Mizpah《Yizhan version》

Chapter 3

Present time . . .

Zhan stared at Yibo with empty eyes that didn't show any emotions, those were not the eyes Yibo fell in love with because those were the eyes of someone who suffered through the years, and even though Yibo knew it was not the eyes he fell in love with, he knew he would love those eyes eventually because they belonged to his most precious person.

"Zhan ge, you were sleeping . . ." Yibo once again took a tiny sip of his cold coffee, burying himself slightly more into his thick winter jacket with a deep sigh escaping his mouth before he continued his story.

***

Seventeen years ago . . .

He was sleeping.

Or that was what people would think his chest was gently heaving up and down on the slow rhythm of the wind, his eyes were closed, yet he was not sleeping.

What the boy; Zhan did not know was that there was someone else inside his room, waiting and watching him in silence, the other boy who sat beside Zhan in the comfortable chair was taking up all Zhan's angelic features, from the small mole under his plump red cherry lips to his long eyelashes that were closed.

Zhan kept continuing his act as if he was sleeping while waiting for that one small sound to slip away from his warm nestle of blankets, but even when the clock struck twelve he didn't hear it, and though he didn't show it he felt a pang inside his heart of disappointment.

In the past Zhan didn't believe in love on the first sight until he met Yibo two years ago, once a year he saw him, on Christmas night before the clock would strike twelve, and they would fall asleep together, yet this time Yibo didn't arrive, and the emptiness filled Zhan's heart like the missing of something unexplainable.

When Zhan was about to turn around to his other side to sleep he heard it, a small noise, it wasn't the sound of someone knocking the window instead it was lighter as if someone was moving beside him, and even though the feeling of someone watching him in the utmost darkness brought him shivers, something felt familiar of the quiet atmosphere in the room, so Zhan shrugged the sound off while a deep sigh left his mouth.

He was tired, so tired of a long day spending with family, yet his thoughts were filled with one picture, the imagine of Yibo, his sharp jaw, deep eyes like the sea, and his black hair that somewhat looked silver through the stray of moonlight.

Zhan shook the thought away while turning his body towards the chair without noticing the shadow sitting there, watching him in quietness like an owl.

"Why sighing so deeply?" Zhan shot up, a shriek almost left his mouth, but luckily he knew to put his hands in front of his mouth on time to not let the scream of surprise escape.

Slowly Yibo wanted to put his hand on the one of Zhan, only to forget the idea because his hands were freezingly cold while he had been inside the warm house for some hours already, after all, he didn't want to tell Zhan the truth . . . Yet.

Zhan was still in a state of shock and daze, not able to utter a word when the small candle got lit, and only then when he saw Yibo's features his heart calmed a bit down, and though his breath was still a bit rushed, he felt better knowing it was just Yibo.

"Am I that scary?" Yibo raised an eyebrow with a small sly smile playing around his lips, Zhan leaned forwards to punch his shoulder with his tiny hands, it only made Yibo's smile grow.

"You almost gave me a heart attack," Zhan slightly pouted with his plump red lips while he kept hitting Yibo nonstop, not knowing that it only felt sorta ticklish to Yibo.

"Aiyoo, is my baby bunny mad?" Yibo pinched Zhan's chubby cheeks until they were red while Zhan was whining and Yibo carried a childish grin, forgetting that he himself was the same age as Zhan.

"First of all, I am not a bunny! Second of all, I am not a baby anymore! And third of all . . ." Zhan's voice trailed off while he looked deep in thoughts, once again making Yibo chuckle at his bunnies cuteness.

"Third of all?" Yibo looked questioning at Zhan while Zhan continued pouting, turning sidewards, with his back to Yibo.

Seizing the chance, Yibo gave a backwards hug to Zhan, slowly patting his head while Yibo buried his head onto Zhan's warm crook.

"Argg! Why are you so cold! And third of all, you and I are both around the same age, so if I am a baby, you are one too! HMPF!" Without looking Yibo knew his bunny baby was pouting again, so he chuckled lightly, lifting his head and putting his chin onto Zhan's shoulder.

"Zhan bunny, I never denied I was not a baby~" Yibo once again laughed, realizing he had today laughed more than he had ever done in his life before, while Zhan let an annoyed groan escape, only to make Yibo snicker, again.

"Yibo~ I am tired~" Yibo shook his head gently with a small smile and lay down on Zhan's bed.

After a few seconds that passed in silence, Zhan lay down next to Yibo, putting his head on Yibo's chest, trying to listen to Yibo's heartbeat that wasn't there, and with a finger, Zhan drew a small heart around the place where Yibo's heart was supposed to be.

Yibo slightly stiffed at Zhan's action but calmed down when Zhan didn't ask questions.

It was silence, with only the howling of the wind that accompanied them through the silence, and softly but surely Yibo started to hum an old lullaby that he remembered.

It was the lullaby his mom used to sing to him when he was alive and younger, it was a lullaby he had fallen in love with.

So he softly hummed through the crying of the wind, tenderly caressing Zhan's hair with a small smile that was visible in the tiny flame of the candle that filled the room.

Soon enough Zhan fell into a deep slumber while Yibo's eyes were still open, his mind being in control of thousand thoughts he couldn't sort out because what was that feeling that filled his chest when he saw Zhan smiling?

To him, it almost felt as if his heart started beating again, which was basically, impossible . . .

Right . . . ?

He was dead . . .

Wasn't he . . . ?

Word count: 1129 words