Chapter 81 - Friend Zoned 2

"I do not want to raise your hopes by telling you that. So to save you from feeling disappointed later, I would rather tell you now. You and I can 'only' be friends. Nothing more than that," she made sure to make her point clear this time around. She clarified her words.

Yi Minsheng could only nod helplessly. He understood vher point. She just friend zoned him. Friends and friends only.

"I understand. Thank you for...for being clear with me. I guess I should not bother you anymore. Stay safe at work. Good night," he said as he started the engine of his car.

"Good night. Thank you for the ride once again," she said.

"Yeah, good day," then he drove away. The tears he was trying so hard to hold in so that Bai Renxiang will not see him as weak, flowed out freely. 

The feeling of a thousand needles piercing a heart is an understatement of what Yi Minsheng felt at present. Frustration of not being able to tell her lead to his courage. And that courage lead fear and desperation when she rejected him- his love. 

Yi Minsheng arrived at home a bit late than when he used to return from work von other days of the week. It got his mother worried.

"Xiaomin why are you back so late? Is everything at work okay?" Mrs Yi asked him worriedly. She came out from the kitchen to see who had come when she heard the clicking sound of the door.

"E-everything is fine at work, mum," he replied shortly. His happy-go-lucky attitude was replaced with a sad, gloomy face and puffy red eyes which he was trying to hide from his mother.

Even his messy hair which he had raked his hands through and yanked at it a thousand times. His tie was hanging loosely on his neck. His well ironed green T-shirt looked rumpled, he had untucked it from his black trouser with three buttons of the T-shirt undone. She would not let him walk away without giving her a proper explanation and f what happened to him.

But unfortunately for him, before he could make his way to his room, his mother hurriedly came to stand at his front. She gasp when she met with an not so promising sight of her once handsome son.

"What you n the name of our ancestors happened to you, huh? Whare you looking like this?" She asked gesturing to his present appearance. This is a perfect contrast of her neat and charming son.

"It is nothing mum. I am just tired and stressed out from work, that is all," he lied.

"You lair. You told me everything at work is fine. At least you did not look your mother in the eye when lying," she said on a stern yet concerned voice.

Yi Minsheng could not hide his pain anymore. He started sobbing. This unrear scene broke Mrs Yi's heart. 

"Hey hey. Stop crying. Mum is here now. You can tell me everything," she said as she gave him a comforting hug.

"Come. Let us sit down first and when you have calmed down, you can tell me whatever it is that is bothering you, okay?" Yi Minsheng nodded as he followed his mother to his room where they sat together on his medium sized bed.

After a while of his silent sobs, he spoke up.

"Mum, she does not have any feelings for me. She does not love me. She...she rejected me," he said on a croaked voice. His attempt to calm himself down failed.

No one will be able to be calm when someone you love does not love you too.

"Who does not love you? Who are you talking about right now?" Mrs Yi asked in confusion.

"Bai Renxiang," he answered.

For a moment, the news caught Mrs Yi by surprise. She could not believe her ears.

"How do you know that? I mean, you have not even told her about how you feel for her, right?" She asked trying to get a clear version of the information her son just told her.

"I told her today."

"But you do not get an alone time with. You both work in different places," Mrs Yi reasoned out.

"I know. I was coming back from work when I saw her and decided to give her a lift to her next job location. I used that as an opportunity to tell her about how I felt and *sob* she.... she said she dies not feel the same for me," his voice broke once more.

"She said that we can only be friends as she does not want anything more than that from me. I told her to give me and us a chance and she should think about it since I just told her but she made her decision clear," he explained all that transpired in his car two hours back.

"What do I do now, mum? I love Renxiang. I really do and I do not want anyone else but her. But I am scared of loosing the little friendship we share if I continue asking her," he voiced out his worry.

"Oh child. It is okay to be rejected or fail once in a while," Mrs Yi rubbed his head that was resting on her shoulder.

"You see sometimes, things can't just go the way we want. Sometimes, our plans fail and then disappointment will hit us so damn hard that we fall down and sometimes do not get up. This sometimes happens because fate has other things, other plans in store for us. And for it to come to play, what different thing and plan we have must be futile," Mrs Yi paused to make sure he was listening to what she is saying.

"Maybe Bai Renxiang loving you is not what fate wants. Maybe you two are not meant for each other. There is someone else out there who is waiting for your love.. That is just how things works."