It was weird being back in China, in particular, back at the place where it had all started.
She still felt slightly out of place. Although she had changed since she was on the show, being back brought back all the memories from that time. Standing on the stage in front of the contestants' seats she remembered her audition and wrapped her arms around herself.
She was so lost in thought that she jumped slightly when an arm wrapped around her shoulders.
"What do you think?"
She glanced up at Zitao and smiled. Her friendship with him had picked up where it left off even though they had barely seen each other the past year. She had worried that living with him would be awkward, but it had been the opposite and she was so grateful that he had offered her a place to stay.
"I think I'm glad I'm not a contestant this time."
"Ha! Are you ready to rehearse?"
"Sure."
They went to one of the practice rooms and started to rehearse for the mentor introduction performance. Since she didn't have any solo songs, Zitao had suggested that she perform with him. Her Mandarin was a little out of practice, but he helped her with the pronunciation, and she quickly had the vocals memorised. Now they just had to work on performing it together.
After practising for a while, they took a break. Zitao passed her a bottle of water.
"I forgot to ask. How was the meeting with the producers?"
She shrugged.
"The paperwork was a little complicated, but we worked it all out in the end. Thanks for suggesting me by the way."
"When you told me your contract with BTS was ending and you were thinking about coming to China, well the opportunity appeared, and it seemed like fate."
"Fate."
"What? You don't believe in fate."
"Perhaps I did once, but I'm not so sure now."
Zitao watched as she stared off into the distance and he had a feeling that he knew who she was thinking about. He pondered over whether to tell her about the phone call he had received and, in the end, decided that honesty was always best even if it didn't benefit him.
"Yibo called me earlier."
If he wasn't watching for her reaction, he wouldn't have noticed the way she tensed up for a moment.
"Why are you telling me?"
"He wants to talk to you."
"I think he said enough."
"He's in Korea. He went there to talk to you."
Her head whipped around to look at him.
"He did? So, what does it matter."
She tried to cover up her reaction, but there was no hiding that she wasn't as indifferent as she was trying to appear.
"I know you still love him."
"What? Are you suggesting I forgive him? Take him back?"
"No. I want you to stop hurting. Whether that's with or without him."
"Really?"
"Your happiness is important to me."
She looked into his eyes and saw the sincerity behind his words. Zitao had always been blunt about the fact that he wanted to be more than just her friend, but he never did so in a way that made her uncomfortable. She felt a strange flutter in her chest and had to look away.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For being you."
She glanced back at him to see him smiling warmly at her.
"You're welcome."
