You Are Still Here

Chapter 23

Were other couples like them? Their love would soar to the skies but just as easily crash to the ground.

Yu Hua would tease "This is the hell you've chosen."

After Cheng Zheng was discharged, he stayed in Yun Jin's city for two day before reluctantly making his way back to his campus. Yun Jin took a day to realize with horror that they had not taken precautionary measures in their two days of intimacy. She became ashen-faced at the thought but had no idea what she should do to remedy the situation. She'd rather die than go to the pharmacy to buy medication alone. With no other alternative, she looked up Mo Yu Hua and stammered her way through the recounting. Mo Yu Hua did not pass comment but dragged her to the pharmacy immediately.

She took the medication but since it wasn't downed in the most opportunate moment, even Yu Hua couldn't clear her of the risk of consequences. Yun Jin spent the entire week in fear. It was only when her period came right on time that her apprehension was finally eased. She felt extremely lucky that the melodramas in which babies were frequently born out of wedlock was not as likely to occur in real life. She would never be as careless again.

The moment Cheng Zheng returned to Beijing, everyone in the hostel knew that Yun Jin was attached once again because Cheng Zheng was diligent in calling. To quote Xiao Wen "I can't possibly pick up the phone more often than I already do!"

So it came to be that the usual reticent Yun Jin was often on the phone even till late in the night. Initially, Yun Jin basked in the lovely honeymoon phase of their romance. However, as time passed, Cheng Zheng's domineering ways caused her much distress.

Little things like calling when she wasn't in and disagreeing on certain matters would set his temper off. Luckily, his temper would quell just as quickly as it came. Yun Jin would merely give him the silent treatment so that his temper was not fuelled any further. Ultimately, he was always the one to end their cold wars.

Su Yun Jin was used to being by herself. Now that she had Cheng Zheng, she still found it hard to give all of her time and energy unreservedly to him. Even when she was with Shen Ju An, a boy she was infatuated with, she still maintained her independence. In this regard, Ju An and her were like two parallel lines; they were similar in appreciating times of solitude as they walked the same course closely. They were two separate entities that never crossed each other, figuratively. She had felt secure even in that manner of dating.

Cheng Zheng was different. He was dying to envelope Yun Jin in his affections and wanted nothing more than for them to become so close that they became one. Simultaneously, he expected Su Yun Jin to give him the same amount of attention. He wanted all of her. It would be best if even her dreams only contained him.

Yun Jin, what are you doing?

Yun Jin, what are you thinking of now?

Yun Jin, where are you?

Yun Jin I miss you. Do you miss me?

Yun Jin, why aren't you replying?

Yun Jin, Yun Jin, Yun Jin!

Day in and out, he flooded her with texts which hinted of both his possessiveness and his child-like insecurity. Initially, Yun Jin accommodated him and would reassure him. But eventually, she lost her stamina and would keep silent on her end. However, the more unresponsiveness she was, the faster and more furious his texts came. Su Yun Jin felt that Cheng Zheng was like a ball of yarn a kitten was unravelling; he encircled her and made her feel bound yet at other times he made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

The two of them were separated – one in the Northern and the other in the Eastern part of China. Whenever Cheng Zheng had a stretch of spare time, he would race over to Yun Jin's area. Yun Jin's heart ached over his plane fare though he couldn't be bothered with financial considerations. He felt nothing was more important than the two of them being together.