Seven months passed, and Xiao Yi hadn't gone back to that apartment, nor did he charge his phone or contact anyone. He simply disappeared.
That afternoon, he had gone to the bank and withdrew some cash before hopping onto a bus and just… Wanted to see where he would end up. The entire time, he watched as people went about their daily life. As businessmen walked alongside their colleagues, on their way to work or to meetings. As children walked past, punching each other's arms and joking amongst themselves and the random passerby's who were on their way to work, to school, home after a long day out, on their way to meet friends…
When he had been confronted in that apartment, he felt like he was drowning. Although he knew their intentions, and understood their worry, it was about more than him going missing for one night.
Everything collectively fell down on him and before he knew it, he was pulling himself out of the ocean. He had already come to terms with the fact that he hadn't acted human for nearly four years, that he made decisions that would ultimately harm himself over trying to explain a misunderstanding that could have saved years of trouble, that he let himself be pampered…
How was he an adult?
What had he done for himself, by himself, in these four years? No, what had he done for himself in his life.
Him meeting Yang Yutao that night at the bar was the first time he had truly done something all on his own in four years.
Instead of allowing himself to go off like a bomb in that apartment, he decided to change.
He got off at the second to last stop on that route and ended up in a small town in the mountain region. Alone, with only his wallet, phone and the clothes on his back. He can still remember the moment he stepped off the bus and realized that he had done something that would surely send Xiao Qiu into the emergency room if he knew about it. It felt… So damn good.
Xiao Yi hummed to himself as he walked out of a small book store that was hidden in an alley off the Main Street.
An older woman who was no younger than sixty years old yelled behind him. "Get home safely, it's supposed to rain tonight!"
Xiao Yi stopped the door from closing with his arm and turned his head with a small smile. "Got it, you get home safely too!"
"I live just upstairs."
"It doesn't mean you can't get lost…"
The woman clicked her tongue at him. "Are you calling me old?"
Xiao Yi threw up his free arm in defence and gasped. "I didn't say that, don't slander me."
"Shoo, get out."
He closed the door just in time to block a rolled up ball of paper from hitting his head. He stuck out his tongue before he turned around, muttering. "That old woman's aim… She must have been in the military."
Although he didn't need money, he still found himself looking for a job a few weeks after arriving. The old lady couldn't pay much, and she didn't need someone to work full time so she was having a hard time finding a part timer. Meanwhile, Xiao Yi only wanted to get some life experience, so it was the perfect position for him. Many of the regular customers were older, so he'd often listen to their stories, and he had been accepted as one of the towns own.
"Xiao Yi?"
Xiao Yi stopped in the middle of the cross walk and his hands clenched slightly in the pockets of his jeans. Then, he continued walking, crossing the road before the pedestrian light disappeared.
In the seven months he'd lived here, he often thought about when he would go home. How he would explain his disappearance to those who waited for him, to his older brother. He wondered what they had been up to without him but he never allowed his curiosity to take over. Of course, he knew he would have to grovel a little bit, he was prepared for it.
He just didn't think that the first person he would meet would find him in this small town in the middle of the mountains, on his way home from work.
He turned around as he heard the footsteps growing closer and found himself face to face with Yang Yutao.
Well, at least he wouldn't have to get on his knees and grovel like he would with-
Yang Yutao interrupted his thoughts. "Don't think that running away will get you out of buying me dinner after sleeping next to me."