Past and Present

Chapter 33- Odd

"What?!" Chenxing yelled. His eyes widened in shock and he felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest.
"I-I never said anything, forget it," Shanghai stumbled over his words and ran out the door. Chenxing snapped his fan shut and ran after him.
"Wait!" Chenxing called out. He grabbed Shanghai's wrist and they both stopped, "Did you say you liked me?"
"No! I never said anything!" Shanghai's voice trembled and he tried to snatch his hand back, but was unsuccessful.
"Did you or did you not?" Chenxing asked seriously.
"I-I..." the young man sighed, "I did."
Chenxing's grip loosened, "You...you actually like me?" He whispered in disbelief. He shook his head firmly, "No. You can't like me, it will only hurt both of us."  
  "But-!"
   "I said no," Chenxing snapped, "I don't like you back, now leave." He let go of Shanghai and stalked away back to his room, where he shut the door and fell to his knees.
   He sighed deeply, wondering what he was going to do. He opened and closed his fan repeatedly, trying to calm down. It's fine. I'm fine. Just let him get over the feelings and everything will be alright. I've been alone before, I can do it again. I don't need anyone, I am independent.
  A knock suddenly came at the door, "Chenxing, are you there?" It was Yue.
   Chenxing took a deep breath and put on a calm expression before standing up, "Yes, do you need something?"
   The door opened and Yue walked in, "I was wondering what happened to Shanghai. He came to me and asked that I talk to you, I don't what about though."
   "It's nothing," Chenxing forced a laugh, "I just got a bit mad at him. He was messing around as usual."
   "Oh, alright," Yue nodded. He saw Chenxing fanning himself a bit faster than usual and that his eyebrows were furrowed, "Chenxing, are you sure that was all? You don't look alright."
   "I'm fine," Chenxing replied calmly, "I just need a bit of time to cool off."
   "Okay, if you say so," Yue nodded and walked out amd closed the door, leaving Chenxing alone again.
Chenxing sighed, What am I going to do now? I can't just ignore him forever.
   He walked to his bed and sat down, with a frown on his face. His mind was spinning and he was starting to feel a bit dizzy. He laid down, sighed.

Yue walked to Shanghai who was waiting for him, "He said you two got in a fight and he needs time to cool off."
"But we didn't," Shanghai mumbled, "does he hate me that much now?"
   "If he said he needs time to cool off that means he'll talk to you again,"Yue said, "happened to me too."
   Shanghai sighed, "Fine, I'll wait I guess."
   "Good idea. Now let's fo eat something."

   "YueHua, don't you find Chenxing a bit...odd these days?" Xue Yang asked. He was lying in bed with Xingchen while they waited for Chenxing to finish with some surprise food.
   "Now that you mention it, yes," Xingchen said concerned. "He seems a lot more tired than usual."
   "Do you think it has something to do with Yue?" Xue Yang asked.
   "No, it's Shanghai," a voice came from the door.
   The couple sat up and looked. It was Yue, standing in the doorway, holding two bowls of soup.
   "What do you mean?" Xingchen asked.
   Yue walked over and set the bowls down om the table next to the bed, "Shanghai told me everything. He confessed to Chenxing and was rejected. I'm guessing Chenxing likes him back but won't admit it because of what happened before." 
    Xue Yang sighed, "Why can't he just know that it won't happen again?"
   Xingchen smiled sadly, "I mean you can't blame him, it hurt him a lot."
   "Yeah," Yue sat down on the bed next to his parents and smiled, "I'll get them together! Don't worry!"
    "Thank you angel, it's just too bad that Shanghai left already," Xingchen said.
   Yue pouted, "Well...can we go to the Lanling? I think there was another meeting there because of the puppets right?"
   Xue Yang nodded slowly, "Alright, we'll go and make sure everything's fine. You can find Shanghai there and talk to him while we all talk."
   "Thank you Baba!" Yue hugged his father tightly. Then turned around to Xingchen, "Thank you Mama!" He ran out of the room and left the couple alone.
He ran to his brother's room and knocked rapidly, "Chenxing! Open up!"
The door opened, "A-Yue, what is it?"
"Mama and Baba said that we can go with them to Lanling for the next meeting."
    "Really?" Chenxing asked softly, "Then you should be getting ready."
    "Don't forget to pack extra clothes!" Yue called out as he rushed away to his room.
    Chenxing shook his head softly and smiled, before closing the door.
  He quickly got clothes ready for the trip and soon went to sleep.