Wrong Letter | YiZhan

Chapter 19

He pants heavily as he pushed the doors open. Xiao Zhan ran all the way to the other building since he couldn't stop himself from staying put and hear other people talk about him and Yibo. It wasn't good for his heart at all.

"You looked like you ran a marathon," a familiar voice said and Xiao Zhan looked at his friend. "Well, it seems like I did," he answered, trying to catch his breath. Zhao Lei sighes softly and gave his friend a pat on the shoulder. "You know that you can't run away forever."

"I know," he whispered as he averted his gaze from Zhao Lei. "If you don't do something soon, wouldn't this be dragged on like not confessing about the letter from before?"

Xiao Zhan pursed his lips and muttered another, "I know."

"Explain yourself, Zhan. I'm sure Yibo will hear you out. He really likes you in the first place. He'll give you a chance, buddy," Zhao Lei comforted and Xiao Zhan gave him a faint smile but it quickly disappears, "What if he doesn't?" Xiao Zhan adjusted his bag at his shoulder and waited for Zhao Lei's response.

"Don't worry about that now, you need to be positive, Zhan."

"Sorry, I- I'm just really stressing this out, I don't even know how he found out..." He ran a hand through his inky black hair with a sad expression plastered on his face. "Someone must have told him, did you speak with this Seungyoun guy?"

"No, I didn't see him at the campus for a few days now... I wonder what happened."

"Maybe you can ask his other friends?" Zhao Lei suggested and Xiao Zhan thought it wasn't the best idea. "Ah, wouldn't that be awkward? Besides, Seungyoun's the only one I'm actually close to."

"Well, it's time to socialize?" Xiao Zhan frowned at Zhao Lei and almost rolled his eyes at him. "What else do you think you'll find out about it? Ask that girl-"

"Xiao Zhan!" A woman's voice called out to him through that hallway. Just by hearing the voice, he already knew who it was. Emily Qi who was wearing a pair of white skinny jeans with a pink croptop sweater waved at the two friends. Xiao Zhan wanted to flee, he doesn't want to deal with anyone right now, especially her.

"Ah, yes?" He gave a small smile as he faced her. "I wanted to talk to you," she paused slightly as she looked at Zhao Lei, "in private." Zhao Lei had a bad feeling and was about to say something when Xiao Zhan stopped him. "Alright, Zhao, can you wait me in class and reserve a seat for me?"

His friend couldn't decline it anymore since Xiao Zhan already spoke, he gave him a meaningful look and excused himself.

"What do you want me to talk about?" Xiao Zhan asked as Emily smiled at him and tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear. "It's not really important though," she said and looks directly at Xiao Zhan's eyes. There was a hint of mischief in her eyes but before the other person could notice, it disappeared with a blink of an eye. "I just want to say that, you did a poor job on taking care of Yibo."

He pursed his lips slightly and replied, "Is that all you have to say? I'm very much  aware and I'm sorry but I'm not here to listen to your words." Xiao Zhan wanted to get the hell out of there quick. Why did he even agree talking to her in the first place? Maybe he thought she'll talk to him about how Yibo's doing? Guess she's here to slap some vicious words at him in attempt to hurt him again. What a two faced person.

"Really? That's so cruel of you, that's why you weren't even serious with that letter," she crossed her arms as the corner of her mouth formed a smirk. Xiao Zhan was surprised and was immediately frozen in place. He bites his inside gums almost letting them bleed. He grits his teeth and muttered, "How did you-?"

"That's for you to find out yourself. I just wanted to tell you that, stay away from Yibo. You're nothing but a nuisance, okay? He'll be even more hurt if he sees you." Right, how could Xiao Zhan be so stupid, Yibi must've told her about what happened between them. Emily's a woman who's sticking her nose to other's business after all. It made Xiao Zhan feel sick and uncomfortable.

"What?" Xiao Zhan asked dumbly in shock. "I-I didn't even get to explain myself. Why are you like this?" Xiao Zhan tightly clenched his fists as his brows furrowed. "Dear, do you think he'll listen to you? You broke his trust and worse, even his heart. Tell me Xiao Zhan, how are you gonna fix this?"

As much as he wants to retort and fight back, the said man was speechless. He doesn't know what to actually say anymore, everything she was saying was the truth, even though it hurt, it was his fault anyway. "See? I told you so," Emily said in a dragging manner. "So if you don't want to hurt Yibo again, don't talk to him anymore. Besides, you don't have to worry, I'll take good care of him," Emily explained and lastly added, "Yibo told me that you're a huge liar and he really regretted why he ever loved you." She didn't bother to wait for Xiao Zhan's reply as she turned her back and walked away with a victorious smile.

• • •

Xiao Zhan was spacing out a lot and that's what Zhuocheng and Zhao Lei noticed. "Earth to Zhan," Zhuocheng said as he snapped his fingers in front of Xiao Zhan. The said man didn't even bother to flinch in surprise as he defeatedly replied, "What is it?" His tone was soft and low but the sound of agony and sorrow was obvious.

"Care to tell us what happened after you talked to her?"

Xiao Zhan just stared at Zhuocheng with a blank expression, as if his eyes never saw the light since it looked very hollow. "He's spacing out again," Zhao Lei worriedly stated as he sighed. "Why didn't you eavesdrop when both of them were talking?" Zhuocheng asked as he massaged his temples.

"I had to reserve a seat for the both of us, I tried to persuade him but he said he'll be fine," he explained and it was his turn to ease the ache on his forehead with the amount of stress to deal with. "Dude, at least you need to eat something," Zhuocheng said as he slightly pushes the plate towards Xiao Zhan.

"I'm not... hungry," he mumbled. Zhuocheng almost wanted to yeet himself. As much as he's stressed with Xiao Zhan's actions at the moment, it greatly worried him. He has never seen his best friend act like this before. "Your brain says you're not hungry but your organs are-"

Zhuocheng was cut in mid-sentence as he saw a tear escaped from Xiao Zhan's right eye. "You- What's wrong?"

Xiao Zhan didn't say anything as he wiped the tear and stared at his hand. "Everything's alright."

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Sorry for the typos! Please do point it out! More drama begins on the next chapter + longer chap!