Yibo's pov
"Here we are," Zhan said as we came to his house.
It was evening by the time our date ended and since I had already decided to attend his family dinner, there wasn't much time.
So I went to Zhan's house to change.
However, I met two new people there.
"Zhan, you are back." A woman who I assumed Yanli came to him, and with her was a man who I assumed was Cheng.
"What a disaster man," Cheng said.
Zhan shook his head while Yanli and Cheng finally looked at me their eyes widened while I gave them an awkward hi.
"Oh my god." Yanli spoke, "Is he also coming to the dinner?"
Zhan nodded and she smiled happily before coming to me, she raised her hand for a handshake, "My name is Yanli." I shook hands with her, and then with Cheng, introducing myself.
"We are so happy to meet you." Yanli said, "Like you have no idea how happy we are."
I smiled when I heard that, she looked genuinely happy to see me.
Zhan said, "I brought him here so that he can change."
"Oh sure," Yanli said, "go ahead."
~~
"This is your place?" I asked as I looked around, Zhan had a three-bedroom apartment, which was clean and tidy. It was a simple cozy place.
"Yes, let me show you my room," he said as he led me to his room. While Zhan's apartment was clean, his room was another story, it was a mess.
Clothes were lying all over the bed, files were all over the table, wires were lying on the floor, and various devices like laptops, mobile phones, and watches were lying here and there.
"I am sorry, fuck, I totally forgot to clean the room." Zhan said as he went ahead and started to pick up his mess, "It's not usually like this but today I wasn't able to decide what to wear, and I was in a hurry so..."
"It's okay. Let me help," I said as I helped him pick up his stuff. I grabbed his laptop, which was lying on the couch, and his tablet, which was lying on a chair as well as his smartwatch,h which was lying on his bed, and kept them on his table, while he grabbed his clothes, folded them, and kept them aside.
Zhan's study table was also a mess, it was filled with books and files, I arranged them too, collected the files, and kept them aside, and then I grabbed the books, however, while I was arranging the books, a paper fell from the books.
I picked up the paper and was about to keep it back, but I stopped when I saw the writing, I sucked in a deep breath as I saw the contents of the paper, my eyes widened a little and I was shocked.
It was the same letter that I had given him ten years ago, he still kept it.
I just stared at the letter, reading the lines that I had written all those years ago, I remembered, how hard it was for me to write this letter back then, I was crying back then and my hands were shaking, while I wrote this, my heart was in immense pain, because I was going to leave Zhan behind, I was going to be separated from him, and this was all I could say to him when there was a lot to say.
I suddenly felt a presence, beside me, Zhan gently took the letter from my hand and smiled as he looked at the letter before he spoke, "This was my only hope all these years, there were days when I would be angry at you for leaving me, or days when I would be sad and dejected sometimes I would think that I am a fool for waiting and you would have already forgotten me.
Whenever I would feel that way, I used to read this letter, to remind myself that you had promised me to come back, and you had asked me to wait. This was the proof of your promise."
I was touched, and my heart melted when I heard his thoughts, there was no doubt that Zhan loved me, so much that he waited for me all these years, and he kept the ring as well as this letter, he trusted me so much. I regretted taking so long to come back to him, and it was about time I made up for it.
"So what am I going to wear?"
Zhan kept the letter back in the book and kept the book in the drawer on his bedside table, "Alright, let's get you dressed."
~~
Since my white shirt was covered with dirt after playing in the adventure park all day, I took Zhan's black color shirt and paired it with white pants.
I took off my shirt and stared at myself in the mirror, years ago, I used to hate my body, it was hard to even look at myself in the mirror. In the past, I couldn't even bear the sight of my body.
It took me some time to become comfortable with my body, and learn to be kind to myself, however, I am still working on loving my body, and it was going to take some time.
"Yibo...do you want perfume-" Zhan said as he came inside the room, but stopped when he saw me without a shirt. I looked at him staring at my body, he wasn't even trying to hide it, not that I cared.
It was Zhan, he could stare at my body as much as he wanted, in fact, I would like it if he would do something more than just stare. I looked away, taking the indecent thoughts out of my head.
"Yibo." Zhan asked, as he moved towards me, I became a little flustered when he stood so close to me, Zhan stared at my body with intensity, which made me a little conscious, he raised his hand and kept it on my stomach, which made me flinch, "what is this?" he asked.
And I looked down, my heart dropped when I realized what he was seeing, they were scars.
Scars, my reminders of my past, my dark days. They were on my lower belly, in a place where they would be easily hidden, however, two or three scars were visible, which Zhan saw.
He kept his hand over the hem of my pants and slowly moved them in time, but I grabbed his hand, "Zhan..." I spoke, feeling a little breathless.
"Let me see Yibo." Zhan pleaded, I looked into his eyes, and I saw the care and worry, I let him out of his hand, he moved my pants down, revealing more cut scars, and cigarette burns, Zhan took a deep breath when he saw those scars.
"Yibo, what is this..." he asked, his voice coming out slow.
I exhaled before I gathered myself, deciding to share more shameful stories of my past, the things about myself that even I have difficulty accepting to this date.
"I used to self-harm in the past." I finally said, "It was a way to keep my sanity. I have done a lot of shameful things Zhan, I used to sleep around a lot, something that I am not very proud of, sometimes, when I didn't have money when I was fired and cut off by my dad, I...I...sometimes slept with, other people, for...drugs...I really started to hate my body with time..."
"Yibo..." Zhan said as he hugged me gently, "I....am so sorry.
"You know when we were having lunch, and you told me how you waited for me and didn't even touch anyone else, I felt a little disgusted by myself for throwing myself at just anybody... I don't, that's why I thought that I don't deserve you."
"Don't" Zhan said, "don't say that Yibo, we were not dating back then, I wasn't even there with you, you don't have to feel sad, you were the victim of your circumstances, I am not mad at you, I can never be mad at you, you don't have to be ashamed, I love you, and I will always love you, nothing in this world can change that."
My eyes stung with hot tears, and my throat burned, "it really doesn't bother you?"
"What bothers me the most is that you were all alone, going through hell all by yourself, what bothers me is that I wasn't there for you when you were in pain, what bothers me is that you hurt yourself, what bothers me is that I didn't look for you before. What bothers me is the fact I didn't stop you ten years ago, I didn't spend time with you, I didn't ask how you were doing.
It will always haunt me. For me, you are no less than a saint. I mean you should have hated me, but here you are giving me a second chance, trusting me again. I am so grateful for this chance, Yibo. I promise you that I will never ever let you leave me again, I will never let you suffer alone, never. For me you are the most beautiful man ever, and nothing will change that."
Zhan gently wiped my tears before he leaned in and gave me a long, lingering kiss, "get dressed."
He moved back and but I grabbed his hand and pulled him in another long passionate kiss, "I love you." I whispered.
"I love you too."