Paranoid Trap

That day, Nian Gao stayed in the hospital until very late. If there were no curfew at home, she would have continued to stay in the hospital with him.

“I’ll see you off,” said Jing Xian.

“You’re still not well. Why do you need to send me?” Nian Gao disagreed.

Seeing that it was getting late, she quickly tucked him in the quilt and said, “You have to rest early. See you tomorrow.”

Then, she left with her bag.

Not far from the ward, she stopped. Reluctantly, she turned around and faced the ward. She was surprised to find him standing in front of his door. She turned around and walk towards him.

Nian Gao was reluctant to go.

She stopped in front of him, and said, “Jing Xian.”

“Huh?”

I don’t want to leave you. She said silently at the bottom of her heart.

Jing Xian didn’t ask her anything. He just stretched out his arms and took her into his arms. Nian Gao also hugged him.

Quietly hugging each other for a long time, Jing Xian stroked her hair and whispered again and again, “Nian Gao, Nian Gao.”

The oncoming nurse in the corridor tap Nian Gao’s shoulder. Her ears turned crimson and she withdrew from his arms. “I should go.”

She disappeared like a gust of wind at the end of the corridor.

That night, Mother Nian giggled at the sight of her daughter from time to time and asked her, “What is making you happy?”

Nian Gao didn’t answer. She went back to her bedroom and hugged her pillow. Motionless, she looked at the decorative lights hanging on the bed curtain.

Subconsciously, she took out her cell phone and clicked on the message app.

She wanted to call Jing Xian, but she was afraid to disturb his rest so a text was good. As she was hesitating, here ring tone suddenly cut through the silence of the room. She answered the phone at once.

“Jing Xian? Haven’t you sleep yet?”

“Go to bed right away.”

“Oh, well, what are you calling me for?”

“I just want to say good night to you.” he smiled gently at the other end. His magnetic laughter made her ears feel numb.

She replied, “Good night.”

They said good night to each other. No one mentioned about who was going to hang up first. He didn’t speak, and she didn’t speak.

She sticks her ears to the cell phone and listens to his non-existent breathing sound in the receiver.

An unspeakable sense of happiness arises spontaneously.

But she couldn’t waste any more phone bills. She called him, “Jing Xian?”

“I’m here.”

“I will hung up now.”

“Hang up.”

Although she said so, she didn’t hang up immediately. She was waiting for him to hang up. But he seems to be waiting for her to hang up.

So the call continued. As soon as Nian Gao yawn, he said “see you tomorrow” and cut off the phone completely.

Nian Gao could still hear his voice ringing. She pull the quilt over her head.

The stars are dotted tonight, the moon was shining, and tomorrow will probably be a sunny day.