The Reason - SHINee http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VyCDXusYGQ     Side Note: The song fits perfectly! Please give it a listen~ ^^ --------------------------- Narrator’s P.O.V:     The overwhelming feeling of being back in the barriers of his hometown is something that Yixing would never, ever forget.   The blur of food stalls and restaurants filled the area. Although he couldn’t smell the scents of the steaming delicacies from inside the taxi he was in, he already knew. The scents, the scenery, the people… They were all passing by like little blurs on the sidewalk. One day, they would be gone, and new people, new faces, would fill the streets once again.   Few stores would close down, new stores would open up. Society would change. This was how the world worked. It didn’t matter how much you loved to visit that little café down the road or how you liked to walk your dog down the park around the corner. It didn’t matter that you liked to order the milk tea from the old bubble tea shop down the road or meet your friends at the basketball courts to shoot some hoops after school.   It didn’t matter how much he loved her. One day, she’d be gone, just like those stores and cafés and basketball courts that some man tore down, ‘just because’. She’d vanish, and the only proof that she’d ever existed would be in memories, photos, and in documents tucked away on the desk of some stuffy man who worked for the government.   That day had already passed, and life continued to carry on, never stopping, never faltering, never bothering to care about how much he had missed her.   Life simply went on.   It was calming to hear the shouts of a language entirely his own resonating through the streets. Changsha seemed to have changed drastically, although he’d only been there a year before. Every time Lay looked out the window, he’d see a flicker of a street that seemed familiar to him during the time he lived here many years ago. It didn’t make sense because he was only five when he was whisked away to South Korea.   Still, somehow, everything seemed familiar. It gave him great comfort to know that he was home. Sure, he loved Kangnam with all the commotion and his friends back in Korea, but coming to Changsha was a different experience. It was because she had been here, driving through the same streets, eating the same food, living the same life, watching new buildings, stores, and places pop up, unmoving from the barriers of her hometown.   *Meixiu, I’m here.*   A sharp ringing of his cell phone made him snap out of his trance, and he immediately picked it up upon seeing the caller ID.   “Hello?” Lay said in perfect Korean. It was strange to speak Korean in another country, especially since it took him a week to perfect his ‘hello’ when he first left China.   “Zhang Yixing! Are you in Changsha yet?” A familiar voice sing-songed in perfect Mandarin.   “Yes, I am. Thanks for asking, friend.” A sly smile took over Lay’s lips as he replied fluently.   “…Okay, I have no idea what you just said. I just understood ‘xie xie’.” Hana switched back to Korean. Lay let out a laugh. She had called at the right time. He needed a good laugh and a light heart in order to meet Meixiu again with an eased mind.   “Did you meet your girlfriend yet?” Hana questioned. In the background, he heard a loud clang, and she yelped, “Jeez. Sorry, I’m making ramyun, and I dropped the pot.”   “No, I’m on my way to meet her. And ramyun is bad for you, Hana. Make something else.” Lay’s parent-like side instantly took over. He tried to ignore the stares the taxi driver was giving because he was speaking a foreign language.   He could hear Hana’s laughter from over the phone, “That’s sweet. Be kind to her when you see her! And the ramyun’s not for me, so don’t worry. Daehyun’s still at work, and Junhong decided that he was going to be lazy and ask me to make him food. He’s already seventeen, too.” She clucked her tongue.   In the distance, he heard Zelo protest, “Noona!”   Both Hana and Lay chuckled. “Listen, if you need anything, call me.” She mentioned.   “I will. I’ll call you as soon as I send her home.” Lay was talking about his girlfriend.   “You’d better! If you were Jongin, I’d remind you to act like a gentleman, but you always are one, Lay, so I won’t even bother.” She let out a grin.   Lay smiled and laughed silently, “Thanks, I think.”   “No problem, and oh, before I let you go, what was your girlfriend’s name again?”   Lay’s smile faltered a bit before he pasted it back on, “…Meixiu. Li Meixiu.”   “Meixiu… Cute name. I’d like to meet her someday.” Lay could hear the genuine tone in her voice.   “You will,” Lay said, “…Someday. I’m sure she would’ve wanted to meet you too.”   If Hana was suspicious, she didn’t show it. A rush of guilt took over the pit of his stomach. *Sorry, Hana.* He thought quietly to himself.   After the two said their goodbyes, Lay held his cell phone in his hand and looked up at the driver, “How much time until we get there?”   Clearing his throat, the driver replied, “Around ten minutes. We’ve almost arrived.”   Nodding once with reminiscing eyes, he peered back down at his phone. The home screen lit up and a picture of him and his friends appeared from a long time ago, maybe around the time they were in elementary school. In the photo, Hana was smiling brightly beside Lay, with her arm slung around his neck. Lay smiled happily in the photo.   Unlocking his phone, he clicked his gallery, and various photo folders popped up. One folder name caught his eye.   Meixiu♥Yixing   Smiling subconsciously, he selected the folder, and many photos appeared. He clicked the first one, and a picture of his beloved faded in. His finger glided over the screen, over her cheekbone, and he softly smiled, becoming lost in thoughts of her.   Yixing had first met Meixiu when he was twelve, on his annual visit back to Changsha. His grandfather had been adamant about having an arranged marriage for him, and brought many pictures of eligible young girls. Yixing didn’t want an arranged marriage, and insisted on not liking any of them before he could even look at all of the potential wives’ photos.   His grandmother had always been on his side, and she would always tell him to be true to himself and choose someone he really loves.   “Love is not forced, dear Yixing.” His grandmother always said. “It is a feeling from inside you. It makes yo