The Day He Said Goodnight

Chapter 6

Levi made his way capturing many eyes as he took each step. Those stares were not meant for him but for the black bunny that he was carrying on his arm. He continued his pace when he was suddenly stopped by authorized personnel of the hospital, "excuse me, sir, pets are not allowed within the hospital," hearing this made Levi stop in his tracks and he faced the personnel speaking. 

"Ah, I'm bringing this to a patient here," he said and the person still had his hard look with it saying that it's still not allowed inside and so Levi had no choice but to drag Celeste's name in his excuse, "it's for my friend, she really has a frail body and wanted someone or something to be with her," Levi reasoned out.

"If she's looking for a thing then why bring out a bunny?" Levi wanted to slap himself for leaving out an oblivious detail. "She specifically asked for a bunny since she found it cute," he lied, smoothly that the hospital staff believed him. "Hm, alright but tell your friend to guard it so that it won't bother other patients," the staff said before walking away, leaving Levi by himself.

Levi felt a sigh of relief when he slipped out of that problem. He smiled and stared at the bunny who was also staring at him, "you brought me to trouble you little thing," he said before walking his way to Celeste's ward while thinking what to say to the other.

"Thank you Lath for understanding," Celeste thanked the older and was about to stand up to give him a proper bow but Lath held her shoulders and gave her the signal that she doesn't need to do it. "But this is a big favour that I'm asking you," Celeste said interjected but Lath only gave her a dismissing smile. 

"As I said, there's no need for you to bow. Look at your state, your state tells me that you're having a hard time doing some things," Lath said while looking at Celeste's state that bringing tears into his eyes. "But-" Celeste kept his gaze at Lath whose eyes are now filled with tears. I mean what kind of person will not be brought to tears after hearing Celeste's story and what her future plans are?

"Thanks, Lath for understanding my situation," Celeste smiled at the man. She was really thankful that Lath came because if he hadn't come then all of these bottled feelings inside of her would be brought to her grave when she dies. "No worries Celeste..." Lath patted Celeste's shoulder and ensured the girl, "...I'll not tell Lev about it," he finished and it gave Celeste the assurance that the girl needed.

"But...are you sure that you'll not change your mind? I mean...it would be good if he knows this-" Lath was cut off by Celeste who now averted her gaze from the older, "you know how stubborn Levi is, Lath...if he knows all of this then he would rather destroy himself than forgive me...what I did for him was unforgivable. If you were at Levi's side all the time then you should know how I broke him," Celeste sighed sadly.

"I'm sure he would understand and forgive you if you tell him the truth-" Lath was cut off by the sudden slam of the door. Both looked in that direction and saw Levi huffing, catching his breath as if he was chased by something. "Lev, are you?-" Lath was cut off once again when they heard shouts from outside.

"What's chasing you?" Lath looked at Levi, worried at his best friend's situation. "Kids," he replied shortly while continuously looking at his arms, checking something. "Why are they chasing you?" asked Celeste with her frail voice and made Levi look at her with many emotions present in his face but both guilt and concern were the ones showing the most.

"Because he's handsome," Lath joked, trying to lift up the mood that was slowly sinking. Seeing that no one laughed at his joke because the two were intensely staring at each other as if they were making up the years where they hadn't seen each other. Noticing this, Lath picked up the signal and left the room since he was "not" needed there.

The two didn't even notice when Lath left the room as they were still busy staring at each other's eyes. Their intense staring contest was broke off when the animal that Levi kept for so long in his arms started to squirm and make its way out of his grasps. "Aish," Levi complained and accidentally released the bunny making it hop freely. Thankfully, Lath closed the door when he went outside making the bunny unable to escape the room because if it were left open then Levi would have to stay overnight looking for the bunny and catch it.

"Oh my!" Celeste exclaimed in happiness when she saw the black bunny as if it was the cutest creature she had seen. The bunny jump its way out from Levi's grasps and excitedly hopped its way around the room before making its way to Celeste as if returning to his owner. "Oof," Celeste made a sound when the bunny hopped to her and snuggled itself into Celeste's arms.

"What did you do to him, Levi? Did you instruct him or something?" Celeste expressed out a laugh and kept caressing the bunny's fur. Because of Celeste's seriousness pinned on the bunny situated on his lap, she didn't even notice how Levi stared at her. "I didn't do anything," he said and pulled a chair for him to sit beside Celeste's bed. "Then how do you explain this? Why is he comfortable with me?" Celeste asked while still looking at the bunny, purposely avoiding looking into Levi's eyes because if she did it then it would be hard for her to get out since she'll surely get lost in those dark orbs.

"Because you're beautiful," Levi meant for it to come out as a whisper but because of the room's quietness, it made the girl hear it. "W-What I m-mean is..." Levi tried getting himself out of this situation but it seems it'll be impossible since the girl heard it clearly so she just kept her mouth shut so that she'll avoid saying anymore things.

"U-Uh..." Celeste on the other hand wanted to initiate a conversation with Levi but what he said earlier made her blush furiously and unable to think of a suitable topic that will make their talk long.

"Am I forgiven?" Levi blurted out suddenly which caught Celeste off-guard. Levi wanted to keep his mouth shut but the silence surrounding them only made their atmosphere awkward and he didn't want that. "W-What do you mean?" Celeste was baffled by the man's question.

"I mean, I did say some harsh words earlier and...it made me guilty...so I asked you if I'm forgiven," Levi explained, his voice getting lower every pause. Hearing this made the girl chuckle slightly. Ever since they met, Levi was known to be the quiet, introverted and straightforward kid who tells everyone what he thinks about a certain thought or thing while Zhan was known to be outgoing, loud and jolly one. But only Levi can tame the wild Celeste while it's also Celeste who can bring Levi out from his shell and that is what brought them together.

"Of course, you did nothing wrong," Celeste pointed out but Levi insisted that he did something wrong, "no, I said some harsh words to you...and...I'm afraid that it would worsen your situation," Levi said while his head hung low.

Celeste could only shake her head while staring at the other. If what he did was harsh then what she did to Levi when they were in high school was more than that. "It was nothing compared to what you felt before," Celeste whispered and made Yibo look up, facing Celeste who also showed guilt on her tiny face.

When Celeste mentioned that, tons of memories came back to Levi's mind, both happy and sad ones. Even if he did have those memories then he is ready to set those aside since he now knew that Celeste was also guilty of it. In those years, he thought that he was the only one regretting those but it turns out that he was wrong. 

Just then, Levi came to a conclusion.

"What if we start anew?" he proposed which took the other in surprise. "What?" Celeste asked while staring at Yibo. "We are both feeling guilty at what we did then we should start again," the man proposed again but Celeste was hesitant to take on Levi's offer. What she did to the other was on a different level from what Levi did to her earlier. "But-"

"It's alright if you don't want to," Levi said and then stood up with his head hung low. "That's not it!" Celeste exclaimed and Levi then turned around to see Celeste crying, tears were streaming out from her eyes. Seeing this made Levi alarmed and hurriedly went to Celeste and wiped off her tears.

"Why are you crying?" he asked softly and Celeste could only reply with sobs. "Shhh," Levi consoled the crying frail lady. 

"If you're willing to give me a new chance then I'll gladly take it," Celeste said while facing Levi with tears still streaming out from her porcelain face, but it was entirely different from earlier because Celeste was now smiling.