Chapter One – Café 109

It was 7:45 p.m. The café was due to close in fifteen minutes. The last two customers had left fifteen minutes ago. Outside, a torrential downpour battered the windows, turning the street into a blur of silver rain. Just then, the door suddenly opened with a soft chime. A tall man stepped inside, probably in his thirties. In his hand was a dripping umbrella, rainwater trailing behind him as he crossed the threshold. His coat was damp, clinging slightly to his frame, and his dark shoes left wet prints on the wooden floor. “Sorry, sir,” I said from behind the counter. “We’re closing in fifteen minutes.” He placed the umbrella into the stand by the door and walked slowly toward me. I watched him, curious yet wary. “Don’t you recognize me?” he asked. “You are...?” I searched his face, racking my brain for any clue of who he might be. But nothing surfaced. No familiar memory, no name. “I’m Zhang Yuesheng,” he said. “We met three years ago, at Kaijie’s funeral.” At that moment, everything came rushing back. Three years ago, Kaijie had died in a plane crash on his way to the United States to attend Zhang Yuesheng’s wedding. I was supposed to go with him, but the night before our departure, I came down with a high fever. That fever saved my life—and left me alone in this world. If I had been given a choice, I would’ve chosen to leave with Kaijie. Zhang Yuesheng had been Kaijie’s childhood best friend. He was a head chef at a prestigious restaurant and had a promising future. But four years ago, following a painful breakup, he gave up everything here and left to travel the world. About a year later, Kaijie told me that Yuesheng was getting married in the U.S. I only met Kaijie after Yuesheng had left, so I had never met the friend he so often spoke of—until that funeral. The first time I saw him was after the funeral service. A gentle drizzle had persisted all day. Once the final prayers were said and the guests began to leave, the rain finally stopped. I remained in front of Kaijie’s grave, unable to walk away. My two closest friends, Fang Jingxin and Zhang Suyue, stood by me, trying to persuade me to go. “I’m okay. I just want to stay with Kaijie a little longer,” I told them. “Alright, we’ll wait in the car,” Jingxin said, hugging me softly. Suyue gave me a silent hug too, then turned to leave with her. Soon after they left, the rain started again—this time, a steady, quiet patter. I couldn’t tell anymore whether it was the rain or my own tears on my face. My vision blurred, and I began to cry uncontrollably. Someone approached quietly and stood beside me. “I’m Zhang Yuesheng. I’m sorry,” he said in a gentle voice. I wiped my face and looked up at him. I didn’t understand what he was apologizing for. In that moment, my entire body felt weak, and the world turned black. When I woke up, I was in a hospital bed. The fever had left me dazed and foggy. Somewhere in that haze, I thought I saw Kaijie. I had forgotten, for a moment, that he was gone. A few days later, the fever broke. Jingxin and Suyue visited me every evening after work. They told me that a man had brought me to the hospital after I collapsed at the cemetery. He had stayed by my side every day until the fourth day, when he said he had an urgent matter and had to return to the U.S. before dawn. Before leaving, he gave them his contact information and told them to call him if anything happened to me. “He said he was Kaijie’s best friend—Zhang Yuesheng,” Jingxin told me. I had seen a photo of him with Kaijie once, but I hadn’t had a clear look at his face before collapsing at the grave. If he hadn’t said he was Zhang Yuesheng, I would never have remembered who he was. To be continued…