innocent lotus flower

DATE? MAYBE NEXT TIME

The sunlight shone through the room, illuminating the handsome man on the bed. He looked peaceful, with his face not carrying any stern expression it was known for, his lips slightly pouted. The peaceful scenery was disrupted by the loud sound of a phone ringing. The man groggily looked for his phone with his hands, not opening his eyes.

"Hello, Wang Yibo speaking." The response the handsome man received wiped all traces of sleep from his eyes. He quickly washed up and ran out the door. When he got to Sunshine's Cafe, owned by Xiao Zhan, he was slightly out of breath, having run there as the hotel he was staying at was just a few minutes away, and he did not want to deal with the hassle of parking. Even though it was morning, the city was very busy. He saw Wen Qing waiting for him at the entrance. The cafe door sign was still flipped to "closed," and Wen Qing's expression did not seem to bode well.

"Why did you tell me to come urgently?" Wang Yibo asked, trailing closely behind Wen Qing as they made their way to the living apartment above the

"I was actually told to tell you the date you guys had planned was canceled, but I believed you needed to see this," Wen Qing said somberly as they entered the living apartment above the cafe.

Wang Yibo tries to keep a straight face, but his thoughts keep running a mile a minute. Why did Xiao Zhan want to cancel the date? Why didn't he call himself? Did Wang Yibo do something wrong? And why is the cafe not open yet? It doesn't seem like any preparations are being made to open it today. He can't help but let his thoughts run wild.

"Is everything alright?" he asks trying to not let the anxiety show in his voice

"No, and that's why I brought you here. You need to see it for yourself," Wen Qing says, opening Xiao Zhan's bedroom door.

What he sees will forever scar him.

The room was dark, the curtains closed, but a faint outline of a person could be seen in the dim light. The person on the bed could be mistaken for a corpse with how still they were, if not for the faint rise and fall of their chest with each breath. His face was pale, and he looked listless. Slowly, Wang Yibo walked into the room, his hands trembling as he reached out to touch the other man, but there was no reaction. Xiao Zhan kept staring right through him.

"Xiao Zhan," he called almost silently.

Wang Yibo stood still, looking to Wen Qing for help. She sighed sadly, shaking her head before gently dragging Wang Yibo out of the room. Surprisingly, he went with her without any resistance, looking back at Xiao Zhan as he was led away.

"Okay, look, I was hoping your presence would snap him out of it, but I guess not," Wen Qing said somberly.

"What is happening? Why is he like that?" Wang Yibo asked, unable to hide the tremor in his voice.

"Right now, according to his therapist, he is dissociating. I didn't think it would happen it had happened before but with therapy the amount of time it occurred decreased; he was fine last night before he slept," she explained. Seeing the confused look on Wang Yibo's face, she cleared her throat. Normally, it would have been a boost to her ego to see Wang Yibo look at her with such confusion, but she couldn't find it amusing now.

Last night, on my way back from my shift at the hospital, I decided to visit him. But when I arrived, he was on the phone and the phone was on speaker, looking worried and agitated. At first, I thought it was you since you were the only jerk from his past that knew his number and could make him that agitated,at this he gave her a look but she ignored him and continued but as I got closer, the person's voice became clearer, and it was not different from your voice. The person on the phone was obviously aggressive and cursing Xiao Zhan. I couldn't listen anymore and cut off the call. By then, Xiao Zhan had gone pale, his hands shaking. I took him upstairs and managed to get the details from him. Apparently, somehow Jiang Cheng had gotten his number and was threatening Xiao Han, blaming him for the fact that his family had been driven to bankruptcy by Wang Yibo. They had nothing to their name. Here, she paused, gauging Wang Yibo's expression. No one else had the power to take down the Jiang family in one fell swoop except Wang Yibo. In just a day, all the investors in the Jiang Group companies pulled their investment, banks demanded immediate payment of loans, and everything that could make any company fall happened to them in just three days, leading them to sell their assets abroad and local, but somehow still leaving them in debt. Now, the Jiang Group is just a shell, and the name holds no power, at least according to her research. Seeing the slightly, almost proud expression on Wang Yibo's face, it was obvious who made it happen.

Wen Qing interrupts her thoughts as she realized she had derailed from her explanation and continues with her explanation. Jiang Cheng had called to extort money from Xiao Han, but shockingly, this wasn't the reason for Xiao Han's distress. He was rather scared of the Jiang family itself. Even though they were not the same as before, the amount of control they wielded over him was still there, like a ghost haunting him. He couldn't ignore it. Despite almost two years of therapy, their derogatory words and forms of abuse, both physical and mental, still lingered. Xiao Zhan was scared of what could happen to his son or the Wens, buteven then  he had not dissociated. After Wen Qing calmed him down, he called Wen Ning to pick up Yuan, as his mental health was not stable , it was then he saw wang yibo good night message and decided to make wen qing tell him the date was cancelled as xiao han was too drained to do anything. They went to bed after Wen Ning picked up Yuan, with Wen Qing deciding to stay the night. However, the next day, Xiao Zhan didn't appear. When he didn't come out by 5 am to prepare for the shop opening or at least send a text to inform everyone about his state of mind and his need to be left alone by 6:30, Wen Qing decided to check on him. This led her to finding him in his distressed state, with the sound of a voice note playing over and over again it was obvious it was placed on repeat, with Jiang Cheng's voice telling Xiao Zhan he knew where he was and reading out his address the stress must have gotten to him and he had dissociated . She had called his therapist, who had come to see him before confirming that he was dissociating which she already deduced but wanted to be proven wrong as this was not only dangerous but it was unknown when the person would snap out of it  and that they had to wait for him to come back when he was ready.

Hi everyone,

How have you been? I'm sorry for the delay in updates. I knew I said I would update last month, but my exams got delayed until this month, and real life has been exhausting. I haven't had a chance to write anything. I'm so sorry again. Please enjoy this chapter, and I will try my best to update the next one tomorrow. I have a job now, so I just hope I'm not too tired to update.

The truth is, I have no written draft for this fic, and I just make it up on the fly. That's why you might spot some inconsistencies. Writing and then posting is exhausting, but I'm doing my best. I hope you understand. I never thought anyone would be interested, but I'm overwhelmed by your response. Also, my Z keypad is not working, so if there's anywhere that the Z is missing from Xiao Zhan's name, just call my attention to it.

Love you all, and thanks for the support, the votes, and the comments too. I can't believe I got more than a thousand likes—I'm screaming! I really appreciate you all. Thanks once again, and I'm sorry. Hope you have a wonderful week.

Also please do not take the way I portray mental health seriously,as I have no true idea of how it is treated.