Winter Wind (YiZhan)

43. Detour

For the next half hour, Xiao Zhan is unable to move.

Ever since he ended the call with Yibo, he has remained frozen and glued to the spot.

His gaze is on the windshield of his car, however he sees nothing of the cars zooming past and the misted mountains of the sky road.

He has been thinking, however now that he has somewhat come to, he cannot pinpoint exactly what he has been thinking about. A thousand thoughts have fleeted through his mind within this time, but he can recall none of it except this particular one from Yibo.

I have heard the rumours, and I do have my suspicions. And no, I've never looked into it and before now, I've never even bothered to do anything about it."

His greatest fear.

The truth that he never wanted to hear.

Or perhaps it isn't.

Perhaps the truth that he actually doesn't want to hear or feel for that matter is that because of this his ... heart for Yibo will be shaken.

Has it been? It would be the reasonable consequence however he wants nothing to do with reason.

At least not right now. He is incapable of it all the more, because he needs to sleep.

Despite barely getting any rest the previous night, he had been certain that he would be able to get to Chongqing but right now, he has reached the end of his strength.

He really needs to sleep.

He runs his hand through his hair, but his mind keeps ringing with Yibo's yells at him. His blood is still simmering and more than anything he needs to calm down.

Yibo... the name sounds over and over in his head.

His heart doesn't respond.

He considers his options and checks to see that he is currently in Yichang, which leaves him with about eight hours left on his journey to Chongqing. It is no small feat to keep going in his current state, however he is not sure that he can safely check into a hotel without drawing the wrong attention. Perhaps he would be able to sleep in the mini van.

The side of the highway however is not a good place to park so he has to keep moving.

He gets back on the road, and eventually decides to just keep going. Another hour passes and then he gets a phone call.

He ignores it for a bit, a deep frown etching into his forhead until he finally agrees to at least check who it is.

He feels relief wash through him to see that it is Nini instead of... he doesn't even want to think about him.

He picks up the phone.

"Have you spoken to Yibo?" she asks.

"Don't bring him up," he replies. "He can do whatever he wants to."

"Xiao Zhan," she calls, her tone quiet and filled with shock.

"I'm going to end the call now," he says but just before he can, she stops him.

"When are you going to reach Chongqing? Where are you right now?"

"Hubei, Yichang," he replies. "I still have a long distance to go so I'm going to find somewhere around here to rest here."

She goes silent and he is not surprised, as stopping anywhere is a very worrisome thought.