What if - MATURE rating

Moonlight Chicken - Li Ming and Heart Part 2

Li Ming POV

The banging continued. I hadn't expected him to follow me so soon. I thought, maybe, I would get a text message later on. That guy he was with was most likely laughing with Heart about how pathetic I looked compared to him.

The car that he was leaning against, reeked of money, so did his clothes and you could tell he spent hours in the gym. Why wouldn't Heart want a boyfriend like him? Instead of some scrawny trainee bartender who didn't want to go to college.

Eventually, I went to the door. I was worried he would knock it down if he kept banging or my neighbours could complain about the racket. As soon as I opened the door he pushed his way in. I sighed as I shut the door after him.

'I'm sorry,' he said instantly.

'What are you sorry for?' I asked.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the small sofa in my shoebox apartment. I had no choice but to sit down and look at him.

'I'm sorry,' he repeated.

'You keep saying that, do you even know why I'm upset?'

'I've neglected you, abandoned you. I didn't mean to, school was just hectic and I really did have to study. I didn't even know you hated your job before and had gotten that one.'

I shook my head. Tears started to form in the corner of my eyes but I pushed them back.

'No Heart! Yes, that was shitty of you but I understood you had to study. I'm upset because you've lied to me. You didn't even stand up for me around your friends and I feel like you've gotten a new life and have made no attempt to add me to it!'

Heart looked heartbroken but I was on a roll.

'I'm also upset that you've been hanging around with that guy more than you hang out with me. Going to lunch with him, letting him touch you and not pulling away! Does he know you have a boyfriend? Have you even bothered to tell him? Did you enjoy his attention that much to care about me?'

'No!' he insisted. 'I told him repeatedly, he just wouldn't listen. The teachers told me to catch him up when he transferred halfway through the year. Once he was caught up he would show up wherever I was, and wouldn't leave me alone!'

My anger deflated but only a little. Heart moved up to me and had a serious look on his face.

'What about with your friends? I know they didn't like having me around, you started telling me you were studying during lunch. Then Bryan tells me you've been into the bar for lunch with your friends almost every day. Are you embarrassed by me?

My heart thudded as I waited for the answer. It has been playing on my mind and growing stronger ever since.

'No Ming! I've never been embarrassed by you. Not ever!'

'Then why? Why push me away?'

Heart sighed.

'I was studying at first, but ....'

'but your friends didn't like me,' I finished for him.

'It's not that they didn't. They couldn't understand why I was with you. Hearie, they called you. I tried to explain but they wouldn't listen. I became angry when they made comments about you. So they said if you stopped coming around they would stop saying anything.'

'So you lied to me?'

'I thought I was protecting you, like you did with me with my mum! You stood up to her and made her see what she'd been doing was wrong. I didn't want you to feel bad or know what they were saying.'