In between love and death《Yizhan version》

Chapter 17

Xiao Zhan's POV

The next day, I waited excitedly for Haoxuan to stop by, I opened the door to see his usual unimpressed expression.

"Hi Haoxuan, thanks for coming here so soon," Haoxuan didn't meet my eyes when he spoke, "it's not like I rushed here, I just happened to be around the area," I smiled a little at his bluff before he continued talking, "so why did you ask me to come over?"

"Do you mind closing your eyes?" Haoxuan raised an eyebrow while I giggled.

"Huh? What's going on?"

"I have a little surprise!" Haoxuan was suspicious but in the end, followed my orders, I took his hand and carefully led him to my bedroom, I giggled when I felt his hand shaking in mine.

"Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you!"

"Well, who knows if you're not secretly an underground mafia boss!" I laughed at his sudden outburst.

"Well, that's a thing I can promise  I am not, so open your eyes," Haoxuan slowly opened his eyes to look at something sitting on the bed, I wait with bated breath for a reaction from him, Haoxuan was silent for a long moment, he quickly walked towards the bed, picking up the teddy bear.

"W-Wow . . ." The breathless words from his lips made me a little nervous.

"U-Urm . . . What do you think? I didn't change anything much, but . . ." My words stopped there as Haoxuan suddenly hugged me.

"Damn it, Zhan . . ." I could feel his heart beating like mad at his sudden reaction, I awkwardly patted his back.

"A-Are you okay, Haoxuan?" He slowly pulled away, and I could see his tears in the corner of his eyes.

"Of course I'm not! Why did you do this much for me? It's not that I'm ungrateful, I'm really happy, so happy that I can't find the right words, you found it and even made it look brand new, but why did you make such an effort for a jerk like me?" I gently removed his hand from my shoulder, Haoxuan followed me and took a seat on my bed, I pulled something out of the drawer.

"Because I already lost something I treasured before," Haoxuan's eyes widened at the broken music box in my hand.

"W-What happened to it . . . ?" He murmured softly while his eyes were stuck on the once so beautiful music box.

"The day I got kicked out of my apartment, the owner threw away all of my stuff, I bought this music box for myself when I was younger, it's just a cheap music box, but it helped me a lot of nights I couldn't sleep, I know exactly how you feel when you lost your teddy bear, the only difference is . . . Nobody would even bother to help me, I want to change that cycle and help because I can," Haoxuan clutched the broken pieces.

"I'm sorry to hear that . . . You fixed my teddy bear, so let me help you fix your music box," I shook my head, smiling warmly at him.

"It's okay, I'm already happy knowing you love my hard work," O glanced out of the window, remembering the soft playing of the music box in the back of my head.

"Of course I love it, but . . . I feel so useless, not being able to do anything for you," Haoxuan inched closer.

"I . . . Urm . . .Better take this back," I shied away from him, focusing on placing the music box back in the drawer, I could feel Haoxuan moving to sit a little further from me, the tension in the air finally calmed down, we sat there in comfortable silence while Haoxuan kept his eyes on the teddy in his hands.

I wondered what was on his mind . . .

"Do you remember the family portrait you saw at the mansion?" Haoxuan suddenly broke the silence, and I nodded quietly.

"Well, the little boy in the portrait wasn't me," I blinked at him in surprise.

"W-What? Then who was that?"

"That is the real young master of the mansion," Haoxuan had such a broken smile that I couldn't even say anything.

"The president of Wang cooperation had an affair with one of his maids, that affair bore them an illegitimate child when news of the affair and my birth reached his real wife . . . My mother was instantly expelled from the house and I was raised in a foreign country, before our separation, my mother gifted me this teddy bear, this is the only remaining memory I have of her, I just can't lose it, no matter what," Haoxuan hugged the teddy bear tightly to his chest, I could see tears brimming in his eyes, so I gently patted his back, doing my best to comfort him.

"Do you know where she is now?" 

"I don't know where she is or if she ever wants to see me again . . . Then again, I don't think she remembers me . . ."

"Don't say that Haoxan, I'm sure she misses you dearly," Haoxuan let out a humourless laugh.

"It doesn't matter, I don't exist in the mansion, after all, I'm sure you saw how the maids talked to me right?" He tried to smile despite the tears, but they fell down his cheeks, Haoxuan angrily wiped them away.

"Damn it! Crying in front of you is so uncool," I gently his tears away, offering him a gentle smile.

"Not at all, I think you're really strong for hanging on for so long," I tried to give him a reassuring smile.

"No, I'm just a weakling desperate for validation from a family that wished I was never born," I flicked his forehead.

"Say that again and I'll flick you even harder," Haoxuan looked at me with wide eyes.

"And I'm sure Yibo would've said the same thing! So what if your family is horrible? Yibo really cares about you, right!" Haoxuan broke into a burst of laughter, rubbing his head.

"Yeah, and I have you now, too," I grinned at his words.

"That's right! Both of us are glad that you were born, so don't think like that again, okay?"

"Yeah, can't let my little family down, right?" Haoxuan flashed an innocent boyish smile.

"Alright! Now that it's out of my system, what would you like as a reward for fixing up Mister Snuggles? I giggled at the name.

"No rewards needed, a simple thank you will be more than enough for now!"

"In that case . . ."

Word count: 1120 words