days.
weeks.
months.
its been at least 4 months.
xiao has been dropping his shifts and stopped performing. all he wanted was to find venti. he regrets not exchanging phone numbers. he got confident that venti wouldn't leave him. he even tried performing to see if he would appear. nothing. it's as if venti had disappeared without a trace. he had asked around , but it's as if no one has ever seen , or heard of him.
he tried going back to the buffet , but the waitress insisted that xiao was alone. it didn't make any sense. he tried tracing phonebooks , twitter , facebook. nothing. not a single trace of the man he loved. has.. venti been a figment of his imagination all along? no.
no way.
he knows that's too good to be true. he remembers his smile , his eyes lighting up too well for him to be a part of his imagination. defeated , he walks to the park to where they first met. noticing benches arranged in a circle , he sits on one , staring into the sky. the night was cold as stars littered the sky. sighing , he closes his eyes and leans back.
"venti."
"yeah ,xiao?"
" you'll never leave me , right?"
" of course , dummy , why would i?"
"promise?"
"promise"
in the distance , he could hear a little girl crying. curious , he decides to approach the kid. the little girl is sobbing loudly , while her parents comfort her. "hey little one , are you okay?" her parents pause and stare at xiao , silent.
" no!"
"why not?"
"i miss unkie" the little kid has tears rolling down her face , pouting.
"um , you're her parents, yes? may i sing her a song?"
"... go ahead. if you could get her laughing , that would be great." , the parents are hesitant and unsure , trying to create a gap between their child and him.
"Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door
I don't care what they're going to say
Let the storm rage on
The cold never bothered me anyway"
xiao assumed this would be something a child liked. although its quite old , he knew it was popular among kids. the little girl smiled and started singing along . her smile lit up, her eyes a shining green , just like his.
"hey kid , what's your uncle's name?"
the kid looked at her parents , who were just smiling at her. turning to face xiao , she answered him.
" i call him unkie , but mama and papa call him venti! they say i have his eyes!"
