"How do you mean you don't have this book in here?" Yitian asked the librarian. She looked up from behind her table with a judging look. How could this little guy have the guts to ask this? She thought.
"As I said. You have to go to the main library to get this book. You won't find it here." The librarian said calmly and went back to do her work.
Yitian was so confused. He went to the teacher to borrow this book, the teacher said it's in the library and now the librarian told him to go to the main library? He took all of his things and walked away, he did not own a phone and this was the second time it pissed him off. He did not even know where the main library was! Yitian walked to the main street and saw some pointers. Being lucky enough they showed which way to the main library. He thought that this was a sign of getting more luck on his side so he even showed a little smile, sad. But still a smile. He managed to arrive there but it was huge. He walked to the front desk and asked about the book. The librarian looked into the computer.
"Yes, we have this book here." He said and looked at Yitian. But nothing followed.
"And may I ask where this book is?" Yitian tried to be polite but he was getting annoyed.
"Oh, you have to find it yourself." He said and looked down at the work he was doing before. Yitian was dumbfounded but he had no choice. He looked at the little plan of the library and found the row with the books from his course. Architecture. Here. He finally found it. He was small and they were so high up he did not see there.
"So, why didn't you call me?" He was frightened by this voice. A voice that haunted his sleep. His nemesis and salvation at the same time.
Yitian turned around to see the handsome guy. Tall, black hair, black eyes, he became even more handsome during the summer. Grew taller, his build got bigger. On the other hand, Yitian was still small, and girly looking. To his annoyance. Chao was looking down at him with a serious face.
"Next time when you ask someone to text you. Make sure they have a smartphone!" Yitian hissed at him quietly. Chao was dumbfounded.
"How could I know that you don't have a phone? Heck, who the hell doesn't have a phone nowadays?" he asked, surprised, in a normal voice. Yitian slapped his hand.
"Quiet. We are in a library," he whispered, coming closer so that their conversation would be more discreet. "Did you forget what I told you about my mother… Did you think that she would allow something like a phone to disturb me from my studies?" Chao had to say that he had a point about that.
"Then you could find me in school." Chao was following Yitian everywhere he went, looking for the book.
"Why would I do it?" Yitian stopped and looked at Chao. His pale face was evidently tired. Which made Chao worried.
"Are you sleeping properly? What about your head?" He couldn't help but ask. Yitian's eyes widened.
"How do you know about my head?" He squinted his eyes and inquisitively looked into Chao's eyes, searching for an answer there. When he saw a glimpse of guilt, he must have shown something on his face because Chao immediately glanced away.
At first, they were both silent but somehow Chao couldn't handle it anymore he looked deep into Yitian's eyes.
"Can't we just start over?" he said, his face sad. Chao knew he messed it up, but he did not care before. But now, when he knew more about the situation, he pitied Yitian. So, he wanted to start over. He still waited for Yitian's answer. When Yixing grabbed his shoulder from behind.
"What the hell are you doing here, pal?" Chao's new friend said in a loud voice. It was too loud for the quiet library, few people looked their way with disapproving faces, Chao bowed slightly to apologize to everyone who was mad. After he smacked Yixing for being too loud, he looked around searching for Yitian who somehow disappeared.
"Where the guy went?" He pointed at the empty spot where Yitian was standing before. How the hell he managed to slip away in such a short time.
"Don't know, bro. He just vanished. Is he a magician? That would be cool!" Yixing raised his voice again, being his loud ass. Chao grabbed him and dragged him away from the library. He released him just behind the doors. And right there in the big hall Yixing halted.
"Hold on. I need to take a piss." He said and Chao rolled his eyes. Yixing ran away and Chao was pacing up and down the hallway, thinking about how Yitian could disappear like that. His phone chimed. Twice. Three times. The fifth message annoyed him so much that he took out the phone and looked at it. It was Yixing.
Yixing: Hey, come here!
Yixing: To the bathroom!
Yixing: The guy you have been looking for is here
Yixing: Haloooooo Chao [Screaming.jpg]
Yixing: He is crying…
'Yitian!' Chao shouted in his mind and ran to the toilets. Not wasting any more seconds. He arrived there opening the door with force. Just when he opened it, he saw a bizarre image. His bulky, rough-looking friend was confusingly waving his hands, shaking and murmuring: "What to do, what to do?" Over and over again. Below Yixing there was a tiny person rolled into a small ball in the corner of the room, shaking badly and sobbing while bumping into the wall with his back.
"Finally!" When Yixing saw him he shouted happily and the small human ball lurched. Yitian tried to squeeze himself more into the corner and appear even smaller. Chao saw that defeated movements and wondered what happened during the past few months. Maybe it was too late for salvation.
Have you ever had a panic attack? It's a pretty horrible experience... I wonder how will Chao help?