Hello....    *clear my throat* 

It's been a while, hasn't it...    *hiding behind a tree*

I am sorry... I planned to finish this chapter last Saturday and upload it but ....

something came up...        *slowly opening Viki to continue watching Dashing Youth*

Anyway! I am back with the new chapter and will try to finish and upload the next chapter on Sunday already. 

I hope you like this new chapter <3 <3

Xiao Zhan's POV

I didn't know where I was, but that didn't matter because all that mattered was that it was beautiful here. And I liked beautiful things.

The grass was greener than any grass I'd ever seen, the sky was cloudless and the sun was high, but it wasn't hot. The temperature was just right. I heard the birds chirping and all kinds of animals crossed my path: rabbits, birds, squirrels, ducks, and a few deer. I even saw a donkey.

When I heard the sound of water, I knew there must be a stream nearby, so I slowly walked toward the sound. The closer I got, the louder the sound became, and soon I walked past the last few bushes and arrived at a huge waterfall. I couldn't help but gasp at the beautiful scene in front of me. It was perfect here...

I was so mesmerized by the scene that I almost didn't notice the soft music coming into my ear. I turned around and when I didn't see anything, I looked up. There was a small hill where someone, a woman, was sitting and playing an instrument. Because of my interest in Chinese culture, I knew that the instrument was called a guqin. A guqin produced a much clearer and, in my opinion, more beautiful sound than a guitar.

Unfortunately, I couldn't see who this person was, I doubt I would have recognized her even if I had, and I couldn't figure out how to get to this hillside. There was no path leading to it, so all I could do was stand here and listen.

It was such a beautiful, peaceful sound, but simultaneously it sounded sad.

I don't know how long I stood there listening, but suddenly she stopped playing. I opened my eyes, which I didn't realize I had closed, and saw her standing up. Although I couldn't see her clearly, I somehow knew that she was looking at me with a soft smile. But the atmosphere changed from when she was playing. I didn't hear any birds anymore, and all the animals seemed to have disappeared. The peaceful atmosphere turned into a somewhat melancholy one.

She stretched out her arm as if pointing at me.

"....an"

I tilted my head.

"..... up"

What was that?

"Sean, honey, wake up."

I slowly opened my eyes to see my mother looking down at me. She had a slight frown on her beautiful face.

"Five more minutes..." I grumbled and turned away from her.

"No Sean, no more minutes. Get up, will you? Why are you sleeping in the middle of the day anyway?"

"Never heard of the word nap?" I groaned.

"Aren't you too old for a nap?"

"You're never too old for a nap. Shouldn't you be happy? I remember throwing a tantrum every time you made me take a nap. Now I volunteer and you are still not happy...."

"Sean Xiao Zhan Smith!"

I quickly jumped out of bed. When my mother used my full name, American and Chinese, it meant business. Serious business.

"I'm up. I am up!" I shouted in defeat. Did I dare look at my mother? Her face probably wouldn't show how upset she was. She was really good at hiding her emotions. But nothing could escape my eyes. No emotion could be hidden from me. They were too colorful to be missed. But she didn't know that. No one knew except Paul. My father always studied her carefully before he dared to say anything, which was funny to watch.

"There you go." She sounded rather pleased. "Stop being lazy. We're moving in less than a week and you haven't even finished packing half your stuff. Even your father is faster and he has many more things than you. Now get out of bed and finish packing, will you?"

"Did I hear my beloved praising me?" I looked at the door and saw my father grinning happily.

"That doesn't count, Mom. He may have more stuff than me, but I bet he just threw a lot of it in the trash."

"That's not true!" Dad frowned at me, and one look at him told me he was outright lying. I laughed out loud.

"Enough. Sean, get up and start packing. And you, Michael, I hope you did not throw your stuff in the garbage. Even if you don't need it anymore, we can still sell it for a good price."

Just because we're rich doesn't mean we're wasteful. My paternal grandparents own a huge business that is doing very well, and my maternal side of the family just inherited all the money from their ancestors. I have no idea what they did for a living, not even my mother or maternal grandparents knew. But there were a lot of rumors in the past. Assassins, grave robbers, oil barons, and even royalty. Although Assassin sounds damn cool, I was rooting for grave robbers. After watching a lot of Chinese dramas, I found out that you can make a lot of money at it.

"I would never..." He smiled and took a step back. "Anyway, I'm just going to check if I forgot anything." With that, Dad ran off and Mom sighed before following him.

I stretched for another two minutes and then got out of bed. Looking at all the boxes standing around, some half full but most empty, I groaned to myself.

"If I had known moving would be so stressful... This is so annoying..." I sighed. "It doesn't help. Let's get to work."

"How can you be tired again when you had a nap today?" Dad asked amusedly during dinner.

"Packing is stressful and tiring," I replied, holding back a yawn. "Thank God I finished."

"What were you dreaming about anyway?" Mom asked me curiously. "You were smiling and even humming."

"Nothing much. There was a woman..." I tried to remember.

"Okay, so far and no further," Dad said, almost choking on the crispy chicken he was munching on. "Please keep the details of such dreams to yourself."

"Oh, come on, Michael. He's an adult now and it's normal for a single boy to dream about this."

"That may be, but he doesn't have to give us the details, does he? Especially not during dinner."

"Well, that's true." Mom chuckled and turned to me. "Sean, honey, do you have someone you like?"

"Seriously?" I jumped out of my chair, feeling my face heat up. "I didn't have a dirty dream! What do you think of me?"

"Now, now. No need to be embarrassed, son. This is nothing to be ashamed of. It's normal for a man of any age. Even I have..."

"Jesus, Dad! Stop it!" I started to panic and wanted to hide somewhere, which was ridiculous because I had no reason to do that. I hadn't had such a dream.

"I told you it's not like that! I dreamt of a woman playing a Chinese instrument while sitting near a stream and a waterfall. That is all!"

"Calm down, darling." Mom patted my arm and managed to get me to sit down.

"Oh, I see..." Dad nodded his head. "And... who was that woman?"

"I don't know!" I glared at him.

"Okay." He nodded and turned his attention to his half-empty plate.

"Eat, Sean. Come on." Mom encouraged me.

This was annoying. I could feel the heat on my face and I bet I looked like a tomato. It was so embarrassing. I've never had a dream like that before, and I certainly won't in the future. Just because Dad was a pervert didn't mean I was.

For the rest of the dinner we talked about our future in China, our new house, which I have not seen yet, and of course the choice of which university I will attend to finish my studies. That was a little difficult because it was the middle of the year.

I also found out that mom is going to start working as a nurse again. She already sent in the applications and got two positive answers. She had an online interview with both hospitals and will make her decision when we arrive.

After dinner, I cleared the table and washed the dishes while my parents retired to the living room. When I was done, I let out the yawn that had been begging to be let out and went into the living room.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked.

"Looking up some colleges for you." Hearing my father say that, I raised my eyebrows. "Don't worry, the final choice is up to you. But I don't want you to go to just any school. It has to be a good one."

"Yeah, I figured that much. But I'm definitely not going to the one where you're going to work." I replied.

"Of course, I know that...." He nodded and I saw him cross out the first university on his list, which made me stifle a laugh. What could I say? I knew him too well.

"Anyway, I'm going to bed."

"Already?" Mom looked at the clock. "Go ahead. And don't forget to brush your teeth."

"I'm 24 years old, Mom. You don't have to remind me." I rolled my eyes.

"I am your mother, and as long as I am alive, I will- Stop it, Michael!" Mom slapped him softly when he mimicked her. "You are the main reason I have to remind him. He is half your DNA."

"Hey, I'm brushing my teeth!"

"Yes, when I tell you to, you do."

I couldn't help myself and burst out laughing. "I'm off. Good night."

Finally, the day of the move came and I was excited. I couldn't wait to get on the plane that would take me to my favorite country. But seeing how slow the moving company was, I was afraid we would miss our flight. And I couldn't push them any harder than I already had.

"Looks like someone is anxious to leave." I turned to see Paul walking toward me.

"Am I that obvious?"

"Just a little." He grinned. "But Zhan, are you really leaving without him?" He asked, holding up my little bunny that I hadn't seen in a week.

I took hold of the little animal who snuggled against my chest while his eyes were fixed on Paul. I stroked him gently until he closed his eyes.

"Do you think he will survive without you?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sure he will." I looked at him thoughtfully.

"Seriously, why are they so obsessed with you?"

"I've been asking myself that for a long time and have yet to find an answer. I may never find one, but at least I have gotten used to all the attention. It was unthinkable in the past." He replied with a smile.

I smiled and looked around and when I saw the cage I took it and put the rabbit inside. "I know you are used to your freedom and this is uncomfortable, but you will have to live with it for the next 24 hours."

If bunnies could look offended, he looked at me that way. As if to ask for help, he turned to Paul, who was reaching into the cage.

"Be good." The rabbit nestled in Paul's hand until he took it out and I closed the cage.

"If people were watching, they would think it was yours." I shook my head and he smiled.

"Please be careful with that. This is an expensive Ming Dynasty vase!" I heard Mom's panicked voice and watched her follow the helpers to make sure nothing would happen. Dad shook his head but enjoyed seeing Mom nagging someone other than him.

"Have you chosen a university yet?" Paul asked suddenly and I shook my head.

"No. I haven't even looked at the list my parents made. Don't say it! I know. And I will look at it. I have a long and boring flight ahead of me that will allow me to study it."

Paul nodded.

"What?"

"Nothing." He replied.

"Paul?"

"What? I told you it's nothing."

"You know it's pointless to lie to me."

"Not pointless. You just have to be a very good liar. And your opponent shouldn't be able to read you as well as you can."

"What do you want to say?" I asked him again, waiting until he sighed in defeat.

"Let me give you some advice. Even though you can see certain things that no one else can, don't rely on it too much. People might get upset about it."

Paul was right. Maybe that was one of the reasons my classmate didn't like talking to me. Whenever they lied or tried to hide certain emotions, I outed them. Not out of malice, but out of a generous curiosity as to why they would lie. If you are sad, say so. If you are angry, just say so. Girls especially hated it when I hinted at certain emotions like jealousy or hate. I figured that girls were more emotional than boys, and when they found out, they tended to get vindictive. Okay, maybe that was a bit of an extreme word, but yes, they would remind you of their displeasure.

Now we come to the question of how I knew about these hidden emotions. Well, the answer is that I could see them. As ridiculous as it sounds, I could see people's emotions by looking at the color that surrounded them like a shield. I have no idea how or why I could see this, but I was smart enough to never talk about it with anyone but Paul. Not even my parents. Being a Chinese kid born to biological parents who were both American was weird enough.

But with Paul it was different. And I didn't tell him my secret. In fact, I don't remember how he found out. I must have been too young to remember telling him. Anyway, he never looked at me or treated me differently. He never saw me as weird or called me weird. He just accepted my talent as if it were as normal as being able to raise an eyebrow, which, by the way, was not normal. At least I couldn't do that.

My little talent made me see secrets I didn't want to know. Every emotion, every lie and every truth. For example, there was a girl who had a secret crush on me, the outcast, and I outed her by telling her I didn't return her feelings, as if she had openly confessed, which she hadn't. In the end, she got embarrassed and started bullying me with her friends.

Or there was a neighbor of ours who lost his wife and was so sad that he walked around with a very dark shield. As dark as clouds in a storm. Just seeing that made me sad too.

Often this talent was helpful, but sometimes it wasn't. Especially not when it affected me.

"I guess," I replied. "But I know you are not angry and never will be. So, do you want to tell me why you are worried about my studies?"

"Can't I?" He smiled. "I'm just worried that you might end up at the wrong university."

"And what exactly do you mean by the wrong university?"

He shrugged and pointed forward. "Look, it seems they are done. I guess it's time to say goodbye."

"What do you mean by goodbye? Aren't you coming to China too?"

"Yes, but not for a few weeks. I have a lot of things to take care of before I move. So don't miss me too much."

"I don't think I'll be the one missing you like crazy." I looked at the bunny.

"Ouch, that hurts." He chuckled before I found myself in a tight hug. "Don't get anyone in trouble, okay? I really hope you choose the right school for you, but I guess that's up to fate."

"Fate? You believe in that? Sometimes you are a bit strange."

"Says the one who can see emotions."

"Touché." I grinned and hugged him back. Although I was a little sad to be separated from him, my best and only friend, I knew we would see each other again in a few weeks, so I didn't have to worry too much.

Soon my parents arrived and said goodbye before we got into the car. I leaned out the window to wave to Paul until I couldn't see him anymore and my mom pulled me back inside.

I thought after all the packing in the last few days that I would have a few stress-free days ahead of me, but I was wrong. Boarding alone was a living hell, and even though we were traveling first class, I sat next to a businessman who kept having Zoom meetings and was so loud that people 10,000 feet below us could hear his conversations.

Not 20 minutes into the flight, I grabbed my headphones and turned up the volume. Apparently, it was so loud that the businessman gave me a few looks and even dared to complain to the stewardess. She wasn't having any of it and told him to turn off his computer and give the rest of the passengers a break from his constant loud conversations before she left. He was so pissed I almost laughed.

Anyway, while listening to my playlist, I took out the list of possible universities and used my iPad to look them up. And what I saw left me speechless. I wasn't sure if it was intentional or just a coincidence, but I wasn't happy at all, and my parents and I had to have a serious conversation when we landed! 

to be continue ....

A serious conversation, huh? Hmmm, what could have made him upset? But do remember to call both of them by their full name, Zhan, to show how serious you are. Parents aren't the only one allowed to do that.

If you liked this chapter feel free to leave a vote and a comment or two... or three <3 <3