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Open your eyes!

As cliché as it sounded, it was exactly what Doctor told Xiao Zhan to do.

And he did.

There were men, women, elderly and children. There were schoolers, employees and salesmen.

For the first time in so long, he finally looked at people and not to the ground which carried his dead feet. He was surprised, and when he begun to see he begun to hear. The little kids boosting about their toys which they got from a Gachapon. The Young boy emptying his seat for a grandma who had sore knees. She even gave him an onigiri. The girls squealing about their crushes and the employees calculating his budget to buy a gift for his daughter's first birthday.

Those were all the most mundane things of life, the things which could never excite anyone. Yet Xiao Zhan found himself immersed in them. He looked into the eyes of people, he could tell! Just by eyes, if a person was happy or sad. It was all written there! Why never he knew that before?

He looked at them, as if looking into the world for the very first time.

The flight from Beijing to Jiujiang was almost 3 hours and when he was in the waiting area for further instructions, he didn't even look at his feet or the ground once. He was experiencing all sorts of emotions which he didn't know he was capable of having. Too bad he didn't focus on having social status, otherwise he would have loved to strike a conversation. Anything at all, it wouldn't matter he just wanted to try. He had a boost of new confidence in him all of the sudden and he felt he could really get better.

How did it all happen with just one session with the psychiatrist? And the doctor didn't even advise him anything clearly. All he said were some vague words. It was Xiao Zhan, it was him who wanted a change. A little push was all he needed and he swore to do better.

But it wasn't always easy.

He was having the time of his life when he sensed the pair of cold eyes, lurking close to him.The closer the owner of the eyes got to him, the panicked Xiao Zhan became.

Open your eyes open your eyes.

Xiao Zhan reminded himself when he couldn't seem to look into those eyes.But when he did, those cold eyes were doing more harm to him than good. The confidence he built himself earlier, vanished without leaving a trace.

"ZhanZhan! It's really you!" Said the pair of cold eyes.

"U..uh Hello." Xiao Zhan looked everywhere but in those eyes. He was failing miserably at the first step. What would his doctor say?

"Man, its been so long. I saw you months back in Jiujiang, you remember? In the super market?"

Now he remembered who the person was. The one who reminded him that his life was a prison and didn't own the keys.

If he was there then it meant others would be here too. Even though Xiao Zhan had decided to be brave and improve his health. He just wanted to run away from the everything at that moment. He definitely didn't want to run into any of them.

And just seconds ago, he was convinced he could do better, that it was easy.

He slummed his head down, back to his feet, back to square one and back to bitter end. It was easier this way, he stopped seeing and eventually stop hearing what the cause of his distress was saying. Running away was less painful.

The other person was blabbering a lot, Xiao Zhan wanted to know why was he acting like long lost friends who got separated due to some uneventful circumstances. Then again, they were once friend and something uneventful did happen. All the new emotions he was feeling, turned into sharp pang in his heart and in his mind when the other person mentioned a certain name.

"Wang Yibo."

"Does Wang Yibo know that you're in Beijing? Did you arrive here? I'm sure, he would love to meet you!"

Of course, he would love to meet him and when that happens, Xiao Zhan will surely jump off a roof. Because he is the last trigger, a detonator to the bomb that Xiao Zhan had tied to himself. Funny though, he can't even recall how he looked like. Why couldn't he? He wanted to know.

"ZhanZhan...Are you alright?" The man asked.

Xiao Zhan nodded and took his suite case to move away from that spot. When his wrist was held by the said man.

"ZhanZhan! I'm serious you don't look okay!"

Funny how he suddenly acts like he cares.

"My flight is here, I need to go." Xiao Zhan said and tried to free his wrist but the said man didn't let go.

"Xiao Zhan!"

"I-I know it might be too late but I've always wanted to apologize to you! Trust me! I am really sorry!"

It was then that Xiao Zhan looked into those eyes and oddly enough, he couldn't sense anything cold in them, in fact he saw hurt in those eyes. Maybe he was sincere but that still didn't justify all the horrible things Xiao Zhan had to endure.

Open your mind!

It was the second thing, his Doctor told him to do.

"Wang Hao Xuan." Surprised himself that he still remembered his name. The only way he remembered them was the hurt and pain not the faces or names.

"Yes!" the other person beamed, maybe because he wasn't expecting Xiao Zhan to really remember his name.

"We will...talk about it some other time, right now I really need to go."

"That's a promise! I'll tell Yibo and FengFeng about it!" Wang Hao Xuan let go of Xiao Zhan's hand and waved at him excitedly.

Funny he didn't mention He Peng. Not that Xiao Zhan wanted him to mention him. Although, Xiao Zhan never wanted to talk about it or to anyone, he kept remembering what the doctor said.

Only you can save yourself, not anyone else.

Inside the flight, Xiao Zhan sat on his seat and looked though the window. He was too tired too look anywhere else. He saw his own pitiful reflection and wondered how Wang Hao Xuan was still able to recognize him. He wanted to stop his thoughts and rest, prepare himself to meet his family and so he closed his eyes. Deep down he wished to have them never open but every time he did, the doctor would pop up in his mind, telling him to try his best.

Maybe he can, if there are people who could encourage him rather than question him.


. . .

"Who will come?"

Xuan Lu and Qi Pei Xin looked into the direction of voice. They both gasped and Qi Pei Xin dashed into the person, straight into his arms.

"Jiujiu!!!"

"Wow there, A-Xin, look at how much you've grown." Wang Zhuo Cheng almost stumbled from such a youthful embrace but he managed to hug him back.

"A-Xin, give him time to breath. Here, take his luggage to his room." Cao Yuchen ushered his son to move and give the two siblings a moment to themselves.

"A-Cheng!" Xuan Lu called. She caressed his cheeks with tears in her eyes.

"A-Jie!" Wang Zhuo Cheng said and hugged his sister.

The softness! The warmth! The scent!

The two were at the peak of nostalgia and before long, their mother and father caught a sublime moment also joined them.

"I wish A-Zhan were here."



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Sorry for Errors and thank you for reading.

Wang Hao Xuan – Xue Yang

Nyle Feng – Su She

He Peng – Wen Chao

Cao Yuchen – Jin Zixuan

Wang Zhuo Cheng – Jiang Cheng

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