Lollapalooza | Zhu ZhengTing

twENty thRee

"Are you out of your mind?!" ZhengTing hissed at Justin who was on the other end of the phone, "I can't talk to her!"

"I'm not out of mind and you will talk to her whether you like it or not ge," Justin sighed, "She's waiting for you at the common park, and she said, and I quote, "Five minutes, and you should be grateful I'm doing this for you, Justin." Don't mess this up, it might be your only shot at resolving this misunderstanding."

And with that, Justin hung up, leaving ZhengTing to his tangled thoughts. He wanted run down to the park and clear everything up, but he wasn't ready to face her. He was afraid he'd mess up again, fumble for words and end up giving off the wrong idea, but he knew he didn't have much time left. It's now or never.

Taking a deep breath, ZhengTing left his apartment and headed towards the park right beside their building.

He didn't realize how much he missed Meirong in those two days until he saw her figure in the empty park. He wasn't surprised when he noticed the phone she's playing with, it was very Meirong and he missed that.

ZhengTing took ginger steps towards his neighbor, he couldn't help but lower his head in shame as he approached her. Meirong sensed someone's presence and she teared her eyes from her phone to look around.

The two stood there, locking gazes in a dreamy moment. Anger, disappointment, and longing erupted in Meirong's heart. Seeing her neighbor again brought all the feelings she'd buried back to life. They came back strong and overwhelming, and they overshadowed everything else.

"Hi," ZhengTing gulped nervously, trying his best not to ruin the moment.

"Hi," Meirong was almost emotionless on the outside which made ZhengTing dubious, was this going to work out?

He went through the dialogue he planned in his head as he took a deep breath, here goes nothing.

"I'm sorry," ZhengTing said, his voice barely above a whisper and Meirong looked at him expectantly, as if waiting for something more.

"I-I meant to say no, I'm not taking Xiaoqin back. Never," ZhengTing continued, the lack of reactions from his neighbor only made him dread more.

Was he doing well? Or was he totally butchering it? The silence will only make him ramble on.

"You shouldn't have hesitated," Meirong remarked blankly, waiting to hear what ZhengTing has to say.

"I know," ZhengTing sighed, "Trust me, if I could go back in time, I wouldn't do that. Xiaoqin means nothing to me anymore, I'm not sure why did I hesitate anyways- I'm sorry, I'm just rambling nonsense now."

"I-It's okay, I'm sorry as well," hearing ZhengTing's honest words softened Meirong's heart. She wasn't stuck up, and it didn't hurt to admit that she was wrong too. True, ZhengTing might've given her the wrong image, but she purposely ignored him too, sticking to her view and refusing to empathize with him at all.

"I was being petty and no friend should be like that. Sorry for avoiding you," Meirong's emotionless case cracked open and a small, sheepish smile rose on her face.

"I guess we were both being silly," ZhengTing chuckled as he brushed the nape of his neck awkwardly, and a similar chuckle sounded from his neighbor, "I guess so."

The two didn't know where to take the conversation next, although they both had a ton of things to share.

"How's suspension?" Meirong raised an eyebrow, her trademark mischievous tone slowly coming back.