History 3: Make Our Days Count

Where Are You?

Hao Ting's mother thought it would be best that he stayed with them rather than at his apartment. Even though Hao Ting refused, his parents wouldn't allow him to be there alone. Sun Bo decided to stay over just so he could keep an eye on him as well.
"Hey, I'm going to tell Zhi Gang about what happened", Sun Bo said as they entered Hao Ting's bedroom.
"Sure", Hao Ting replied as he sat on the bed.
"I'll just text him", Sun Bo said as he took his phone out of his pocket.
"Why not just call him", Hao Ting said.
"I know how he's like, if I do that then he'll come running here....", Sun Bo began to say.
"What's wrong with that?", he asked him.
"Well....he already has a problem with his family not accepting who he is and your father is very hot-tempered right now. If he came here and I'd have to introduce him as my boyfriend, your father would think that I'm the one who corrupted you", Sun Bo said. "Anyways let's take a shower", Sun Bo said as he put his phone down on the sofa.
"Shower together?....I'm sorry but my body belongs to someone else", Hao Ting said dazed.
"So does mine! But you need to get out of those clothes", Sun Bo said as he went to look inside the wardrobe. It was a good thing that Hao Ting still had some clothes that he'd left behind. Even though, he's bedroom screamed that no-one was living here, inside his wardrobe said otherwise. "It's good a thing that you didn't take everything to your apartment", he said as he looked through the wardrobe.
"I wanted to but Yu Shi Gu thought that it would be best that I leave some clothes and a few other things here", Hao Ting told him.
"Why?", Sun Bo asked.
"He told me that when my family would miss me and come to my room, it may look empty as if I'm completely gone but if they ever get the time to look inside my wardrobe....then they'll see that I was still here. That no matter how far I'd go, I'll always come back home", he said.
"Wow....very mature", Sun Bo said.
"Well he has lived on his own for quite a long time....independence does make you a lot more mature", Hao Ting said as he got up and walked towards the window.
"How about you? Do you think these passed two months of independence has changed you?", Sun Bo asked him as he took a few clothing out of the wardrobe.
"What do you think?", he asked him as he opened the window and breathed in the air that came through.
"Well....you're still hot-tempered just like your father so there's no change there", Sun Bo said closing the wardrobe.
"Yu Shi Gu was the one who kept me grounded", he said looking up at the night sky. Sun Bo wanted to add something but he didn't.
A while went by and the room became cold due to the window being wide open. Hao Ting was still standing by it, tears running down his face and he was mumbling words that Sun Bo could not make out.
"Okay, enough is enough", Sun Bo said as he went to him and closed the window. Hao Ting didn't reply or look away. "Come on", he said as he pulled him away from the window and handed him a towel. "Go and take a shower", he told him. Hao Ting slowly walked out of the bedroom towards the bathroom.
When Hao Ting came back, Sun Bo went to take a shower after him and when he got back Hao Ting was already asleep. He didn't want to bother his friend as he'd been through a lot that day so he switched the lights off and slept.

Hao Ting waited a while longer for Sun Bo to be fully asleep before he got up. He took his keys and phone from his desk; quietly walked out of the bedroom; slowly closing the door. He tiptoed passed the kitchen but as he got to the living he saw a figure walking towards him.
"I knew not to trust that you'd stay here any longer than a few hours", he heard his father say. Hao Ting wasn't the least surprised by that but he wasn't about to let him stop him. He continued walking towards the front door as if he hadn't heard anything. However, his father managed to reach him just as he was about to open the door and he placed his hand on it. "I know that you want to be near him but as my son I cannot just let you go out there on your own", he said to him. "I know that when you deeply love someone and they get hurt....you feel like it was your fault because you wasn't there to help them", he continued. Hao Ting looked at him and with the street lamb radiating it's light through the curtains of the living room were they able to see each other's faces. His father saw endless streams of tears running down Hao Ting's face and he wanted to stretch out his hand to wipe them but he didn't. Hao Ting pulled at the door but because his father still had his hand on it, a loud bang erupted as he slammed the door shut. "Sit down and let's talk this through", he said to him but Hao Ting was reluctant to do so. He fiddled with something in his pocket and when he brought it out; Hao Ting tried to snatch it from him but he did not succeed. His father locked the front door with the keys; put it back in his pocket; switched on the lights and went to sit on the sofa.