Somewhere Between Lovers and Friends - Yizhan

Chapter Seven

"What's wrong, Zhan?" Yibo asked as he sat down at the corner table of the burger chain. "Why do we have to meet here in Yunmeng?" He looked around at the new store. "This burger house just newly opened. I guess you just want me to treat you here," Yibo joked.

Zhan couldn't answer. Where and how does he start telling Yibo that he is pregnant? And how will Yibo react?

"Zhan do you hear me? You did not answer. Go ahead, order anything you like, I'll pay for them all," said Yibo

"You order what you want. This juice is enough for me." Zhan said.

Yibo stared at him for a long time before standing up and asking for coffee at the counter and ordering the largest hamburger. Then brought it to the table and placed the burger in front of Zhan and the coffee for him.

"Is there a problem, Zhan?" asked Yibo.

Zhan remained looking down. He couldn't look at Yibo's face. And in a low voice: "I'm six weeks on the way, Ge."

"You-you're pregnant?" That hardly came out of Yibo's mouth. Zhan nodded, he was trying to suppress his sobs especially when he saw a few women admiring looking at Yibo.

Yibo's eyes looked around. "Such an unromantic place to announce to me that you're pregnant. I would have preferred a candlelight dinner in a cozy restaurant."

"I'm not joking," Zhan said when he detected humor in Yibo's voice.

"All right," Yibo's tone turned seriously. "So, what do you expect me to do now that you've told me you're pregnant with my child?"

"N-nothing," Zhan accompanied that with a shake of his head. He raised his face but still couldn't meet Yibos's eyes. "I-I didn't mean to tell you, it's just—"

"Damn it, Zhan," Yibo drawled. "Why should I not know? It's my child --

"I don't know what to do, Ge," Zhan said helplessly. "What if Mommy and Daddy find out?"

When Yibo didn't talk for a long time, Zhan worked up the courage to look at him. "I-I didn't expect you to marry me—"

"That's the solution I know, Zhan," Yibo said quickly. "Before it even came to this, I offered you my name. And again, I'm asking you to marry me." Yibo said calmly.

"Marriage is not the solution to everything," Zhan explained with difficulty.

Yibo's eyes narrowed in anger. "If you're thinking of suggesting abortion, think again, Xiao Zhan!"

"W-what you said didn't even cross my mind..." Zhan said.

Yibo sighed his relief when Zhan said that. "And since you told me this, that means you're leaving the solution up to me. We'll get married then."

Zhan shook his head. "No. We don't have to get married. It's your right to know that I'm pregnant. And that you accept my future child... ours," Zhan smiled sadly.

"I also don't intend to inform my parents about my condition, Ge. I want to be away from home..." Zhan avoided looking at the anger in Yibo's eyes.

"What do you think of me, Zhan?" Yibo asked furiously. "Like animals? That I don't care about the consequences of what I did?"

"Please, Yibo. Isn't it enough that you know my decision? That no matter what happens, you know. All I want is for you to help me. I don't want to marry you."

Zhan was too concerned with his own problem, too distracted to notice the pain that crossed Yibo's face.

"In what way do you want me to help you?" Yibo asked quietly after a few moments of tension.

"I will tell Mommy and Daddy that I received the results of my job applications in Beijing. And I am not lying about that. At the post office earlier today, the postman gave me a registered letter. I was asked to come for interviews and exams. And I have a feeling that I will be accepted because my transcript is enclosed in the application."

"And?" Yibo asked.

"I can still work until my stomach is not that big, Ge."

"Do you think Uncle Fengmian and Aunt Ziyuan won't make it to Beijing? What if they decide to visit you one of these days?"

"Before that happens, I will say that the company assigned me to the other place. In Shanghai..." Zhan raised her hands helplessly. He wanted to burst into tears. "... in... in anywhere—"

"What have I done?" Yibo said bitterly. His trembling hands were locked in his palms. "Because of what happened, you need to lie, and you are going to hide. From one lie to another. Lord, Zhan! Why don't you just marry me? It's as simple as that."

"What about you and Cheng Xiao? No, Yibo, it's not that easy."

"Your condition is more important now, Zhan, than Cheng Xiao and I. I don't want my son to be a bastard and she will understand that because she needs to understand!" Yibo insisted. The sincerity of what is being said is in his eyes but Zhan refuses to see it.

"No, Yibo and it's final," Zhan answered determinedly. "It would be selfishness on my part if I agreed to what you want. "It's true, we love each other. But just as friends. We will be hating each other afterward."

"You are forcing me to tell Uncle Fengmian and Aunt Ziyuan, Zhan," Yibo warned when he thought Zhan just being stubborn.

Zhan eyes narrowed. "Do that and you will never see me again. My parents will never see me again!"

"Oh, Zhan," Yibo groaned helplessly, bitterly.

"'When I give birth, I will probably tell my parents," Zhan groaned in distress inwardly. Now he knows how his Aunt Kim feels when she finds out that she is pregnant and that his uncle is abroad and supposed to marry another woman.

Why does he have to repeat the family story? He will cause displeasure and shame to his parents. Shame will spread not only to his parents but also to his grandparents. If they hadn't been humiliated during their Aunt Kim's youth, maybe they would have suffered now because of him. The consolation is that they are in another country.

His Aunt Kim was his father's best friend and his father almost wanted to kill his friend. Fengmian will surely feel the same way when it comes to Yibo. Yibo is almost a son to him.

And he'll be at lost. If maybe Yibo refused to help him, he didn't know what to do.