Vol 2 Chapter 18 (1/2)
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It was soon going to be Christmas. This was Mai Ding's most favorite holiday. And even though it was not going to snow in this part of town, Mai Ding thought that it didn't really matter. The environment alone wasn't the only thing that contributed to the atmosphere. The words itself was able to bring about a sense of warmth.
Mai Ding's only regret was that An Ziyan was not going to be by his side this Christmas. Li Ming was also nowhere in sight. In school, Mai Ding could see various couples preparing presents for each other. Mai Ding, having nothing much to do, decided to also follow suit and was shopping for a suitable present for An Ziyan, but the more he looked, the more undecided he became. Furthermore, he was extremely broke this month. His living expenses alone sapped most of his allowance. He had no other choice but to go to a shop that sold various things near the campus. After some browsing, he bought a starlamp for An Ziyan in the end.
There was a Christmas event that night, and because he was feeling a little bored, Mai Ding decided to go take a look at what it had to offer. But the minute he was at the event, he kind of regretted attending it: everyone had partners or was with a group of friends. Everyone was happy and laughing but that made Mai Ding feel even lonelier.
Mai Ding thought of An Ziyan. He missed him dearly. He wished An Ziyan could just appear and be by his side. Such hopes continued to creep into his mind and it was soon overwhelming him.
After some time, he could not take it any longer. He took out his phone and called An Ziyan.
“An Ziyan, I am feeling so lonely.” he said when the call connected. “How nice it would be if you were by my side.” Over on An Ziyan's side, it was a little noisy, and Mai Ding regretted calling him. He felt he was disturbing An Ziyan. After all, this was the season when families got together. Was he going overboard here? Before An Ziyan could even reply, he hung up.
He wanted to be loved. He wanted a hug. There were just so many things that he wanted and this realization frightened him, somehow. He wanted An Ziyan, and everything related to him. He realized how selfish he had become. He knew that in a relations.h.i.+p, the tighter you held onto a person, the easier it was for you to lose the one you love. He had already achieved more than he could ever hope for. Why was he feeling this way?
From where he stood, Mai Ding could see people having fun. He wasn't in the mood. In the end, he decided that it was best to just head back to the dorm and sleep. So slowly, he walked towards the campus and already the sky was getting dark. As he was walking in the direction of the dorm, he stuck his hands in his pocket and was listlessly kicking a stone around.
He seemed to have walked for quite a distance. When he reached the dorm, he looked up and he thought he saw someone on the fifth floor. The light was dim and he couldn't be sure. Could it be? Was it An Ziyan? A pang of longing hit him and he ran up the stairs but when he reached the fifth floor, there was no one in sight. He sighed. He felt that heaven was again, making fun of him. He was obviously missing An Ziyan so much to the point that he was beginning to hallucinate about him.
In an emotionless way, he took his keys out and was about to open the door to his room, but he couldn't resist just checking one more time if An Ziyan was around. He didn't know why he missed An Ziyan so much. Why couldn't An Ziyan just be by his side? He shook his head, knowing that it was useless and proceeded to enter his dorm room.
“I see, someone is looking for me” It was that voice that was so familiar to Mai Ding. Mai Ding turned and he saw An Ziyan leaning on the wall.
“Are you my imagination?” Mai Ding couldn't be sure, but standing before him was indeed his An Ziyan.
“You are really an idiot.”
Mai Ding ran to An Ziyan and pounced on him. “Why are you here? Aren't you with your family? How is it possible that you are here? When did you arrive? Did you wait long? How did you know I would come back to the dorm?” Mai Ding had so many questions. He had so many thoughts and feelings that he wanted to share: his shock, his grat.i.tude, how touched he felt; all these emotions, Mai Ding wanted to express to An Ziyan but words somehow failed him.
“Stop being so noisy.” An Ziyan said, and he grabbed Mai Ding's hand. “Come let's go celebrate Christmas together.” Mai Ding nodded and held onto An Ziyan's hands tightly, afraid that this was just a dream.
An Ziyan brought Mai Ding to his house. And even though the house wasn't decorated for the season, Mai Ding was more than satisfied. He remembered the gift he had bought and quickly took it out from his bag. “Here. I bought this for you.”
An Ziyan frowned. “What's this? A trash bin?”
“What rubbish bin! You really have no taste.” He ran off to turn off the lights and came back to turn the lamp he had bought on. Immediately the dark room was filled with stars, as if the two of them were out in the open on a starlit night. “Don't you think it's really pretty?”
“Aren't you actually buying this for yourself?”
“You mean you don't like it? You are such an idiot. Can't you say something nice when someone gives you a present?”
“Please turn your trash bin off. It's beginning to hurt my eyes.”
“I told you it's not a trash bin. It's a star lamp.”
Mai Ding was slowly getting irritated by the fact that his present was not appreciated. But in the end, he decided to turn it off and went to turn the room lights on instead.
“Go to the guest room and bring the phone here for me.” An Ziyan instructed.
“I'm not your housemaid anymore.” But he still spinelessly obeyed. In his mind he was wondering why the phone would be in the guest room. When he opened the door to the guest room, the room was pitch black. He felt for the switch which was on the wall and when he finally turned on the lights, he was dumbstruck.
It looked as if he had walked into a mini theatre. There was a large projection screen and below that was a DVD player. Opposite the screen was a sofa and nearby were several box shelves. And in each box shelf, there were many DVDs all arranged according to the country of origin and year of production. Mai Ding randomly picked one out and realised that these movies were all his favorite.
He suddenly felt bad. Indeed, his star lamp paled in comparison to what An Ziyan had done. He wanted to shout out loud, pull his hair out, bite something. Obviously this must be a dream! Mai Ding clumsily trotted back downstairs and collapsed next to An Ziyan. “I knew it. You can take off that false mask you wear: you are actually Santa Claus!”