POV Zhan

"ZhanZhan?" I turn around and see my cousin Yanli coming to visit me at work. As usual, I hug her and am very happy to see her. She, along with her younger brother Cheng, are among the people I care about most and trust absolutely.

"Hey my dear cousin, nice of you to come and visit me."

"Well if you won't come to us, then I'll just have to come to you."

"Yeah sorry, you know things are pretty stressful right now and I have my hands full."

"Mmm, including with that cute Yibo what?"

"Um, yeah. So cute Yibo is my boyfriend now. Since last night."

"Really? Wow that was fast."

"Yeah right? I thought it would take a lot longer. But you know what? I'm just happy."

"I'm sure you are. After all, you've had a crush on him for months."

"Yeah, three and a half months. And then all of a sudden it happened really fast."

"Wouldn't you rather talk about it over coffee?"

"Sure, your big belly must be troubling you. One more month and then you' have made it."

"Yes, but believe me, that's when the stress will really start."

"Mhm, changing diapers, getting up at night. I never thought you guys would want to go through that again. Not after your little one stole your nights for almost seven months."

"Oh God, don't remind me. And look at him now. Four years old and can't get out of bed. But now tell me, so you're officially together now?"

"Yes. I told him I wanted to officially date him and yesterday, after just one night of thinking about it, he said he wants to. Tomorrow we have our first real date. Actually, I was just planning on casual shopping and maybe dinner, but Yibo wants a date. So he's getting a date."

"And is he still so shy?"

"It's improving slowly. Every day it's getting better. But I'll give him as much time as he needs."

"That's good ZhanZhan. So, did you tell him about the other you? I mean, he knows the self who is a car mechanic by day and can repair houses. But does he also know the you that writes books at night?"

"No, of course he doesn't. I haven't told him yet. And honestly, I don't know if I want to tell him just yet. I don't think we're at that point yet. Besides, he asked such a weird question yesterday and I really don't know what to make of it."

"What kind of question?"

"Whether it would bother me if he was in contact with other men on the Internet, writing to them."

"What, why would he ask you something like that?"

"I don't know. He said he and his best friend had talked about it. Pretty strange topic, I think."

"So true. Is Yibo maybe not as innocent as you think?"

" He definitely is. He's totally innocent. He even got his first kiss from me. And as stiff as he was about it, believe me, that was definitely his first kiss."

"Then why would he ask you something like that?"

"I don't know. It's just kind of weird. So I'm not sure if I should tell him about my other side."

"I can understand that."

"Oh, I told you about that message from that Racer85 guy, didn't I?"

"Yeah right, he kind of found out that you wrote Fantasyland, didn't he?"

"Right. I wrote with him a couple of times. He seems very nice and very interested in my books."

"Well, hopefully only in that."

"Hey, who do you think I am? I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize my relationship with Yibo. I'm glad I finally have him, I'm not going to risk anything. But I think Racer85 was trying to flirt. He wrote me yesterday that he dreamed about me. And later he wrote that I should forget about it again."

"Does he know what you look like? So, did you send him a picture?"

"No. And if he asked, I wouldn't send him one either. I thought I was just exchanging books with him. But now I'm wondering if maybe I wrote something wrong and now he thinks I want to flirt with him. Or that maybe he has the wrong expectations."

"Just be careful, okay? I know you always are. But now you're finally with his cute Yibo, don't risk anything. After 7 years, you finally found someone you care about again."

"I know."

"If he should ask you about your ex, what will you say?"

"What do you think? That was many years ago and that is the past. Whew, I don't even think about him anymore. And there's not much to tell either. We had no quarrel, nothing unusual. It's just that the feelings have changed. And that's all."

"Well, I mean, in case Yibo might be worried because you're more experienced than he is."

"Oh I see. What do you want me to say? I'm not going to lie. I was with my ex for three years, so clearly I have more experience then. And I'm also six years older than Yibo."

"Well you've never been with more than your ex either. Right?"

"No. I've only had my ex. I want the whole package with feelings and everything. No short things."

"You mean like Cheng?"

"Cheng? Mhhh, rather not. I feel rather sorry for him. After all, he got involved with a given man and had strong feelings for that man. And now he's waiting all this time for that man to come back to him."

"Do you really think he's breaking up with his partner to be with Cheng?"

"I hope so for Cheng's sake. I can't know, of course, because I don't know this man. And neither do you know him."

"Unfortunately. All Cheng told me was that the man is five years older than he is."

"He told me the same thing. Well, let's just wait and hope for the best for your little brother."

"So how are things going in the house?"

"Pretty good so far. Much slower now that I'm back at work than last week when I was off, of course. But Yibo has made a lot of progress in the garden. The fireplace looks just awesome. You'll have to check it out when you get a chance. And at the moment he is busy building a pond. I'm really excited to see what it looks like when it's finished."

"I really must come and see it. And maybe I'll get to meet your Yibo, too. You always rave about him so much that I'm really curious."

"Well, he's great. He's smart, talented, and totally cute. I could cuddle him all day. And pinch his cute chubby cheeks. They're really cuddly. Yesterday he even sat on my lap and I put my arms around him. He found that really nice. He's coming out of his shell more and more and it's nice to see him blossom."

"Awww you really got hit hard."

"Sure. I'd even go so far as to say that I love him. But that's why it scares me when he asks me something like he did yesterday. I just don't understand why he would want to write with other men on the internet? If that's what he meant. It really confuses me."

"Maybe he really was just asking that. We don't know how he and his best friend came up with this topic. Don't worry too much about it for now. And if necessary, speak to him about it and ask him if he has or wants to have contact with other men."

"Mhm, I'll do that."

"And you watch out for this Racer85 yourself."

"Of course. After all, I only want to have exchanges of opinions with him regarding of my books. Maybe he knows some other books he can recommend to me. You know I'm always looking for new reading material."

"Yes, I do. Still."

"I have to say, though, when I was writing with him, the way he wrote felt very familiar. So when he talks like he writes, I mean."

"Uh-huh, and who does that remind you of?"

"Honestly? It totally reminds me of Yibo."

"Maybe it is him and you just don't know it?"

"Haha, yeah that would be a funny coincidence. But when we talked about books for a second, all he said was that he likes to read too. Nothing more."

"I guess you wish he was your fan?"

"Sure. I kind of do. Do you know how awesome that would be if we met here and then also met by chance on the Internet?"

"Sure I do. You could almost call it fate then."

"Oh don't remind me. Remember how grandma used to say a destiny is fulfilled when you meet three times by chance and love comes out of that?"

"Oh god yes. And yet she only met Grandpa once by chance and they got together the same day and got married six months later."

"I think because of her dementia, she's always had it all mixed up."

"I'm sure she did. I remember the last time she was always running around looking for her little ZhanZhan."

"Yeah, she thought I was still a toddler and lost me while playing. Over and over again. Grandpa was so worn out himself afterward, because he was nursing and caring for her himself around the clock, that maybe that's why he followed her just a few days later when she died. And of course, because he always said that if his wife died before him one day, he wouldn't want to live any longer because he couldn't imagine life without her." (True story. Except in this case the boy's name was Oliver (my cousin) and my grandma used to throw money out the window because she thought he was standing down there needing money because he was hungry).

"But again to get back to your Yibo. Don't wait too long to tell him. You know that you are Wei Ying."

"If he even knows the books."

"Nobody can get past that. In every window of every bookstore here, there are huge displays of the fantasy world. If he misses them, he's blind."

"Never mind. I'll wait a little while before I tell him."

"Just not too long. So, I'm going to go visit your restroom now, because my little bouncy ball is jumping around on my bladder again, and then I'm heading home. And for you, I hope you have a nice date tomorrow."

"Thanks, I'm sure the date will be nice. Drive safe and tell your husband I said hi. And thanks for stopping by and for always having an open ear for me."

"Sure thing. Come give me another hug." She hugged me again and then left.

I'm going to work for two more hours now and then go home where I can finally see Yibo again. I can't believe that as soon as he went home, I started missing him.