It Can't Be Anyone But You

Listen To The Heart Part 11

Wei Ying stared at the reflection staring back at him. He touched the spot where the bullet had hit him. The flesh was new and still tender, the stitches removed that morning. His doctor had told him he was lucky. Before it hit him, the bullet had ricocheted off a building. It hadn't penetrated deep and so his wound would be healed in a few weeks.

Lan Zhan's birthday is in a few weeks.

Yet Wei Ying hadn't heard from the man who had claimed to love him. He had woken up in the hospital with only Jiang Yanli by his side. Other friends and family members had stopped by during the three days he was there but the one person he wanted.....no, needed to see was nowhere to be found.

Yanli had tried to contact him while Wei Ying was in recovery. A nurse had given her Wei Ying's belongings, including his phone. Lan Zhan's number wasn't difficult to find in his contacts and so she began trying to reach the man her brother was in love with. However, every call went to voicemail. At first, it was after a few rings. But once Wei Ying was alert enough to try, it didn't even ring before going straight to Lan Zhan's three word recording of "Leave a message".

Wei Ying had left dozens of messages. All of them begged Lan Zhan to call him back. All of them repeated the words "I love you" until those were the only three words Wei Ying said before hanging up.

He imagined a thousand different reasons why Lan Zhan disappeared but there were only two that made sense. The first was that his overprotective boyfriend was keeping his distance so that what happened at the hotel would never happen again. The second was that Lan Zhan probably thought Wei Ying hated his guts for putting him in danger and decided to stay away so his dancer wouldn't have to look at the face of the man responsible for letting him get shot.

The only problem with those answers was that they both proved the fact that Lan Zhan loved him. He loved Wei Ying and wanted to keep him safe. He loved Wei Ying enough to sacrifice his own happiness so that Wei Ying could forget all the pain Lan Zhan had put him through.

Wei Ying scrolled through the photos on his phone. He paused on one in particular and traced the image of a smiling Lan Zhan with his finger.

I know you think you're doing this to protect me, to save me. But I'm not going to let you go that easily. I've never loved anyone the way I love you. I said I would fight for you and I will. I won't give up on you. I won't give up on us. I'll find you and then you'll see. You'll see that I'm stronger than you think. I'll show you that we were made to dance together. 

It had been nine days since Wei Ying had last seen the love of his life. Nine days in which he had searched for Lan Zhan. It's funny what you don't think of when you're in love.

Like, where did Lan Zhan live?

They had been so busy with lessons that his boyfriend was always at the studio. If they went out, Lan Zhan always returned with Wei Ying to his apartment before heading home. Something about wanting to make sure his dancer was safe.

Also, where exactly did Lan Zhan work? Who did he work for?

After the shooting, Wei Ying realized he hadn't fully understood what his boyfriend did for a living. Sure, Lan Zhan had said his job was dangerous. But after what happened that day in the city, Wei Ying couldn't stop thinking about whether or not Lan Zhan was safe.

As the days stretched into weeks, Wei Ying's determination to find the man who had stolen his heart multiplied into a frustrating need.

As soon as he was awake enough to hold his phone and do an internet search, he started calling hospitals all over the city. The fear that his boyfriend had also been injured, or worse, grew exponentially as each minute passed. However, none of them had treated a man with golden eyes. It was both a blessing and a disappointment.