A Billion Dollar Exchange

''Alright, I'm suffocating now, why are you wrapped in a duvet? Don't tell me you were still sleeping by past 2pm?

Xin Yong asked laughing lightly, she tried releasing herself from Liling's grip but Liling held her tighter.

''I missed you so much! How could you leave without telling me? Uh? Do you know how worried I was?''

Xin Yong stopped laughing.

''I'm sorry, okay? But I'm back now. ''

Liling held her for some time before she released her grip.

''So, don't tell me you haven't taken your morning bath?'' Xin Yong asked again, assessing her;

''Wait wait; are those hickeys? It seems someone had been very busy lately! '' She teased, twitching her brows, with a knowing smirk on her lips.

Liling tried covering her neck but she did not even know where the hickeys were exactly.

''They are mosquito bites, mosquito bites. ''

''Yeah, there must be a lot of them in the house! ''

Xin Yong joked; Liling blushed and glared seeing that Xin Yong saw through her lie. Looking at herself, she exclaimed;

''God, I stink! I haven't even brushed my teeth. Let's go to my room, here is a big mess!''

She said whilst pointing at the room she came out from. Liling hadn't used her room in a while, although it was neat, it looked a bit abandoned.

Xin Yong lay on the bed while Liling washed up and changed into new set of clothes. Not even drying her hair, she quickly dived into the bed.

''You look different with short hair. Why did you cut it?''

She asked as she lay beside Xin Yong, holding her head up with her elbow.

''I just fell like, it was too long, besides, i was told I look better now.''

Xin Yong shook her head, smiling toothily. Liling was not buying that, she knew Xin Yong was smiling to make everything seem okay when it was nothing next to okay. She had been hurt and was still hurting, she needed to know what happened when she was away, she needed to know about Eva and what caused their separation and if she chose not to forgive him after; then it was okay. But she must hear the truth.

''Xin Yong, a lot happened when you were away, Jin Yue…''

''Liling ''

Xin Yong cut in abruptly. When she heard her mention Jin Yue's name, her countenance changed completely. She was no longer smiling and she looked really stern when she called her.

Liling had never heard Xin Yong call her in that manner before, so she froze. She could not even bring herself to respond.

''Please don't mention that name again! I don't want to hear that name ever again!''

She warned with eyes closed and lips twitching.

''No, Xin Yong, see, there was a misunderstanding…''

''I don't care! I really don't care, it's past and it'll remain there. I came back to move on, please Liling, for the sake of our friendship do not bring up that name again?''

Liling was speechless. She did not even know what to say, her lips moved but no words could form. She knew she detested him but was it to the extent of not mentioning his name again? She couldn't blame her though; anyone would do the same in her shoes.

Xin Yong sighed, and then continued.

''I know you have a lot of questions, I'll answer most of them now and after which we won't go back to this again, promise?''

Liling forced herself to nod. She couldn't do anything else.

''So we broke up… no, that's not the right word, he dumped me.''

She chuckled;

''And after that, I had a mental and emotional breakdown which led to a series of nightmares. One of the days, I was lost in thought and I walked into the road, got hit by a vehicle and fell into coma.

Can you imagine that when I woke up I had lost a child?  I mean, I didn't even know I was pregnant. I thought that if you were pregnant, you would feel a bump or something, how was my flat belly carrying a child? I mean it was unbelievable! ''

She explained with demonstrations and facial expressions, making it sound normal, as though it was nothing­_ as though she was telling a movie and not her own life story.

Liling felt tears gathering up her eyes, she didn't want to cry, Xin Yong was trying hard not to feel anything at that moment, and she was not going to make her sullen, so she forced herself to hold it in.

''So after that, I didn't know what got into me, I tried killing myself, oh God! I was so stupid!''

Xin Yong shook her head, laughing at her stupid act, her eyes curving into crescents.

''Xin Yong…''

Liling called, she could almost see the hurt in her eyes, the hurt she was trying her very best to hide. Xin Yong did not reply, she just continued, not wanting to be interrupted, as though she could not wait to get it over with.

''That attempted suicide brought me back to my senses. I realized I could live again, and he wasn't my world. I realized that I had a life before I met him, and that he wasn't my existence. So I went for counseling and finally here I am! Back to you, best friend! I missed you so much, you know that?''

Xin Yong concluded with a gleeful smile. She placed her head on a nearby pillow as she waited for Liling's response.

Liling could not speak, she just watched her friend. She was indeed finding it hard keeping her emotions in check, knowing that Xin Yong was hurting and yet did not want to hear anything about him.

How was she going to get her to listen to her?

''Xin Yong, ''

''You promised we won't talk about it again. Liling, really, I don't care about what he has to say, I really don't. I've moved on, and everyone should move on too. It's in the past now, really.''