Disappearance

The IELTS exam was approaching.

I wasn't quite sure how Zhou Juan was doing in his review.

He was the type of person who didn't show his emotions.

However, I was confident in him.

But in the days leading up to the exam, he was always on the phone and would often leave his books to answer it, sometimes not coming back for a while.

I didn't pay too much attention to it.

Little did I know that on the day of the exam, he received a call before entering the testing center and never came back.

I didn't find out until half a month later.

On the day the exam, he said he had something to do and went home, and the plan we had for staying over was cancelled.

In the following weeks, he suddenly became distant towards me.

How distant? He would take hours or not reply at all to my text messages.

And his phone was always in a call when I tried to call him.

At first, I thought he was just reviewing too long and had become lazy after the exam, and I didn't pay much attention to it.

Until...

"Qiu Qiu, why haven't you been going out to play with Zhou Juan recently?"

"He went home," I explained.

"Home? I saw him on the street yesterday," my friend said.

I froze.

Everyone fell silent.

After a while, my roommate whispered to me, "Qiuqiu, you should still keep an eye on the girls around Zhoujuan."

"Okay, I got it," I said, standing up and heading to the laundry room.

I picked up my phone, dialed his number, and as I waited for him to answer, I was actually cursing myself.

Cursing myself for being petty and not trusting him.

I don't believe he would betray me.

He's been so good to me and has changed so much for me.

It's not just me who's noticed, all the students in the school have seen his changes.

If he didn't really love me, how could he have had the patience to change just to be with me...

The memories rushed through my mind, and I even considered hanging up the phone and waiting for him to contact me.

But then, the phone was answered.

"Zhoujuan," I called his name as usual.

"Yeah," he replied, and it was still noisy on his end.

I could even imagine them drinking at the bar again.

"Are you at the bar? Have you come back yet?"

"Hmm," he said softly, not much different from usual.

"..." I paused for a moment, gathered my courage, and said, "Can I come see you?"

"..." He was silent for a moment and then said, "Don't come."

"Why?" For a moment, I felt a little aggrieved.

He came back but didn't come to see me, and now he wouldn't let me see him?

"Not convenient," he said casually.

I couldn't believe my ears.

"What's not convenient?"

"Bye."

...

Before I could finish my sentence, he hung up the phone.

My mind went blank.

Even a fool could see that something was wrong.

I called him again.

But there was no answer on the other end.

I panicked.

I sent him so many messages, asking, begging, getting angry, and even coaxing... but he never replied to me again.