SMILE

ⅰ - goodbye & hello again

[a/n; above is one of the choices to become the cover of this book; i used various fonts (lol only like 4) & decided the current one i enjoyed the most.]

chuzhong;

junior (lower) secondary school from the ages 12 to 15.

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The rain falling down on my drenched clothes and messy black hair dampened my mood even further. Walking in on your significant other cheating on you with your best friend sucks. Sighing, wishing I noticed all the signs. The way he looked at her when she would come over to hang out with me; the way she smiled at him; everything. At the age of twenty-six, I was considered old to get married at this age in China, at least that's what I thought. As I walked in on them cheating, I shrugged it off and smiled as I said goodbye, with my things all packed up. With this marriage being just arranged by my parents, I didn't have much say in my opinion or feelings about him. My parents were divorced after twenty years together when I was fourteen due to the reason that they could not get along. With my mother having depression, and always blaming it on my father, who is not a perfect man but better than my mother, though with my mother's lies, it didn't seem so. When they had gotten a divorce, I had vouched to stay with my father, I preferred him over my mother, who can't seem to accept that she makes mistakes and blames it on her daughter. It runs in the family I guess, saying goodbyes and having no good relationships.

At least I said goodbye nicely, my mother hadn't said goodbye nicely, and had tried to, I quote, "brainwash" me into going with her. Obviously, it clearly didn't work as I had chosen to stay with my father.

Running in the rain to a store with- the thingy that's above their doorway, yeah that thing, and my shoes making loud noises against the pavement as I took cover from the rain.

Wiping off the rain on my arms and shaking my head, trying to get rid of the raindrops, a man walks out of the store I have stopped in front of. I looked towards him, as his shoes make loud squeaking noises as he turns to grab the sign on the pavement. He looks over at me, surprised that I'm standing in front of him. His eyes look at my face as recognization fills his face.

"Are you- are you Lan Shui Khang?" He asks; his voice sounding rough yet soft.

I looked confused at him, wondering how he knows my name, before looking at his face, before realizing. "Su-Bin Yijun Guan?" I asked, my voice full of uncertainty.

"It is you, Lan!" He smiles at me, looking like he hasn't aged a bit from chuzhong. "Nice to see you again!" Smiling without a care in the world as per usual.