The Silence Was No Surprise

19 : 01 pm, May 5th, City A

[ Time: Two Months Before the Apocalypse ]

In a restaurant at City A, Lu Jingren sat on a table for two near the balcony of the second floor, his fingers tapped on the table rhythmically and he glanced at the silver watch on his wrist from time to time.

"1 minute and 53 seconds.." He murmured and as expected a waiter came to approach him. The waiter smiled and asked him if he wanted to order first.

Lu Jingren looked at the other person with a blank look on his face before refusing. He was still waiting for someone.

Just like in the dream, the waiter bowed and left him, said that if he was ready to order, the waiter would be there to assist him.

Lu Jingren did not say anything to that and the waiter left awkwardly. Perhaps he was used to meeting guests like this because the waiter quickly smiled and moved to assist another table, reciting the same lines that he said to Lu Jingren.

Lu Jingren's eyes looked around. There were a total of ten people in the private area of the restaurant, not including him and his still absent fiancee.

There was a family of three on table one. A fat man with a beer belly and his equally fat wife on table two. Two other couples around their thirties on tables three and four, and a lone old man drinking alone in table five.

Then there was the waiter who was expertly conversing with the guests.

He looked at his own table then to the empty seat infront of him. He disliked being late because it meant incompetence and failure to follow a designated time.

His fiancee was still nowhere in sight so he lowered his lashes and began to stand up. When he stood up, he swayed slightly and an image flashed across his mind.

He suddenly remembered the dream he had last night. Lu Jingren did not think much of it because the dream did not make sense and he did not want to dwell on it. Furthermore, most of the events that happened were too blurry for him to make sense of it.

But at that moment, the dream he had that night flashed before his eyes.

He was in the same restaurant he was at, but this time, the seat which used to be empty was occupied by someone.

The girl with long black hair and a pair of shiny dark eyes was sitting there. She wore a white dress with long sleeves and a single gold necklace on her dainty white neck.

Her eyes lit up and she extended a hand to him, her lips quirking upwards as she revealed a set of pearly white teeth.

He couldn't hear her speak but he could understand the words she was saying by reading her lips.

[It's nice to meet you. My name is Lilian Mo.]

Lu Jingren stiffened. He felt his own heart palpitating as blood rushed through his veins. He placed a hand on his chest as he swayed.

He closed his eyes. He did not understand this feeling. It was the first time he had experienced something like this.

When he opened his eyes, he was still at the restaurant but the girl on the seat disappeared and he was left standing alone. The waiter approached him and asked if there was something wrong.

He didn't answer for a few seconds, not until his heartbeat had calmed down.

Then he glanced at the waiter and asked for some wine. Lu Jingren sat down again.

He looked at the watch on his wrist.

"5 minutes and 36 seconds.." He murmured.

He glanced back at the seat across from him. He finally remembered the dream that night very clearly this time. In that dream, his fiancee was supposed to be seating across from him.

In that dream, she arrived five minutes early and was the first to greet him with a smile.

However, he was alone at the moment and that girl was nowhere in sight.

Lu Jingren leaned on his chair as he visualized what was supposed to have happened by now.

The sixteen-year-old girl who was engaged to him was smiling very softly. She took the initiative to order food for both of them.

[Do you have any preference?]

"Seafood," was his short answer. The girl nodded and pretty soon the food arrived.

The two of them were very quiet. It was a normal occurrence for two people who did not know about each other. Even if the two were arranged to marry sometime later, they were still strangers who did not know much about each other.

Thus, the silence was no surprise.

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