Heartbreak Club | s.yx ✓

Chapter 8

THIRD PERSON POV

Yaxuan walked into his apartment with a smile on his face after dropping off Akira to her hostel. He shut the door behind him and faced his roommate Junlin who was sitting on the living room couch facing the TV.

'Looks like someone had a good time,' Junlin commented on the undeniable smile on Yaxuan's face. He was usually smiling anyway, but this looked a bit more real than all his usual smiles.

'I guess I did.' Yaxuan replied and walked closer to the couch.

'So who's the girl?'

'It's the girl you saw me eating with silly.' Yaxuan threw himself on the couch next to his roommate. 'Akira.'

Junlin suddenly felt uncomfortable and disturbed. He didn't know the exact feeling he felt and why he was feeling that way, all he knew was that he didn't like this relationship or whatever in the world it was.

'You um...like her?' Junlin then asked.

Yaxuan chuckled. 'I mean...she's thrilling. But I don't do that. I just like how she hasn't fallen for me yet, it's like some new challenge.'

'Seems like she's fallen for you if she's hanging out with you.' Junlin mumbled.

'Not exactly. She seems to have her mind on something else, and I kinda like it.' he looked up at the ceiling. 'But of course she'll fall for me, they always do. I just haven't seen a girl last this long. I only have one move left.'

'Wish you the best of luck Yaxuan,' Junlin disguised his emotions in the brief statement and looked back at the television.

...

Yaxuan giggled as he petted the zebra at the national park. Trips like this with his family were always his favorite, and his family was the reason he loved animals so much. 'This one's cute.' he commented on the young zebra that was beneath them in the fenced area.

'Yeah it looks like you.' the girl next to him commented, dressed in a safari outfit just like he was.

'Very funny,' he answered her with an annoyed tone then continued to focus on the zebra which was enjoying his touch.

'Kids, let's go!' his mother announced.

'But mom...!' Yaxuan started.

'We have to go or else we'll arrive home very late, and we don't want that do we?' his mother asked him.

'I guess not.' Yaxuan sighed and turned around to the zebra. 'Goodbye little guy.'

'Come on, at least you have me,' the girl swung an arm over his shoulder. 'We're going to have more fun at home okay?'

'Yay!' Yaxuan cheered. He looked up at his older sister who was wearing a necklace just like his, a physical sign of their unbreakable bond of family. Their parents had specifically given them the necklaces when they were children, and not only did it remind them that they were family, but that they were a sort of royalty. They were one of the most influential families in the country anyway.

The two kids and their mother made it to the car, and the two kids sat at the back. The girl opened the window and let her elbow hang slightly out of it as she felt the fresh air outside.

Yaxuan looked at the scar on the back of her wrist, a hardened red patch that was caused by fire. Yaxuan always felt guilty for causing the scar, he had accidentally burnt her when they were play-fighting. He didn't know that the lighter actually produced flames, he was just too young back then.

The car started off and Yaxuan looked out of the window with a smile.

'So are we gonna play again today?' Yaxuan asked her, but he got no response.

He turned to her, only to find the car seat empty.

'Sis!? Where'd you go!?' Yaxuan cried. 'Mom! Where's Vivi!?'

Yaxuan opened his eyes from the nightmare. He was breathing heavily and turned to the bedside table next to him: 03:22. He didn't know why he usually had dreams like that, all he knew was that they made him emotional.

He could clearly remember days at the national park, but they never ended that way in reality. They were actually very fun and would end with him and Vivi talking about how much fun they had and sketching the animals they had seen.

But the ending of the dream was right on one thing: Vivi was gone. Of course she just didn't suddenly disappear from the car, but she was gone, and it hurt Yaxuan whenever he thought about it.

He sat up and looked at the necklace on his neck, it was probably a bad idea to sleep in it. He hesitated to remove it from his neck, before deciding that he won't remove it. He got out of his bed and walked into the living room, hoping that TV would be a good distraction from the dream he had had.

He was surprised to find Junlin still in the living room, but he was asleep on the couch with the TV still on. Yaxuan figured out that he had fallen asleep, so he went over and shook him gently.

Junlin opened his eyes. 'What? Oh man, what time is it?' he asked and rubbed his face.

'Almost 3:30.' Yaxuan answered.

'Well that sucks,' Junlin looked at Yaxuan. 'Are you okay?' he had tears lining his eyes, even though he was trying his best to not show his emotions.

'Yeah I'm fine,' Yaxuan forced a chuckle and grabbed the remote.

Junlin sighed. 'Yaxuan, maybe your mom was right. Maybe you should really see a therapist.' Junlin had gotten used to some of Yaxuan's nightmares by now and how they caused him to get emotional. Yaxuan was always smiling, and when he wasn't smiling, Junlin could accurately tell what had happened.

'No, for this? I'm fine.' Yaxuan forced his smile as usual and sat down to his friend.

'Yeah I know you're fine but you wake up from a nightmare at least once a week because you're overthinking about Vivi. Unless you accept what happened and move on, you're always going to have these nightmares. And it seems you're failing to move on.'

'I have moved on.'

'But...'

'Don't talk about my family, please.' Yaxuan answered seriously. 'It's not your family.'

'Oh,' Junlin nodded, realizing that Yaxuan was too emotional to be spoken to at this point. 'Fine then, I'm going to bed. Goodnight.'

'Night.' he answered with his eyes focused on the television.

Junlin got up from the couch and walked into his room.

Once Junlin was gone, Yaxuan put his head in hands and sighed. Every time he thought he was getting better, something would happen that would remind him of everything again. It reminded him of what he had lost.

He didn't want to admit it, but even without the dreams, Vivi was always on his mind. The dreams just made it worse and reminded him of how real and undeniable the situation was. The dreams always recounted the real memories they had, and solidified the fact that she was gone.

But he couldn't let himself be sad for too long, he removed his head from his hands and looked back at the television which he had changed to a comedy channel. His mother always told him to smile even after what had happened, and that was what he always did: smile.

Even though the smile wasn't always real, at least it kept him from crying.