Remember When...(YiZhan)

Chapter 19

     Two days ago Xiao Zhan had received a text message from Li Yen that read:

We have a mutual friend with a helmet obsession - let's meet to discuss him

     At first he thought it was some kind of joke, but then he remembered that Yibo had mentioned he had a good friend growing up named Li Yen. Zhan had agreed to meet with her, and the only time they could settle on, between their schedules, was today.

     The 5-star restaurant situated upstairs of a hotel that respected the privacy of its patrons was fairly empty at this time of day. Zhan sat in far corner, away from the entrance, by the window overlooking the city, anxiously awaiting her arrival. He was about to look at the time again, when a slim lady with shoulder length caramel hair, cut in sharp layers, and dressed in what one could only call a power suit, walked into the restaurant.

     Zhan raised an eyebrow when she strode confidently towards him, like a woman on a mission to save the world.

     "Sorry I'm late," she said, motioning for the waiter to come over. "Cappuccino please."

     "Li Yen?" Zhan asked hesitantly.

     She sighed and shook her head at him. "No the Princess of Monaco," she quipped. "Of course I'm Li Yen. But then of course with you being so famous I guess I could have been any fangirl," she conceded.

     Zhan broke into a big grin at her comments. He liked how she was so candid and direct.

     "Wow!" her eyes widened. "You really shouldn't go around smiling like that. No wonder Bo fell for you."

     With the mention of Yibo's name, Zhan's smile faded. "How is he?" he asked.

     Li Yen made a face, like she was deep in thought. "Let's see, how can I best describe it," she said. "I think the right words would be... broken... in pain...walking around like his heart and soul has been ripped out of him. All thanks to you."

     A look of surprise transitioned into pain and then into confusion. Li Yen watched as these emotions played across Zhan's face.

     "M..me?" stammered Zhan. "You must be talking about another Wang Yibo."

     The waiter interrupted and placed Li Yen's drink in front of her. She nodded her thanks and calmly picked up her drink and took a sip. She looked at Zhan and waited for him to continue.

     "I mean I saw him a week ago and he wanted nothing to do with me and the last time we talked..." he started to say, but then blushed.

     "When you broke up?" prompted Li Yen.

     "No uhhh... " Zhan hesitated. "The last time was when I got drunk and I called him. I can't remember what we talked about, well I can kind of guess." Zhan turned red as he remembered the state he was in when he woke up.

     Li Yen quirked an eyebrow at him, but stayed silent.

     "Well anyway, he hasn't called me since and he won't pick up my calls," Zhan sighed.

     "Why do you keep calling him," Li Yen questioned. "Booty call?"

     Anger flashed across Zhan's face. "No, it's not like that."

     Li Yen wasn't going to make this easy for Zhan. "Then tell me," she insisted. "Why?"

     "I have something important to tell him," Zhan said, hesitantly.

    Li Yen narrowed her eyes and Zhan and continued to push him. "You sure your words aren't going to hurt him further? Why don't you just get a gun and shoot him, it might be easier to kill him that way instead of what you're doing to him now. Torturing him and dragging it out."

     Zhan's mouth dropped open. "That is not what I'm doing to him!" he exclaimed.

     "So what is it you want to tell him then?" she said, demanding an answer.

     He sat silently, his eyes turned red and misted over with tears of frustration and shame. He hadn't meant to hurt Yibo – he had just been scared of the unknown, of the way the world would view them, and most of all of losing Bo.

     She continued to stare at him unyielding, waiting for him to say what she already knew.

     Shit, he had lost Bo in the end anyway. He had nothing else to lose; he could swallow his pride and say what he had never verbally admitted to anyone. "I want him to know how I feel about him. That I'm in love with him."

     Finally, she thought to herself. She refrained from rolling her eyes - these two non-communicative idiots were going to be the death of her. "There, was that so hard to say?" she asked.

     "What's the point?" Zhan said, helplessly. "He won't talk to me... and I don't even know how he feels about me... well felt about me, I guess. Now he just hates me."

     Li Yen sighed and pulled out her tablet, found the pictures she was looking for and passed it to Zhan.

     He flipped through the pictures of a nicely decorated and furnished apartment with two bedrooms, where one had been turned into an art studio. The other bedroom had a large king sized bed with a private ensuite bathroom.

     "It's outside of the city, gated entrance with security, and private courtyard," she said gauging his reaction.

     "It's really nice," he said admiring how perfectly cozy it looked. It would be exactly the type of place he would have wanted for him and Yibo. He couldn't help to feel sad looking at the pictures. "Why are you showing me these?"

     "Bo bought that place for you," she said, simply. "He wanted to have a place for the both of you to go to for privacy."

     "H-He bought it? For us?" Zhan scrolled through the pictures again. "Then that means..."

     "Yes, that's how he feels about you, Zhan. So now you know why your words hurt him so much and why he reacted the way he did," Li Yen said, swallowing the urge to continue to reprimand Zhan. Instead she decided to give him a little insight into Yibo. "He might be young Zhan, but for as long as I've known him, he's always been mature in the sense where if he wants something, he plans for it. He planned at least 5 years in the future and I wouldn't be surprised if he thought even further ahead. If you don't call that love, then I don't know what you would call it."

     The sudden realization was too much for Zhan and he covered his face with both hands for a moment. If only he could take his words back. It must have devastated Yibo when he had insinuated that there was nothing more between them than lust. He had been so blinded by his own fear and insecurities, that he didn't realize how deep Bo's feelings were for him. "Why didn't he say anything?" Zhan asked.

     Li Yen rolled her eyes. "Oh God... I ask myself that question everyday," she muttered.

     "I have to see him," Zhan said.

     "Well I can get you both in the same room, but it's going to be up to you to get him to listen to you," Li Yen stated. "So Zhan, do you have it in you?"

     Zhan nodded resolutely. "I'm not letting him go," he said. This time he would tell him how he felt and not even an irate Wang Yibo would be able to stop him.

     Li Yen smiled for the first time since she had walked into the restaurant and leaned forward. "Okay, so here's my plan."