WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE.

Yixing's unpredicted encounter with a girl makes him want to achieve his dreams more.

Genres: Slice of life.

Word Count: 4210

 

 

 

“And this is my cousin, Lei.”

 

 

That’s number seventeen.

 

 

Yixing faked yet another smile and greeted his fiancée’s cousin. He had never really found the opportunity to get acquainted with the endless members of her family tree, but now he really regretted it. It was his idea to host a party in lieu of their recent engagement, he thought it would be a pleasant way to meet and greet her family. What he hadn’t expected was to be dragged along by his fiancée, Yu to flaunt him off to her cousins and dozen other relatives.

 

 

What irked him more was Yu had been incessantly bragging about him and his well-reputed family, which made think that Yu hadn’t cared much about anything else other than his title and his hefty inheritance. There was no denying that their arrangement had been for purely political reasons; he had wanted a girl who would be approved by his family and Yu seemed like the most deserving candidate.

 

 

“Yu, I’m going to go grab a drink, do you want something?” he asked her, hoping she would say no. He had wanted to get away from it all for a moment and this was the only valid excuse he could come up with.

 

 

Yu, who had been striking up a conversation with some of her friends, quickly declined his offer, much to his relief. Sighing gratefully, he wandered off from the front lawn, in Yu’s house, where the party had been held, to a more secluded place. He found a wooden swing, coincidentally, and assumed a spot on  it.

 

 

The swing began to creak as he moved to and fro, not too fast nor too slow. He had just been thinking of ways to clear his mind.

 

 

“Hello, there.”

 

 

Yixing turned around to find a girl, clad in a loose, off-white dress with a matching lacy headband, which had an intricate bow attached on its side.

 

 

He furrowed his eyebrows, trying to figure out if he had been introduced to the girl, perhaps he had and he had forgotten. Maybe, she was one of Yu’s dozen cousins, he thought. There were so many of them for God’s sakes.

 

 

“My name is Mei,” she introduced herself.  “I’m Yu’s sister. "

Her face remained stoic as she walked towards him.

 

 

Yixing, who was slightly startled by the girl’s sudden presence, gaped at her.

 

 

“I’m supposed to smile…I’m supposed to smile” she muttered to herself.

 

 

“I’m Mei,” she smiled this time. “I’m Yu’s sister.”

 

 

Yixing nodded in return, growing quite uncomfortable with her being there. He had come here to clear off his mind and not exchange pleasantries with another one of Mei’s cousins.

 

 

“You mean her cousin sister, right?” he asked nevertheless.

 

 

“No,” she shook her head. “Yu is my elder sister, we share the same parents.”

 

 

Mei went on to occupy the spot next to him on the swing, without bothering to ask if it was okay.

 

 

“Oh.” Yixing’s eyebrows furrowed again, Yu had never mentioned about having a sister. She had introduced him to her elder brother, but never had she mentioned a sister. Something felt odd, he thought.

 

 

“You’re the unfortunate soul, who’s marrying her, aren’t you?” she quipped.

“I pity you,” she went on.

“But I doubt it would be so bad. My sister Yu isn’t the most intelligent or the most caring girl around but she’s a pretty face. And I’m certain it was the only thing you looked for.”

 

 

Before Yixing could protest, the girl continued.

 

 

“All everyone wants is an attractive trophy they can flaunt to the others.

So, in that matter, I should congratulate you…you have earned yourself a trophy to flaunt, for the rest of your life.”

 

 

Yixing, who was utterly bewildered with the girl’s words, took a minute to regain his senses. Something was definitely wrong with the girl; wonder why Yu hadn’t introduced her to him. How could she say that so forthrightly?

 

 

He cleared his throat awkwardly, trying to find the right words to say.

 

 

“Would you like a drink from the bar?” he asked, hoping she would say yes.

 

 

“No, I can’t consume alcohol, it’d create an adverse reaction with the anti-psychotic drugs I am on,” she smiled widely.

 

 

That explains a lot.

 

 

Before Yixing could formulate anymore sentences to say to the girl, a stout, plump lady came running towards the both of them.

 

 

“Miss Mei, there you are, I thought you escaped again,” she panted.

 

 

“Of course not, Mrs. Li, I was merely striking up a conversation with my to-be brother-in-law.”

 

 

The older lady turned towards Yixing, feeling slightly flustered.

 

 

“I apologize on her behalf, Mr. Zhang, if she wasn’t courteous enough. She has been blessed with a blunt mouth and an honest heart.”

 

 

“Oh, no you needn’t apologize, Mrs. Li, Mei here was more than courteous,” he smiled politely in response while the housekeeper dragged the girl inside.

 

***

 

“Yu, you never told me you had a sister,” Yixing uttered when they finally settled down after the party.

 

 

“Oh God, you met her?” Yu exclaimed. “I’m so sorry.”

 

 

Yixing was completely taken aback by his fiancée’s behavior. She had been acting as if her sister was nothing but an embarrassment. It was as if she had been deliberately hidden from the guests. He somehow wished to know more, he would be marrying in to her family after all.

 

 

“Why are you apologizing? She’s your sister; don’t I deserve to be introduced to her?

And I didn’t even know you had one.”

 

 

“It isn’t like that, Yixing,” Yu sighed.

 

 

“Then what is it like?” he retorted.

 

 

“My sister, she’s mad, she’s completely insane, she’s – she’s psychotic.”

 

 

“Isn’t that a harsh way to describe your sister, Yu?” he frowned. He hadn’t really found the time to court Yu and find out more about her, but at a glance, she had seemed like a polite, caring girl. His opinion of her seemed to differ now, had he been too quick to judge her? Was he rushing into this marriage? His mind was muddled yet again and Mei’s words, that had made such an impact, began to run in his mind.

 

 

She was just a trophy for him to flaunt while he was hers.

 

 

“You don’t understand, Yixing. Mei, she’s not normal.

My parents have tried all kinds of therapy, she seems to improve but then she goes back to being the same eccentric person that she is.

She was in the hospital for the past three years, but then she threw a huge fit, saying she couldn’t stay there anymore. My brother felt bad and he convinced my parents to get her discharged.”

“We don’t really let her go out; God only knows what she would do.

The last time she had developed an obsession over my friend, the poor guy had been scared out of his wits.”

 

 

“But how could you live like that? How could you just isolate her, Yu? She is your sister, isn’t she?” Yixing was slightly enraged. The way Mei’s family had been treating her was never going to help her recover.

 

 

“She’s never felt like a sister to me,” Yu yelled, getting irritated by Yixing’s constant prodding.

 

 

Yu exhaled loudly as she calmed down.

 

 

“It doesn’t matter, she’s on medications, and she’s under control. We should worry about tonight’s dinner; we’re going to be late.”

 

 

Yu flashed a smile and walked towards the mirror to get dressed. Yixing could only look on repulsively when she powdered her already caked face. She was so vain, nothing like the girl he had dreamt of marrying.

 

***

 

Yixing was uncomfortable, yet again. They had been dining at Yu’s house with her innumerable friends, most of them who solely associated with her because of her status.

 

 

“So, Yu, how did you two meet?” one of Yu’s friends cooed while they others gently laughed.

 

 

“Well, it’s quite a romantic story,” Yu remarked, smiling widely.

 

 

No, it wasn’t, Yixing thought. He had just asked for her hand in marriage, after being introduced to her by his parents.

 

 

“As you all know, Yixing is training to be a Naval Officer,” she gushed.

 

“So, Yixing and his fellow colleagues were given some time off from their intense training, when they decided to head to one of the local pubs.

And I was dancing in the middle of the dance floor, with some of my other friends, utterly drunk.

But, I still managed to catch his eye. His eyes were glued to mine and when I finally found him staring at me, I decided to walk over and confront him…except he asked me out.”

 

 

All of her other friends cooed, adoring the couple’s story, while Yixing fought the urge to scoff loudly at the lie she had spewed.

 

 

“Hey, Yu, I need to use the bathroom,” he said.

 

 

“Sure, honey, it’s second door to the left when you head upstairs.”

 

 

Yixing got up to make his way upstairs. However, instead of heading towards the second door, he walked towards the door which at the far end. He knocked on the door softly before turning the knob to pry the door open. Fortunately, it had been open and the girl he had been rather curious about was perched on the window sill, a hard-bound, tattered book in her hands.

 

 

“Hello, again,” he greeted her, smiling softly.

 

 

He took careful steps inside her room to glance around. There were books which were neatly arranged on one side, while the other contained a collection of music record. There wasn't a thing that was out of place; her bed was neatly made, all the other things were arranged in shelves, save for a diary that lay on her bed.

 

 

“So you like to read, huh?” he asked when the girl made no attempts to reply. His hands ran through the edges of the array of books that had been neatly arranged. 

 

 

“I like to keep myself well-informed. Besides, reading soothes my chaotic mind,” she uttered in response and snapped the book shut.

 

 

“What are you doing here?” She eyed him suspiciously.

 

 

“Uhm…” he fumbled. “I was looking for the bathroom.”

 

 

“You can use this one.” She pointed to another door inside her room.

 

 

Yixing nodded in response and made his way towards the other door, even though he didn’t really have to use it. He stepped out minutes later to find Mei, rearranging the shelf of books he had touched.

 

 

“Don’t touch my belongings next time.”

 

 

“Oh, sorry,” he chuckled but stopped when the girl glared at him.

 

 

“Why aren’t you dining with us downstairs?” he inquired. 

 

 

“Yu’s friend Han is there and I have been issued a restraining order against him,” she deadpanned.

 

 

“Oh,” Yixing exclaimed, he definitely hadn’t expected that.

 

 

“May I ask why?” he went on ask, rather carefully.

 

 

“My doctor told me to find interest in something and I found interest in him. Turns out you cannot do that and you’ll apparently violate someone’s privacy by tagging along with them everywhere.”

 

 

Mei crossed her arms and stared at Yixing, waiting to see how he would react. The other always seemed to get repulsed whenever she spoke; she expected Yixing to do the same thing. However, instead of scrutinizing her in a displeased manner and scurrying away, Yixing decided to continue their conversation. He was simply intrigued by her and had been rather keen on learning more.

 

 

“No, you can’t do that Mei,” he uttered softly.

 

 

He felt it was rath