Betrayal of Wisteria ✓

3

Zhen Jie sat on Yi Zhao's bed skimming through the dictionary he'd bought her a few days earlier. It'd only been two days, but her reading had already gotten a little better and she had a wider vocabulary. It was shocking since she'd only been talking for five years and could learn so easily.

It was early Monday morning and Yi Zhao had to walk Zhen Jie back home so she could meet Officer Gong and go to school. No one could know she was staying with Yi Zhao. They couldn't be seen together, ever. He wouldn't tell her why — but she assumed it was because he was a runaway and if they were seen together he'd be forced to go back home.

That's the downside of being underaged. You can't escape the pain of home life most of the time and you're expected to just deal with it. Granted Zhen Jie had no clue what he'd gone through back at home, she knew it had to have been something serious for him to run away and not even want to talk about it.

"Come on," He motioned to her after slipping on his jacket. "I know it's early but we can't be seen together when it's bright out."

Zhen Jie grabbed the backpack he'd bought her and sluggishly followed him out. She was really quiet. After the first night they met, she didn't talk much. It was in her nature to be quiet. She never talked to anyone at home and the only socialization she got was at school with Mo Chen — previously Qi Qiao as well.

Even then, however, she didn't talk much. Mo Chen was one of the only people Zhen Jie considered a friend, but sometimes she made the girl feel bad. She didn't mean any harm when she'd constantly comment on how Zhen Jie's speech hadn't improved. She honestly thought she was helping — when all she was doing was making Zhen Jie feel stupid. It should've been common knowledge that speaking on someone's disability was rude, but for some reason, Mo Chen just couldn't pick up on that... or maybe she did and genuinely thought it'd push Zhen Jie to try harder. Either way, Zhen Jie would rather not talk around her only friend than feel like she was lower than everyone else, even though she already knew she was.

Once they reached Zhen Jie's home, Yi Zhao left without a word. He came back half an hour later and when Zhen Jie opened the door, he grabbed her hand and placed a wrapped piece of bread in it. He folded her fingers around it and said, "Don't forget to eat." Before sliding down the stairs and leaving again.

He was really awkward and curt about the interaction, avoiding Zhen Jie's eyes even though she wasn't looking to make eye contact with him in the first place. It was as if he was forcing himself to be kind, but to Zhen Jie, that was fine. She didn't mind his distant character one bit. She was the same way so she couldn't say much about it.

Zhen Jie smiled softly before carefully peeling the plastic wrap from the bread. A sweet smell flooded her nostrils. She brought it closer to her nose to try to figure out what kind of bread it was before eating it, "Banana and nuts..."

She recognized the smell faintly. When her mother was around, she'd always buy an abundance of bananas, apricots, and apples. They'd be fresh from the market and her mom would always slice them nicely for Zhen Jie to munch on. While it had been a while since Zhen Jie had fruit, or anything fresh at all, she'd never forgotten the smell of them — especially bananas.

Her mom loved bananas.

The walnuts, on the other hand, were something her father always had. After he left the military, he turned to drinking. He never got too into the life of alcoholism, but he did drink quite a bit. He drank enough to forget he had a daughter and wife most days.

Whenever he'd drink, he'd have a snack by his side whether it be walnuts or an entire bag of chocolate chips. If Zhen Jie could speak properly back then, she'd have asked to try it. Her father didn't understand the grabby motion she made, and if he did, he ignored it.