Mizpah《Zhanyi version》

Prologue

With a deep sigh leaving the young stoic man's mouth, he slowly sat down on the table in the corner of the small restaurant that looked abandoned at the late-night, he slowly rubbed his hands together for some warmth while staring outside the window with empty eyes, twinkles of stars were dancing inside his eyes, and he looked deep drowned away in thoughtfulness as if there was a galaxy between his thoughts and the real world.

Outside the cold and deserted streets, the light was dimmed just like inside the restaurant yet outside there were shadows in every corner, like demons in people their mind they were dancing, and known by the young man, he was the only one who could see the shadows dancing, after all, the last thing he got compared to others as being 'normal'.

From the first look, many would call the man without thinking twice charming handsome, like the prince on the white horse, and actually almost perfect, his skin was flawless milk-white as if it was made from porcelain, his eyes as dark as the cosmos.

And his smile could be compared to the Mona Lisa, unknown if it was a happy or a sad smile, but one thing was sure his smile hid because behind that facade of a smile was hidden thousands of secrets, only known by fate, and the man was mysterious like the odd cold night.

A soft breeze like the breathing of the winter air from outside got carried inside when the bell of the small restaurant rang through the silence spell of the late-night, and another dazzling young man stepped inside, he was slim, had beautiful features like an angel, and a smile that made your heart miss a beat.

He walked into the restaurant as if he was simply walking on clouds, every one of his steps as light as a feather, and while he walked the other man started to try to hide himself away in the dark corner with his long-gone cold coffee on the table.

Yet sadly for him, fate was against him today because the other man who stepped in was known as a social butterfly of the small town, and without knowing who sat in the dark corner all alone, he approached the man and sat in front of him, flashing a grin that revealed his cute charming smile.

The other man that tried to hide himself knew the other was smiling without looking because he knew the other would smile on whatever occasion, it had been the same grin he got attached to years ago, the man had simply fallen in love because of that one simple smile that brightens his day, and he did not expect to ever see it again after what happened ten years ago.

Even in his biggest dreams, he didn't dare to imagine the other person with the dazzling smile to meet him again, it was not like he did not want him, far from it, but as people say, sometimes it's better to let go of that what we love because we will drag them down from flying upwards . . .

"Hi~" The man once again flashed an eye-blinding smile, and this time the other man knew he had no other choice than to look up, and that's what he did, he looked up, right into the other's eye that was filled with utmost shock as it looked into his, and for a second it was as if the world stopped breathing, and all that was there were them who were locked into a timeless moment.

"Zhan . . ." The young man who had smiled a few seconds ago looked at him in awe, and the soft whisper of the name hung in between them while his eyes slowly got filled with pearls of shining tears that were almost not visible under the dimmed light of the quiet restaurant.

"It's a long story, Yibo . . ." The man who was called Zhan rubbed his nape while trying to avert the other person's burning gaze that was set upon him, he knew the other person named Yibo had many questions, more than just many, but he couldn't answer them, yet . . .

"DAMN YOU ZHAN, YOU CONNED ME THINKING INTO YOU WERE DEAD FOR DAMN TEN FULL YEARS, AND NOW I FINALLY FIND YOU, YOU TELL ME IT'S A LONG STORY!?" Yibo screamed through the silence while he slowly sat down back on his chair while his chest heaved up and down fastly like he just had run a marathon, and he slowly put his hands under his chin when his breath went steady, a murderous and deadly look appeared inside his eyes, his gaze was as cold as ice and cut like a knife through his soul, while his soft as an icy voice spoke up three words that Zhan was afraid to hear, "I have time . . ."

Word count: 833 words