Raelle didn't even run a lap when she found Hyson standing right there, looking at the sunrise with keen interest. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. As she got closer to him, he seemed to be humming a tune under his breath.
She came to stand beside him and he turned his head to look at her before flashing a brilliant smile.
"Couldn't sleep?" asked Raelle.
Hyson pulled out his earphones and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly as he told her, "Not really. You know there comes a rare day in the month when I feel like watching the sunrise? Today happens to be that rare day." He picked up a water bottle from the bench beside him and offered it to her. "Have a drink."
Raelle didn't say anything regarding his 'rare day to watch sunrise' talk as she was well aware of it already. He indeed had such rare days. Obviously, he wasn't that much of a morning person but he couldn't sleep for that long either. He just loved to bury himself under his cozy blankets and pretend to be dead.
But every month, he'd choose a random day to walk out of his room to see the sunrise.
He looked at the beads of sweat on her forehead and sighed out, "I don't even know why you love running so much." He took a handkerchief and wiped her sweat as he went on, "It's not like you're going to the Olympics or something."
"Running in the morning is good for health," replied Raelle.
Hyson snorted, "Yeah, right!"
And then they both went silent. He moved over and sat on the bench by his side while staring into the horizon silently. Raelle followed him and sat down beside him. Taking a deep breath, Hyson dropped his head on her shoulders and continued to look at the sky changing colors with the arrival of the sunlight.
"Tone down your overthinking," Raelle suddenly spoke out.
"Huh?"
"Almost everyone can tell by now that something is bothering you," Raelle pointed out.
"Is it that obvious?" he questioned.
"You've lost weight within days," said Raelle. "That's not normal."
Hyson looked down at himself and frowned, "Did I? I don't see the difference though."
Raelle pinched his cheeks making his lips pucker up like duck as she stated, "This face of yours is slimmer than before. As if someone sucked the life out of it."
Hyson slapped her hands away and rubbed his cheeks before muttered, "Is it that bad? Is it ruining my beauty? Oh, no! I have to do something about it."
"Is that really something you should be concerned about right now?" retorted Raelle. "Don't you already have enough on your plate to worry about?"
Hyson's shoulders slumped down, "Then what am I supposed to do exactly? It's not that easy to stop worrying."
"Is there really a need to be worried about?" asked Raelle. "His presence won't change anything in your life."
"It definitely will," Hyson shot back. "How could it not? At the end of the day, he is still my fath..." he pursed his lips without finishing his sentence. He just couldn't bring himself to say 'father' out loud. That word had never been a part of his life.
"Let me rephrase that for you," said Raelle. "He is at most the sperm donor. You have no reason to accept him as a father as long as you don't want to. It won't change anything at all."
Hyson stared at Raelle for a minute in silence not knowing what to say in response. Technically, she was right.
The thing that had been on his mind or more like the person who had been on his mind for the last few days had been Zhai Kuijun. From the moment he laid his eyes on that man, he knew he had seen him somewhere. Originally, he couldn't tell where.
But it was when he came back home and looked at his mother that it clicked. He had seen Zhai Kuijun's picture in his mother's drawer. It was actually a newspaper cutting and since there was only the picture, he didn't know the name of the man. At that time, he was about 7 years old and didn't think much about it.
Later, he had seen his mother burning that newspaper cutting while she shed silent tears. He had seen how hurt his mother looked at that time. He also saw how she looked so lonely just standing there, seemingly saying goodbye to something. He didn't know who she was parting with but he knew she looked to be in deep pain. A pain that he was unable to understand.
This memory had been buried somewhere in his mind and was pulled out once he saw that man in person. Although his memory wasn't as impeccable as Raelle's, he had his own talent. He'd never forget the faces. And that's why, even though he had only seen Zhai Kuijun's picture, he remembered it.
"Do you think I'm assuming things wrongly?" questioned Hyson. "There is a possibility that mum cherished that photo because she once had a crush on him. But the 'sperm donor' is a different person?"
"I don't think so," was Raelle's honest response. "But if you don't believe in mere my judgment, I can offer you two solutions." She faced him and went on, "We can do a paternity test or you can just go home and open the 'letter of truth' your mother gave you years ago."
Hyson heaved a long and heavy sigh. "Before today, I had no interest in opening that letter and learning about the truth of my birth. But now, I'm actually a bit scared to open it. And I don't even know why."
Raelle placed her arms around him and hugged him. She even tried to comfort him by patting his back.. Although her movements seem mechanical, it was quite soothing to Hyson who really needed her right by his side.
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