Heartbreak Club | s.yx ✓

Chapter 16

When I walked into the cafeteria, I had already seen Roy sitting with his two friends near the entrance. They were talking so loudly to each other that I could already hear what they were talking about.

I angrily marched over to the trio, who then turned their attention from me.

‘Hey sis, so what was that you were saying over the phone?’ Roy asked me, proving that he really had no single care about what I was talking about on the phone.

‘I said how could you publish such an article after I told you not to tell anyone!?’ I placed my palm on the table. I had intended to bang it but somehow my body didn’t let me.

‘You’re not proud of your bro’s great article?’ Karry asked curiously.

‘Did you even read it?’ Roy asked me.

‘Why would I read it when you did the exact same thing you said you wouldn’t do!?’ I groaned irritably.

‘No you got it all wrong,’ Roy got up from his seat. ‘I didn’t explain anything except from the fact that Yaxuan is Vivi’s brother, which I already figured out on my own. The only thing I took from the rest of the story you told me is that the actual story has holes and there’s probably something going on beyond what was portrayed in the media.’

I rubbed my temples. ‘Of course he’ll figure it out when he notices that you wrote that article right after he told me the story. Nice going Roy.’

Roy got back in his seat and sighed. ‘Stop making me feel bad, I swear he won’t figure it out.’ He flung a hand at me and went back to talking with his friends. I was beginning to regret helping out Roy. With the way Yaxuan got so emotional about the issue of his sister, I was surely scared of how he would react. And honestly, he had every right to be mad at me
.
‘Wow, your sister though.’ Jackson commented as I left the cafeteria.

‘I know right,’ Roy replied then changed the subject. 

I couldn’t believe he didn’t know what he had done wrong, or maybe he was pretending he didn’t know, at this point I couldn’t tell.

Busy with my angry thoughts, I almost bumped into someone the moment I had walked out of the cafeteria door. I was surprised to see Yaxuan, then the surprise melted into nervousness. He didn’t look very happy.

‘Oh Akira, just the person I was looking for.’ He told me uncheerfully. ‘I wanted to ask you something.’

‘Um sure,’ I forced a smile.

‘You didn’t happen to tell Roy what we talked about did you?’

I panicked.

‘Never mind, I’m sorry for asking you that. I know you wouldn’t do that.’ Yaxuan answered himself, not even giving me a moment to speak. ‘I guess it was just a coincidence.’

‘Yeah,’ I quickly replied, even though I hated lying. I felt guilty but to be factual, Roy hadn’t written much about what he had found out from me. ‘Are you okay?’ I leaned in and put my hand on Yaxuan’s shoulder.

‘I’m fine,’ he answered. ‘Just that, today has been really annoying since people have found out that Vivi is my sister and all. How did your brother even find that out?’

‘He…said he could tell by the surname and that Vivi was also from an influential family. It’s okay though, don’t worry about it. It won’t change anything will it?’

‘It won’t but now that people keep talking about it, I keep being reminded about it and it’s ruining my day.’

Not knowing what to say, I said the only thing I could think of. ‘Well, when I’m sad I eat ice cream. Wanna go for ice cream today? My treat.’

Yaxuan slightly chuckled. ‘Ice cream? I guess I’ll like that.’

…

Yaxuan sat opposite me in one of the local Ice Cream Bars. We had just ordered our ice cream and the slight late afternoon heat made it enjoyable. I sat next to the large window and watched the sunset from time to time.

‘Feeling any better?’ I asked Yaxuan.

‘Well I guess so.’ He nodded. ‘Being away from the people at school is making me feel better.’
While we continued to talk, Yaxuan suddenly got up from his seat and forced and sat next to me on the dining sofa I was sitting on. He almost squeezed me against the window.

‘Hey,’ I complained.

‘Sorry,’ Yaxuan apologized as he moved away from me, now giving me proper space to sit comfortably. ‘I didn’t mean to do that.’ He started to lick his ice cream innocently.

‘What’s going on?’

‘Just that I felt uncomfortable with that girl staring at me, so I needed to move to somewhere where she couldn’t see me.’

‘Girl?’

Yaxuan nodded. ‘Lean forward and look to our right.’

When he told me that, I did just as I was told. I leaned forward and was able to catch a glimpse of Cait, still staring in me and Yaxuan’s direction. When I met eyes with her, I got back in my seat. If I had seen Cait staring at Yaxuan only once, I wouldn’t be very alarmed even though it was alarming either way. But knowing that this was the second time I had seen her do this made me feel more uneasy.

‘She’s weird, I don’t know why she always watches me.’ Yaxuan’s complete focus was on his ice cream now.

‘Always?’ I wondered if he knew about the fact that Cait was looking up into his apartment.

‘She’s been watching me since last year or something. I wonder if she knows I notice.’
Yaxuan and I both watched as Cait left the Ice Cream Bar without looking back.

‘She probably left because she noticed you saw her, otherwise she can stare for hours.’ I wondered if he was exaggerating or meant literal hours, either way it was creepy. ‘I could report her to the police one day but it’s not as if she’s ever harmed me.’

‘She probably just has a crush on you.’ I assured him, even though I somehow knew that wasn’t the case. Was all this watching just for the Heartbreak Club? I had never even heard them discuss such an agenda in the club, and doing this kind of work just seemed like torture.

‘A crush on me Are you sure?’ Yaxuan asked skeptically. ‘If it was a crush, I’m sure she would have just went for me. All girls rumored that I’m easy. Besides, even if it was a crush it would still be a bit creepy to look at someone like that.’

‘I know,’ I said quietly, thinking about it in my mind as well. I wondered if it would have been better to leave everything as it was or to ask Cait about why she had been staring at Yaxuan for more than one occasion.

‘Anyway, you really made me feel better Akira. Thanks a lot.’ Yaxuan said after a while. ‘Now every time I’m sad, we can always go for ice cream together.’

‘It’s okay, it’s what friends are for.’ It’s also what you do when you probably contributed to the issue, I thought to myself and rolled my eyes in my head.

‘Well okay, same place if I get sad again.’ Yaxuan reached for my hand under the table and gave it a squeeze. Even though that made me feel slightly nervous, I made sure not to show it on my face. Instead, I just gave him a small smile in return. Once again, Yaxuan definitely did not act like a heartbreaker. If this was really part of his manipulation, then he was doing a great job.

‘Anyway, we should get going now before it gets dark. Wouldn’t want you to get kidnapped.’ Yaxuan said as he got up. Even after what had happened to him when he was younger, it was quite interesting that he was able to joke about kidnappings.