butterfly

Zhao Yun was living with his aunt and uncle, because of the issue of his parents his aunt and uncle pleaded for jurisdiction and got custody of him, but even though they treated him well he couldn't help but feel that he was bothering them, he had come to their house at 12, after ten years it was difficult to get used to living with them.

They had a son and a baby girl, his cousin who was his age was his best friend, Xie Min, he was the only one that Zhao Yun considered close, in the university he had several friends but nobody was like his cousin, he was the one who realized how his parents really were, he was the one who gave him the support he needed, he was someone he appreciated too much.

Even though Zhao Yun felt this way about his 'family' he still felt like a nuisance, they didn't do it on purpose but the routine, the affection with which they treated each other, you could tell that he was an intruder, besides, his uncles, no matter how well they treated him, were not his parents, and he didn't want to be there out of pity.

He wanted to move, he had saved up and since his uncles were paying for his career he had been able to save up for that, he planned to tell them, he wasn't going to say the real reason why he wanted to leave.

"I'm home," he said as he opened the door, immediately smell of food came over him, his stomach rumbled.

" A-Zhao, you're here?" His uncle's voice sounded from the kitchen.

Zhao Yun left his coat on the rack and walked to the kitchen while stretching his back. That day had been exhausting, both mentally and physically, he just wanted to get to his room and sleep for hours.

He was lucky that the next day was Saturday, Saturday and Sunday he did not have to work, of course, he did not work all day, his schedule was organized so that when he had classes, he could go to them without having to rush to work. Maybe that's why he liked his boss quite a lot, he was a quite understandable and kind person, his co-workers were the same, except for some but Zhao Yun preferred not to think about them.

When he arrived in the kitchen a smile spread out, his uncle was 'dancing' with little Xie Li, she was an angel, totally different from his brother as a child, he was a devil. The baby's laughter filled the place with joy and the pain in his chest slowly faded away.

Zhao Yun was going to miss this.

He didn't say anything not to interrupt such a beautiful scene but his uncle noticed him out of the corner of his eye and stopped dancing.

"How did it go today? Are you hungry? The food is almost ready" His tone was happy as if he had received some good news. Or maybe it was because of his aunt. After all, when you find your soul mate, the ability to feel what the other person feels increases.

"A little, but not that much. Where's my aunt?" He sat in a chair while making faces at Xie Li, she started imitating him.

"She went out with Xie Min to buy some things, they should be here soon" He said as he cut up some vegetables "You can help me with the table in the meantime, A-Li is not a good helper"

They both laughed, after that the room was in comfortable silence, they did not have to talk to fill the silence.

When he finished his uncle let him go and change in the room, they had a very nice and spacious house, before, he used to sleep with Xie Min but after the years, they started to want to sleep apart, sometimes they had 'sleepovers' nights where they watched movies, ate like pigs and talked about everything.

Those nights were Zhao Yun's favorite.

But they also needed their space.

He changed into some more comfortable clothes and returned to the kitchen, his uncle seemed to have finished preparing everything so he decided to help and moved everything to the table.

Just at that moment the door opened, the voice of his aunt and his cousin immediately made themselves known, Zhao Yun waited for them to arrive at the table so they could sit down.

"A-Zhao you're here early, how was work? something happened?" His aunt smiled at him, he smiled back trying not to show how uncomfortable he was and how little he wanted to talk about his day.

"No nothing, I just asked to leave a little early because of a job I have to do for college" He put a piece of food in his mouth, dropping the subject.

The rest of the meal was quite noisy, with the baby babbling, her aunt talking about how a dog greeted them and Xie Min contributing to the conversation.

He used to be just as talkative but at that moment he didn't want to talk, his mind wandering about other things, that feeling of being choked and wanting to cough still wouldn't go away, Zhao Yun didn't want to start thinking about how his soul mate had tried to kill himself but it was almost impossible not to think about it.

"A-Yun..." His ears caught on, he looked up and realized that everyone had become silent and now they were looking at him with worried faces.

His hands began to join together, his thumbs brushing against each other, it was something he did when he felt nervous. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes, sorry, I was thinking about something" He cleared his voice and looked at them all, wondering if that was the time to tell them about moving, the sooner the better and Zhao Yun knew that if he thought too much he would get tangled up and say things he shouldn't. It was now or never. "I have to tell you something"

The three looked at him and the worried expression changed to one of curiosity, his aunt's eyes shone with mischief.

"My A-Zhao, you finally got a girlfriend? It's about time" Zhao Yun almost choked when he heard that.

Another thing he didn't tell them; he didn't like girls. It was common to think that you would develop romantic feelings towards your soulmate as soon as you find them, but if his soul mate turned out to be a woman, he would love her, but in a platonic way, after all, no matter how hard he tried, women didn't awaken anything in him besides friendship.

His somewhat traditional family still thought that a romantic relationship could only be formed by a man and a woman. Zhao Yun didn't have the guts or courage to tell them and disappoint them anymore.

It was a stupid thought but who was he to tell them otherwise?

He knew that if he told his cousin, he would respect his decision, maybe even upset him because he didn't tell him, but that didn't take away his fear. Having that thought that only straight soul mates could fall in love but habits rooted in people's minds were not so easy to remove.

Zhao Yun blinked a couple of times trying to organize the words in his mind.

"No auntie, the only women in my life are you and little Xie Li...." He let out a little laugh "It's something else I haven't told you yet"

"Well A-Zhao, don't leave us with intrigue" His uncle spoke.

"You're being very suspicious Zhao Yun, say it quickly" Xie Min looked at him with his eyes wide open.

"I-I.....I'm moving in a few weeks" Several sounds of surprise filled the table.