1975 ➥ yizhan | bjyx

🖇️ | chapter two

"Hey Yibo, want one?" asked one of the biker's friends, handing him a cigarette.

Yibo shook his head quickly, leaning against his motorcycle.

"No, I'm fine. I don't smoke anymore and you know it."

"Well I just wanted to offer," Wubi replied, chuckling.

Ignoring him, Yibo ran a hand through his hair and his hands dug into his trouser pockets as he looked around. He was currently out with his friends and had decided to settle down somewhere where lots of people were passing by. Especially someone Yibo was very interested in... But unlike other days where he saw his boyfriend shopping at the small market, today he wasn't there.

He asked himself no further questions; it wasn't every day Xiao Zhan came to the market. So he wasn't really worried.

"Are you looking for someone?" Ruan, one of his other friends, asked.

Yibo snapped out of his thoughts and turned to his group of friends who were all looking at him curiously. Some had cigarettes in their mouths and others were talking to each other.

Yibo shook his head, "No, not really... I was just looking."

"Are you sure? I was almost sure that you were looking for someone... Did you find a wife, Yibo?" Another one said, a teasing smile on his lips.

"Oh... It's true that, come to think of it, you haven't been with us much lately... Do you have someone?" Sunho asked, his eyebrows twitching up and down in a playful way.

Yibo simply sighed.

To tell the truth, he hadn't told his friends about Xiao Zhan. And he had good reason. His friends were always making homophobic jokes and often mocking other young homosexuals as they passed by. Yibo had never said anything, of course, but he was always on the verge of exploding. He hung out with them, yes, but that was all. These were not people Yibo could trust with his secret.

Above all, he wanted Xiao Zhan to be safe. He didn't want to confess to people that they were together because he knew what would happen to them if they ever did. After all, several homosexuals in their village had been mistreated and almost executed...

"A wife? What's next? Of course not." Replied Yibo, frowning.

"Come onnn, no need to hide i–"

Yibo sighed quietly and cut off his friend by grabbing his helmet.

"Hey! Are you already leaving?"

"Yeah, I'll be off. I've got stuff to do." He said finally, frustrating his friends who had been waiting impatiently for his answer.

Yibo put his helmet on his head and, after arranging his leather jacket, got on his motorcycle and left.

He didn't know why, but he felt his heart clench uncomfortably in his chest when he thought of his boyfriend...

Yibo could feel the wind whipping his face as he drove down the road at full speed, but it couldn't chase away the thoughts looping in his head. He tried to convince himself that everything was fine with Xiao Zhan, but deep down, he sensed that something was wrong. And surprisingly, this feeling wouldn't leave him... Rather than returning home as he'd planned, Yibo turned at the last second, taking the road that led directly to Xiao Zhan's house. He told himself he might be exaggerating, that everything was fine, but he couldn't help checking. He had to see him, make sure nothing was wrong.

When he finally arrived in front of the small wooden house where Xiao Zhan lived with his family, Yibo cut the engine of his motorcycle and got off. He stood there for a moment, just staring at the house, as if wondering if it was a good idea to do this. He knew it wasn't, he knew he might run into one of Xiao Zhan's family members, but he had this need to make sure Xiao Zhan was alright.