Wufan stands next to a post just outside Capioca, checking out the time on his phone from time to time. Yixing is surely running late. He’s been waiting for a good ten minutes already. But, Wufan doesn’t mind. Maybe, Yixing is still busy working things out at their apartment to soothe and appeal to the needs of their needless, immature friends. Well, that’s why they’re all friends. Wufan can’t help but smile at the thought.

Then, a mannequin, fashionably dressed in a white shirt beneath a black glittery jacket and a pair of black skinny jeans matched by black sneakers, catches Wufan’s attention, making him leave his post to cross the street and walk into the store.

All black. All glittery. All stylish.

If Tao were with him, surely the younger boy would whine to him about it all day long—or, Tao could drag him all the way to Myeongdeong where he could fantasize on Louis Vuitton, Chanel, or Gucci for an entire day—and Wufan would be forced to take out his Visa card and buy Tao’s wants and needs in order to shut him up.

While Tao has never been a great company for Wufan, Tao is Yixing’s closest friend next to Luhan and is the only one who tails and stalks Yixing like a shadow. While Yixing is naturally thoughtful and loves all his friends unconditionally, Yixing has this soft spot for Tao which he does not show to Luhan or to any of their friends. In the process, Wufan has adopted this "soft spot" for their Kungfu Panda, and before he knows it, he has become so close with Tao, despite his dark and emo personality.

*          *          *

When Yixing arrives at Capioca, he doesn’t see any trace of Wufan there at all.

I thought we’re supposed to meet here?

He looks around for quite some time but to no avail.

Blond hair... Blond hair... Blond hair...

Oh! Blond hair guy!

Oops!

He’s not that tall at all.

Wanting to take a rest, Yixing stands at the spot where Wufan was a quarter of an hour ago.

Maybe he left?

Yixing would’ve wanted to call Wufan, but he left his phone in the apartment. Going back just to retrieve his phone would almost be the same as ditching Wufan. He can’t do that.

If only he could memorize Wufan’s number, he could borrow someone else’s phone and give him a call.

What a handicap it is to have such poor memory!

Next time, he would ask Wufan to give him pills for memory enhancers.

Just as Yixing is wallowing in his thoughts, he hears a shout coming from a woman. “Thief! Thief!” The screams for help are instantly followed by a man running past through him, a handbag tightly held close to his chest.

Ah! Thief!

While everyone else is busy registering in their minds what is actually happening, Yixing is already on his feet, giving chase to the thief to retrieve what was stolen and to return it to its owner.

That’s right. No matter where Yixing is, no matter who it is, but whoever needs help, one could always count on Yixing. That’s how good-natured he is. The good-natured Zhang Yixing whom Wufan fell in love with.

Yixing runs and runs, pushing against people blocking his way and apologizing to them, making sure he doesn’t lose sight of the thief. Then, the thief runs across the road. Yixing runs faster, steps past the pavement, and onto the pedestrian lane.

Suddenly, everything becomes quiet, as he feels his body begin to seem heavy and slow down. No, the world seems to be in slow motion. Maybe it’s his adrenaline rush.

But then, Wufan’s face suddenly appears in front of him.

Wufan looks so pale, as if he has been drained of blood, his eyes widened in…shock…and terror? Wufan opens his mouth and says something, but Yixing couldn’t hear him at all. Then, Wufan reaches his hand out to him. Yixing wonders why. Wufan tries to run towards him but is held by several arms from behind and beside him. Yixing wonders why. Then, Yixing hears a loud, very loud, sound coming from all around him.

“YIXING!” he hears Wufan shout.

Yixing does not know how, but the next thing he knows—

*          *          *

Wufan is carrying four paper bags in his hand.

Okay, he’s going to run out of cash again. He needs to control his budget next time. He can’t believe he spent hundreds of thousands of won for himself, for Yixing, for Tao, most especially, and for their other friends. He couldn’t even understand what’s gotten into him to be this generous.

Wufan purses his lips, contemplating on his great financial loss, and silently blames himself for being so impulsive and elated and…

I don’t know.

Just being like that. Being Wu Yifan, the rich kid from Canada.

He walks to stand beside an old man and looks up to see the pedestrian light turn red. Then, he sees another old man run across the road, some cars almost missing him.

Whoa, that’s dangerous!

The man runs past him, pushing him aside with such great force that he loses his balance and leans against the old man beside him. Thankfully, another man beside him catches his wrist and steadies him.

“Thank you,” Wufan utters, then apologizes to the old man beside him.

“That was quite a feat,” the old man says to Wufan, a smile on his face.

“I wonder why he’s so much in a hurry though,” the other man says.

Wufan just smiles at them, then turns to look straight ahead, when he sees Yixing cross the street.

Wufan’s heart leaps in fear.

What is he doing?

“Thief!” Yixing shouts.

This is that moment when the road is quite clear of vehicles. Well, not really. A few meters away is a vehicle running with a speed of probably more than a hundred miles per hour.

Doesn’t he realize what he’s doing?

Wufan’s veins throb in anticipation, as he feels a shiver run along the span of his spine, adrenaline filling his bloodstream in mass discharge. He feels his knees buckle as he steps down the curb, shouting at Yixing, “GO BACK! YIXING, GO BACK!”

To his terror, the younger male only frowns at him.

“Yixing, go back! TURN!”

But Yixing continues to run.

“YIXING!” Wufan shouts.

Wufan makes a full-scale move to reach the Yixing, but arms begin to wrap around his torso and his arms.

“LET ME GO!” Wufan shouts. But the people around him won’t.

“It’s dangerous, child!”

“That’s Yixing before me! I can’t—“

And before he knows it, the speeding vehicle abruptly halts itself and Yixing’s body…

Yixing got knocked off into the air.

Then, the pedestrian light turns green.

Wufan runs over to Yixing’s limp body, casts the bags away, and cradles a bloody Yixing into his arms. The driver of the car approaches them both.

“Oh, my god!” the driver gasps after seeing Yixing’s condition. “Let’s bring him to the hospital! Quick!”

The man helps Wufan carry a whimpering Yixing into the backseat of his black Mercedes.

“We’ll be there in five!” the driver assures them, as he steps on the gas and speeds off. “I’m really sorry! The light was red and I was running fast, it was too late for me to fully stop. I’m so sorry. Please, let me cover for your expenses!”

But Wufan is not listening to him at all. He doesn’t care about him. He doesn’t even care about the thief. All he cares about is Yixing, who absolutely looks like he’s on the verge of death.

Wufan presses his hands on Yixing’s wounds.

“Pressure, pressure! We have to prevent blood loss!” Wufan tells himself.

He’s panicking. He can’t stay calm, even though he knows he really should.

But Yixing is bleeding. Yixing is bleeding.

The fragile Yixing is damn bleeding!

“I won’t let your haemophilia take over right now!” Wufan tells Yixing, his voice merely a whisper, unable to hide the tremble in it.

“Wufan…” Yixing says effortfully, wincing in pain as he says so. He touches Wufan's hands, and says, "Don't..."

“Don’t speak! He said we’ll be in the hospital soon! I won’t let you die!”

“Wufan…I…love…you…” Then, Yixing coughs up blood, followed by a gasp of breath, making a sound as if his airway has just been blocked by a massive something.

“I told you not to speak!” Wufan says frantically.

“Internal haemorrhage…” Yixing rattles on. “Can’t…do…”

“Yixing!”

“…anything…”

“You’d live. I swear you’d live! Don’t give up, Yixing, don’t! Please!”

Wufan holds Yixing’s hand tightly and places it on his face, the tears flowing down on Yixing’s hands.

“We’re almost there, Sir!” the driver announces.

Shortly after, they pull up at the entrance of the hospital. Wufan calls for an emergency, and Yixing is brought into the Emergency Room.

“Why not the Operating Room? Can’t you see he needs to be treated immediately?” Wufan asks the doctor rudely.

“Sir, we are aware that he needs immediate blood transfusion, but we need to test his blood first.”

“Test his blood? Are you ing kidding me? He’s suffering from haemophilia—Damn, he’s…Is he having haemorrhage right now?”

“Sir, listen,” the doctor begins. “We’re doing what we could do to save his life, but…At this rate—“

Then, they hear a loud beeping sound. Wufan’s heart skips a beat.

This can’t be true.

Dead.

Yixing is dead?

No! No! No!

“Use defibrillator on him!” Wufan roars at the medical staff. “Make him breathe again! Make his heart beat again! Make him live!”

Wufan breathes out his words hoarsely. He fists and pounds on the sheets where Yixing lies.

“Give him back to me!” Wufan screams.

“Sir, the patient is dead. We can do nothing about it.”

“You’re doctors, aren’t you! You have to—You can do something!”

“Returning someone’s life is not something we could do, I’m sorry,” the doctor tells him.

Wufan falls on his knees and cries and screams.

This is his fault.

If only he hadn’t asked Yixing out.

If only he hadn’t left his post.

None of this would have happened.

Yixing is gone.

And it's all because of him.

*          *          *

Wufan walks farther and farther into the sea, the waves lightly crashing onto his lean body. In a few minutes, he’ll be dead. He’ll be gone. He’d leave the things behind, and then, he’ll be with his Yixing again.

He has lost his purpose to live, but he has found his purpose to die.

To live a life longer than Yixing seems to be a crime for him.

Fate has been cruel to them.

If they can’t be together on earth, then maybe they can be together in the afterworld.

The water is now just below his nose. He can truly smell the scent of salt. The scent of death all around him. It's calling to him, like a strong temptation he could not resist.

However, some part of him is still hesitating. Will he really do this? Waste a life? For Yixing?

He hasn’t read any of Yixing’s entries on his diary.

Wufan still wonders: Would Yixing want him to die? Or to live?

But, what is life to him if Yixing isn’t in it?

Nothing would make sense.

He takes another step forward.

Then, the water is already over his head.

He doesn’t flail his arms. He lets himself sink deeper and deeper and deeper…

When he hears a voice calling out to him.

Wufan! Wufan! WU. YI. FAN. DON’T!

The voice sounds familiar, muffled, but he doesn’t care.

But he cares when he begins to feel warm around him.

In front of him, right in front of him, is Yixing.

His Zhang Yixing.

Yixing’s hands cup his face, a smile across his face, despair painted in his eyes. Somehow, they don't match. This expression of Yixing would've been beautiful, but right now, Wufan thinks it seems wrong. Everything seems wrong. But, he nudges the thought aside. He can't afford to think like this. Not when he has met Yixing again.

'I see you at last, Yixing.'

'Wufan…'

Wufan reaches a hand out to Yixing’s face.

'I don’t find mermaids underwater at all. I find a unicorn. I didn’t know that.'

'You’re ridiculous, you know that?'

'Because I can be with you…finally…'

'Wufan, you could go back…'

'I know. I could go back, but not to them. I’ll go back to you alone.'

'Are you sure?'

'Yixing…'

Yixing purses his lips.

Wufan smiles at him. Wufan realizes that Yixing has appeared to him as a spirit. He’s so bright, just like an angel.

'Yixing, am I dreaming?'

'No, you’re not.'

'Was just thinking…'

Yixing grabs Wufan’s hand and tells him, 'Come, we’re running out of time.'

The next thing Wufan knows is that they’re being engulfed by a blinding light, and he is feeling so dizzy and unworldly.

***To be continued***