Mizpah《Zhanyi version》

Chapter 3

Present time . . . 

Yibo stared at Zhan with empty eyes that didn't show any emotions, those were not the eyes Zhan fell in love with because those were the eyes of someone who suffered through the years, and even though Zhan 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.

"Bo di, you were sleeping . . ." Zhan 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; Yibo did not know was that there was someone else inside his room, waiting and watching him in silence, the other boy who sat beside Yibo in the comfortable chair was taking up all Yibo's angelic features, from the small mole under his closed serene eye to his cherry red lips.

Yibo 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 Yibo didn't believe in love on the first sight until he met Zhan 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 Yibo's heart like the missing of something unexplainable.

When Yibo 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 Yibo 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 image of Zhan, his sharp jaw, deep eyes like the sea, and his black hair that somewhat looked silver through the stray of moonlight.

Yibo 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?" Yibo 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 Zhan wanted to put his hand on the one of Yibo, 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 Yibo the truth . . . Yet.

Yibo 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 Zhan's features his heart calmed a bit down, and though his breath was still a bit rushed, he felt better knowing it was just Zhan.

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

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

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

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

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

Seizing the chance, Zhan gave a backwards hug to Yibo, slowly patting his head while Zhan buried his head onto Yibo'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 Zhan knew his lion baby was pouting again, so he chuckled lightly, lifting his head and putting his chin onto Yibo's shoulder.

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

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

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

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

It was silence, with only the howling of the wind that accompanied them through the silence, and softly but surely Zhan 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 Yibo's hair with a small smile that was visible in the tiny flame of the candle that filled the room.

Soon enough Yibo fell into a deep slumber while Zhan'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 Yibo 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: 1139 words