Fated Encounter (BJYX Fanfic) - Completed

36: Revelation

"He has the right to know!" a man argued with a thump of his fist on the inanimate surface.

"Are you insane? Self-proclaimed sympathy at this time?! Humour me more!" Zhan heard Hao Xuan's hushed sarcasm against the other man.

He did not intend to eavesdrop but they were having the discussion inside Yibo's office which Zhan temporarily shares with Hao Xuan while they work together to retrieve Yibo's holdings.

Zhan was about to turn his heels to walk away and give them more time to settle their dispute when he heard Hao Xuan exasperatedly say, "Wang Talu, can't you pick a better day to tell him what Yibo did? Today is the board meeting, don't upset him before that Godd*mn meeting!"

That is it. Hearing Yibo's name is the fuse to Zhan's curiosity. He pushed the door wide open and walked in halting Talu and Hao Xuan's heated conversation.

Both men stared at him wide-eyed in shock, until Talu's stare turned soft as he now looked at Zhan with a stare of pity.

Zhan then knew, his world will come again into a standstill. 'What else have you hid from me, Yibo?' He braced himself, preparing his heart for another catastrophe that will soon land.

"Tell me what I needed to know." Zhan demanded, half-afraid, half-determined.

"I'm sorry, Zhan." Wang Talu's introduction was enough to spew out emotions off Zhan's chest. "I've heard about Mr. Wang's condition. I'm sorry to hear."

"Hmm." Zhan nodded and tried to pull himself together, walking to his table, fumbling at some random documents, absent-mindedly shoving the unnecessary papers inside his briefcase.

"Zhan..." Talu approached him and pulled him to face him. Talu knew it might not be the right moment, but his conscience screams for liberty and freedom. "That day of our business meeting, Wang Yibo asked me a favour to take you away. You moving to my company, was all a part of his plan."

Zhan snapped his head towards Talu, gaping at the honest man, disbelieving the words he has heard.

As if it was just yesterday, Zhan clearly remembers his heart break that day. How Yibo indifferently agreed to Talu's demand for Zhan to come join Talu in his company, severing the only reason he can stay at Yibo's side.

Hao Xuan chimed in, understanding the wrinkle in Zhan's forehead. He clarified, "Yibo thought he was doing the right choice." Hao Xuan argued with vindiction. "After he saw you in the club with this friend of yours and after scrutinizing if this person is a good man, Yibo asked Wang Talu to keep you away. For your sake."

Zhan's brain froze with Hao Xuan's defense. "For my sake?" He choked out.

Talu nodded in confirmation with Hao Xuan's words. "He met with me the day after our meeting in the club, and he asked me to look out for you. In return, he'll help my business grow."

'Why would he do that?' was written in Zhan's face.

Hao Xuan grimly looked at Zhan, answering the obvious question. "To save you from him."

"W-Why?" Zhan stammered the words out.

Hao Xuan frowned, a glint of sadness passed by his usually smirking face. "He want you out of his mistakes. He was saving you from the chaos that will ensue after he had brought down the Wang conglomerate." Hao Xuan narrated watching the many changes in Zhan's expression. He knew the truth will make the man more miserable than he already is. But maybe it is time to tell Zhan how important he really is to Yibo. So he futher related, "Yibo does not want you to suffer from his selfish actions as a man seeking revenge even from an already dead person. He knew his deeds were wrong and despicable, but he was consumed with hatred, and the only release he had known was to destroy what his father had accomplished. And you? He does not want to taint the blemishless reputation you have in the industry. Dragging you down with him is the least thing his conscience can handle.

He treasures you that much, Mr. Xiao.

Or should I say, he loves you that much, Xiao Zhan."

When Zhan thought his world won't crumble down any worse that how it is now, he was so wrong about it.

He was seeing things and knowing things, filling gaps in the puzzle of Yibo's psyche when the man who can clear his views is still sleeping peacefully, undisturbed, in the last 2 weeks.

Zhan's chest ached and he felt himself drowning into an emotion of craving to hear those confessions of his importance from the man himself. The passionate three words which will resolve all his pain and longing.

"Yibo..." Zhan cracked in a low tune, slumping into his chair, hiding his stinging eyes between his fisted palm.

He had thought again how Yibo suffered alone in silence, seeing things he once treasured slowly disappear within his grasp one by one, while Zhan was busy consoling himself from a single heartbreak on the other side. But he only knew one side of the coin. He only knew about his pain.

Zhan realized he had abandoned Yibo and let him suffer on his own.

That what lead to Yibo's state, was the  lack of someone he can confide with and tell him his feelings were valid. Someone to give him support and guidance. And though he did not allow anyone to be that man, Zhan should have persevered to stay by his side. He shouldn't have let Yibo coop himself in his own vengeance spree, moving his chess pieces, losing his pawns to give way for his soldiers, rehearsing his revenge game and planning his movements, nevertheless, facing a very devastating outcome.

Yibo thought he knew exactly how to play his game. Only for vengeance to back fire, and hurt him beyond repair when the unexpected truths were made known. That the father he hated was just protecting his mother...that the mother he loved, was the root of it all.

And Zhan, the man he loves, and has shoved away into another man's wings, was actually the only one who matters to him. The only one who could save him was then out of his reach.

Time was flying by as silence ensued in the once heated room, until Wang Talu tapped Zhan's shoulder to say his parting words.

"My bad that I didnt pry further and just assume he was protecting you from his obsession of vengeance. Now, I think I know what he was thinking back then. Maybe, just maybe, he pushed you away so he wouldn't be the one to leave you. He let you walk away, you see. But when you left that day in his office, I saw in his usually cold eyes, a dramatic melancholy which even gives shivers to my thick skin." Talu pursed his lips into a thin line of reminisce, remembering the look of dejection in the Cold Prince's visage as he stared at Zhan's retreating figure.

"He's a martyr Zhan. The man you love is a hero, self-sacrificing without asking for anything in return. But one thing I am very sure of? He loves you. The man you love, loves you too."

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29-Nov-2020