xiao yu is lying on his bed staring at the ceiling. bored. his bedroom door isn't closed all the way, but the lights in the hallway were closed. suddenly they turn on. xiao yu turns to look and sees his mom walking past his bedroom. He gets up from his bed and peeks at what his mom was doing. she was heading towards their dad's den. for some awkward reason, he felt something was wrong and so he follows.

his parents are in the warmly lit den as xiao yu eavesdrop from the door.

"he really doesn't know?"

she shook her head, "don't worry xiao yu will never find out."

he let out a deep breath, "but how long can we hide this? it's been 11 years already, can't we just let him be?"

she crosses her arms, "i care about my child's future, i will never let him end up with a girl like that. She doesn't come from a good family, has no educational background, she'll bring him down with her."

mr. yan sighs, "but xiao yu is no longer a child, controlling him like we control ya lun will only make him just like his brother."

she sighs in denial, "why don't you believe me? ya lun is rebellious only because we allowed him to come back here for his studies. if we had let him stay behind then he would've been a better kid. but xiao yu is different from ya lun, i know he'll understand."

xiao yu was in confusion, eavesdropping like this was no help. he slowly head back to his room when he heard commotion from downstairs. he looked over the railing.

the maid was holding ya lun and gui gui back.

"xiao yu!" ya lun called out angrily.

gui gui was also trying to stop ya lun, "listen to me!" she kept saying but it was no help.

xiao yu slowly walked down towards them, "ya lun, why are you looking for me this late at night?" he looked at gui gui who came flying to his aid.

"xiao yu," she said breathless, "run! Hide!"

ya lun was completely going crazy.

their parents came rushing down as well and shocked at the sight of gui gui and ya lun in rage.

"what's going on?" their dad asks, "it's so late why is a girl here?"

gui gui slowly back off from xiao yu.

ya lun pulls gui gui away and faces xiao yu, "why'd you tell her?"

xiao yu looked at his older brother in confusion, "tell her what? it's so late shouldn't she be home? and why are you two together at this time of night?"

their mom walks up towards gui gui and rolls her eyes, "this girl is the reason for your arguments?"

ya lun looks at his mom a little confused, "you know her?"

their mom sees ya lun holding onto her hand, she laughs and looks at her son, "don't tell me you also like her?"

gui gui tries to remove her hand but he held firmly onto hers.

xiao yu interrupts, "ma, this matter is between me and ya lun--"

"whatever is between you two," she says, "shouldn't be about her." she looks at ya lun, "do you know what selina told me earlier today? she wants to call off the wedding, do you know how devastated i was as your mom. what on earth have you done to upset her like that?"

"it doesn't matter," ya lun says, "i never intended on marrying her. you two are the ones forcing me."

gui gui looks at him, finally his true words are out.

"it's good that she's calling off the wedding now, because i wouldn't even show up for the event." he pulls gui gui closer to him, "this is the only girl i'm ever going to marry."

gui gui looks at him shock. she then sees xiao yu's expression and refuses, "it's not like that--"

"what are you saying?" his dad finally says something, "you refuse to marry selina because of this girl? what have you been doing your years over here while we were in the US? at first you refused to come back because of hebe, then when hebe was sent to the US you also refused to go because you didn't want to her go through her treatments, when you came back you refused to stay as well, what do you really want?"

"i want to have my freedom!" ya lun finally shouts out in anger, "can't i have the freedom to do what i want without you guys complaining about it and then changing it into whatever fits your satisfactions?! this is why i never wanted to come back!"

in a state of rage his mom slaps him.

gui gui was in shock.

xiao yu steps up to ya lun, "mom is angry right now, please don't do anything to upset her. you know what will happen, just go and cool down for the night."

"don't let him go," she says in rage looking at ya lun, "if you leave right now you are no longer my son!"

ya lun looks back at his mom, holding back the tears of pain, "ok." he says, "i won't be your son anymore then." he heads out the door pulling gui gui with him.

xiao yu holds onto his mom as their dad lets out a deep breath.

~~~~~

gui gui is being pulled by ya lun as he continues walking with no presence. She finally pulls away, "yan ya lun go back."

he stops walking and slowly looks at her.

she sighs as she says, "go back and apologize to your parents." the words she were saying even hurted her but she knew it was the right thing to do if she was in his position. "i don't know what kind of grudges you have against your parents, but i would never say that to my mom. please..." she pauses to take in a small breath, "please go back."

the look in his eyes were painful as he finally cries. he falls onto his knees with no resort but to cry.

gui gui slowly approaches him and bends down to him. she sighs with pain, "what's really going on?" she looks at him closely, "you can't even tell me?"

he remains silent but continues to cry.

~~~~~~

gui gui places a cup of warm coffee on the table infront of him but he has remained silent ever since. she looks at him, this is the first time she's realized he was such a fragile person. it wasn't just until now that she's realized there are secrets of him she still doesn't know.

"ya lun..." she pauses and decides nows not the time to talk about the situation earlier. "drink up while it's warm," she forces a smile, "you can stay until you finish your coffee. i have to get ready for bed." before gui gui could even stand up he holds onto her hand. she looks at him tenderly. he refuses to look at her. gui gui sighs, "don't stay too long," she knew it was wrong to force him out like this but she has no other way to make him go back. she then leaves him alone in her living room.

a few minutes later gui gui comes out from the bathroom, her hair wrapped in a towel. she comes to close the living room lights, but the cup of coffee remains on the table untouched. she moves towards it and sees him asleep on her couch. seeing him under such distress causes her to feel pitiful for him even though she doesn't want to. after she fetched the blankets and pillow she covers him in it and sighs as she studies his face... he hasn't change a bit... he was still the same yan ya lun that left two years ago, a little immature but at the same time a little mature... he was still the same... but she has changed... only til now she's realized only one thing hasn't changed, it was her heart. slowly carressing his face as he sleeps she begins to cry. maybe these are just the tears of pain that she has forgotten to cry two years ago or maybe these are just the tears of loneliness she's refused to acknowlegde since he's left, but in actuality these are the tears of a girl crying to her lover secretly telling him not to leave her ever again...

~~~~~~