Disapproval
BastardGale arrives a bit early to the Gala in a silky long black gown that covered everything but her arms, though some long black gloves fixed that. You couldn’t even see her five-inch black pumps because the small train flows in ripples. She starts to feel a bit over dressed when she sees the dull corals, creams and grays of the other females that had already arrived. At least the men are dressed to the nines. Gale scans the venue. Damn, I know whom I’m asking to plan my wedding.
There are nine chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling, with the one in the center being the largest. It connects to the surrounding eight with thick streams of pearl satin. The table spreads are of the same color, with champagne-colored centerpieces that match the drapes that lace together the wall lights. All of the tables are perfectly set with plating and cloth napkins that could’ve been made of ivory, spotless silverware, and topped a thick glass disk atop a lazy Susan in the center. Even the chairs are dressed in pearl satin and topped with a champagne ribbon and bow. Golden trim highlighted all the right key points in the room such as the rims of the plates, edges of ribbon, and even the centerpieces, which appear to be crafted with real flowers.
Gale spends most of her time with her assistants though she’s distracted as she tries to spot Lu Han among all the middle-aged men. At the very least, she wants to find Mei Lin, but even though she had planned this whole thing, Mei Lin is almost nowhere to be found. Henry’s golden hair is easy to spot and so she excuses herself and makes her way to Henry. Just as she’s about to approach him, she notices that he’s also panning the room. Henry spots Gale though and smiles in greeting. Gale bows and looks around with Henry.
“Any luck?” Gale asks.
“Nope,” Henry says, popping his lips.
Gale tisks, “What kind of boyfriend are you?”
Henry checks his phone to access the GPS that he has on Mei Lin’s phone. “Well, she’s somewhere in this building,” Henry sighs. Wish this thing was a bit more accurate.
“That helps,” Gale says sarcastically. “Hey listen.” Henry turns to face Gale, who is now burning holes into Henry’s expensive suit with her eyes. Henry steps back a bit out of fear. “If you do anything to hurt her, and I mean anything at all—”
“G-Got it,” Henry chokes.
“We may not be best friends but she’s still my friend,” Gale says firmly. “And you of all people should know better than anyone not to be an idiot.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Henry clears his throat a bit and Gale smirks at the fear she just instilled in Henry, even though Henry outranks her and is more than five years her senior in every way. Henry finally spots Mei Lin and excuses himself. “Hello, you’re a hard person to find.” Henry takes a moment to admire the way that the dark navy fabric hugs Mei Lin’s curves.
“I’m not suppose to be found,” Mei Lin says, covering her earpiece. “I’m supposed to be making sure that nothing goes wrong tonight.”
“That’s his job,” Henry says, even though he knows that Yi Fan is not in attendance. “Surely you could spare time for one dance.”
Mei Lin looks up from my tablet and directs her eyes to Henry’s extended hand. She gives in at the sight of his pleading eyes and sets down her tablet and earpiece. The live orchestra plays On the Beautiful, Blue Danube and the couple waltzes to the tune. They’re about half a meter apart to avoid too much suspicion even though rumors had been flying about their relationship for days now thanks to Yi Fan.
After their dance, Mei Lin returns to manning the fort so to speak as more and more guests arrive. She tends to the problems and complaints by all staff members, catering, and even the orchestra. It isn’t until everyone is getting seated and dinner is being served does Mei Lin get a short break. She is backstage after dinner is underway, ensuring that all the performances are presented and done properly. When the brief showcase of music is over, Mr. Wu gives a short speech about the company’s success in the past year. The orchestra plays again as dinner continues and the hall is humming with conversation with topics ranging from familial to business to the latest gossip.
Mei Lin finally sits down and has something to eat. “You work too hard,” Gale says, sitting down next to her friend after having spotted her from across the room. “That dress.” Though the dress can’t be truly admired with Mei Lin sitting down, Gale sees enough to know that it’s elegant and graceful in spite of the cut, whereas Mei Lin would typically go for something a bit more formal and safe.
“That dress,” Mei Lin repeats, showing Gale that she remembers that Gale had worn the same one to prom all those years ago.
“This old thing?” Gale asks with a bit of a smile at the fact that she even remembers. Gale looks around the room for any signs of the little deer and decides to fill the hummed silence with more small talk. “Did Henry buy that for you?”
“I didn’t let him,” Mei Lin smirks victoriously.
“He’s going to get you back for that,” Gale warns. She watches as couples begin dancing on the ballroom floor to the classical pieces as they finish eating. “How does Yi Fan feel about you two dating?”
“He really hasn’t said anything besides voicing that he disapproves,” Mei Lin says. Not that I’m complaining.
“I don’t see why you’re still working for him like this when you could be his equal rather than his equal but working for him,” Gale frowns. Her frown quickly dissipates when she spots Lu Han standing with a glass of champagne and talking to Su Ho on the other side of the wooden floors. “Excuse me…”
Lu Han stops mid-sentence when he sees Gale approaching. Who knew it was possible for her to look even more beautiful? Lu Han absent-mindedly hands Su Ho his unfinished champagne and walks towards Gale with a smile. He bows with one arm in front of him before extending that arm as his way of asking her to dance. Gale places her hand in his and he unexpectedly kisses the gloved knuckles before he escorts her to the dance floor.
It’s about time, Mei Lin sighs. She goes back to the meal, not really tasting anything, as she’s just trying to finish before anything happens. Bai Fu sits down where Gale had been sitting and Mei Lin can’t help but acknowledge her thanks to her bright red dress that’s just screaming for attention. She wipes her lips with a cloth napkin and waits to see what the young secretary has to say. “Well?”
“I don’t like you,” Bai Fu says in English with a thick accent. Mei Lin tries her best not to laugh at how serious she was trying to be so instead, she simply smiles. Bai Fu is furious and switches back to Mandarin so that everyone can understand her raised voice, “First you take away my job, and now you take away my man.”
Mei Lin blinks at the accusation, shifting in her seat a little bit before taking a deep breath through her nose. Looks like Yi Fan isn’t the only one who disapproves. When this has little to no affect on Mei Lin, she speaks again.
“You’re a ,” Bai Fu hisses. Mei Lin flinches and the room simmers down. Even the orchestra seems to have stopped.
“And you’re very brave,” Mei Lin says, considering Bai Fu just gave more than enough reasons for her to get fired. From the corner of her eye, Mei Lin can see Henry coming towards them, but Mei Lin stops him with her eyes. I’m not a kid anymore; you don’t have to protect me; I can fight my own battles. “I did not take your job. You quit and he hired me randomly. And I did not take 'your man' because he doesn’t belong to anyone but himself.” Mei Lin keeps her voice low even though she knows that the room is quiet enough for everyone to hear her.
Bai Fu keeps her nose and head held high. “Then that means he doesn’t belong to you either,” she says in a snooty voice as if she had just won.
Mei Lin simply smiles, “I never said that he does.”
Satisfied, Bai Fu stands up and conversation as well as music starts up again. Henry rushes over to Mei Lin who stops him. “Are you—”
Mei Lin cuts him off. “Promise me something?”
“Anything.”
“Don’t fire her,” Mei Lin says. Even though this might come to bite Mei Lin in the later, Mei Lin believes that Bai Fu shouldn’t be fired because of her personal feelings, but rather if she fails to do her job, which she has yet to do. Henry stares in shock at the request, wondering if he had heard right. “Hin Wah.”
“Alright, fine,” Henry says, still upset by what had just happened. “Can I at least have one more dance before the night’s over?”
“The night is still young,” Mei Lin winks before heading off to ensure the rest of the night runs smoothly.
Later that night, Mei Lin went home with Henry to ensure that he can get into the front door. Even though he haddn’t have much to drink and had been far from being drunk, his breath had still smelled like alcohol and his judgment was slightly impaired. Most of the staff was already asleep at this hour, and even though Henry is still more than capable of walking in a straight line, she still doesn’t trust him walking to his front door from the gate. “I’m fine,” Henry insists, feeling a bit buzzed but nothing else.
Mei Lin pouts a bit as she guides him to his room. “Why can’t you just accept the fact that I worry about you?”
“Because you shouldn’t have to worry about the ones who are suppose to take care of you,” Henry yawns, not thinking about what he’s saying.
That’s like saying you should never have to worry about your parents; they’re people too. “Mind if I use your bathroom?” These heels are killing me.
Henry waves in the direction of his personal bathroom. He falls back on his bed and rubs his eyes before glancing to see the time. It’s well into the next day, but Mei Lin comes out with no make up on, having washed it all off, and her heels handing off her fingers. Her hair is still layered and in waves and my stars is she gorgeous.
Mei Lin stretches a bit at the sight of Henry sprawled out on his king sized bed. That looks comfy, Mei Lin yawns. She turns to leave now that she knows that Henry is in the safe hands of his bed, but Henry quickly sits up and grabs her wrist. Before she knows it, she’s pulled into a deep kiss that tastes bitter yet sweet from the champagne. She breathes deeply through her nose, taking in the smell of bubbles, cologne and Henry’s naturally soft scent. Her arms drape over his shoulders as she sits across his lap.
His hands find their way around her waist and up her back. I wonder what you look like under this dress… Henry distracts Mei Lin by breaking their kiss and by moving down her jawline to her sensitive neck. Her silver necklace is in the way and Henry debates whether or not to bite it off but he decides against it, and instead plants his lips softly and slowly on the skin to make her shudder. One hand slides down Mei Lin’s side and alongside her thigh before it stops, making Mei Lin stretch her neck, giving Henry more access.
But once Mei Lin feels a tug on her zipper, her hands are on Henry’s chest in protest. Henry stops and pulls back with a look of disappointment. He doesn’t move otherwise, giving Mei Lin time to really consider her options but his eyes are swimming. Mei Lin closes her parted lips and presses them against Henry’s. Henry did not expect this and falls back on the bed as a result, but Mei Lin pulls away and sits up. Before Henry can realize what had happened, Mei Lin was already up and off the bed.
“You should get some sleep,” Mei Lin suggests, fixing her zipper.
Henry pouts and sits up to grab her wrist again before she has the chance to leave. “Can you at least stay?” Henry begs, not realizing how desperate he sounds.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Mei Lin says as if she were speaking to her child in disapproval.
Henry frowns but doesn’t let go of Mei Lin. She tries to leave but he tightens his grip just enough to make her turn around. “Please stay,” Henry says. “I’ll be good, I promise.” He pulls her closer and hugs her waist so that his head rests right on her stomach. He nudges his head against Mei Lin like a sad puppy in hopes that this would convince her not to leave, and luckily for him, it works.
“Alright, fine,” Mei Lin says with a sigh. Henry smiles and hugs Mei Lin a bit tighter. She runs her fingers through his hair, as he has yet to let go, and rustles the locks. “But I’m sleeping in the guest room.”
Henry lets go and pouts, “You’re no fun.”
Mei Lin lets out a laugh. “Do you have something that I can change into?”
Henry gets up and walks over to a drawer before tossing her an old t-shirt and some sweats, both of which are slightly too big for her. “I’ll ask Xue to see if she has anything else. You can shower first,” Henry offers as he takes off his jacket.
Mei Lin quickly goes into the bathroom before Henry decides to take off another layer in front of her. Henry knocks and hangs a plastic bag of unopened undergarments on the doorknob. Unfortunately for him, she was behind the fogged sliding glass doors of the shower. There’s even a new toothbrush and small cup for her, so she decides to use some of his toothpaste before leaving the safety of the large bathroom. She comes out swimming in Henry’s clothes (they fit very loosly on her) and wonders where he could’ve gone. He comes in a moment later, already showered and changed. He smiles at the sight before him and locks the door behind him.
“Hin Wah,” Mei Lin says, a little too tired for games. “What are you doing?”
Henry says nothing and simply turns off the light before taking her hand and guiding her to the bed. She’s too tired to protest and follows him under the comforter. She hugs the edge of the bed even though Henry is trying to coax her to sleep closer. “It’s not like we’ve never shared a bed before, you know,” Henry says with an arm around Mei Lin.
“I’m not having nightmares right now,” Mei Lin says to the reference. “Besides, this isn’t a family vacation.”
“We could start a family,” Henry yawns, still not thinking about what he’s saying. “You’d make a great mother.”
Mei Lin turns her body to look at Henry but his eyes are closed. “Hin Wah,” Mei Lin says softly.
“Hm?” Henry asks, unable to open his eyes.
“I got invited to Junsu’s wedding,” Mei Lin says causally. “Will you come with me?”
Henry nods, or maybe he’s just trying to get comfortable with the pillow under him. “Of course,” Henry says absent-mindedly. “I’ll go anywhere with you…”
Mei Lin sighs at the pitiful state in which Henry is in. Exhaustion and alcohol had completely taken away Henry’s filter. Mei Lin brings her hand up and digs her fingers into Henry’s soft hair, encouraging him to sleep. He fights the urge but Mei Lin’s massaging fingers are far too persuasive. He curls closer to Mei Lin and hugs her waist a bit tighter before giving in to sleep.
Though, his arms are empty when he finally comes to. This is nothing new to him, but the feeling of being a bit colder than he is used to causes him to stir. He examines his room, which looks as clean as ever, as if Xue Die had found the nerve to get anywhere close to Henry’s room. He rubs his head, missing the feeling of something else in his hair. Henry yawns and goes into the bathroom. The only sign that Mei Lin had been there the night before was the extra cup and toothbrush. He stares at it for a bit, noting that it’s still wet. She’s either still here somewhere or she left, Henry concludes. He proceeds to brush away the morning breath. No, she would’ve left a note if she had left. He’s proven right when he makes his way downstairs and hears Mei Lin chatting with Xue Die.
“Morning sleepy head.” Mei Lin greets Henry with a smile. He glances at the clock and it’s almost ten in the morning. “How’d you sleep?”
“Felt kind of cold when I woke up, but other than that, great.” Henry yawns again and rubs his eyes to get the rest of the sleep out. Xue Die places a cup of tea in front of her boss and continues to monitor breakfast. Henry sips the tea and rubs his head.
“Should I turn the temperature up?” Xue Die asks.
Mei Lin giggles to herself. “No, that’s not necessary,” Henry says.
“I didn’t want to wake you,” Mei Lin says, sipping her tea as well. Luckily, the two are conversing in English, or else Mei Lin would’ve gained another envious lady. “You looked too precious to wake up.”
“You could see that every morning if you wanted to,” Henry suggests, watching Mei Lin’s reaction for any signs of discomfort.
Mei Lin contemplates this offer with the cup to her lips, teasing Henry with a blank expression. “I don’t know how Yi Fan will take that,” she finally decides on saying. Might as well blame my boss.
“Probably as well as how he’s taking us dating now,” Henry says as Xue Die places bowls of rice in front of the couple and then other plates and bowls of various dishes in the center of the table. “Since when do you care about what he thinks?”
“It’s my job to care about what he thinks,” Mei Lin says.
“Well, you’re not on the job right now and this has nothing to do with your job,” Henry says, taking the first bite.
“On the contrary, this has everything to do with my job,” Mei Lin says, scooping some rice into . She chews the rice as well as the words for a moment before swallowing and speaking again. “You know as well as I do that he can make our lives hell if he wanted to—”
“He’s too grateful for all that you’re doing to help his mom to hurt you,” Henry says.
Mei Lin’s chopsticks stop midway in reaching some bok choi. Henry stops chewing as a result as Mei Lin tries to let this little bit of possibility settle in. “No,” Mei Lin finally says, mostly to herself. “I wouldn’t call it grateful. I’m only doing my job.”
Henry can’t help but stare at Mei Lin for a few more seconds before he continues eating again. “I know he’s very cold at times but trust me, when it comes to his mom—”
“He gave me a check for everything that I had spent out of pocket when I had first started this project not even two days after he found out about it,” Mei Lin says. “That was his way of saying, ‘I don’t owe you anything now.’”
“You should give him a bit more credit—”
Mei Lin stops, setting her chopsticks down in a soft tap, to look up at Henry, who stops to see what it is that he just elicited. Xue Die takes this as her cue to leave the two alone. “Why do defend him as if he’s your best friend one instance and then turn around and put him down as if he was the worst human being to have ever existed in another?”
Henry is taken aback by the attack of a question but instead of apologizing, he defends himself by saying, “You do that too.”
Mei Lin pauses and thinks it over. “I guess I do,” Mei Lin admits. She goes back to eating. “How did this turn into a conversation about my boss?”
“By you not accepting my offer of moving out of that box that you call an apartment,” Henry says, lightening the mood again.
“Why are you moving so fast?” Mei Lin asks.
“Why are you avoiding the question?” Henry says back.
“You mean, 'why am I not saying yes?'”
Henry pauses for a moment, knowing he’s been caught and let’s out a sigh of defeat. He sets aside his empty bowl and rests his elbows on the table so that he can bring his folded hands to his lips. Mei Lin chews slower, giving him more attention as he slowly let’s his guard down. “I guess…” He looks around as if that would help him find the right words to express his thoughts. “I’m trying to make up for lost time,” he admits. “You were gone for so long and now…you’re finally back and I don’t want to lose you again. I feel like if I don’t grab you quick enough or hold on to you tight enough, you’ll leave without saying goodbye again.” Henry hides his eyes under his folded hands and he doesn’t look up until Mei Lin gets up and walks around the table to hug him from behind, much like how she use to as a child in attempt to keep Henry from leaving or to sneak up on him to scare him.
She rests her head against his hunched back and brushes her cheek against his shirt until he sits up. She lets go of the embrace but keeps her arms around him as he turns around to look at her. Mei Lin smiles in hopes that it would reassure Henry that history will not repeat itself in such a way. But the memory brings up a question that’s quite visible in Mei Lin’s eyes. “Henry,” Mei Lin says, looking around the dining room. “Where are your parents?” Asian families tend to live together and children often live with their parents and don’t leave the house until married, so it is quite odd that Henry is alone (so to speak) in such a large manor.
“In Hong Kong,” Henry says. “The same old house.”
“They don’t know about me, do they?”
“Would it matter if they did?” Henry asks, not seeing the issue.
“Hin Wah,” Mei Lin says, distress creeping in her voice now. “They’ll disown you if they found out you’ve been keeping me a secret.”
Henry shrugs, “It’s not like we speak very much anymore.”
“Hin Wah!” Mei Lin refuses to cause any conflict in the Lau family. As much as she hates them for all the misery they indirectly caused in her own life, memories of Henry’s parents had given her hope of what her parents could be like had been the only thing that had kept her going at times. “They pity me, Hin Wah, they always have. They’re never going to let their son be with a peasant’s daughter.” Mei Lin is on the verge of crying and even though she’s exaggerating, it doesn’t take away from the truth of it all. Henry’s parents would surely disapprove of him being with someone of lower status and surely disapprove once they know that it’s Mei Lin.
Henry feels himself getting angry, not at Mei Lin, but at what she’s saying. “What does it matter if they disapprove? Why do you even care? I sure as hell don’t!” Henry is standing now as well. “I love you, that’s all that matters. I’m sick and tired of our parents deciding what we can and cannot do. It’s our lives and we should be able to live it however we like!”
The last time Henry was this upset was when someone whom he'd thought to have been his best friend cheated off of Henry on an exam, to which Henry got in trouble for even though this had happened without his knowledge. He had just picked up Mei Lin from her school and they walked home in almost complete silence until Mei Lin had asked what was wrong when passing a park. Henry snapped and ranted about how he felt betrayed, how he couldn’t believe that he would do such a thing and then have the nerve to say that he had given him the answers. Mei Lin was scared, kind of like how she is now, not because Henry was yelling at her, but because Henry was upset and yelling in general. It also made Mei Lin worried. She didn’t like seeing someone she looked up to break down like this and she doesn’t like it now either.
“Hin Wah…” Mei Lin pulls him in for a hug in attempt to calm him down, something she would’ve never attempted as a child. She can’t help but draw parallels between Yi Fan and Henry’s ideology on life though. Both want their parents to lengthen the leash, or get rid of it altogether, so to speak. And Mei Lin can’t help but agree with their logic, but coming from an Asian family has its strings attached. “You might not care, but you still love them. They were very good to you.” They were proud of you…
Henry relaxes his tense shoulders at Mei Lin’s touch and tries to even out his breathing. Normally, he would apologize for lashing out like that to calm the fear that he would cause Mei Lin, but instead, he hugs her back in silence. “I love you,” he says again. “I won’t lose you again.”
Mei Lin lets out a sigh as she feels the rest of Henry’s body relax from its tense state. “You’re going to have to tell them eventually,” Mei Lin says.
Henry sighs as well, “I know…” He pulls them both into the same chair. “Are you going to tell your parents?”
Mei Lin bites her lip. It would be hypocritical of her if she didn’t but Junsu is the only boyfriend that they knew about, sort of. “I haven’t seen them in over six months and even then it was for less than five minutes.”
“Things aren’t good between you guys?” Henry asks, a bit surprised.
They never were. Mei Lin shakes her head, “I was really upset at them for moving and even more so when they expected so much of me in spite of everything. Nothing I ever did was good enough, which is probably why I work so hard. Some stupid part of me still thinks that they’ll be proud of me someday—well, enough to actually say something.” Mei Lin sighs. “Later on, I understood why everything was happening, but it was still no excuse for it.”
Henry tilts his head to rub it against Mei Lin’s in comfort, “I’m sorry.” He kisses her forehead. “I was pretty upset too when you suddenly left, but what really made me mad was when I asked about you and your family and they acted like you didn’t exist. We’ve been more distant since then.”
Mei Lin mirrors Henry’s frown. “But they were so supportive,” Mei Lin says, still a bit envious.
“They still are,” Henry admits. “But they’re still very insisting and we don’t talk very much unless mom is trying to set me up with some blind date or dad trying to give me outdated business advice. To be honest, all of those girls are under qualified compared to you.” For some reason, Mei Lin feels a blush dusting her cheeks even though it was a poor attempt at a flirt. Henry kisses Mei Lin on the cheek to darken the shade of pink. “My door is always open for you,” he reminds her. “Feel free to come by whenever you’re ready.”
“Thank you.”
Mei Lin goes to work half an hour before she’s expected to be there but somehow still finds Yi Fan standing in the middle of the secretary’s ring waiting for her. “Someone’s early,” Yi Fan comments.
“Speak for yourself,” Mei Lin says, making her way to her office. Yi Fan follows her into her office and stands by the door with his hands in his pant pockets. Mei Lin tries to ignore him but she knows that there’s something that he wants to say or else he wouldn’t be standing there like that. “What?”
“I thought I told you not to go to Seoul,” Yi Fan says.
Mei Lin pauses her routine of putting things away and looks at her boss. “And I thought I told you that it’s none of your business.”
“I thought I told you that you’re needed here,” Yi Fan says back, getting a bit annoyed now from having to repeat himself.
Mei Lin stops completely and places her palms on her table to keep herself up. “I have made arrangements for Gale to take over for the two days that I will be gone. I’ve also made your schedule already for those two days and have also prepared everything you will need for the meeting, as well as all the upcoming paperwork.” She goes back to what she was doing.
“What’s so important about this wedding anyway?” Yi Fan asks.
“That’s none of your business.” Now Mei Lin is getting annoyed from repeating herself.
“You are my business.” Yi Fan crosses his arms. “Just who is he anyways?”
“An old friend,” Mei Lin says dryly, not wanting to disclose more than he has to.
Yi Fan raises an eyebrow. “No, Lau is an old friend. He was more than a friend.”
He was my first.
“Why would you go to your ex’s wedding? You trying to torture yourself?” Yi Fan asked, slightly amused by all this.
“Well, unlike some people, I actually enjoy seeing others happy,” Mei Lin snips.
Yi Fan narrows his eyes at the comment but lets it slide. To Mei Lin’s surprise, Yi Fan actually leaves, and even more shocking, Yi Fan does his own digging into Junsu and even Mei Lin. That’s when he notices that Henry has the same dates booked off as vacation as well. It was bad enough that Henry is distracting Mei Lin, causing a conflict of interest between the two boys, but now Henry’s going to take Mei Lin away from her work all together? This is unacceptable in Yi Fan’s eyes and it is also all to familiar, giving him a sense of déjà vu. Not again, Lau. Not this time.
Yi Fan makes a single phone call after a little more digging of his own and Henry is storming out of his office, down the stairs and right into Yi Fan’s office within five minutes of that phone call. This can’t be happening. He crossed the line. Henry doesn’t care if he makes a scene when he earns looks of concern and shock from the thirty-fourth floor. “Kevin, what the hell?! You can do whatever you want to me, but leave her out of this! We’re not in school anymore, dammit!”
Victoria quickly calls Mei Lin, “You might want to see this…”
Mei Lin looks up from her phone call with a doctor, “I’m sorry, I’m going to have to call you back,” she says in Cantonese before she hangs up and joins Victoria to see what all the confusion is about.
She stands at her door and looks up to see that Henry is in Yi Fan’s office, likely screaming at him from the way his face is contorted. Mei Lin walks up the steps and opens the door, letting Henry’s angry voice spill out into the lobby. Henry cuts himself off and gives Mei Lin a strained look before turning back to Yi Fan. Mei Lin looks at her boss for an explanation when Henry pulls his lips tight to keep from saying something in front of her that he’ll regret. Yi Fan simply smirks in victory before sitting back down in his chair.
“Are either of you going to tell me what this is all about?” Mei Lin asks after a moment of silent tension.
“He found out that I’m your plus one to Junsu’s wedding,” Henry explains, though that’s hardly the reason why he’s upset and Mei Lin knows that there’s more.
“I told you to stay away from her,” Yi Fan says. “You should’ve listened.”
Henry is about to talk back when Mei Lin interjects, “For your information, sir,” Mei Lin says sarcastically, “I was the one who invited him and I’m the one who didn’t stay away from him.”
“I don’t care,” Yi Fan says. “Both of you are still leaving together to go to another country. How would that look?”
“Since when did you give a about how something would look or what it would do to the company name?” Henry demands. “It’s not like we don’t have vacation days. With all the work that she does for you, she deserves a break.”
“You’re absolutely right, Lau,” Yi Fan says. “Too bad you won’t be joining her.”
Henry holds his tongue but he lets out a forced sigh that almost sounded like a growl. In spite of Henry being older, Yi Fan is still the chairman’s son and has more power than he probably knows about. “What do you mean?” Mei Lin asks, confused.
“He called my parents,” Henry says flatly, snapping his jaw shut to keep everything else that he wanted to say locked away. Though Mei Lin’s look of complete shock was almost enough to get him to lash out at Yi Fan again.
“You should’ve told them yourself,” Yi Fan tisks.
Mei Lin could feel the color as well as her strength drain from her. Tears threaten her composure, but two words manage to escape the fine net: “You jerk.”
Translations/Author's Notes:
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Though white tends to be a very high status color (standing for pristine and cleanliness/purity), in Asian cultures, white usually signifies death; which is why the Gala venue is lacking of the exact white. Lucky colors in Chinese culture tend to be gold and red, though red is often associated with festivals and weddings and other celebrations; gold however is also a status symbol as well as an asthetic one. Gold is not only of greater value (believe when I tell you that silver is VERY cheap in China) it is also much warmer in sense of tones.
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Bok Choi = a type of Chinese cabbage that can be stirfried or steamed or even boiled
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Unlike American culture and most Western cultures, children do not leave the house when they become an adult (in terms of age) normally. They tend to live at home with their parents until they are married. It is also very common for the extended family to live in the same household. For example, aunts and uncles as well as their families might also live in the same household and even grandparents, as it is a custom for the younger generation to care for the elderly, rather than send them to a nursing or retirement home. Family is a very important aspect of most Asian cultures and is highly valued as well. It tends to be a lot more tightly knit than those from American or Western cultures.
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