Apartment 4F

14: How to let go

After their team won, Yue followed the basketballers and cheerleaders to a celebratory after-party held at one of the bars just outside campus. Dylan was being monopolised by the other basketballers and the usual constant stream of people wanting to congratulate them. Caesar and Jiaqi were out on the dance floor and filming Tik-Tok dance videos with the other cheerleaders.

Not one for large crowds and socialising, Yue situated herself on a couch, slowly sipping her drink and people-watching, when a voice interrupted her reverie.

"... You're also from comms right?"

She looked up. The owner of the voice was a tall, cute-looking guy she vaguely recognised from some of her communications lectures.

"I'm Dylan Xiong," he introduced himself. "Fourth-year comms student."

A wry smile curved her lips. "You have the same name as my best friend..."

Both of them turned to look at Dylan, the star of the night and the life of the party, surrounded by his teammates and adoring fans.

"Yeah well... I'm the less popular Dylan," the guy conceded modestly, joining her on the couch. They started chatting about their courses and university life in general. But as the place became more and more packed with students, coupled with the alcohol she had ingested, Yue began to feel increasingly light-headed and claustrophobic.

"Hey, you wanna get some air?" Her comms senior asked her, noticing her discomfort. "Or we can go get coffee or something - I know a place nearby that's still open."

At first, she hesitated.

For the umpteenth time that night, her gaze subconsciously flickered towards the table where the basketballers were gathered. At the same moment, Dylan happened to look in her direction, and their eyes met.

In the silent connection between them, where the background noise of the other students and everything else around them seemed to fade...

... he smiled.

A beguiling smile that took her breath away and exacerbated her existing breathing difficulties.

Why was she feeling this way? She was beginning to suspect it was not solely because of her low alcohol tolerance. Which precipitated the further question - why had she not learnt her lesson? Like Hu Yi Tian, Dylan Wang was out of her league. Even if he wasn't gay, he was someone she could never have.

And unlike Yi Tian, who was merely a fellow student she had been paired together with, Dylan was one of her best friends. Someone she couldn't afford to lose.

Afraid of her growing feelings, she turned to her senior who was patiently waiting for her answer and plastered a brave smile on her face. "Sure, I'd love to get coffee."

__________

Even though he was by nature an outgoing person, Dylan was starting to get slightly restless and bored of the customary mingling at the after party. He was tired after the game, and he couldn't wait to go home and possibly crawl into bed with his best friend.

Out of the corner of his eye, he had been keeping tabs on her.

He frowned slightly when a stranger first sat down next to her, but didn't intervene as the guy was maintaining a respectable distance. Dylan was also reassured by how Yue kept sneaking glances at him, all throughout her conversation.

But when he looked up again, the couch was empty.

Yue and the guy were disappearing into the crowd, steadily making their way towards the exit.