Never Far Away

Chapter 9 - Love is a battlefield

As days have passed and with no He Peng around Zhan started to get back into his old self. For the first few weeks it took him a lot of courage to be able to go anywhere in the college without Yibo or any friend with him. Some days were harder than others. He could be happy one day and the next he could break down. It took a toll on him.

People around the college would go around creating rumours saying that Zhan had it coming to himself since that they believed that he wanted He Peng to do those things while others believe in him. Zhan would try to ignore but it was hard. Yibo would give him support at all time. He would tell Zhan that within time people would forget about what happen and it would be a thing of the past.

Zhan and Yibo were getting closer and closer and Yibo slowly would convince Zhan to go on dates. Haikuan and Yanli were so far the only ones that knew that both boys were together. Since that a homosexuality is not something accepted openly in China the boys couldn't just go around holding hands and kissing. They would only do it when they knew people were not around nor looking.

Yibo wanted to tell their friends about them but he respected the fact that Zhan was not ready.

Yibo: "Babe are you going to take part of the training again? We are one person short since Yu Bin hurt his leg last week. It will do you good and will distract you. What do you think?" Zhan had not taken part of any activities after school for weeks. He would be on the court when Yibo would train but he would stay in the benches together with Yanli and Meng. He did not want to take part of it. He couldn't say the reason why, he just did not want to do it.

Zhan: "I don't know bo-di."

Yibo: "You know that everyone miss you on the court. It gets too easy for the boys to beat each other. Plus would be nice to have my partner back." He gives a quick kiss to Zhan.

Zhan: "I'm not sure it is a good idea Bo-di. People might feel uncomfortable with me there." He pouted.

Yibo: "What are you on about? Who cares about other people. If they don't like it then can go away. Our friends will love to have you back and I'm sure I will the most."

After a good amount of minutes Zhan decided to agree. He was starting to miss the old days where he could do anything freely without concerns. "Ok... but promise me that if I don't feel ok with it I will leave."

Yibo: "Anything for my babe."

The next day everyone gather together in the court ward. None of their friends were expecting Zhan to take part so they were surprised to see him running to meet them in his sports wear.

Ji Li: "Hey dude, you are finally joining us?"

Jiyang: "It has been a while. Glad you can join us mate."

Zhan: "Well after Yu Bin got hurt I heard that you guys were one person short." Zhan was a bit embarrassed with the attention he was getting but at the same time he thought that it was the normal just a few weeks ago.

Li Bowen: "Yibo dude. How did you managed to convince him to join us again?" Li Bowen asked while having his arm around Yibo's shoulders.

Yibo: "I got my ways right Zhanzhan?" He gave a wink at Zhan. Only both boys knew what that meant.

Cheng came running to the group. He was late due to having to stay behind to speak with his professor over his grades. "Sorry guys. The professor keep going on, and on, and on about the dam test. Like it is going to make a difference now!" He said rolling his eyes. "Oh what the hell... what did I miss? My brother finally decided to join us... about dam time." Even thought he sounded annoyed, Cheng in reality was glad to see his younger brother back. It means that slowly Zhan would be back to his old self.