<h4>89 His Rose</h4>


    -Xi''an International Airport-


    The huge airport couldn''t lose from the city''s biggest shopping mall in any sense. The tiles under Dn''s feet gleamed white and spotless. People were milling around the terminal''s door. Dn looked up at the sma screens of arrivals on the wall and checked the time on his wristwatch.


    Seeing how he was early, he decided to lounge on one of the lowfy chairs to wait. Normally, he wouldn''t leave his office this early but today he had to. Plugging in his Airpods, Dn sted the music to escape from the cacophony of noises.


    His attention was on reading business news on his phone before he opened his itinerary to see if he had anything nned for the weekend. "Lunch with mom?" His brows arched up slightly as he read his tomorrow''s ns. He really hoped it wasn''t about another blind date.


    A pair of white sneakers came into his line of sight and as he lifted his eyes, he was met with his best friend''s gray orbs. Dn smiled widely as he stood up and almost jumped to hug Darren. "Daz! My Dazi! I missed you!"


    Darren pushed him off his body and said, "What are you doing here? Didn''t I tell you I''ll call my driver?"


    "Aren''t you happy to see me instead?"


    Darren nodded and threw his backpack towards Dn which he easily caught and said, "Let''s go now. I''m tired."


    "Yes, boss!" Dn replied and they both walked off in the direction of Dn''s car. As they both settled in, Dn asked, "How was Xia Capital?"


    Darren stayed quiet in reply for a moment before saying, "Same as it has been for a while. Unbearable and suffocating." The capital was a ce which once made him feel alive and now, all he felt was dead inside. The capital held his worst and best memories. Somehow, he just couldn''t overlook the worst ones to cherish the best ones.


    Dn looked at him through his peripheral vision and said, "I need your help." Darren looked at him with a questioning gaze and he went on, "Let me stay at your ce for a couple of days."


    "Why?"


    "Didn''t you hear? I have a little invader in my house. I feel like an outsider in my own ce these days. That little monster is really annoying."


    At Dn''s reply, Darren didn''t question since he knew who had been giving a headache to Dn at his own ce. "If you''refortable with the ghosts of my ce, then you''re most wee to be our guest," replied Darren with a straight face.


    "You''re just messing with me, right? There are no actual ghosts, right?" Dn asked while trying to keep his inner fear from showing.


    "Maybe... Maybe not," was Darren''s vague reply in a very thought-provoking tone.


    Dn took a deep breath and trained his eyes on the road. The ride to Darren''s ce was a silent one after that. They both didn''t talk. Darren because he was tired and Dn because he didn''t want to disturb Darren. Dn parked the car outside Darren''s apartment building and helped him with his light luggage.


    Seeing how sad Darren was looking, Dn suggested, "Dazi! How about a bro''s night out?" Darren stopped walking and as Dn caught up with him, he noticed Darren''s eyes were focused in a certain direction. "Why did you sto-?" Dn''s words were stuck in his throat as he followed Darren''s gaze.


    A man had been standing outside the electronic ss doors with a cigarette between his lips. Seeing Dn and Darren, he put out his cigarette and walked in their direction.


    "Hello, old friends!"


    Hearing that greeting, Darren''s hands clenched into fists as he gnashed his teeth in fury. Noticing the way, Darren''s eyes were shooting cold daggers at the other person, Dn held his clenched fists in his own hand and patted Darren''s shoulder.


    "Don''t punch him," Dn had just spoken when Darren shot the damn caution out the window and threw a punch right on his jaw. "Aiyaya! I said don''t punch him." Turning towards the man who was holding his jaw with his hand, he said, "Jinhai, what the hell are you doing here?"


    Zhou Jinhai straightened up and rubbed the side of his jaw. He looked at Darren''s hard expression and said, "I was curious. Curious to know why an old friend is so determined to destroy me."


    "It''s not possible that you just came all the way from Capital because of your curiosity," imed Dn in a knowing manner.


    "Don''t talk like that Didi, I might assume we are still friends," replied Zhou Jinhai with a woeful expression.


    "If we are not friends, then don''t call me Didi as well."


    Zhou Jinhai''s eyes were still looking at Darren but Dn wasing between them like a wall. Dn knew what kind of a battle was gonna start here if he moved. Darren had been fighting a battle of anger within himself daily and seeing Zhou Jinhai, Dn was certain that Darren was gonna lose this battle with his own buried rage.


    "Regan Darren Salvay... I have a single question for you. Why?"


    Darren pushed Dn aside and looked into Zhou Jinhai''s eyes as he answered, "You had a beautiful rose in your life." Zhou Jinhai''s brows furrowed as Darren spoke slowly, "A rose full of life and love. The rose wilted in your garden because you didn''t give it the attention and love it needed even though that rose gave you all that it had; its pleasant scent to its calming touch."


    Darren poked at his chest in an aggressive manner and snorted, "Because of you, the withered rose disseminated and dwindled into nothingness. And you''re still asking, why?"


    Darren''s eyes held pain and rage along with disappointment. He wasn''t angry with the world, he was angry with himself. For Zhou Jinhai, all he had was a disappointment and nothing else. He was disappointed because Zhou Jinhai couldn''t cherish or protect the person he once said he loved.


    Because of him, Darren lost the girl who was just like her name; beautiful like the break of dawn. Until now, Zhou Jinhai didn''t even realize that Darren had been talking about Chen Xiu. But the look in Darren''s eyes had shaken Zhou Jinhai.Please go to