A Beautiful Paradox (COMPLETE)

Chapter 13

Kit stole a quick glance at Ming, who was calmly taking a sip of his drink right beside him. Noticing the glance, Ming turned his head and met Kit's eyes. He smiled. Kit hesitantly smiled back.

When Kit had finished his classes for the day, he found Ming waiting for him outside the medical building. Startled at the unexpected visit, Kit considered making a dash back inside the building and follow up with his recent attempts to avoid Ming at all costs. But the moment their eyes met, Kit couldn't bring himself to walk away. Because it was Ming. Who he had missed so much over the past couple of weeks.

As Kit hesitated, Ming approached him in an instant with that bright smile of his. Hey Kit, can you spare me just a few minutes of your time right now? I have something that I want to tell you in person, he asked, ever so politely. Kit's brain yelled at him, demanding him to say no and to make up any kind of excuse that would prevent this interaction from happening. But whenever Ming was involved, that never worked out. Because his heart always won, and it completely shut off whatever sense his mind was trying to instill inside him. So, before he knew it, there he was, sitting outside on a bench with Ming right by his side, the two of them each holding an iced coffee in their hands.

"I heard you got sick. Are you feeling better now?" Ming asked, with a note of worry in his voice.

Kit nodded. "Yeah, I feel fine now."

"Dr. Kit. Even if you're busy taking care of your patients, you shouldn't forget to take care of yourself," Ming scolded him while he shot Kit an exaggerated look of disapproval.

Kit let out a small smile at that, and Ming immediately mirrored it. But, seriously, take care of yourself, Ming said, still looking a bit concerned. Kit nodded his head again in acknowledgement. I will.

"I guess I should cut straight to the point," Ming started out. He paused for a moment before smiling and opening his mouth again. "I'm going to stay with my uncle's family in America for a while."

Kit's heart stopped at the unforeseen news. "When are you leaving?" he asked.

"Next week."

Next week? Kit wanted to ask again to confirm. He wasn't sure whether he heard right. Because it was so soon. And Kit wasn't prepared for this at all.

"For how long?"

"Not sure. I guess it depends on how fast I recover," Ming replied. "As of now, though, the plan is to stay there long-term. I'm going to start studying and prepare to transfer to a university there."

Kit blinked several times in silence. Ming was going to leave to America. Next week. And he wasn't sure when he was going to come back. But it would be long-term. Ming's words kept replaying inside his head, but he wasn't able to fully process them together.

"That's good," Kit finally managed to say. "It's a great opportunity for you, right?"