Black Soda Drink [exo]

XVII

I had my phone with me in case I got lost, but the trail wasn’t hard to follow. In the dark, it was a bit scarier to walk through the trees, but it wasn’t long before the branches and leaves cleared.

I had heard the rushing of the water five minutes ago and it only got louder as I got closer. It was soothing, just like Gura said, because it blocked out all the thoughts in my head. I just kept walking until the moon could break through the canopy of trees.

In no time at all, the bridge stood in front of me.

Without Kris here, I could take in a lot more information. The bridge was all steel and the paint job was old and peeling. It was wide enough for a single car to pass through but it was only me here tonight.

Me and a small army of flies.

I hugged my arms as I stepped on the bridge. My footsteps barely made a sound as I walked to the middle, but maybe they were muffled by the water. I peered down at the waves hitting the rocks on either side, keen on finding out something, anything.

Where did this thing start and where did it end? I wondered as I crouched and held onto the railing. Where did my brother end up after falling down?

Did he die the moment he hit the water or did he drown a bit later? How deep was this river anyway?

I bit my lip and kicked a stray piece of gravel, pushing it over the edge. It disappeared into the darkness.

Was Yixing’s body as lifeless as that? Did he fight even a little? What was it that pushed him over the edge?

There were no answers to my questions, even though the water was loud and clear in my ears. It seemed like the trees were talking to me, too, as a gust of wind blew past my hair.

I was sad, I realized.

But I knew it wasn’t the same sadness that Yixing felt. It was different.

I couldn’t come back here anymore. I didn’t want to feel the same sadness that Yixing felt. It would be too much for me. If my older brother wasn't strong enough to overcome the sadness, how could I? He was the strongest person I knew, and while I wanted to tell myself that I was strong to leave Kris for his benefit, it felt more like I was a coward and running away.

I stood up and pulled out my phone, wanting to take a picture of this fatally beautiful scene, the last thing that Yixing saw before he left.

But then I found that I had about ten missed calls.

Most of them were from Kris. The most recent one was from Gura. She also sent a text message.

WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME HE WAS IN LOVE WITH YOU?

“Huh?” I creased my brows at the message but I didn’t have enough time to think about it. I heard my name being called.

“Yuan!” Only two people called me by this name and one of them was dead. This voice sounded unfamiliar but it comforted my heart. “Yuan!” My lower lip trembled as the voice came again.

I turned around and cocked my head to the side. Why was Kris here? And why was he screaming my name? He sounded weird when he screamed.

He stopped at the gravel, panting. I remembered when we first came here and he refused to get any closer to the bridge. “Yuan, don’t you dare jump on me.”

“Huh?” I wasn’t going to jump. Why would he think that?

He muttered something under his breath and then, as quickly as the wind, I found him standing right beside me. I was scooped up and crushed against his body, and he was running hard. I could feel his heartbeat as I clung to him. It was too fast.

Kris didn’t put me down when we got back to the trees. He leaned against a trunk and then held me. He held me for the longest time. I could barely breathe but I could count his heartbeat. It was slowing down.

“I wasn’t going to jump,” I whispered when he finally loosened his arms.

Instead of replying, he cupped my face and kissed me. The urgency and desperation of his kiss, like he needed to remember the taste of my lips, made me ache. I returned the kiss in the same way because I loved those lips of his and I wanted to have them ingrained in my memory.

We were both out of breath as we broke away. “I thought you were going to leave me, Yuan. I went to the address and talked to your friend and she said you were here. Yuan, I swear to God, I thought I was going to die when I heard you were at the bridge.”

“I’m sorry. I just wanted to see.”

He kissed me again and I nearly forgot what we were talking about. “I’ll take you to see anything you want, okay? Please,” he drew in a ragged breath, “Come back and live with me again.”

“But—“

“I don’t care what your friend says. I don’t care about being famous, not when I’m in love with you.”

“A-are you sure?” I choked out. Those were the first words that came into my mind at that time. I didn't know if he was joking or not.

He laughed. “Of course I’m sure. Who else would clean up and cook and do the laundry for me?”

I frowned and poked his chest. “You said I wasn’t your personal maid.”

“You’re not,” he chuckled and kissed my nose. “You’re going to be my girlfriend. We’re going to sleep in the same bed and I’m going to hold onto you when the nights turn cold. I’m going to eat your leftover pizza in exchange for doing my makeup. Best of all, you’re going to be the only one who gets to see me dancing.”

I didn’t know what to say so I kissed him. It was a lot sloppier when I did it, but he quickly fixed the angle for me. I felt like I was on heaven, kissing my own personal angel.

Suddenly, he pushed me away. I blinked to focus on his face and not his lips. “Wait, you didn’t tell me your answer.”

“My answer?”

He clicked his tongue, chastening my confusion. “I’ve confessed my love to you and you’ve done nothing but ravish my mouth.”

I ravished his mouth again, just to make a point. “You can be so blind, Kris. I think I’ve loved you since the day I met you.”

“Wasn't that last year?”

I nodded. “I guess I’ve been in love for a year then.”

I went in for another kiss but he stopped me with a hand. “You know it’s not nice to call a guy blind, right?”

I furrowed my brows. Why was he bringing this up now?

He laughed at my confused and his hand came up to my cheek. “Sorry,” he said with a quick peck. “That was my male ego talking.”

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THE END :)

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