36 THE WRONG HOME (1/2)
”Hey,” Hua Zhendan heard Xuan Tianyi's crispy voice calling out to him softly. Too lazy to open his eyes, he kept them close.
”Baby, get up, I made you breakfast,” Xuan Tianyi ran a hand along Hua Zhendan's hair as he spoke this time around.
Slowly, Hua Zhendan's opened his eyelids. He stared at his lover who bequeathed him with the most gentle smile he'd ever known.
Hua Zhendan sat up. ”I had the most terrifying nightmare,” he told Xuan Tianyi.
”Oh!” Xuan Tianyi's creased his brows in worry. ”What happened?”
”I don't remember the details,” Hua Zhendan shook his head. ”I just remember that I was saddened because we couldn't be together.”
Xuan Tianyi laughed, ”That's silly. We'd always be together.”
”Promise?”
”Promise,” Xuan Tianyi said with a smile. ”Come eat.”
Hua Zhendan watched Xuan Tianyi picked up a small bowl from the top of the nightstand beside his bed. He stared into the bowl and saw the most inedible noodles Xuan Tianyi had every prepared. Instant noodles barely soaked in water with two raw eggs sprinkled on it.
Hua Zhendan shook his head, ”I'm not going to eat that.”
A small frown settled on Xuan Tianyi's face. ”But you've not had anything to eat in days.”
”I don't feel hungry, I'm just going to go back to bed.”
Amidst protests from Xuan Tianyi, Hua Zhendan lay back down and closed his eyes to sleep.
Soon, or maybe a couple of hours later, when Hua Zhendan woke up again, he scanned the room for any sign of Xuan Tianyi, but found none. Just as he was about to close his eyes again, he noticed the bowl of noodles from earlier still seated on the nightstand.
Just then, he heard a rumble in his tummy that told him he was hungry. So, he sat up and picked up the bowl. Immediately he did, he threw the bowl on the floor because the inedible noodles was no longer in it but instead, they had been replaced with a handful of small spiders that scrambled over one another in the bowl. Hua Zhendan looked down and watched the spiders escape. He sighed and went back to sleep.
When Hua Zhendan woke up the third time, his mind felt empty but for the memory of both previous events. The one with the spider was the most persistent.
He blinked for a few minutes to adjust his eyes to the light in the room.
Fatigue seeped through his veins and he felt like he didn't have the strength to lift up his arms.
As he stared at the ceiling, he realized that it wasn't the brown pvc boards that decorated his room, but was rather a white 3d motif he recognized from his childhood.
Lazily, he looked around and realized he was in his room. Not his room in his apartment, but his room in Shen Rui's house. How on earth did he get here?
As he closed his eyes, he tried to recall what had happened to him. Different memories came flooding in at the same time. One of him and Xuan Tianyi talking about getting married. When that was supposed to fill him with excitement, it only made him sad.
Slowly, he sat himself up on the headboard. That was when he noticed the needle stuck in his left hand. It was connected to a drip. His first instinct was to remove the drip but he didn't have the strength for that either.
He closed his eyes again and thought about what had happened and he remembered everything. Everything. From the fight that made Xuan Tianyi stay at his sister's to his and Shen Rui's talk.
He remembered the devastation he had experienced when Shen Rui had told him what she was there to say.
”Why did you tell me?” He had asked. His tone sober.
”Would you rather I didn't tell you? It was important you knew,” She had rebutted.
”No. I would rather not know something like this. I would rather nobody told him either. We were just talking about getting married, for God's sake,” His voice was angry. Yet shaky.
”Getting married? Is it that serious?”
”Yes, mum, it's that serious. We are in love with each other.” He had fallen to the chair in despair. Then he had buried his head in his hands. Silently, he had sobbed.
”Oh! My baby,” Shen Rui had scooted closer to him and ran her hand on his back.
Hua Zhendan had raised his head from his hands and with tears-filled eyes had stared at Shen Rui. In a tone that pierced her heart with a thousand needles, he had muttered, ”Mum, I have all THESE feelings for Xuan Tianyi. What do you want me to do with them?”
Shen Rui didn't say anything. Instead, she pulled her son into a big hug and ran a hand along his sides.
Hua Zhendan had pushed her away gently and stood up with a start. ”I don't feel so good, mum.”
Shen Rui had said in reply. ”This is just a phase, baby. Something to look back on.”
Hua Zhendan shook his head and pacing around, had muttered, ”No, I don't feel good.”
”That's what I'm saying. Remember when you were with the other one and thought you couldn't love anyone else?” Shen Rui persisted. ”When you find the right person for you, it'll be a whole lot easier.”
Hua Zhendan stood still and shook his head. ”I don't feel good. I feel sick, I want to go home.”
He had hurriedly walked out of his office with Shen Rui trailing fast behind him.
Once he got to the park, he had doubled over and threw up beside a bright-red Chevrolet Tahoe whose owner he didn't know.
When Shen Rui appeared, he was still throwing up. She ran a hand along his back and handed him a water bottle from her bag.
Hua Zhendan had washed his mouth and fumbled through his pocket for his phone.
”You're running a temperature,” Shen Rui's voice was panicked.
”My car... Wang Zi... I can't find my phone. I think I left it upstairs.” He had managed to say between gritted teeth. A cold was making it hard for him to speak.
”I'll go get it for you,” Shen Rui said.
”No.” Hua Zhendan shook his head. ”Take me home.”
”Get in my car,” she supported a weak Hua Zhendan till they got to her car.
When she started the ignition, she had said, ”I'll take you to the hospital.”