Lonely; 19 Days Fanfiction [Jian Yi x Zhan Zhengxi]

Chapter 1

"Zhan XiXi!"

His familiar voice cut through the air and stopped right at Zhan Zhengxi's feet, the sound of rushed footsteps accompanying. He turned his head up from his phone and let his gaze land on the figure of Jian Yi, rapidly coming closer into view.

Jian Yi enthusiastically approached Zhan Zhengxi, a wide smile beaming on his face. Zhan Zhengxi brushed him off, slowly heading to their first class together.

"Where were you yesterday? You didn't show up without a word."

Jian Yi shrugged, a genuinely confused look plastered on his face. "What do you mean? I was at school yesterday. Are you tired Zhan Xixi? Want to give my hair a quick feel? I heard it helps."

Zhan Zhengxi scowled and pushed Jian Yi away with a palm on his forehead. He was certain that Jian Yi wasn't at school the other day.

"I don't remember you sexually assaulting me yesterday so you couldn't have been there."

Jian Yi let a burst of laughter escape from his lips, settling with another wide smile. "I don't sexually assault you. I was around He Tian a lot yesterday so we didn't see each other often. I was still in class though, remember?"

Zhan Zhengxi struggled to find his memories from yesterday, attempting to recall the events that had occurred. The fuzzy image of his classroom surfaced in his mind, an empty desk behind him where Jian Yi would usually sit. Then, it slowly focused to clear vision, the familiar and unmistakable figure of Jian Yi sitting at his desk and looking up at Zhan Zhengxi playfully.

"Ah, you're right, I remember now."

Jian Yi playfully slapped Zhan Zhengxi's back, jolting him out of his memories. "See? Man, were you up all night playing video games or something?"

Zhan Zhengxi's silence confirmed Jian Yi's question, resulting with him bursting out in laughter for the second time.

"You need to start getting your stuff together! It's just the third day of high school and you're already straying off path."

"I don't want to hear something like that from you."

"Huuh? What's that supposed to mean?"

With no answer, Zhan Zhengxi silently headed to class with Jian Yi besides him, their pace nonchalant and slow. It was loud in the halls, the sounds of students chattering filling the atmosphere.

They approached the classroom, more sounds of chatter emanating from there.

Jian Yi and Zhan Zhengxi entered the classroom, squeezing through groups of students to get to their desks. Suddenly the atmosphere in the classroom seemed to get darker, the chatters becoming a muted, hushed tone or just stopping all together. Zhan Zhengxi could feel eyes burrowing into him though Jian Yi didn't seem to mind at all.

"What's up with everyone today?"

Jian Yi shrugged, slumping down over his desk carelessly and pulling at his hair. "Maybe they're just in a bad mood?"

A few minutes later, the teacher entered the room, standing at her pedestal in the front. She proceeded to call attendance, skimming through the list of student names in her class.

"Zhan Zhengxi."

"Here."

The teacher lifted the attendance sheet, along with a few other documents underneath it, from the pedestal and tapped it against the top a few times to neatly stack them. "Alright, everyone's here today."

"Huh? She didn't call your name," Zhan Zhengxi whispered in a hushed manner. Jian Yi shrugged again, that habit becoming something Zhan Zhengxi was starting to hate. "Just leave it, she probably forgot."

"You'll be marked as absent."

"It's fine. Doesn't matter to me."

"What do you mean it doesn't matter? You've been acting different, what's up?"

The conversation inevitably became louder, the eyes of the teacher and students cutting into Zhan Zhengxi again.

Whispers murmured throughout the classroom, girls leaning into their friend's ears and guys softly talking to each other.

The teacher at the front hushed everyone and turned her head cautiously towards Zhan Zhengxi, acting as if one look would turn her to stone. "Is something wrong?"

"You just forgot to call Jian Yi's name for attendance."

This time there were no murmurs, just silence shrouded with a gloomy vibe. A strange expression surfaced on the teacher's face, one of mixed emotion.

"Oh, you're right. Jian Yi?"

Zhan Zhengxi turned around to face Jian Yi, taking a double take at the empty desk. A small post-it note was stuck on the surface. Went to the bathroom c: answer attendance for me, was scribbled onto it in messy handwriting. Zhan Zhengxi turned back to face the teacher.

"He's here."

The teacher's expression fluctuated again, a mask of, what was it, sadness? It seemed like more of a pitiful one if anything. "Okay. Everyone's here."

The rest of the class passed slowly. The whole time, Zhan Zhengxii was extremely aware of the stares from other students, slicing through the air and landing on him like a hot knife. He somehow felt scared to look behind him, at the desk that was usually warm with the presence of his best friend. He felt scared because suddenly, that warmth was gone despite the certainty of Jian Yi sitting behind him.

The whole day seemed sluggish, feeling as though the classroom was full of quicksand and it was slowly enveloping over Zhan Zhengxi's head, smothering him of his breath. The second lunch time came, he couldn't have been happier. He finally brought himself to turn around, rearranging himself in the chair so that he could face Jian Yi comfortably.

Zhan Zhengxi felt another pang of panic as he stared at the empty desk in front of him, another post-it pasted on. This time it was a bright green one with more words scribbled down. Felt constipated >:[[

Zhan Zhengxi ripped off the post-it with unexpected frustration, crumpling it in his hands before shoving the lime green note into the pocket of his school uniform. He laid his head down on Jian Yi's desk and sighed a bit too loudly before noticing the growing presence by the desk.

He jerked his head up in a fleeting hope that Jian Yi's bowel movements had cleared up. The disappointment on his face must've been clear because He Tian snorted before settling down in Jian Yi's seat.

"Don't look so down."

Zhan Zhengxi wordlessly lowered his head on the desk, his eyes looking up at He Tian. It was strange, his expression wasn't the usual smug look accompanied with a smirk. Like everyone else in the classroom, it seemed dulled down with a shroud of sympathy. It made Zhan Zhengxi feel sick to the stomach. He Tian nonchalantly looked down at the desk, drumming his fingers once against the worn down wood.

"He's really gone, huh? Didn't think that pretty boy would just blink out of existence so soon."

Zhan Zhengxi jerked his head up, his glare cold yet burning with a painful anger. "What kind of shit are you spouting?"

He Tian raised a single eyebrow, scanning the facial expression of the clearly agitated student in front of him. "Don't tell me you're in denial."

"Didn't you hear me? Stop spouting nonsense, I've had a bothersome day."

With a deep sigh, He Tian stood from the desk, letting his long fingers brush across the top as he got up. "Alright. I've gotta go, I promised Mo Guan Shan I'd meet him for lunch today. Don't want to keep the princess waiting."

With that, He Tian turned and walked out of the classroom without a single glance back at Zhan Zhengxi. He looked up and watched him go silently before dropping his head back onto Jian Yi's desk. It was cold against his forehead.

Zhan Zhengxi felt his head throb, too much was happening in one day. He had just seen Jian Yi before class and suddenly, everyone was acting like he had stopped existing. He deeply sighed, mostly from exhaustion, before turning back around to sit in his desk properly, putting his cold hands in the pockets of his jacket.

With a terrifying and dreadful pang, Zhang Zhengxi realized that his pockets were empty.