3 "Guilty For The Gone One"

Year 2032

Time: 4 pm

location: City A

"It's already evening," Ling said as she looked around.

"Yeah, but do you need to avoid me like this?" A man with black undercut hair, grey eyes and a sharp jawline said as he looked at Ling. Who was sitting two meters away from him at another table.

"Hmm, Kai did you hear something?"

"Childish," Kai said as he went towards the man sitting across from him.

"Baba!"

"Kai, you have become so thin, does your mother not feed you properly?"

"Excuse me! His mother feeds him properly but it is him who doesn't eat it." Ling said as she slammed her hands on the table grabbing everyone's attention.

"Sorry....sorry please don't mind her," That man said as he looked at everyone at the hotel with a polite smile.

"And Kai, why don't you eat properly? It's not like your mother is a bad cook? So why?"

"Baba, that..." The boy hesitated to speak up his mind.

"Kai, tell me without any fear. Maybe Baba can help you..." He said as he held his tiny hands.

"Okay...but" He glanced at his mother, "Maa, please don't get angry,"

"She won't." He assured his son. "So tell me, sweetheart, what's troubling you?"

"Baba...I don't want to leave you," He said as he held onto his father's coat.

"Kai, what are you talking about? We can meet every Sunday like this, can't we?" He gently ruffled the little boy's hair. "Besides, I am not leaving you. So why are you having such thoughts, my dear?"

"BABA YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! we can't meet like this anymore!!" Kai said as he started crying bitterly.

"Kai!" Ling said as she stood up from her seat.

"Ling, let's talk!" The man said as he looked at her, and she nodded in agreement. And they both went near the restroom area.

"What...What does he mean? Ling, are you hiding something from me?" He asked softly.

"I am not..."

"If not then why is he acting this way?"

"That's probably because he is uncomfortable about moving to a new environment." She murmured.

"New environment? Are you moving to another neighbourhood?" He asked and she shook her head in response.

"Don't tell me you are moving to the U city?" He said which sounded like a question more than a statement.

"No, I am moving to another country." Ling delivered her verdict. For a moment, everything went silent. Then the man spoke up,

"Did I hear it wrong? Did you just say moving to another country?" Surprise and disbelief laced in his voice.

"Yes."

"Yes? Are you kidding me! And when I asked if you are hiding something from me, you said you aren't!!" This time his voice got aggressive and loud enough for people to hear.

.

Ling silently heard her ex-husband's complaints then she spoke up. "Hua Ming, first don't lose your temper in front of me. Second, I certainly don't think I need to share my life plans with you. And third, it's YOU who keeps secrets not ME."

The man sighed. "Yes it's always my fault...but here we are talking about Kai and at this stage of life he needs both of us....leaving the fact that we are divorced we are still his parents." He said as the word divorce left a bitterness in his tongue.

"I am his mother and the one who carried him for 9 months and also suffered with all the labour pain and yet you think I don't care about him. Do you think it's easy for me to move to a fu**ing unknown country and start a new life!! But I am doing all this for his sake." Ling said as she snapped back at him.

"How does leaving his motherland sound good for him?" He snapped back.

"Because I can't breathe here...I can't breathe and live with the fact that because of me....my best friend who trusted me, died...And whenever those thoughts come into my mind I feel disturbed and I can't focus on Kai...This is why leaving this country is the best option the longer I stay away from this place, the lesser I will think about her and all my past deeds."

"So, we are back to Ning, aren't we," The man sighed. "If that's why you are leaving this country then I won't stop you, but if it's somehow related to me then...Please stay and instead I will leave."

"Ming, don't you understand it? You are the one whom I want to avoid the most! And I don't think I need to tell the reason why..."

"Stop talking about that! Please!" He begged, "She was my sister too..."

"Sister? Hah! Give me a break, please! You don't deserve to call her your sister...And don't lie to yourself, even if you feel guilty for what happened to Ning. And our divorce is the evidence."

"Yes...I feel guilty to the extent that I wish I was the one who jumped down that building."

"Well it's not late yet, you can jump if you want to, though I know you can't since you are a coward." Saying that Ling left him alone there and went back to Kai who was sitting there like the good boy he was.

"Maa?"

"Kai, let's leave, it's pretty late and we have a flight a day after tomorrow," Ling said as she held his hand, paid the bill and then exited the hotel.

"Maa, Are you angry?"

"Yes, I am."

"Oh, is it because of me?" The boy asked for which Ling shook her head.

"No, it's because of your father." She replied.

"Oh, then mother, are you hurt somewhere?"

"No, I am not, baby."

"Then why are there tears in your eyes?" Kai asked as he wiped away those tears that rolled down her eyes.

"This...dang! That jerk still remembers the fact that I always wanted to live in the U city" She sighed. "He makes me crazy," Ling said as she rummaged through her bag for her phone but instead, she found a red book inside.

"Huh? Didn't I give this to Yang Feng?" She talked to herself, confused until it hit her brain. "Holy!! Wait, I gave him her diary instead of the notebook!!"

"Hah, why am I having such a bad day today?" She murmured as she took out her phone and texted Yang Feng.

Contact: Yang Feng

Messages~

Ling: Hello Feng, I somehow messed up and gave you Lumi's diary instead of the notebook. And I am in A city right now so I can't come back. Instead, I will send this to your address and you can send that diary to mine.

Ling: I am sorry for the inconvenience~

*sigh* "Today was a tough day, wasn't it Kai?" "

"Kai? He fell asleep so fast." Ling said as she looked at Kai who was sleeping there peacefully in the front seat.

"You will catch a cold like this," She said as she pulled out a blanket and covered Kai with it.

"Sleep tight my baby, and Mamma is sorry for being harsh. But Mamma doesn't have any other choice.

She sighed again, 'Ming I hope you understand too, that both of us need to live with this guilt forever…As for Kai, I don't want the shadow of our past to overshadow his future. And I believe you want that too, don't you, Ning?

After all, it was you who always wanted our kids to be lively and bright, you always wished that they wouldn't face what we did, and now that I think of it...You always talked as if you knew what the future will be like."

"Hah, we were the same age but you were always the mature one. I wish I could have seen the childish side of yours more...I wish I would have cherished you..." Ling murmured under her breath as she looked at the photo in her gallery, which consisted of two girls wearing the same uniform, almost the same age.

"Ning, please forgive me..."

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"That notebook is the diary, I see."

Ling: I am sorry for the inconvenience~

Feng: No worries, I will send it to you by tomorrow.

"Thank God I didn't open it yet or else...." Feng, who was lying on his bed said as his eyes looked at the red diary.

"Hmm, I wonder what Lumi wrote there? Should I take a slight look into it?"

"No! No! No! What am I thinking? It's a personal thing...I can't just look at it like anything!"

Yang Feng convinced himself not to look at the diary but then again it's human nature to do what they're not supposed to, and the same thing happened to him....he ended up opening the diary.

It was the same as any other dairy but to him, it was like a whole different world. Maybe because he was reading the words of that person who talked the least.

"This diary is a pretty old one, maybe she wrote it around 2016 or something...we were in the same class then. We were always in the same class....."

"From sports events to the days she went outings she has written all," He smiled. "The world from her perspective seems so different. But why does even in her diary she didn't express herself freely? It looks as if she is struggling with something...."

Diary entry: 27 June 2018,

"...Life is so tough....Will I be able to survive?...."

Diary entry: 12 July 2018,

"..... It's okay...I can overcome this....."

Diary entry: 05 September 2018,

".....Do I even belong here?....."

Diary entry: 23 September 2018,

"....I am tired....."

Diary entry: 31 November 2018,

"....The weather is matching with my heart, Cold..."

Diary entry: 1st January 2019,

".....I survived another year...Let's survive this one too..."

"....But still in the place of telling anyone anything, you are just desperately trying to hide it."

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Character info~

Hua Ming

He is the ex-husband of Ling as well as Kai's father. He is the cousin brother of Ning.

Sign: Leo

Height: 180 cm (5.10 feet)

Likes: Partying around, being with his family and kids

Dislikes: Over smart people and telling him that he is wrong.

Habits: smokes every time he feels sad or alone

Characteristics: He has a well built yet thin body, with a good looking face as well as good talking skills. He was said to be arrogant and uncontrollable in his youth days.