Note: XYZ means inner thoughts
"XYZ" means conversation
XYZ means simple text/POV

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Yibo's POV:

I am always longing for something, for 'someone'. Exactly who? I don't know. This feeling has always been there, however it became more evident and possessed me from that day.........the day when I first came to Beijing.

Two years ago, the 16 year old me boarded off the train from Henan to Beijing on the railway platform, staring at the signboard of "Welcome to Beijing".
My first impression of the city.....it was hella crowded even though it was early in the morning. But I cannot complain, I had to live here from now on as I got a scholarship in dance and music major in ABC Group of Institutes. My parents had already searched for an affordable apartment for me to live in.

The announcements of the arrival and departure of trains was going on in the background.

As I was about to walk away with my luggage, I heard it..........

* tinkle *

.......the tingling of bells. Light, gentle but distinct, drowning all the noise in the background. It lasted for only
2 seconds. After a few moments, I heard it again. I looked around me everywhere, but nobody seemed to hear it except me. I got scared. I covered both my ears but was still able to hear it. All of a sudden, the feeling of longing intensified as if the universe was screaming me to search for the reason behind that sound of bells. It was a warm feeling yet compelling at the same time. It was no longer scary.
As if possessed by this feeling, I desperately looked in all directions trying to search for the one. I woke up from this trance upon hearing the announcement of departure of a train.
.........
The sound stopped. Everything went back to normal.
I stood there contemplating everything that happened just moments ago.
One thing was for sure, the one I was longing for, is in this city, under the same sky as me.

Uptill now, I had similar experiences for about 5 times after that. I tried searching for the person, but failed everytime. The last time I heard that distinct sound of bells was on my last birthday. My hyungs were celebrating my birthday in a restaurant, that's when I heard it again. I ended up searching the entire restaurant without any success.

It has been 2 years, since I first heard the bells. Life has been pretty normal till now......... school, studies, dance practice, singing, small shows, girls proposing every now and then (thanks to my handsome features), having fun with my hyungs........all going well....pretty decent. However, the feeling of yearning for someone persists. I most definitely am in love with this beloved stranger of mine.

I came out of my one room apartment into the wide common balcony. As this place is located at high ground level, I can see the view of the resident area of the city. Small-large homes of people over a large area. My special person must also be living there somewhere .

I look up at the sky, light blue with the sun shining, decorated with small white clouds. I reach my hand towards the sky, opening the palm of my hand as if grasping something.

You are under the same sky as me.

Feeling his moment, I close my eyes.

I promise, I will find you.....no matter what. Our paths will cross. I don't know you and probably you don't know me too.......but one thing is for sure, when we meet, I will know it..... I will know it's you.

Under the anticipation of our meeting, I ask my special person :

Where are you?

Who are you?

What is.....your name?

Third person's POV:
Present time.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Yibo woke him up to the sound of his phone flooding with messages from the group chat. He tried ignoring this disturbance, by pressing the pillow on his ears, but the messages won't stop. Finally, he gave up.

He woke up rubbing his eyes and fixing his disheveled hair, which still remained disheveled. He was still sleepy. With his half-open eyes, he picked up his phone from the nightstand. It was 8:30 a.m. He unlocked his phone to read the messages.

The conversation from the group chat:

•Sungjoo hyung: Has everyone left?

•Yixuan ge: I already left; on the bus right now.

•Wen Han ge: I am packing food , I'll leave after that.

•Sungjoo hyung: Why are you taking food with you? They will provide us with everything.

•Seungyoun hyung: LoL. This potato-head hyung always has food on his mind, eating non-stop^_^. Sometimes I wonder if your abs are even real or not(+_+) .

•Wen Han ge: Shut up, my abs are real, unlike your non-existent height, you minion =_=

•Seungyoun hyung: *gasps*What did you call me?.......Yixuan mom, look he called me a minion (TT). He's bullying this innocent child:'(

Yibo thought they were planning for some trip.....Well, they can leave without him, he's way too sleepy to go outside.

He was about to go back to his precious sleep, when Sungjoo messaged....

>Sungjoo hyung: Yibo, did you leave yet ? We have to perform at the mall today. You remember, right?

Yibo's eyes widened after reading the message. His sleep blew away.

Fuck.

Today they had a performance, it totally slipped off his mind.

>Me : Sorry hyung, I forgot. I woke up now. We have to perform at 10:00 am, right? The venue is far from my place. What should I do now?

>Sungjoo hyung: Aaish...Yibo! I even messaged you at night yesterday so you won't forget. Alright, calm down. Freshen up and don't take the bus, catch a local train, you'll reach in time then. Now, hurry up.

>Me: okay.

After putting his phone down, Yibo hurriedly freshened up. Taking a quick bath, he dressed up, picked up his bag and phone and dashed out of his apartment after locking the door.

He ran to the nearby local station which was 5 minutes away from his place. After reaching there, he was lucky enough that the required train was standing on the platform. He quickly boarded the train.

He sat on a seat, humming the lyrics of EoEo and practicing the steps in his mind.
When his station came, he got off the train with a flock of people. It was pretty crowded since it's office time. He took the stairs upwards with the crowd and took out his phone to see the time. He still had 15 minutes. Good, he'll reach on time. Relieved, he put the phone in his pocket and continued climbing the stairs.

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* tinkle *

He heard it. The delicate tinkling of bells. Loud and clear.
Yibo froze on the spot. His heart began to race as the warm feeling enveloped him. He looked at the stairs on his right side , which was separated by the grills, where people were going downstairs on to the platform for boarding on the trains.
Without a second thought he began to climb down. He desperately tried to reach the platform against the flow of people going upstairs. His mind repetitively chanting only one thing.

You are here.

He reached the platform bumping into people and apologizing. The train arrived at the platform. He heard the tinkling sound one again , but this time, it was very faint and then it stopped. Fear overtook Yibo, the fear of losing his beloved person yet again. The train doors opened, people started getting off the train. Yibo ran along the length of the train on platform in search of the tinkling sound .

1st coach
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2nd coach
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3rd coach
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* tinkle *

He slowed down his step going to 4th coach and stopped,
turned back and walked towards the door of the 3rd coach, panting, his heart beating fast.
The platform was now empty as most of the passengers boarded the train.
Yibo stood in front of the open door, behind the yellow safety line.
He looked through the flocks of people packed inside the 3rd coach. His eyes landed on a particular person. His breath stopped for a moment.

It was his special person.

Slightly taller than the other passengers, looking at his phone while the earphones adorned his ears, a bag hanging on this shoulder, ruffled black hair, glasses resting on the bridge of his nose, with a mask covering his face. Only his eyes, looking at the phone, were visible. Yeah, he's a guy.

Yibo stood there mesmerized, in a trance. He wanted to call out and run to the guy but neither was he able to speak nor was he able to move. He could just see. He lost all other senses. Yibo saw him... he saw only him. For him, there was only he himself and the guy that seemed to exist in the entire universe.

*The train from platform 2 will be leaving shortly. Thank you*

He woke up from his trance hearing the announcement. The doors of the 3rd coach were closing. As Yibo regained his senses back, he wanted to call out his special one's name. But what will he say ?...

I don't even know his name!

Click. The doors closed. The train gained momentum and quickly disappeared from the platform.

Yibo stood there, helpless, rooted to the ground. He stared at the now empty rail track. Trains came and went by but he stood there rooted. The boarding and deboarding passengers gave him weird looks but he didn't care. He was lost in grief.

About half an hour later, Yibo lowered his head in desperation. He took a final look in the direction where the train took his beloved stranger. His throat felt dry, his cheeks and upper portion of his shirt were wet. He raised his hand and touched his cheeks to find that they were smeared with tears. He had been crying, unknowing to himself, since that helpless moment.

Why am I even .........?

Before completing his sentence he broke out into sobs. He cried and cried till he gasped for breaths.

After a while, he calmed down. Dried his face with a handkerchief and walked lifelessly to the venue where he was supposed to perform.

On reaching the venue :

Sungjoo was standing at the gate with his arms folded threatening aura radiating from him. Yixuan beside him, with a worrying look. Yibo stood in front of them with his head hanging down. Wen Han was eating potato chips at a distance of good 10 meters from them. Seungyoun hid behind him, not wanting to see the wrath of his hyung.

•Yibo: I am sorry, hyung.

•Sungjoo: (yelling) SORRY?! What the heck am I supposed to do with your sorry. How can you be so irresponsible? Did you even check your phone? How many missed calls and messages did we send?

Yibo flinched. It was rare to see his hyung being so mad at anyone, moreover at him. Yixuan, the eldest among them, sensed Yibo's restlessness. He came in front of Sungjoo, shielding Yibo behind him.

•Yixuan : Don't yell at my baby, it's alright, we managed to perform, right? So let him off the hook this time.

•Sungjoo : Ge, you always protect him, just because he's the maknae, you always take his side. That's why he became this irresponsible. He didn't receive any of our calls nor replied to our messages. He rarely travels through trains. What if he got lost? What if something bad happened to him ?

•Yixuan : Sungjoo, please let this slide for once. And Seungyoun, take your hyung to the food court, we'll join you in a bit.

Seungyoun laughed nervously, before tugging his hyung's sleeve pulling him towards the food court. Sungjoo huffed and then tagged along with him.

Yixuan turned to the heartbroken Yibo and said, " If you want to share anything, we are always here for you." Yibo replied with a "hmm". Then Yixuan left for the food court.

After finishing his chips and throwing the packet in the dustbin, Wen Han walked upto Yibo and ruffled his hair with the clean hand, said, "In the performance, Seungyoun covered your Rap parts and Sungjoo covered the dance parts. Make sure to thank them later. Now come on, Bo di, let's eat some food to liven up the mood." He then dragged Yibo to the food court where the others were waiting for them.

Being with his hyungs livened up Yibo's mood a bit. Upon returning back to his apartment, he slumped on the bed. Looking at the ceiling, he saw the glowing stars that he had stuck on the roof wall. While laying, he lifted his hand as if to reach those stars.

I lost you again.

I wonder, where are you now?

Even though you are a stranger, you have so much power over me. You stir up the feeling in me that I never had.

My beloved stranger...who are you?

Where are you?

What is.... your name?

( Time skip of few weeks)

At Yibo's apartment:

'Hello'
'Hello Seungyoun hyung.'
'Bo, we have practice at 11 am, be on time. Also we'll be free early today, at 4 pm'
'Hmm'
'And carry an umbrella. The weather forecast said it may rain in the evening'.
'Okay'
'Baai baai', Seungyoun giggled with his dolphin squeals.
'Bye hyung' Yibo said, shaking his head to this annoying yet caring hyung, with a smile on his face. He ended the call.

He got ready, then came to the balcony and looked up.The sky was sunny and mostly clear except a few clouds lurking around the corner.

He came inside the apartment, mounted his bag on his shoulders. He grabbed the transparent plastic umbrella which was kept in the corner of the room, checked the time and dashed off after locking the door.

In the training hall of their Faculty, the team practiced hard from 11 to 4. At 4 pm, the 3 hyungs asked Yibo and Seungyoun to go ahead home as they will be discussing their album publication stuff with the seniors and officials. The two maknaes nodded and left.

After they left the faculty, they walked towards the parking lot. Yibo hopped on Seungyoun's bike . Seungyoun usually gave lift to Yibo till the nearest bus stop, from there he'll ride to the opposite direction towards his home while Yibo would wait for his bus.

Spinning the umbrella's handle in one hand, Yibo waited for the bus, which was unusually late. There was no one in sight. Even though it was about 4 pm, it started darkening. Black clouds covered the sun. Light showers started and Yibo thanked Seungyoun in his mind for making him bring his umbrella.

He opened the umbrella while the light showers of rain continued. He stood facing the direction from where his bus was supposed to come.

As the raindrops met the ground, the earthly fragrance started spreading in the air.

Yibo was enjoying this peace and solace. He closed his eyes and inhaled the light earthly fragrance, savouring the moment.

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* tinkle *

It was the sound that Yibo was longing to hear......the bells. This time, the sound was more defined than ever.

He's here.

Yibo slowly opened his eyes. He saw him existing the gate of the nearby school. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. It was a beautiful view. He was about 50 feet away from Yibo, without the mask and glasses, with a bag dangling from his shoulder. He didn't have an umbrella so he pouted looking towards the sky disappointingly. However, to the viewer, it was so very adorable. A warm feeling enveloped Yibo despite the coolness in the air. Yibo felt like the heavens have descended on earth or maybe he was in heaven. He tightly clutched the handle of the umbrella as if it was the only thing that bound him to the earth.

Yibo knew, this was his only chance ........it's now or never.

His feet automatically started moving towards that gorgeous human being, his special person.

The said person was completely oblivious to everything. He kept pouting while looking for any vehicle of transportation, with folded hands while few raindrops falling on his ruffled hair and clothes. Meanwhile the other person getting closer to him with an umbrella, his heart beating uncontrollably.

As Yibo got closer to him,

* tinkle *

he heard that sound again. Searching for the source of that sound on the said person, Yibo's eyes handed on the bag hanging from the person's shoulder. The zip of the bag had a keychain of a cute bunny and a chibi lion holding hands. There were 2 small bells dangling from the bunny's ears with the help of a thin Red ribbon.

His endearing gaze returned to his beloved stranger. With this closeness, he noticed that the person before him was taller than him by a few inches. He stood near him, taking him under the umbrella.

Upon the sudden stoppage of raindrops on his body, the stranger, who was facing the opposite direction, looked up to find a transparent umbrella above him. He slowly turned around, his black doe eyes meeting Yibo's hazel brown ones.

Yibo looked at the stranger with love in his eyes.
He was angelic. His black doe eyes contained all the beautiful things in the world. His perfectly arched eyebrows, high cheekbones, his sharp nose. His plump rosy pink lips and the cute mole below the lower lip.
Yibo had never seen anyone as perfect and as beautiful as this person in front of him.

Yibo was feeling a variety of emotions however the most prominent out of them was happiness of meeting his special one.

His eyes meet the stranger's again.
They both stared into each other as if lost in the other person's eyes.

After a while, the stranger broke the silence without breaking eye-contact.

"Thank you".

Yibo woke up from the trance.
Even his voice is angelic.

"You are welcome"...he replied.

He wanted to know more about this angel.

He decided to voice out the words that he has been practicing since forever anticipating this moment right now.

With all his courage, he spoke out, offering his hand for a handshake:
"Wang Yibo, faculty of music and dance... and... Your Name?"

The stranger shook his hand. The touch of his skin was electrifying for Yibo. He then gently tightened the hold without applying much pressure. The stranger did the same.

"Xiao Zhan, ... junior Arts teacher. Nice to meet you."

After saying this, Xiao Zhan broke out into a beautiful smile, the most beautiful one Yibo had ever seen.

His special person, his Xiao Zhan, his Zhan ge, his beloved stranger. He met him . After two long years of missed encounters, he finally met him. The person he has been longing for all his life till now, was finally in front of him.
Yibo was close to tears. Controlling his emotions, he replied with a fulfilling and loving smile,

"Nice to meet you too, Zhan ge"

Yibo was the happiest boy on the planet bcuz he met his special one, fell in love all over again and finally he came to know...

................ HIS NAME.

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* The End *

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Thank you so much for reading this story.
If you liked it , please vote and comment, they are highly appreciated.

Special thanks to my dear friendKawaiisakura1993 for the guidance.

Special thanks toInfinityLM44 for the gifs.

Also if you like the concept of my story , please do watch the anime movie Your Name/Kimi no nawa. The concept there is a bit different but trust me you'll love it.

Lots of love to everyone♥️.