From Bitter to Blissful: An Arranged Tale of Love

Chapter 16

Why is everything leading me towards the way I don't want to go? Why do I have to walk on the path that hurts my soles? Yibo was lying on the bed continuously staring at the ceiling, lost in memories. It was almost midnight, but sleep was so far away from him. He stood up and went to the roof for fresh air to soothe his thoughts. He laid on the cold floor and looked at the beautiful starry sky.

"It's beautiful. It reminds me of childhood when we looked at the sky for hours to talk to the stars. Your eyes twinkled with them, and your smile showered my heart with peace. But I lost it all," he sighed.

"Gege, I know you are not well at this moment, but please take care of yourself. I want to come to see you, but I am not brave enough to come back."

"I miss you, ge," he confessed softly, as if speaking to the stars above. "I miss us."

Hours passed unnoticed. The sky began to lighten with the approaching dawn, painting streaks of orange and pink across the horizon. Yibo remained lost in his thoughts, his heart heavy with uncertainty.

"I have to do something to solve this difficulty."

With a final glance at the sky, Yibo turned away from the rooftop. The first rays of morning greeted him as he came back to his room. He went and got some sleep for a while. When he woke up, it was almost 2 o'clock. He went out and saw that Haoxuan and Jiyang were ready to leave.

"What happened? Why are you leaving so soon?" Yibo asked.

"Oh, you woke up. Actually, we had a plan for the whole week, but now something urgent came up," Haoxuan told him with a bored tone.

"You know, duty calls," he shrugged his shoulder.

"Yibo, you take care of yourself and carefully make a decision for your life," Jiyang came forward and hugged him. It was the first time when Jiyang did something like that.

"I know I'm not so close to you, but I can understand how you feel right now," Yibo hugged back.

"I'll, don't worry. Please take care of gege for me and don't leave him alone at this time," Yibo said, as he was requesting for his love.

"Sure."

"Let's go, babe, we have to go now," Haoxuan said, and he hugged Yibo.

"We'll take our leave now. Goodbye." He held Jiyang's hand, and both left for their journey home.

Yibo was left alone again with his bitter memories and a new maze to solve. He went to the kitchen to get something to eat because his stomach was growling with hunger.

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A week had passed after Haoxuan and Jiyang went back. Yibo's life was still going on the same track. He still hadn't made his decision; he was confused between the fight of mind and heart. He was lost in the files; it was an important project for his company, and he had to present it perfectly. He was personally working on this project. He was feeling tired and sleepy. He left everything there on the table and went to bed for some sleep and didn't know that he slept for almost a day. He woke up and stretched and felt relaxed after a long sleep. His phone beeped. He looked at the screen and was shocked; there were 20 missed calls from Mom, Dad, and Haoxuan. His heart skipped a beat due to fear; he had a feeling that something bad had happened.

He opened the inbox and read Haoxuan's message, "Where are you, Yibo? Why are you not picking calls? Uncle is in ICU; come back quickly before it's too late."

After reading the text, he called Haoxuan.

"Hey Haoxuan, what happened? Is uncle alright now? When did this happen? What about Zhan, is he doing well?" he was asking questions continuously.

"Stop it, Yibo. Calm down and listen. Come back home soon. Zhan needs your support at this time," Haoxuan told him.

"Hurry up, now I have to talk to the doctor about something."

Yibo looked at the phone and wanted to call Zhan, but he dropped that idea and left to meet his gege, his love, who needed him now.

"I'll be there soon, ge. Wait a little longer," he was driving fast as he wanted to fly to Zhan in a snap to hold Zhan in his arms to show him that he is not alone , he'll be there for him always when he need.