Wizard of Oz || Zuo Hang✓

Twenty-Six

That Saturday afternoon, Vicky once again pressed the doorbell like she always did when she went over to Zuo's house. She knew he wasn't home that afternoon, he had already told her that his father was taking him out to the chess tournament, but that was exactly according to plan.

Zuo's mother was the one who opened the door, and there was a surprised look on her face. 'Oh Vicky, are you looking for Zuo?'

'Yes ma'am, is he in?' she asked even though she already knew the answer.

'No he's not in, he went out with his father. Hmm, I was hoping he told you.' She rubbed her chin.

'Oh that's okay, I'll just wait. It's urgent.'

Before Zuo's mother replied, Vicky had already walked past her into the house. Still with a stunned look, she watched as Vicky ran up the stairs to Zuo's room. She had just talked to Zuo about him having Vicky in his room, but it seemed the kids weren't going to change any time soon. This time, she had to be stricter when she talked to Zuo.

Vicky sat down at his desk and opened his laptop which was off. She was wondering what excuse Zuo told Yanni that a chatbot won't be answering her messages. But luckily for Zuo, Yanni was also busy packing some items that day. So she hadn't texted him yet.

When Vicky turned on the laptop, she felt angry as she typed in Yanni's name as the password. It was so obvious Yanni didn't love Zuo, but he was somehow convincing himself that she did. When she had finally logged in, she immediately opened his software prototype.

She looked through the conversation feeling angrier with each text. All these conversations Yanni was having with him were taking the time of he and Vicky's conversations. She stopped when she saw something interesting, and it was exactly what she needed. It was Yanni explaining what was happening in her life.

Vicky widened her eyes as she read, no one would believe that the "perfect" Yanni went through such things. Vicky used her cellphone to take a photo of the messages of Yanni explaining the situation.

Suddenly, the door opened. Vicky immediately felt nervous, but she felt relieved when she saw Zuo's mother instead of Zuo himself.

'Vicky, as much as I'm very happy to see you here, I think it's inappropriate for you to wait for Zuo in here. Why don't you wait downstairs?' she asked nicely. 'There's some cookies on the table.'

'It's okay Mrs. Hang,' Vicky got up from the bed. 'I don't think I'm going to wait any longer. I guess I'll just text him what I wanted.'

'Um alright,' Mrs. Hang answered unsurely, hoping she hadn't offended Vicky.

Vicky was feeling ecstatic as she walked out, she surely got what she was looking for. Perhaps if she stayed longer, she would have found out more. But this was probably good enough.