Mizpah《Zhanyi version》

Chapter 1

Present time . . .

"So just like you remember Bo di, we met exactly ten years ago, the first meeting was on a cold Christmas night, a moment before the clock stroke twelve, it was dark outside, and the light in the most houses got dimmed already, the silence was all that got heard throughout the icy night . . ."

***

Nineteen years ago . . .

There was a knock.

A faint knock that made a small boy named Yibo stirred up in his sleep, the quiet wind of the winter blew through the tiny ajars of the window while the little boy Yibo snored softly through the cold, he was sleeping beneath a thick blanket that embraced him into a hug.

*knock knock*

Once again, the faint knocking against his window was heard while Yibo turned around to his other side and immediately dozed off into a deep slumber.

The other boy who was hidden inside his thin cloak that didn't keep the cold of the winter air outside knocked again only this time slightly louder than the time before, trying to wake up the sleeping boy as much as possible.

But sadly for the boy, Yibo was in a deep rest not noticing what was happening, and the boy who stood in front of the window wouldn't even be surprised if the boy wouldn't wake up if the whole house was on fire, yet the boy who shivered because of the cold couldn't withhold a small smile creeping its way to his lips when he watched the sleeping beauty.

The boy outside took a deep breath when knocking dangerously hard, hoping the parents of Yibo who slept in the room next to him wouldn't have heard it, and a deep sigh escaped his mouth when he saw that Yibo just continued sleeping as nothing had happened, and the boy ruffled a hand through his hair out of frustration.

Even though Yibo was a sleeping beauty, he slept like a cow, not waking up, and the boy was about to knock his head against the window out of desperation when he saw that Yibo stirred up again, this time, opening his doe eyes with a small flutter like a butterfly who tried to fly for its first time.

Without thinking twice he knocked again, which was a dangerous and careless move of the boy outdoor, but, at the moment he did not care anymore, all he craved for was a warmth that he would not get outside in the cold night.

And even though he knew he was not alive and would survive eventually with or without warmth, he still longed to a cosy place, even if it was just for one night, in the end, it was Christmas, the day from which family gets together, after all, the true meaning of Christmas is to cheer people up during those cold and depressing time of the year.

That means lots of food, getting together with family and friends, giving each other gifts, being kind to others, and helping those in need, in the end, the real thought behind Christmas was love, and that was all that the boy did not have, not when he was alive and neither now he was dead, and nothing more than a walking ghost carrying memories he rather forgot about.

The boy called Yibo slowly lit the small light filling the whole room with a comfortable atmosphere while looking around and rubbing his eyes with his tiny hands until the boy noticed the other figure outside the window, watching him.

Weirdly Yibo did not felt scared nor afraid of the two pair of eyes watching him, instead, it felt somehow familiar, so he crept away from his warm blankets, his barefoot touching the cold ground while walking towards the window as if on command.

And he felt hypnotized by the two beautiful pair of brown orb eyes that were looking through his soul, the gaze was strong and firm, yet it carried something gently, almost invisible, but it was there hidden behind that facade.

Without thinking, Yibo opened the window for the stranger, not sure of the consequences, the other boy was hidden inside his cloak with only his eyes visible.

Yet he climbed through Yibo's small window making his mantle slowly fell from his head, revealing a boy around the age of 10 probably a bit younger than Yibo himself, he had sharp features that made him stand out of the crowd, yet the thing that surprised Zhan the most happened when his hand touched the hand of the other boy.

Cold.

The electric shock of coldness ran through his veins when their hands collided, the other boy his hand was ice cold, it was understandable for Yibo, after all, it was super cool outside, but it still felt weird to not feel anything of warmth through the young boy his hand.

A strong gust of cold winter air entered Yibo's room before the other boy closed the window behind him, his hand still holding onto Yibo's as if his life depended on it.

Instead of asking questions, Yibo flashed the other boy a bright smile through his eyes displayed his tiredness of a long day, and even beside Yibo being a curious boy, he knew that sometimes it's better to not ask things you don't want to know, so instead of asking the other boy what he did outside his window on Christmas night Yibo asked, "what is your name? Mine is Yibo," he proudly pointed at himself and then at the other.

Only one word rolled out of the other boy's red lips, but it was enough to satisfy most of Yibo's curiosity, "Zhan," his voice was just as sharp as his features, and though he was younger than Yibo, he still could hear a demanding feeling behind that voice.

"Come let's sleep," without anything being communicated between the two boys anymore, Yibo took Zhan's still ice-cold hand and dragged him towards his small bed which was in the corner of the room, next to the tiny light.

Yibo opened his blanket with a smile, and Zhan only stared blankly at him until Yibo gestured him to lay on it, and as if he was a robot who only listened to commands, he did what Yibo gestured him to do.

Although the bed was small so were the two boys, they just fitted into the tiny bed, and even though Yibo, in general, preferred to sleep with the lights off, something inside his unconscious mind told him to let the lights on for tonight, so that what he did.

Before he closed his eyes to drift off into a night of sleep, he took Zhan's hand into his, trying to transfer his warmth into Zhan's body, while the other was slightly tensed in the small bed.

Yibo placed his head softly onto Zhan's broad chest before his breath steadied and he started to snore, and when that happened a small smile displayed on the face of Zhan, watching the angelic bunny sleeping cutely he couldn't withhold himself from pressing a soft tender flutter of a kiss on his forehead before closing his own eyes to be consumed by the darkness.

But just before darkness took him back to his world he whispered a name as if he was tasting a new recipe he liked, "Yibo . . ." and the name was taken by the soft blowing of the wind through the ajars of the small room, and Yibo unconsciously in his sleep held tightly onto Zhan like a child would hug his teddy bear.

Word count: 1281 words