Miss No Label

   C H A P T E R  F I F T E E N   

POV:

        I knew I was in trouble - in big trouble. That very moment Sara appeared on stage and worse, when she hugged me, I knew I was in trouble. I did not care about what the whole university thought of the whole situation. All I ever thought about was Krystal. I shifted my gaze to her direction after getting by the shock. There she was, at the very end of the crowd, frozen. It pinched me inside to see her that way. I wanted to hate myself for letting the supposedly perfect night be just ruined. I wanted to turn back time and knew I should not have forced us to attend the party. I could not blame Sara or anybody else for where I was. I had no one but myself to blame. 

        I knew I had to fight for Krystal; there was no doubt about it. I let go of Sara's hold on me and went down the stage, ready to fix the whole scenario. I had a lot to explain to Krystal. I have definitely hurt her, and I had a lot of apology and healing to do. Only a single thing dominated me at that very moment: I could not lose her.

       My eyes lost her. The crowd was too much to handle, and a pair of eyes was not enough to look for her. 

        "Have you seen her? Krystal." I asked Sehun, as I passed by his group of friends.

       "I think I've seen her leave." He replied. "Hey, hyung. Did you just leave your chic behind? It's Feng Sara, for goodness' sake. She's gorgeous. When is the wedding?" He continued with his blabber. I did not mind him for as far as I was concerned, only one thing strucked me. She left.

       I ran to go out the hall, totally forgetting about Sara. Failing to find Krystal anywhere, I decided to call her though her phone. Endless calls. Endless messages. None were answered. It broke me to realize she is slowly getting past my hold. It feared me to realize that I was losing grip of us.

        People started to leave the hall, ready to go home as the party ends. I stood bewildered, leaning on my car, endlessly trying to reach Krystal. They passed by me, staring at me with varied sentiments, yet I could not care. 

       After a while, Sara appeared. She headed to my direction with the usual apologetic smile she flashed before me. 

      "Seems like I brought you trouble again, Yixing." She said. "I'm sorry."

       "It's not your fault, Sara. I'm so sorry for leaving you there, I just..."

       She cut me off as she shook her head. "I know, Yixing. I know. Everyone talked about you and her. I now know, and I'm so sorry. I can explain to your girlfriend for you."

       "She's not even my girlfriend." I sighed.

       "But you love her. I can see that."

       I shifted my gaze and knew I could not just leave Sara on a novel country by herself. "Where are you staying? I'll drive for you. I'm sorry I could not have dinner or something with you right now." I frankly said. "I had to settle a few things first."

       "I understand. Don't worry." She nodded. "I'm sorry for the trouble. I'm booked a room at this very hotel, so you don't need to drive me somewhere. Go look for her, Yixing."

       "Thanks, Sara. I'll make up for this time." 

       "Be sure to do so. We can have a post-birthday dinner for me tomorrow." It strucked me. I recalled for the actual date and realized it was her birthday. 

       "I'm so sorry, Sara. It slipped out of my mind. Happy birthday." I uttered with an unbearable guilt.

       The real deal was that Sara and I have been the best of friends. We basically grew up together, to the point that she knows me too well without me explaining for myself. The fiance scenario came up when she accidentally got pregnant after getting drunk. Being the best friend that I was, I tried covering up for her - to save her from media scams that might ruin her career. As a Zhang, a prominent name in the business community in China, everyone thought the act was credible. Nobody knew about the truth except our families and her manager. I decided not to revealed the whole deal to Krystal since I believed that the issue of Sara's pregnancy and our so-called romantic relationship were kept from other international fanbases. Guilt strucked me as I realized I left a three-months pregnant friend into a whole crowd, especially on her birthday.

       "Thanks for that late greeting, Yixing." She said, trying to sound fine when she was not. "As my best friend, you could have greeted me earlier. Anyway, just go find her. Call me once you do, okay?" She snapped.

       "Are you sure you're going to be fine?" I asked.

       "I'm not a kid." She pointed out. "And again, I'm so so sorry for the trouble. If I have known, I could not have introduced myself that way. I swear, I won't leave until I help you sort things out with her."

        I hurriedly and more exactly, in grave panic, resumed my search for Krystal. I decided to go back to the coondo unit where we stayed, thinking she might be there to pack her things and leave me. Well, that was a bad scenario, but that would not be the worse since I can still stop her. 

       I cursed myself as I reached the place. Her things were still there, but she was nowhere to be found. 

       "I could have just told her before any of these happened." I sorted out for myself in regret. "Where are you, Krystal?"

       With my phone in hand as I slouched on the sofa where we used to cuddle and embrace each other, I stared at my phone's wallpaper - a photo of us. We were smiling, obviously in euphoria, which was in exact contrary to the current situation. I closed my eyes, trying to suppress the deepest pain I have felt in such a long time. I never cried. Not even in the most agonizing events I had encountered. At that very moment, however, I felt too desperate to work things out with Krystal. For the first time in a long time, I was scared - scared of a goodbye I denied myself to imagine.

       A deafening silence conquered the used-to-be comforting sounds of Krystal's laughter and chuckles. The serenity of silence turned into massive static waves of emptiness. I can still picture her out, cooking at the kitchen as I back hugged her and showering her with pecks of kisses. I can still picture her adorably whining over uninteresting television shows, and ending up messing up with me with her playful tease. I can still picture her diligently studying as I watched her from afar. I can still smell her sweet vanilla scent that I have always associated with her positivity and beauty. I can still feel the touch of her lips as we pursed mine with hers just a few moments prior to the disaster we were in. I can still remember the feeling of her embrace as we slowdanced into the music of thin air. I longed for her love - such love I felt exclusively for her and from her. I felt a dominating cringe of emptiness as I feared that all those instances may be just memories that would slip away with oblivion. I could not let that happen. I'll fight for this, Krystal. I indulged myself with the courage I never knew I had. Krystal came into my life, and for the first time, I knew of eternity. I just knew I could not let go of that.

        I was not the kind of person who beg. My pride never allowed me to. At that mere instance, however, it almost came a default, an automatic response to the helplessness that dominated me. I sent Krystal a message, begging her to come back. I seldom use the word Please, but this time, it was more than sincere to use.

        Please answer my calls.

        I'm so worried.

        I won't stop looking for you, just so you know.

        Please let me explain.

        Please come back.

        I love you, Krystal. 

       I closed my eyes, replaying instances with her by my side. I closed my eyes in hope that she would be there as I opened them. Without knowing, I have fallen asleep. Even in my dreams, she was there. It irked and feared me how events turned out in that dream. At first, we were together, euphoric in some beautiful unfamiliar place. The next thing I saw was pitch black. I called for her name, hoping for a response in her very voice. I heard static, but the finale sound was the distinct voice I recognized to be hers. Goodbye, Lay. Those words felt like a slow stab, painful and torture. 

author's note

I'm so happy to have made more subbies :)

And also to read you feedbacks.

Thanks to everyone.

Now, I have more motivation to keep this story going. :)

You see, I did not make Sara the evil woman.

I find it a bit too cliche to make the third party an evil person.

Just some thought of mine, of course.

KEEP POSTING COMMENTS <3