It was a typical Wednesday. Yixing was on his way home after dance practice, strolling slowly to enjoy the afternoon breeze. He just turned a corner when something, or someone to be precise, bumped into him.

“Oof!”

The person fell down from the impact. For a second Yixing just stood there stunned, before his manners kicked in and he quickly bent down.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, even though it was the other person who had bumped into him. “I wasn’t looking. Are you alright?”

The person sat still, before finally looking up and Yixing’s breath was caught in his throat.

It wasn’t because the person, who was in fact a young girl, was beautiful. To be truthful she was quite ordinary-looking; the only thing that redeem her from being bland is her large, doe eyes. Her clothes hid her figure, as she was drowning in a too-large-for-her T-shirt and an overlarge grimy, baggy jeans that had to be rolled around her ankles.

But Yixing only noticed all those things in a secondary thought. No, what caught his attention immediately was the large, purple bruise on her left cheek.

“Are….are you okay? Did you hurt yourself falling down?” Yixing stammered, wondering whether the impact of the fall hurt the girl so badly.

She seemed confused at his panicked face, before understanding dawned on her and she offered an easy shrug. “I’m okay, don’t worry about it. It’s my own fault anyway, for rushing without seeing ahead.”

Her voice was soft and subdued, as if she was used to whisper all her life. A small smile bloomed on her face which he suspected she did to ease his mind, but it did nothing to soothe him when he saw her winced, the smile pulled at her cut lips.

She wobbled slightly trying to stand up, and without thinking Yixing wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her up. If the girl seemed shocked and flushed a bright shade of pink, he certainly didn’t see it.

She gave a short bow to thank him once she stood upright. “Thank you for your help, but I really have to go.”

Yixing reached out his hand unconsciously as if to stop her from going, but pulled back immediately once he realized what he was about to do. “Are….are you sure you’re okay, miss?”

She was about to answer when a loud yell grabbed their attention.

“You! Get over here!”

The girl’s face paled and her whole body shook visibly, as she bent down to picked up a brown grocery bag besides her that Yixing hadn’t seen before.

“I’m sorry, I have to go…” she mumbled lowly, before quickly walking toward the big, surly looking old man a few meters ahead of them that had called her. Once she reached his side he grabbed her arm roughly and almost dragged her away, sending suspicious looks over to Yixing.

Yixing watched them until they turned the corner and out of his sight.

Hours afterwards he could still see clearly the terrified look in her eyes, like a caged bird who wanted so desperately to spread her wings and fly away.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After that day Yixing came back to that neighborhood daily, walking up and down the street, hoping for a glimpse of the girl that had caught his attention. He doesn’t know what intrigues him to her, but somehow he couldn’t erase her bruised face out of his mind. But after a week of nothing, Yixing had begun to lose hope of ever meeting her again.

He had walked aimlessly for almost two hours when he decided to go into one of the coffee shop that lined the street. Just when he had sink down into the booth by the window did he saw her across the street and jumped up out of his seat. Ignoring the waiter’s surprised look, he burst through the door and ran after her.

“Miss! Excuse me, Miss!”

Several heads turned at his shout except the girl the yell were meant for. Yixing cursed under his breath and doubled his run until he reached her, reaching out his hand to catch her arm.

“Miss….”

She jumped in fright at his touch and turned quickly, hands crossed in front her chest, as if to blow off unseen punches.

Yixing’s eyes widened at her reaction, but quickly masked his surprise and offered a small smile. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you. Do you remember me?”

The girl still looked half suspicious, half afraid, and Yixing continued to smile, hoping to disarm her. After a few seconds of intense scrutiny did a glimmer of remembrance flared in her eyes.

“You…..Didn’t we bumped into each other a few days back?”

Yixing could felt his smile getting wider. “Yes, yes we did. I’m glad you still remember me.”

The girl chuckled softly. “How could I forget, when it’s because of you I-“

Abruptly she stopped talking and looked down, fidgeting restlessly. Yixing, taken back by her sudden silence, followed her gaze down to her left arm where angry red bruises running down the length of it. He moved forward but she stepped back, wide eyes roaming here and there in fright.

“I…I have to go..”

“Now? But I…you…” he tried to plead for her to stay longer but she shook her head adamantly.

“Please…I have to go now….and you…you should leave too…he might see you here with me…”

The girl didn’t dare to look at him in the eye, but there was enough fear and regret in her voice that alarmed Yixing, and with a horrified realization did he understood what she meant. Immediately his gaze fell back to her arm.

“I….I’m sorry….”

She shook her head again, still walking backward. “It’s okay….I have to go now..”          

“Wait!”

She stopped her steps but didn’t turn to face him. Yixing swallowed and coughed, before getting his words out. “At least…at least tell me your name.”

She was silent and for a moment Yixing thought she wasn’t going to answer him, when suddenly her soft voice spoke up.

“Suyin….My name’s Suyin.”

She walked away then, and Yixing noticed with a heavy heart that she was walking with a limp that wasn’t there the first time they met.

That night he fell asleep with Suyin’s name ringing in his mind.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Despite her warning Yixing went back to that neighborhood the next day, not knowing if he’ll run into her again, and if it’s a good thing if he does.

He was just about to turn the corner when he saw her, and hastily stepped back, peeking from behind the brick wall. She was with the same intimidating man Yixing saw her with when they first met, and he really doesn’t want to cause her any more trouble. He could only watched in trepidation as the man scolded her loudly, until finally pushing her away before the man walked back into the old, decrepit apartment building behind them.

Yixing continued to hide, holding his breath when Suyin passed his hiding place, before coming out and followed her silently. It was after a few blocks did he dared to call her.

When she turned around Yixing gasped at the black eye she was sporting, and his heart ached at the brave, small smile she offered.

“I’m sorry….” It seemed like the only thing he could say to her.

She shook her head. “It’s okay.”

“Did you….did you get into trouble…..because of me?”

She let out a harsh, bitter chuckle, a sound that sounded so wrong coming out from someone who was so young and fragile and frail. “Don’t worry, I’m used to it.” She must’ve seen the look of dismay on his face, because she shrugged. “It’s always like that. He doesn’t like me talking to other people.”

His hands balled into tight fists, anger and despair running through his veins. “I could-”

She cut him off quickly. “Don’t be silly. You don’t know me and I don’t know you, and it’s better to leave it like that.”

“But-“

She held up her hand, quieting any protest he might say. “Just…..just leave. There’s nothing you can do except leave. I’ll be in more trouble if he sees me with you again.”

He opened his mouth ready to protest some more, but something in her eyes stopped him. It was a desperate resignation, as if she had resolved herself to the life fate had cruelly handed out to her. And so he could only nod.

Yixing watched until he lose sight of her,  the utter sense of helplessness stifled him and left him breathless, his ears still ringing with the soft sobs she choked out as she walked away.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yixing had plan to come back the next day, but when he got home his parents told him to come with them to visit his ailing grandmother in another town. So it was a week later after their last meeting did Yixing found himself in the same neighborhood.

He walked around cautiously, afraid of meeting her accidentally and caused her any more harm. Spotting a coffee shop he entered it, seating himself in the window booth. It was only then did he realize it was the same coffee shop he went to when he met Suyin for the second time.

“Hello. May I take your order?”

Yixing looked up at the smiling waiter. “Hi. Uh…..can I just get a cup of coffee, please?”

The young waiter gave him a searching look, before finally snapping his fingers. “It’s you! I wondered where have I seen you before.”

“…..Excuse me?”

“You went here one time but before you order anything you already ran out so fast. I remember because I was also your waiter that day.”

Yixing remembered that day, where he learned Suyin’s name. “Uh…..yeah, that was me.”

“I saw you talking with Suyin jiějiě after you ran out from here. You were a friend of hers? It’s tragic, what happened to her, isn’t it? Shook the whole neighborhood, really.”

Yixing blocked the waiter’s words, the mention of Suyin still brought an ache deep inside, but the waiter’s last words caught his attention and he looked up with a start.

“I’m sorry, what? What…what are you talking about?”

The waiter looked surprised at his ignorance, before shifting on his feet uneasily. “Oh God...you didn’t know, do you?”

Yixing had to restrain himself from jumping up and throttle the guy so he would quit stammering and answer his question. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The waiter sighed helplessly and gazed out the window. “Suyin jiějiě and her stepfather lived in that apartment building at the end of the street. Before, when her mother was still alive things were slightly better, but then her mother died and her father turned into a violent drunkard. He kept her inside all the time and when she did come out she always had bruises. Everyone here suspected that he abused her, but she always said that she fell down or bumped into doors, things like that.”

Yixing gulped, remembering the large, angry bruises, the black eye, the cut lips. “Where…where’s Suyin now?”

Yixing hated the regret and sympathy in the waiter’s gaze, and he wanted to cover his ears so he won’t have to hear the words.

“A few days back the neighbors reported a disturbance and the police came. They found Suyin jiějiě in a bad shape; apparently her father had beat and pushed her down three flights of stairs. They called the ambulance immediately, but jiějiě…..”  

The air was heavy with dark, thick silence. The waiter patted Yixing’s shoulder in a consoling manner.

“I’m sorry. She died before they even got to the hospital.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When Yixing was small, his mother always read him fairytales as bedtime stories. He’d listened with eyes wide and mouth open, enjoying every fantasy and adventures his mother spun for them, imagining himself in the midst of it all.

As he grew older his mother stopped their nightly ritual, but Yixing never forgot those fairytales. He knows it’s silly and childish of him, but he’d always like to imagine himself as the hero of a story, and that no matter how hard it was in the beginning, somewhere in the end the perfect happy ending is waiting.

The droplets of tears running down his cheeks were scalding his skin and brought him back to reality. His chest tightened painfully with every breath he took.

And Yixing regretted the fact that he’s not Prince Charming, that he couldn’t save the damsel in distress, that real life doesn’t have a happily ever after.