Concern
BastardAfter scrambling to pack and hopping on the first flight back to Guangzhou, Mei Lin is finally at the hospital. Yi Fan is pacing back and forth in the short hall before Mei Lin showed up in casual clothes, which only distracted Yi Fan for a moment before he stresses the issue. Mei Lin holds up a hand to calm him down, but it only seemed to have made it worse.
“Status?” Mei Lin asks the doctor, ignoring the argument between Yi Fan and Henry.
“She slipped into a coma and we don’t know why,” the doctor says. “The injections would not have been able to cause this.”
“There’s something else going on here…” Mei Lin feels like she’s on an episode of House. Let’s hope this isn’t one of the episodes where they actually lose a patient.
After hours of testing and analyzing Mrs. Wu’s file, Mei Lin had to regretfully report that they have no idea what’s going on. “What do you mean you don’t know what’s wrong with her?!” Yi Fan yells, not caring about the looks he was getting, one both for his volume and tone, and the fact that it was in English.
“It means that we can’t figure it out, sir,” Mei Lin says, not bothering to say the meaningless “I’m sorry” knowing that it would mean nothing at this point. “The serum wouldn’t do this and neither would the ALS—”
“So what is it then?!” Yi Fan demands, clawing his hand through his already ruffled hair.
“Some other underlying condition,” is all Mei Lin could say. It’s an answer, but not one that Yi Fan wants to hear.
“This is why you should never leave,” Yi Fan mumbles, glaring holes into Henry. If he were in his right mind, Yi Fan would know that Mei Lin’s presence would not have prevented this from happening but right now, Yi Fan desperately needs something or someone to blame and Henry has always been the default choice. “So what are you going to do about this?”
“There’s nothing we really can do,” Mei Lin admits. “We’ve already done an MRI, full body scan, even an EEG and—”
“That’s not an answer, Mei,” Yi Fan says firmly.
“We can make her comfortable and we can pray,” Mei Lin says, defeat in her voice. “There’s really nothing else we can do until she comes out of her coma.” Yi Fan sits down and plants his forehead on his palms. “Would you like me to inform Ms. Wang and—”
“That’s not necessary,” Yi Fan says, the strength in his voice almost completely deflated. It’s not like he gives a damn.
“Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?” Mei Lin asks, blaming herself a bit for not being able to figure this out.
“No,” Yi Fan says bluntly. “Something comforting would be nice but I would prefer if you did not lie to me.”
Mei Lin bows and settles herself down in the cafeteria, still racking her mind as she pours herself over the files and scrolling through her tablet. “You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself,” Henry says, bringing her a cup of tea. “You’re not a doctor.”
“I could have been,” Mei Lin says. “It’s what my parents wanted more than anything and now I’m starting to regret it.”
“You’ve done everything that you can,” Henry says, placing his hand on top of hers reassuringly. “It’s not your fault.”
His words have no effect on Mei Lin; she’s not even aware of him at the moment. “This just doesn’t make sense. Aside from the ALS, there is nothing wrong with her. Maybe the ALS is hiding something from the scans—”
“Mei,” Henry says, but Mei Lin keeps on rambling.
“Doctors already considered that though and tested for all the possibilities that could cause a coma…inconclusive. No trauma, brain’s fine, so is the blood and the serum is no where near toxic enough to do anything remotely close to this… But if it’s not showing up on any of the scans or tests, then how is this even…”
Henry sighs as he watches Mei Lin wander in another world. This isn’t even her problem…
“What if it’s not physical,” Mei Lin says, lifting her hunched self and looking at Henry as if she’s just seeing him. “It’s a complete stretch and very likely not even medically possible but what if—”
“Mei, the definition of a coma is that the person is unresponsive to their environment,” Henry says. “This isn’t some drama. What could’ve happened that would cause enough psychological trauma that the brain decided to go into a state of prolonged unconsciousness?”
“Were you pre-med?” Mei Lin asks, suddenly a bit more lighthearted in spite of Henry’s frustrated tone.
“No, I’m just good at reading upside down.”
She doesn’t speak again until Henry relaxes. “So no to the psychological thing.” Mei Lin sighs because she’s now back to square one. “No trauma, no swelling, her blood sugar is fine and so is her oxygen levels. Blood panel came back clean…”
“Did you test for high levels of the serum?” Henry asks.
Mei Lin nods, “I thought you went to a business academy.”
“I’m a quick study,” Henry smiles, waving his phone a bit.
“What if it is the serum, but just not in the way that we’re expecting?” Mei Lin asks. “We need a liver biopsy.”
“Why?” Henry asks. “Her liver is fine, isn’t it?”
“All the protein levels are normal, but…I don’t know, I just have a feeling,” Mei Lin frowns. “This might just end up being my fault.”
The test confirmed Mei Lin’s suspicions. The serum had done nothing that would harm Mrs. Wu, but her liver isn’t as healthy as it could be due to her age and enough serum has built up in her liver to cause complications. “We need to detox her, completely,” Mei Lin says.
“That’s good right?” Yi Fan asks. “She’ll wake up.”
“Yes,” Mei Lin says.
“Then why do you have that look on your face?” Yi Fan asks.
“We have to take her off of the serum,” Mei Lin says slowly, not wanting to explain if she didn’t have to. The confused look on Yi Fan’s face prompts her to continue. “I’m sorry,” she says, feeling at fault now. “But her liver is literally old and isn’t allowing all of the serum to pass through. It’s collecting in her liver and though it’s not physically dangerous at all, it’s confusing her brain into thinking that she’s been poisoned excessively and—”
“So you’re telling me that I have to pick between having her conscious and having her get better,” Yi Fan says with a pure look of heartbreaking horror.
Mei Lin nods but says, “We shouldn’t risk leaving her in a comatose state—”
“Will the build up kill her?” Yi Fan asks.
“No, but her mind will think that it is and we risk her whole body, not just her muscles, if we keep on letting it get tricked and—”
“How long will it take for your serum to stop the ALS completely?” Yi Fan asks.
“Sir,” Mei Lin objects.
“Tell me,” Yi Fan demands, his tone intimidating.
Mei Lin lets out a shaky breath and does the calculations in her head. “At least another three months.”
“Do it,” Yi Fan says quickly.
“Sir!” Mei Lin objects. “The mind is more powerful than the body. If it thinks that it’s being poisoned for three months, it will alter itself to adapt to even try to kill the source of it. You can’t live without a liver—”
“Well she’s not going to live for very much longer anyway!” Yi Fan snaps. Mei Lin takes a step back, not at the sudden outburst, but at the fact that she can see a thin film on Yi Fan’s eyes, tinting them pink. “I’d rather give her a chance at living a normal life again than let her suffer and die slowly during whatever time she has left. If she dies, at least she died trying.”
“Sir,” Mei Lin says, “You’re not in the best state of mind to be making such a decision.”
“But I’m here,” Yi Fan says. “At least I’m here.” Even Lau is here. Yi Fan paces around the small break room. “You told them, I know you did; it’s in your nature,” Yi Fan says. “But he’s still not here.”
Mei Lin tries to apologize, “I’m—”
“Save it,” Yi Fan snips. “I told you it wasn’t necessary. You should listen to me next time.”
“Yes, sir,” Mei Lin says. “Please think this over; not only what’s best, but what she would want.”
Grandchildren, Yi Fan thinks with a bit of a smile. That’s what she wants. “Keep her on life support and the serum and that’s an order.”
Mei Lin stands there, unable to move as she locks eyes with Yi Fan for a solid five minutes in hopes that he would change his mind but he is just as unmoving. She finally leaves to deliver Yi Fan’s decision and Henry finds her hunched over on a wooden chair with her head resting halfheartedly on her propped arm. Henry walks over and encourages Mei Lin to get up, but she ignores him, so instead he has to shift her into his arms before he himself sits down with her in his lap.
“He’s going to kill her,” Mei Lin says, her voice cracking as tears start streaking down her cheeks. Mei Lin doesn’t care about her composure anymore; she’s too stressed and emotionally exhausted. “And he’s going to hate himself for it,” Mei Lin says in a whisper as she cries. She sobs quietly into Henry’s shoulder while he her back and rubs her arm. Not only will he never love again, he won’t ever be happy.
“Who knows,” Henry says, “Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
Mei Lin sniffs, “Who’s ‘we’? This has nothing to do with you.”
“You’re involved, so it does have something to do with me,” Henry says. “You are crying on my shoulder.”
“Oh,” Mei Lin says, realizing that she had just ruined another one of his shirts. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Henry says with a smile that doesn’t show his teeth. He brushes Mei Lin’s long bangs out of her face, “You have enough to worry about.”
“There has to be another way to slow down and stop the ALS progression,” Mei Lin says. “If the serum is doing this then we have to find another way.”
“Mei,” Henry says, losing Mei Lin once again to her thoughts.
“If I can figure out a way to make it so that it doesn’t get caught in the liver…that would solve everything,” Mei Lin mumbles. I have to make it more acceptable.
She quickly gets up and wipes her face with her hands before grabbing her things. She completely forgets the fact that Henry had been in the room, or even that he had been consoling her, and leaves for the lab back at GIBI. She calls the team and she after debriefing them, they get to work. It doesn’t even occur to Mei Lin that Henry had been left sighing and thinking, I think for once I might be losing to you, Kevin.
Within a week, Mei Lin and her team created a less effective but much more acceptable variation on the serum. The problem now is convincing Yi Fan to switch to this treatment. “Sir, she’ll be conscious,” Mei Lin says.
“But this treatment takes twice the time,” Yi Fan says. And she might not have that.
“But she’ll be awake,” Mei Lin says, unsure as to why Yi Fan was so against this. I worked hard on this, we all did; don’t tell me this is all going to go to waste.
“She’ll be suffering,” Yi Fan says.
“She’s suffering now,” Mei Lin says. “She’s just not responsive to it.”
“Maybe it’s better that way,” Yi Fan says under his breath, but Mei Lin heard him.
“Sir,” Mei Lin says in a way that makes her boss look at her. “Why won’t you face your mother?” Wouldn’t you want your last memories with her to be reciprocal, rather than you watching a motionless body?
Yi Fan cringes at how Mei Lin sees right past his walls. He looks away and decides not to dignify the question with an answer but something compels him to tell her the truth. “Because,” Yi Fan says slowly and so quietly that Mei Lin thought she had imagined it. “I’m a disappointment.” I’ll never be the son that she wants me to be—not in time, at least—so why hurt her even more?
“Sir…” Mei Lin is at a loss for words. Though Yi Fan’s sandy blond fringe hides his eyes, the way his jaw is set reveals his true emotions. “You could always not visit her.”
“What kind of son doesn’t visit his dying mom?” Yi Fan scoffs. What kind of husband doesn’t care for his dying wife? “She’ll be lonely.”
“She’s lonely now,” Mei Lin says. “People can still be fully aware of their environments while in a coma; they’re only nonresponsive.”
“I can’t,” Yi Fan says. “I can’t see her when she’s like that. It’s like she’s already dead.”
She might as well be. “She’s going to be much sooner if you keep her on the—”
“Mei,” Yi Fan says firmly. “I know.” And maybe that’s for the best.
“But then—”
“Mei,” he cuts her off again. “She’s not your concern—”
“Bull!” Mei Lin snaps. “You are my concern. You care about her; you love her, so therefore that makes it my concern. I’ve gotten a total of twelve hours of sleep this whole week—maybe—because I’ve been working my off on this modification so she doesn’t have to die before she’s suppose to. Don’t you dare tell me that she’s not my concern, because contrary to popular belief, I do care about you, and quite frankly, she’s probably the only human being that you still care about. So pardon me for trying keep her alive and you happy.” Yi Fan stares at Mei Lin with disbelief though he’s not sure if he’s more taken aback by her sudden outburst or the actual words themselves. “Oh, I’m sorry, should I go pack my bags?”
Yi Fan snaps out of his daze, “Huh?”
“What? You’re not going to fire me for talking back?” Mei Lin asks, still a bit wound up from her little burst. Mei Lin waits for a response, but Yi Fan is still baffled so she stares at him with curious eyes until he can properly piece together his thoughts. “So, are you going to let me switch the treatment?”
Yi Fan nods absentmindedly and he doesn’t really come to until the door closes behind Mei Lin and he’s left alone in his office. “I really did just let her see that side of me…” He rakes his hands over his scalp in disbelief, letting out a laugh. The amusing moment is interrupted by Henry inviting himself into Yi Fan’s office, as there is no Mei Lin to stop anyone from entering or even to let Yi Fan know that he has a visitor. Henry had waited until Mei Lin had left before entering and he is now standing before Yi Fan with his hands in his pant pockets and a serious stare. “What do you want, Lau? I’m not in the mood.” As can be seen by his casual graphic t-shirt and jeans.
“You know, I’ve gotten a few threats in the past month, telling me that I should treat Mei Lin right now that we’re dating, whether that’s her best friend, her ex, or even her parents, but honestly, I don’t think I’m the one who needs to hear them,” Henry says casually.
“You’re the one who’s in her pants,” Yi Fan says in attempt to get under Henry’s skin, which he does.
Henry’s eyebrows pull together and his glare intensifies a bit before he goes back to the stoic stare. “You might not see her as a human being, but at least see all that she’s doing. She was crying about this, Yi Fan,” Henry nearly hisses, as if using Yi Fan’s real name doesn’t give enough emphasis to the weight of the situation. “You made her cry.” This jabs Yi Fan but not in a way that’s visible to Henry. “I don’t give a damn what you do with your life, but don’t you dare push your issues onto her to the point where she’s not even strong enough to keep a straight face. I know she’s your damn secretary, but there’s a ing line, Yi Fan. She may not know where that line is, but you of all people should know better than to let your work get into your personal life.”
“Isn’t that what you’re doing?” Yi Fan asks, raising his eyebrow, even though it hurts him to get scolded in such a way by Henry.
“She doesn’t work for me,” Henry says. We wouldn’t be dating if she did. “If you want her to be your friend, then just fire her. Don’t ing take advantage of her nature and contract like that.” Yi Fan appears to be unfazed by all of this, which angers Henry. “You know, Kevin,” Henry says, being more casual now. “I knew you were an , but even asses can only go so low. You’re a ing bastard.”
Yi Fan smirks instinctively as a defense mechanism. “Last time I checked, you were the only one who’s ing around with her.”
That’s it. Henry bolts forward and reaches over Yi Fan’s desk, grabbing his shirt and pulling his right fist back in less than a fraction of a second.
“HENRY!”
Henry stops himself and Yi Fan takes advantage of the distraction to land a punch of his own that knocks Henry on his back. After the initial pain to his jaw and impact of the floor, Henry’s reflexes kick in and he almost springs up and forward again had it not been for Mei Lin’s arms stopping him. Though his anger is still simmering, Henry’s rage slowly dissipates at Mei Lin’s restraining arms. His heart is still pumping adrenaline and his mind is still on edge but his breathing slowly evens even though his whole body is still tense. Yi Fan snickers at how Henry appears to be on a leash, which causes Henry to flare up again but for the sake of Mei Lin, he leaves without saying a word.
“What did you say?” Mei Lin asked, having only seen the spilt moment before Henry’s expression changed and him launching forward. He had to have said something to set Henry off.
“Only the truth,” Yi Fan says.
Mei Lin looks at him skeptically even though there’s no deception underneath all of that arrogance and pride. She drops her head when she remembers the one thing that has the ability to anger Henry in such a way. “You said something about me…” Something unflattering.
“You should be flattered,” Yi Fan says. “He just risked his career to defend your good name.”
Yi Fan smirk twists into a full-on grin of delight as Mei Lin’s eyes grow in horror once she remembered that this office has security cameras. There’s no audio…all they’ll see is Henry trying to attack Yi Fan and—“.”
It pleases Yi Fan that he now has something new to hold over Mei Lin’s head. “Don’t worry, Mei, I won’t get him fired for something as petty as that.”
Mei Lin holds her tongue because Yi Fan had just called her petty. She waits to see what absurd request Yi Fan has for her now, now that he something to blackmail her with. He’s lucky that I showed up when I did.
“Tell me something,” Yi Fan says, playing with the icosahedron. “How’s Lau in bed?”
Mei Lin almost loses her footing at the question. “What?!”
“You heard me,” Yi Fan smirks.
“It’s none of your business,” Mei Lin says, flustered by embarrassment.
“I don’t care,” Yi Fan says with a knowing smile. It knows that Mei Lin will answer.
“We haven’t…” Mei Lin says softly.
Yi Fan lets a laugh rip through his office, though even the secretaries could hear him very faintly. “No wonder he was so pissed. I said all those things about you two screwing around when he has yet to even score,” he laughs to himself.
Mei Lin looks away, knowing her cheeks must be red at this point. “My love life is no business of yours.”
“It is when it involves Lau,” Yi Fan says.
“And why is that?” Mei Lin asks, even though she already knows. “It’s not like you have feelings for me.”
Yi Fan flinches at the parallels. “No, but you still belong to me.” Yi Fan locks eyes with Mei Lin and she squirms at the possessive. “Next time you’re on a date and I call you in, I expect you to come in running, you understand?”
“And why is that?” Mei Lin asks, still uncomfortable by all of this.
“Because you were my secretary before Lau finally got the balls to make a move.” Yi Fan’s eyes narrow, sharpening his glower.
Something about his words causes Mei Lin to drop her guard for a moment. “Was Angel your friend before she confessed to Henry?” she asks softly, unsure of it herself.
Yi Fan feels his whole body lock into place at the sound of her name and even more so at her memory. His mouth is left agape, unable to produce a proper response as his expression is caught between sorrow and astonishment. “How—How do you know about—” Yi Fan stops himself, realizing that he’s revealing much more than he had intended. “I—You’re not going to stop being my secretary,” he finally says. “You have to be; you would be violating your contract if—”
“I know,” Mei Lin says to reassure him. Yi Fan is slowly breaking down and Mei Lin is doing her best to let him down gently.
“I—I don’t have any feelings for you,” Yi Fan says, not even realizing what’s coming out of his mouth.
“I know,” Mei Lin says again in the same comforting voice.
“You—You’re—You’re going to stay,” Yi Fan stutters as he reaches out for something to stabilize himself.
Mei Lin nods, “Yes, sir.”
“You’re needed here,” Yi Fan says, finally getting a hold of himself.
Mei Lin nods again, “Yes, sir.”
“If you don’t, I’ll get Lau fired for trying to assault me,” Yi Fan says with a bit more confident and like himself again.
Mei Lin breaks out a smile, knowing that the empty threat is only a teasing joke now; a sorry excuse to make her stay. “Yes, sir.”
Yi Fan would never actually get Henry fired, much like how he would threaten to fire Mei Lin for her incompetence or any other reason he can think of. He would never even fire Gale, even though he had said he would that one time long ago,—not that he can now—it’s not longer his Department, but regardless, Yi Fan was all talk and never acted on such threats when the reasons for them are petty. So it comes as no surprise when Mei Lin keeps coming to work day after day until she has been working there for nearly a year.
“I think it’s safe to say that you’re not going to go anywhere unless you want to now,” Gale says one day while the two are working in the lab.
“I thought that was always the case,” Mei Lin says casually. “Or is there some unspoken rule that says I have to make a tick in the year column before I’m in the safe zone?”
“I don’t think there’s a safe zone when it comes to that boy,” Gale says, even though Yi Fan is more than four years older than she is. “But I think you’ve figured out how to manage.”
“Would you mind telling me what I figured out exactly? Cause I honestly don’t even know,” Mei Lin says. “I’m simply myself.”
“Case and point,” Gale says.
“What are you suggesting?” Mei Lin asks, looking up from the scope.
“That he’s David,” Gale smirks. “Not what you expect, but it’s going to happen at the end.”
“So does that make Henry Zane?” Mei Lin asks, amusing herself with this analogy.
“I hope not,” Gale says. “Cause that means you’ll chicken out when it matters most and end up hurting him.”
I don’t doubt that.
“But I guess he is in the sense that he’s your ideal match.”
“But Zane dies,” Mei Lin points out. “And Tally ends up with David in the end.”
“You mean to tell me that under all of that,” Gale says, making a motion with her hand to indicate the entirety of Yi Fan, “You find nothing appealing about him.”
“Well…” I’ve never thought about it…
“Mei!” Gale exclaims.
“What?!” Mei Lin asks, looking back down the scope.
“He’s a complete sometimes, but even I’ll admit that he’s hot, alright?” Gale says, going back to her work as well. “He’s not my type, but I’ll admit it when someone’s attractive.” Gale pauses and realizes what she just said. “Just, don’t tell him that I said that. He’ll never let me live it down and his ego’s big enough for the whole floor already.”
Mei Lin snickers and promises not to breathe a word about Gale’s opinion. “Does Lu Han know about this?” Mei Lin doesn’t have to look up to know that Gale is glaring at her. “Well, I guess he’s sort of attractive…”
“Girl, I think you finally need some glasses or contacts,” Gale tisks. “That boy could honestly work as a model if this whole corporate thing doesn’t work out.”
“I just don’t see him that way,” Mei Lin says. “He’s my boss, simple as that.”
“But you care about him, don’t you?” Gale asks.
“Yeah,” Mei Lin says admittingly, seeing where Gale is going with this. “It’s sort of part of the job though.”
“I know you’re only a secretary half the time, but even so, you care more about your boss than most of them ever do, and that’s on a good day.”
“Unless you’re Bai Fu,” Mei Lin says to herself.
“It’s so cute how she’s still acting as if she has a chance at Henry’s heart,” Gale chuckles.
“She’s not a bad person,” Mei Lin says in her fellow secretary’s defense. “She just knows what she wants and is too stubborn to accept otherwise.” I’m sure there’s a story behind it all.
“All I know is I would’ve let Henry fire that months ago.” They work in silence for a few more moments before Gale speaks again. “You free tonight?”
“Yeah, why?” Mei Lin asks. Gale doesn’t usually make plans like this, not unless one of them needs a serious break from life.
“We should celebrate you lasting this long under the tyranny of the spoiled prince,” Gale says casually.
“I wouldn’t call it a tyranny,” Mei Lin says with a giggle in her voice.
“I guess it helps that your treatments worked,” Gale says. “I hear she can jog now.”
“The progression finally stopped and she’s awake again,” Mei Lin says. “Now to repair what was lost.” Mei Lin sighs, “She’s not perfectly healthy—and I’m sure we’ve only repressed it, the ALS—but this is better than how she was a year ago. She’s still aging like every other elderly lady, so that’s a complication with her recovery, but it’s too soon to say anything.” I’m just glad he’s stopped drinking and sleeping around, which had been Mei Lin’s goal to begin with. She lets out a breath of relief. “What did you have in mind?” Mei Lin asks.
“You in the mood for a double date?” Gale asks. “There’s a club that I’ve been itching to go to.” Mei Lin smirks and accepts Gale’s offer. “Wow, really?” Gale asks.
Neither girl is the party type, but every now and again, they’ll go out of their comfort zone for the heck of it, though Mei Lin just wants an excuse to dress up and dance again. Gale doesn’t question Mei Lin’s spontaneity and texts Lu Han of the news. Mei Lin also takes this time to text Henry and the moment it sends, Yi Fan calls Mei Lin to his office.
“He realizes that you literally have two other jobs, right?” Gale asks, even though she knows the answer.
“I’m sure he does,” Mei Lin sighs. “I’m just not sure he cares.”
Gale rolls her eyes. “I’ll text you the address. See you at nine?”
“Sounds good,” Mei Lin says, grateful that she’ll have some time to catch up on paperwork. “Would you mind finishing…”
“Yeah,” Gale says, already knowing what Mei Lin was going to ask. This was common. Yi fan always calls her away when she’s in the middle of a project. Not that she minds. It’s technically Gale’s job (with the help of her ever-changing temps) to complete these projects; Mei Lin just enjoys being involved in the actual creation. “Go pamper His Majesty.”
“You busy tonight?” Yi Fan asks as soon as Mei Lin walks in.
“Yes, actually,” Mei Lin says taking the empty tray from Yi Fan’s desk and setting it on the coffee table. “Why?”
“My mother wants to see you,” Yi Fan says.
“Not to sound rude, sir, but why?” She hadn’t visited that hospital since the complication five months ago.
“To be completely honest, Mei, I have no idea,” Yi Fan sighs, handing Mei Lin a file of completed forms to deliver. “I expect to see you there by seven.”
“Yes sir,” Mei Lin says, turning around to leave and make her daily round to getting papers where they need to go.
Yi Fan stops her, “What? No objections or snide remark even though you have plans tonight?”
“They won’t interfere,” Mei Lin says. “Besides, you expect me to choose you over everything else. There’s no point in wasting my energy in something like that.” Not when I’m going to be dancing tonight.
Yi Fan frowns theatrically as she walks out the door with the tray and grabs her set of papers from her office that also have to be delivered.
“You have a secretary, you know,” Lu Han says in Mandarin, looking at the two sets of papers. “Why don’t you have Victoria deliver yours and Yi Fan’s paperwork?”
“Because she would pack her bags the moment anything that has to do with Yi Fan gets near her work,” Mei Lin replies in the same language. “I think she was the happiest one out of the whole Department when I was given the position.”
“That seemed so long ago,” Lu Han sighs. “I still remember when you came to me asking for a list of all his former secretaries just so you could do a bit of research on him.”
“You laughed in my face,” Mei Lin points out. “And no one on this floor believed that I would last even a month.”
“You still amaze us every day,” Lu Han says, trying to save face for how he had doubted Mei Lin. “I’ll see you tonight?”
Mei Lin nods, “Though, I might be late.”
“Coming from you, I bet that means that you’ll show up on time.”
Both their phones vibrate simultaneously at Gale’s text message. “See you then.”
Mei Lin stays in her office until six thirty before making her way to the parking garage and her car, which took four months of saving but was a worthwhile investment. Yi Fan was already waiting for her in the lobby when she had showed up in her office clothes. “You didn’t go home?”
“Does it look like I went home?” Mei Lin asks. “Some of us actually have a job to do.” Yi Fan smirks at the lame attack. “Why haven’t you gone in to see her?”
“I was waiting for you,” Yi Fan says. I don’t want to face her alone.
“Then shall we?” Mei Lin asks. I wonder if this is the first time he’s seen her since that morning…
Yi Fan knocks and waits for his mother’s permission to enter before opening the door slowly for Mei Lin to walk in first, which is odd for Mei Lin as the roles are usually switched. “Nín hǎo,” ("Hello,") Mei Lin greets. Yi Fan follows in after her awkwardly. Mrs. Wu is confused first as to why Mei Lin is here but she lights up at the sight of her son. Her brief confusion doesn’t go unnoticed by Mei Lin. He lied to me…
“Wú Yì Fán!” Mrs. Wu exclaims. Yi Fan winces at his full name and even more so when his mother scolds him for never visiting.
“Duì bù qǐ…” Yi Fan says, not looking at his mother, but Mei Lin couldn’t tell if it was out of common respect or if it was because of the fact that he literally does not want to face her.
“So what brings you here, Chén Xiǎo Jiĕ?” ("So what brings you here, Miss Chen?") Mrs. Wu asks, blowing the lid clear off of Yi Fan’s cover.
“I just wanted to see how you were doing,” Mei Lin lies. Yi Fan looks at her unfazed by how smoothly and gracefully she can cover his tracks. “I’m glad the treatment worked.”
“Now if I could only walk without needing someone’s arm,” Mrs. Wu say with a bit of a laugh.
The brief joke gives Yi Fan enough hope to let a small smile slip through. He looks happy. “I’m already working on it,” Mei Lin says.
“Really?” Mrs. Wu asks, though she’s more surprised by how her son is just as surprised. “I hope he’s paying you generously.”
“He is,” Mei Lin lies with a smile, but this one stings Yi Fan a bit more than he thought it would. “You raised him well.” Yi Fan is unable to discern if the sincerity in Mei Lin’s eyes is real, but the way that his mother lights up at that makes him forget that Mei Lin could be lying.
“Not well enough, apparently,” Mrs. Wu says. “You’re going to be thirty this year and you don’t even have a girlfriend.”
Mei Lin pulls her fingers up to her lips in attempt to hide the snicker that desperately wants to be heard. The truth is that Yi Fan had actually gone on a date with Ms. Kwon Bo Ah. It went surprisingly well, but Ms. Kwon had broken it off for reasons that Yi Fan is unwilling to disclose. The fact that he had even been willing to go shocked Mei Lin, but the fact that it had been his idea made Mei Lin question if he was a doppelganger.
“Chén Xiǎo Jiĕ,” ("Miss Chen,") Mrs. Wu says. “Would you mind leaving the room? I’d like to talk to my son in private.”
“I’ll go get some tea,” Mei Lin bows, getting the feeling that Yi Fan doesn’t want her to leave completely just yet, especially after the way he looks at her pleadingly.
When Mei Lin is gone, Yi Fan is left standing near the door awkwardly with the feeling of his mother staring to the side of his head. “Have a seat,” Mrs. Wu suggests. Yi Fan would normally sit on the bed but he instead pulls up a chair and sits as far away as possible with his eyes still down casted. “You should date her,” Mrs. Wu says out of nowhere.
“Shén me?” ("What?") Yi Fan asks, looking up at his mother in surprise. He quickly looks away when he realizes that he had just fallen for her trick.
“Why not?” Mrs. Wu says, continuing on the lighter subject in the room. “She seems to care about you. I might even go as far as to say that she likes you.” At least enough to stick with you for this long.
Yi Fan shakes his head, “She’s dating Lau.” Sympathy takes over Mrs. Wu’s complexion and she stretches out to touch and comfort her son at this obvious déjà vu. “Besides, I don’t have feelings for her.”
Mrs. Wu sighs at how idealistic her son still is. In their world, marriage is a life arrangement in which both parties would benefit. That’s how it had been for her and it’s foolish of her son to even want otherwise. Though she can’t help but understand why he would want to marry out of love. However, one can’t blame Mrs. Wu for being selfish and wanting to see her son happy and with a family of his own before she’s not of this world anymore.
“Is she doing her job?” Mrs. Wu asks.
“Yes?” Yi Fan isn’t sure how this is relevant. If Mei Lin hadn’t doing her job, she wouldn’t have one, nor would she even be here.
“Then you should have enough time to visit your own mother,” Mrs. Wu says lightly.
Yi Fan looks away in shame but he is quickly angered. His father has two secretaries, as well as a whole staff to take care of the petty things in his life, and yet, there’s still not enough time to spare to see his own wife in the hospital. Sending her flowers every two weeks only did so much. The fact that Mei Lin is doing more than his father for Mrs. Wu bothers Yi Fan and the slurry of emotions can only be seen in his eyes.
“Son,” she says, realizing what may have been causing Yi Fan to be so distant. She bites her lips, unsure of what she wants to say would be appropriate, so she decides on something else, “Are you happy?”
“Yes,” Yi Fan lies.
Mrs. Wu shakes her head, knowing her son too well. “As much as I want you to marry and have children, I want you to be happy. If that won’t make you happy, then ignore the words of this senile woman.” She forces a thin smile that doesn’t even get close in reaching her eyes. “When I leave, I want to remember you smiling.” Yi Fan unconsciously forces a weak smile. “Not like that, son.” Have you forgotten what it’s like to be happy?
“I’ll do my best,” Yi Fan promises. But in all honesty, how happy can one expect someone to be when their mother is dying?
Mei Lin comes in with a cup in each hand. Yi Fan stands up and takes them from her, wondering why she didn’t get a cup for herself. He hands one to his mother and the atmosphere is silent again. Mei Lin glances at her watch and just then, a nurse comes in with Mrs. Wu’s dinner. “You kids should eat as well,” Mrs. Wu says. “It’s been a long day.”
Yi Fan takes that as his invitation to leave. “Shall we?” Yi Fan asks, motioning towards the door. To Mei Lin’s surprise, when the two are in the elevator, Yi Fan takes them to the parking garage instead of the cafeteria. “What are you in the mood for tonight?”
“I beg your pardon?” Mei Lin says quickly.
“Food, Mei. We’re going to get something to eat. What are you in the mood for?” Yi Fan repeats.
Did he just ask me out to dinner? Mei Lin shakes her head of the thought. No, he would make me pay for my own meal even if he did. “I have plans tonight, remember? I still have to go home and change.”
“You can spare another half hour to humor me,” Yi Fan says, grabbing Mei Lin’s arm.
Mei Lin jerks from his grasp and walks down a different line of cars. “I drove here, sir,” Mei Lin says. “I can’t just leave my car here. There won’t be enough time.”
“You have a car?” Yi Fan asks.
“Yes, sir,” Mei Lin says. “For quite some time now.”
“Did Lau buy it for you?” Yi Fan asks, trailing the silver Lexus ES350 with his eyes.
“No,” Mei Lin says. Or else you would’ve already known about it.
“Just follow Tao,” Yi Fan says as Tao pulls up to where Yi Fan is standing.
Mei Lin sighs and weighs her options. Does she want to turn down her boss, head home, quickly make something to eat and then change to go to the club, or will she “humor” her boss, rush home, change and then arrive at the club late? Both options have their pros and cons, but Mei Lin is leaning towards taking a rain check. Had it not been for the fact that Yi Fan’s eyes were screaming “please,” Mei Lin wouldn’t have complied.
She gets the feeling that she’s going to regret this later, but they arrive at a local teahouse. Mei Lin had half-expected Yi Fan to go to some outrageously priced restaurant that requires sitting down, fancy menus and waiting for food to be served, just so it would eat into her plans. The two each order a wrap and iced tea in plastic cups. They sit outside and eat in silence as Mei Lin tries to figure out what it is exactly that made Yi Fan want to share a meal with her.
“Sir,” Mei Lin finally says after her last bite.
“Hm?” Yi Fan asks, taking a long sip from his straw.
“Is there something you wanted to talk about?” Mei Lin asks.
“No,” Yi Fan says.
“Something on your mind?”
“I would hope so,” Yi Fan says jokingly, finishing up his wrap as well.
“Sir,” Mei Lin says, ignoring her sweating cup, “Do you need something?”
Yi Fan sighs and sets his almost empty cup down. “Mei—” Yi Fan bites his lips as he contemplates whether or not he should tell the whole truth. “Sometimes, it’s just nice having someone else’s company.”
Mei Lin blinks and lets her eyes move with every frame in hopes of finding another interpretation of what Yi Fan had just said. He didn’t want to be alone… So Mei Lin nods and takes a sip from her cup, almost draining it as she had been distracted by Yi Fan’s words. She only stops to say, “Okay,” so that she could accept it. The two are quiet until it gets dangerously close to eight o’clock. “I should get going.”
Yi Fan nods and reaches across the small table to crumple both of their wrappers to make it easier to throw away. “Uh—” Yi Fan holds out his hand to take Mei Lin’s empty cup. “Thanks,” she mumbles, still surprised that he’s voluntarily throwing away Mei Lin’s trash as well. Yi Fan just nods again.
This shouldn’t concern Mei Lin though. It’s not like Yi Fan had paid for her meal (like she expected) or pulled her chair out, no. He simply handed Mei Lin her order when it was ready and is now throwing away her trash along with his. Add this to the fact that he had opened the door for her back in the hospital and one would be very concerned too, had it not been for the fact that Yi Fan literally had been trying to distance himself from his mother in attempt to avoid her. No, what concerns Mei Lin now is how Yi Fan is walking her back to her car even though Tao is already parked and waiting. Mei Lin is about to pull out of the parking lot when she realizes that Yi Fan is still there next to her parked car so she rolls her window down as Yi Fan fights with himself whether or not to say what he’s wanted to say for the past few months.
“Sir?” Mei Lin asks. Are you alright?
He’s silent but Mei Lin is patent as she can see the internal struggle. The same look of guilt and shame from earlier that night when he had been with his mother flashes behind Yi Fan’s eyes before he lets a single word through the air: “Thanks.”
Translations/Author's Notes:
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"an episode of House"
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MRI = Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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EEG = ElectroEncephaloGram
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"'That he's David,'...Zane..." = Gale is referring to characters from Scott Westerfield's Uglies Series and their respective relationships to the main character, Tally.
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Nín hǎo (您好) = polite way of saying hello
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Chén Xiǎo Jiĕ (陳小姐) = Miss Chen (Xiǎo Jiĕ meaning Miss (lit. little older sister))
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Shén me? (什麼?) = What?
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