Tear A Path - 1 The Star
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1 The Star

On the peak of a particular hill, a single house sits comfortably alone. Its slightly yellow stained walls betrayed its age regardless of the fact that its owners installed new air-cons and refurbished the driveway.

It didn't always need this. Its owners, with the increase in age could no longer enjoy the regular b.u.mpy off-road trips up the hill. Therefore, they decided to make a driveway and rent it out to tourist whenever they didn't use it. Additionally, with an elevation of 1,000 meters above sea level the cold mountain winds used to be sufficient to keep guests cool throughout their stay, even too cold sometimes. However, with the increase in the temperature of the earth, these hills became warmer with each pa.s.sing year.

On the veranda, w.a.n.g Zhao Hui sat across from his childhood friend turned girlfriend Xi You Ya. The latter seemed angry on the surface.

"Zhao Hui! if you dare poke my sides again in front of our friends, you better be prepared to stop talking to me for a week!".

"Oh, come on, I have been poking your sides since we were kids, even now you laugh if we're on a date together, but suddenly when our friends are around you are suddenly conscious of it" w.a.n.g Zhao Hui said plainly, "If you keep making a fuss about it I won't poke your sides again, instead, I'll poke your belly b.u.t.ton and see how our friends react then."

"You dare!!"

The funny thing about spouses is how sometimes people end up finding those who are the exact opposite of their own characters. For example w.a.n.g Zhao Hui is very energetic in public is in reality very plain in private, on the other hand Xi You Ya who is usually shy in public has a temper she shows only to her loved ones.

Life tends to tear apart and bring together the strings of fate of humans. For some lucky few, their strings are intertwined all through the rest of their lives until death inevitably pulls it apart in the end. For the unlucky ones, the string breaks apart before it's time.

In the case of the two lovebirds, their fates have somehow been kept together as if they were destined. During birth, both of their parents had actually eaten together because of a full hospital cafeteria, Xi You Ya being born on the 5th of August was 30 days old when her parents met the parents of the 7 day old boy.

Many years later when they were both 8 years old, w.a.n.g Zhao Hui's father, w.a.n.g Tian Long, began to do business with his grandfather. Because of this, he had to move closer to his family's factory to make travel more convenient. Unknown to him, he had moved right next to the bakery Xi You Ya's parents ran. Hence, began the many days of playing cat and mouse and playing hide and seek in the bakery for both family's children. At 12, because of the success of business w.a.n.g Zhao Hui's family moved to Indonesia for cheaper workforce splitting the two by a whole ocean.

Somehow, later on both were sent to school in Singapore for better education when they were 16. w.a.n.g Zhao Hui's cla.s.smate invited him to rent an apartment together with other students, one of which was Xi You Ya. 3 years later they are going steady and all seems right.

When the stars align, things fall into place regardless of who or what steps in. But when even the stars are covered by the shroud of night, it's uncertain if even fate can keep it's strings together.