixed the bottle," I'm so sorry baby. Shh.. shhh... shh."

Unable to contain his emotions any longer, Yibo wrapped his arms tightly around Zhan, releasing all the pent-up feelings he had been holding back for months. The embrace was everything Zhan needed in that moment. It provided a sense of safety, security, and the feeling of being cared for. Zhan no longer felt alone. In Yibo's arms, he let go of everything he had been holding onto and began to sob quietly, finally allowing himself to release the pain and sorrow he had been carrying.

After a long moment in the embrace Yibo finally spoke up, "How are you holding up?"

"I'm okay," he said looking up at Yibo with his tear-stained face. Yibo smiled and wiped the tears off Zhan's face gently. He then looked down at Yanli and smiled even bigger.

Zhan motioned for Yibo to come into the apartment and sit on the couch, "Come in." After Yibo sat down, Zhan sat right beside him still feeding Yanli. "How did you know I was here? Or wait... did you come looking for Ziyi?" Zhan said realizing that maybe Yibo wasn't even there for him at all.

Yibo chuckled. "Did I not make my preferences clear that night? Have you forgotten?" Zhan turned bright red. "I bumped into Ziyi not long after you went back to him. We got talking and we exchanged numbers. I asked her to please update me on how you were. That's the only thing we talked about. She let me know you're staying here so I drove up from Jiuxian to come see you."