Chapter 643 Small Wish

Zayn did not remember how he replied to Lindsey back then. He seemed to have said, “Go away!” Or perhaps it was, “Get lost!” With the scent of acacia flowers lingering in the air, Lindsey and Zayn walked around the entire orphanage. The orphanage had been renovated over the years, but the general layout never changed. Many of the small corners where the two of them played together as children did not change. As they walked, the two talked about each other's embarrassing stories when they were young. The atmosphere between them eased a lot probably because the memories they had related to this place were innocent and pure. They walked to a small vegetable garden behind the cafeteria. What used to be a small vegetable garden was no longer a garden. It was now used to stack unused piles of wood and there were no longer any plants there. The two of them stopped in unison. Lindsey blinked a few times as the sun was quite glaring especially since they had just walked out from the shade. Her eyes were a little sore and slightly red. It was not serious and the discomfort subsided after blinking a few more times. They just stood there quietly for a long time. Neither of them spoke and the harmony that they had between them earlier dissipated in the silence. Their memory pulled them back to that sunset on a particular evening. As usual, Zayn was hiding there, but this time he was not alone. Lindsey was with him. The two children whose ages did not add up to 21 years old, made a lifelong promise to each other while birds were flying home and the clouds receded. Time was a magical thing. Many things in their memory had already receded, but they did not forget it completely. It was just hidden in the depths of their minds that it seemed to be gone, but those memories suddenly became clear and colorful again. Lindsey could still recall the serious and hopeful looks on their faces back then. In her memory, she said, "Let’s pinky-promise!" Back then, Zayn just scoffed at her. He was a young and clueless boy then, but he already thought that pinky promises were childish. Even though he was reluctant and thought it was childish, that handsome awkward boy carefully extended his pinky and hooked it with hers. Then, their soft childish voice recited their promise of the future. It was so silly, yet so beautiful. At this moment, the little boy in her memory had grown into a mature man. Lindsey sniffled and suddenly felt that God was pretty nice to her. Her long-cherished wish came true. This was something many people could not even dream of. After going through so much together, the two of them could still stand together in the same place, which was a great blessing on its own. Suddenly, all the bitterness in her heart faded. "Let's go!" Lindsey revealed a relieved smile in the sunlight that was so gentle. "It's getting late." Zayn looked at the emptiness in front of him and nodded after a while. After all this time, although they were not complete strangers, Zayn had ultimately failed to keep his end of the promise. Who could tell them how they became like this? The two of them walked side by side to the entrance. Lindsey could not help but look back again. After a while, she turned around and said, "Let's go." It had rained all night yesterday, but there was not even a trace of dampness in the air, and the sun was scorching hot on their skin. "Did you...face some trouble at work?" Zayn asked Lindsey as he walked. Lindsey wore a thin white cardigan with a black chiffon camisole underneath, revealing her beautiful collarbones. She also wore a pair of light-colored jeans and her hair was draped over her shoulders. When Zayn spoke, he turned his head to the side. Just then, Lindsey's hair flew in the sudden breeze, which touched Zayn's chin. It tickled him a little. When she heard Zayn's question, Lindsey turned to him. With her movement, her hair no longer touched Zayn's face. Lindsey did not notice that her hair had accidentally got blown into Zayn's face. Her expression was dull as she said, "It’s nothing, just some small misunderstanding." Zayn knew that Lindsey would never leak Hemera's core research document to himself, and he was confident that Lindsey would never do such a thing, but this had indeed happened to Lindsey. When Zayn first heard about it, he was infuriated, not with those people's gossip, but because he felt that Lindsey was framed when she was clearly innocent. Lindsey did not want to discuss this with Zayn. For a moment, Zayn felt angry and heartbroken, so he only said, “It better be a misunderstanding.” She raised her eyebrows and glanced at him, but did not say anything. Seeing that Lindsey did not speak, Zayn regretted that his tone was a little too harsh just now. "You..." He stopped walking when they were in the shade. "I actually wanted to say that we don’t have to be like this. We’re not strangers, so you can come to me if there’s anything you can't solve." Lindsey looked at him again. Her gaze was calm as she gently shook her head. "No thanks." Seeing such a calm Lindsey felt a little strange to Zayn. He then realized after some thought that she did not get mad at him for talking to her in that tone. He did not know whether this was a good or bad thing, but somehow, he felt a little lost. "How’s Dezi lately? I told him last time that I’d take him out to play, but it looks like I’m breaking my promise." Zayn suddenly said. Zayn knew that the conversation between him and Lindsey should have ended just now, and they should have gone their separate ways, then bury today's chance encounter in the bottom of his heart along with those memories. Lindsey did not expect Zayn to bring up Dezi. She just nodded and said, “He’s doing well. The next time you meet him, you can ask him to recite a poem for you." Zayn’s heart shook with her casual words. ‘The next time we meet...when will that be?’ He suddenly panicked and looked at Lindsey with agony in his eyes, but in the end, he said softly, "Okay." He did not want Lindsey to notice his emotions, so he raised his hand to pull off a dead branch from the tree and fiddled with it. Somehow, he said, “You shouldn’t just pour all of your soul into Dezi. You should take care of yourself too.” Lindsey raised her eyebrows and looked at Zayn dubiously. This was not at all like something Zayn would say. Opposite her, Zayn did not see anything wrong with what he just said. He even had the urge to blurt out all those unspoken words of care. "Sometimes, I feel that I’m too impulsive..." Zayn suddenly laughed at himself. The orphanage was behind them. Against the light, Lindsey could not see the look on his face clearly. “What do you mean?” Before Zayn finished his sentence, Lindsey asked him, but he did not answer.