19. Unexpectedly

Zhan and I were still in bed, asleep, when early in the morning there was a knock on the door and the doorbell rang. Startled, we quickly got dressed and ran downstairs to see who was at the door. It was the landlord who came to change the broken window.

And quite by the way, sitting next to the door, we saw, like a heap of misery, Emma! She is back again. But this time she's not to blame.

Zhan and I brought her inside the house. She was sobbing and crying when Zhan asked her what happened. She typed something on her phone, handed it to Zhan, and he asked, "Oh my God! Did your account get hacked?"

Emma immediately cried harder and nodded. "Yeah, I was at the airport trying to pay for the plane ticket, but it didn't work. So I checked my account and it showed that all my savings were gone and even my overdraft was overdrawn by $1,000. And my credit card didn't work either because I'm already maxed out."

"Did you call your bank?" Zhan asked immediately.

"Yes. They told me that I supposedly spent all my money at that little fashion store in New York. But I had only bought 1 shirt there. I then had to call the police in the States and then file a report there. My account is blocked for the time being. But what good is that to me? All my money is gone!"

"I'll give you the money for the flight, don't worry. You'll have to go back to the States and sort it out with the police and your local bank."

"Can't you come with me? I don't want to go through this alone."

"Emma, look over there. That's my boyfriend sitting there, I went back to my home country because of him and I want to spend a few days vacation with him. I've been waiting for this for a year and I don't want to leave Yibo here alone now."

"But you are my best friend. And I don't know where my head is at all. There was almost $17,000 in my account! It's all gone. All the money! And soon the rent will be due, credit card bill, cell phone bill, the utilities, electricity, gas and insurance. All the bills and there's nothing left in my account. I have to go everywhere and sort this out and I don't even know where to start. Can't you please just be my best friend and help me? We can take Yibo with us, too, can't we?"

Zhan looked at me thoughtfully for a moment. I didn't say anything the whole time, because even I realize how upsetting and stressful this situation is for Emma. And I also feel very sorry for her. So I let them both talk in peace. And then Zhan winked at me and asked, "Do you feel like taking a trip to the States with me?"

"Uh what?" I asked.

"Well, I'd like to help Emma as her best friend. But I'm definitely not going without you. This was supposed to be our vacation and I'm certainly not leaving you here alone. Besides, I've been waiting a year to be with you. So I'm certainly not going to let you out of my sight now."

"But the flight is super expensive and I don't have the money for it. I'm a student, remember?"

"I'm inviting you Yibo. Please say yes."

I wasn't entirely comfortable with that. Taking Zhan's money and flying to a foreign country was definitely not on my plan. "I don't know Zhan. I could go home and then I'll see you when you get back."

Zhan came over to me, took my hand, and pulled me outside with him onto the porch. He closed the door and snuggled up to me. "I won't fly without you Yibo. No matter what you say. Either you come with me, or I stay here. Without you, nothing works for me anymore. We're finally a couple now and I don't want to spend another day without you. Especially after last night. So please come with me okay?"

"ZhanZhan, I'm just not comfortable with you spending so much money on me."

"But I have the money. And I'm happy to do it because I love you. And so we can be together."

"But..."

"No buts Yibo. Please. I'm sure you want to have a repeat of last night, too, don't you?"

"Well, I was thinking more of wanting to do it every day?"

"What does every day mean?"

"Every day means every day. You don't think now that I know how great it feels with you that I'm going to let even one day go by without it."

"Um, well. If you're not going to accompany me, then you can't do it with me." He was right about that, too.

"Mhhh, fine. But I should let my parents know. Somehow I have a feeling we won't be back on Saturday."

"Then call them now."

"Right now?"

"Yes Yibo. I'll wait here until you call them."

So I took my cell phone and called my parents, but they would rather talk to their "future son-in-law" than to me. Zhan explained to him what had happened to Emma and that she had asked him to support her and also that he wanted me to accompany him. My mother was immediately in favor. And I could hear my father saying: "If you take my boy with you, I hope you will take good care of him. It's a foreign city, a foreign language, and I expect you not to let him out of your sight."

Ah, why does my dad always have to act like I'm only 5 years old? Phew, my hard-won masculinity that I showed to Zhan is undone by my father. I know he loves me and cares about me, but why, why does he always have to sound like I'm still his little boy?

"I had no intention of letting Yibo out of my sight for even a second. That's why I want him to accompany me. We're a couple and I want to spend as much time with him as possible." Zhan replied.

So it was time to pack my suitcase again, I don't even count how many times I packed and unpacked it in the last few days, then I showed Zhan my passport, he wanted to see if it was still valid, and down we went with the suitcases, where we waited for the cab we had ordered.

Our planned relaxed vacation on the beach, was now going to be a stressful vacation in a foreign country. Yeah, I couldn't be less excited. Although I'll be with Zhan the whole time, but man, Emma, again! Even though she can't be blamed, but man ey, I could just scream.

When the cab came, we drove to the nearest airport, Zhan bought three tickets, two with return flight, and we dropped off our suitcases. Shortly after, we were even able to get on the plane.

Zhan booked three seats next to each other and Emma immediately parked her ass in the middle next to Zhan. Zhan looked at her grumpily and said, "Emma, get up there right now and let Yibo sit there. I want my boyfriend next to me."

Emma mumbled something not understandable, got up and sat down in the aisle seat. I in the middle and Zhan by the window. I took his hand and he put his head on my shoulder. He whispered, "I wish we were both still in the beach house and in bed right now."

I grinned and replied, " We still have time to run out of here and get back."

"haha, yeah that would be great. Then we could pick up where we left off last night."

"That was my plan until something came up." I replied, pointing my head at Emma.

"Well, right when we land, we'll find a hotel room and then we can test the bed quality there."

"ZhanZhan, you can read my mind."

"I just hope I don't fall asleep again. Sorry about that."

"No, you don't have to apologize. That was totally sweet. How are you feeling today, by the way? Any pain?"

"No not at all. Everything's great. I told you it was the perfect first time."

"You Zhan?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"I love you too Bo. A lot."

Zhan snuggled his head back on my shoulder and pulled my hand to his chest. "I'm really incredibly happy Yibo."

"And you really don't mind that I'm younger than you?"

"Absolutely not. You're much more mature for your age than I am. You may not have noticed yet because I want you to have a good impression of me, but I can be quite childish."

"Yes I have noticed a little bit, but I think it's totally cute."

Emma cleared her throat and asked if we could include her in our conversations. I was about to ask her something when Zhan said, "Mhhh we were just talking about last night, the first time Yibo and I made love and how great I thought it was to feel him inside me." I immediately blushed and thus had a partner look with Emma as her face was also bright red.

"Zhan! You can't just say that!" I said.

"Why not? I thought it was really, really good. And Emma, guess what, it was even better than I imagined. Our bodies harmonize perfectly in bed."

I nudged Zhan and he laughed. Emma looked at him angrily and replied, "Okay, yes, I get it Zhan. Your boyfriend fucked you, you love it and you want me to remember that you are still mad at me and I have no chance with you. I get it Zhan!"

"I didn't say I was still angry. I just want you to realize that I'm helping you as your best friend and that you accept that Yibo and I are a couple. And, that I absolutely love him. I want you to respect him as well and not pull a stunt like you did when you just sat down next to me without being asked. Because that was pretty disrespectful to Yibo and also to me."

"Okay, sorry. I just wasn't thinking and was just acting. I'll pay more attention now. Promise." Replied Emma.

Zhan said, "Good. And I have to say, I'm very possessive and want my boyfriend to be close to me. If it were up to me, you wouldn't even be allowed to sit next to him."

"Oh Zhan, give me a break. I'm not going to hit on Yibo."

"I advise you not to. Because then I'll get very angry."

I sat there in the middle just thinking, oh my god, what have I gotten myself into now? My boyfriend is turning into a possessive diva and doesn't even like anyone sitting next to me? Oh wow, I'm sure there's more to come if this continues.