Forget About It
Bastard“Hot. Damn.” Gale scans Mei Lin with her eyes, as she is clad in fitted jeans, hugging black tank top, heels and loose thin gray cut off, short-sleeve sweater. Long silver necklace and matching hoops; smart leaving your hair down; you’ve grown so much, as Gale is referring to how Mei Lin is always dressing it safe.
“Wow,” Henry says in agreement, letting his expression linger with the round “o.”
“You’re even wearing make up,” Lu Han says, noting how Mei Lin has been easing off of that since Yi Fan’s threats became empty teases. “Who are you trying to impress?”
“Not you,” Mei Lin teases. “Sorry for being late.”
“You’re still on time,” Gale scoffs.
“You look…wow.” Henry is at a loss for words even though her outfit is so simple.
Mei Lin giggles at Henry’s gawking eyes and dumbfounded expression before making their way into the club. It’s still rather early but dimly lit room is already cramming with people. The low bass and loud music takes some time to adjust to but by the time they all sit down at a booth, it seems like white noise. They order drinks even though Gale and Mei Lin didn’t have any intention in consuming alcohol.
“I can call someone to pick us up,” Henry says as a waitress hands Mei Lin some colorful cocktail. “Just try it.”
Mei Lin takes a sip and it tastes fruity but the sudden bitter kick of alcohol has a cringe-worthy aftertaste. “Thanks, but that’s not why I came here tonight.”
Gale raises an eyebrow and realizes that in spite of how fitted her clothes are, Mei Lin is dressed in a way that would give her a maximum range of motion. Though I wonder how you’re going to do anything in jeans and heels…
Lu Han raises an eyebrow as Mei Lin stands up and walks towards the dance floor. People make way as she walks towards the center, most of them being men who assume that she’s single. Mei Lin glances at the DJ and gives him a smile as her silent way of asking for a different beat. The DJ smiles in acknowledgement and she stands there like that, waiting, and the DJ eventually gets the hint, making the beat shift. Mei Lin’s head starts to nod to the beat and the motion makes its way down her body.
Lu Han, Gale and Henry stare at Mei Lin who is causing those around her to move and give her room to dance, or so that they can watch. Henry walks towards the crowd when he sees someone trying to dance with her, to which she promptly stops dancing and steps back. Henry puts his arm around her waist as they watch the unaware man make a fool of himself as he flails his limbs and moves his pelvis in such a way that screams that he’s already drunk. Mei Lin snickers and makes way to another part of the dance floor with Henry. Gale and Lu Han join them shortly.
“Did you know she could dance like that?” Gale asks Henry as the four of them sit at the bar. Gale had known that Mei Lin could dance after seeing her at homecoming dances and both proms (as well as any party that they both so happen to attend), but she didn’t realize just how talented Mei Lin was.
“I knew she could dance,” Henry says. “But that’s not the type of dancing that I’m used to doing with her.” Gale snickers at Henry’s innuendo. “How about you? Did you know your boyfriend could dance like that? He’s quite good.”
“You have no idea just how good,” Gale smirks.
“I’m just happy she’s dancing again,” Henry says more seriously now. Maybe she’ll sing again someday.
“Whoa,” Gale says when suddenly, all that could be heard is the music. “Who pressed the mute button on this place?”
“He did,” Henry says.
Gale turns around and sees Yi Fan at the door. “You’ve got to be ting me right now,” Gale hisses. “This is a foreigner’s club.”
“He’s not exactly very traditional,” Henry says.
The two watch as Yi Fan makes his way to the bar, catching the eye of every single lady who cared to look. He orders some dark liquor and sits there alone, ignoring the coming-ons of fine young ladies and even ones older than himself dressed in clothes that are a size too tight. He didn’t notice Henry and Gale who are down the bar and he certainly didn’t notice Lu Han and Mei Lin who are dancing on the dance floor. However, Mei Lin does notice Yi Fan when she joins the other two at the bar.
“What are you looking at?” Mei Lin asks, following the two’s eyes down the bar. The hell is he doing here?
“Well, he’s not here to get laid,” Gale says after Yi Fan turns down a fifth girl. “I guess no one would expect the son of a CEO to be here.”
“Can you imagine how that would look though?” Henry sighs, shaking his head.
“You’re here,” Lu Han says. “We’re all here.”
“We have four Department heads under the same roof,” Gale says sarcastically. “Man, I feel left out.”
“Don’t,” the boys say. It’s not all that it’s cracked up to be.
Mei Lin keeps her eyes locked on Yi Fan and Henry watches them both. “Mei?” Henry asks when her expression drops completely as Yi Fan finishes his drink and is ordering another.
“Excuse me,” Mei Lin says to herself as she wanders towards Yi Fan as if she’s not all there. It’s as if there’s some invisible force that’s pulling Mei Lin towards Yi Fan.
Henry grabs her arm to snap her out of it but Mei Lin only looks at Henry with the same, blank look. He sighs and lets go, knowing that he had lost her again. Yi Fan is about to bring the glass to his lips when Mei Lin grabs his right wrist with her hand. His eyes follow the hand up the arm and finally land on Mei Lin’s face. Yi Fan is a bit too numb to be surprised that Mei Lin is here; he didn’t even get mad that someone had touched him, stopping him from drinking. The concern in Mei Lin’s eyes is bright unlike the soft lights and that’s the only thing convincing Yi Fan that he’s not seeing things.
They stay like that for a moment in silence as Mei Lin attempts to find the reason behind Yi Fan’s behavior when he seemed just fine less than three hours ago. Yi Fan sets down his glass but Mei Lin doesn’t let go of his wrist, reminding him that this is very much real. It isn’t until Yi Fan’s shoulders drop and him turning the rest of his body to face Mei Lin doe she let go. She pulls out her phone and calls Zi Tao but Yi Fan stops her mid-sentence.
“Never mind, I’ll take him home,” Mei Lin says, seeing the desperation in Yi Fan’s eyes.
She turns around and looks at Henry. He pulls his lips thin until they make a flat line when he sees the apologetic plead in her eyes. Yi Fan follows her gaze and sees Henry at the other end of the bar and feels a pang of guilt strike him though his expression is as dull as he is at the moment. You’re not on the job anymore; he isn’t your problem…
Mei Lin leaves with Yi Fan in tow after paying for his two drinks just as Gale and Lu Han joins Henry at the bar again. “Where is she going?” Gale asks, not being able to see that there’s a tall man being lead out by her. She’s not—
But Lu Han can see who it is, and takes notice because the whole club is buzzing about the couple. “Is she leaving with—”
“She’s doing her job,” Henry sighs, taking another sip.
Coercing Yi Fan into the backseat of her car is like persuading a sleepy child into bed. She straps the seatbelt before getting into the driver seat. Her car now reeks of alcohol and Mei Lin has to wonder how much Yi Fan has had to drink. He only had one right? But the truth is that it is more than likely that it hadn't been the first club or bar that he’s visited that night as Mei Lin picks up on the scent of different perfumes now. And you were doing so well…
Mei Lin signals to make a left but Yi Fan, whom Mei Lin had thought had passed out, objects and tells her to pull over. So she does, not wanting to argue with him because that would only distract her. Her phone vibrates with a text from Zi Tao. “Don’t take him to his house, take him to a hotel. I don’t know what happened but I don’t think he wants to go home right now.”
Mei Lin sighs and texts him a short reply and then opens the GPS in her phone to find the nearest quality hotel. “Room for two?” the reception desk asks.
Mei Lin is about to say no but feeling how Yi Fan is becoming dead weight, she simply says, “Yes.” Mei Lin pays for the room for two nights, hoping that that will be enough before taking Yi Fan up to his room. By the time they’re walking down the hall, Yi Fan is almost completely unconscious, causing Mei Lin to have to dump him on the king-sized bed. “Of course the receptionist thought we were a one night stand…” Mei Lin sighs to herself. She takes off Yi Fan’s shoes and socks and shoves him completely onto the bed before placing the comforter on him. What could’ve happened to leave you like this?
Mei Lin immediately calls the hospital but Mrs. Wu is fine. Yi Fan stirs at the sound of Mei Lin’s voice after she finished the call and again when she receives another text. “Something bad happened; they won’t let me in to return the car.”
Mei Lin bites her lip as she debates leaving Yi Fan alone for the time being. I have to see what’s going on. She grabs her things and makes her way to the Wu residence. Much like Zi Tao, she can’t get past the gate.
“How dare he have the gall to send his driver and now his secretary?!” Mei Lin heard in the background of the gatekeeper’s voice telling her she can’t enter on the intercom. “If he wants anything, he can find it in the trash!”
The voice is scrambled thanks to the speaker but she can tell that it was Mr. Wu’s voice shouting. Mei Lin drives to the curb where there is a large pile of clothes and other personal possessions. She loads as much as she can into her car as quickly as her heels would allow her. Whatever she can’t get, she’ll have to leave to Zi Tao who she texts before leaving for the hotel again.
She only brings up three sets of casual clothes, figuring that Yi Fan won’t be in the mood to be going anywhere anytime soon. Mei Lin finds that he is still sound asleep, only stirring occasionally at whatever sound Mei Lin so happens to accidentally make. She goes into the bathroom to wash off her make up and comes out seeing Yi Fan with his eyes half opened before closing again.
He mumbles in his sleep. Mei Lin can understand most of it due to the fact that Mei Lin is not very fluent in Korean, even though all those years with Junsu did give her a small vocabulary. Who knew he knows how to speak as well… Mei Lin even catches a few French words but they all refer to the same topic: being around.
“None of your business…" “I was with her…” “At least I care…”
That must have been one hell of a fight, Mei Lin yawns. She closes her eyes after resting her head on her arms. In spite it being a king sized bed, Yi Fan is very tall and lanky and Mei Lin doesn’t dare get anywhere near the bed.
“MAYBE I WILL!”
Mei Lin jumps from her brink of unconsciousness as Yi Fan tosses in his sleep, causing his skin to start to shine with sweat. “Sir…” Mei Lin gets up and wets a towel. She wipes his forehead and face after his body settles. Poor thing… Gale’s voice chimes in Mei Lin’s head, “He’s anything but poor,” and so Mei Lin smiles to herself. He’s certainly poor now…
Mei Lin sings and hums to herself in hopes that it would sooth whatever nightmares are griping at Yi Fan, but it’s mostly to comfort herself. It’s not every day you see your boss in such a weakened state of mind. Things have always been tense in the Wu family but it is unheard of to be thrown out, especially considering the fact that Yi Fan is their one and only son. Sure, Yi Fan isn’t the greatest person, nor is he the strongest person that Mei Lin has ever met, but he’s gone through enough to be able to put on a good show. Even if he’s not the best, it still pains Mei Lin to see him like this when she’s seen him have so much better days. Kind of like the one where Yi Fan had to give a presentation on this year’s advertisement plan. Granted, Mei Lin made most of the presentation, but the way that Yi Fan delivered it with such confidence, Mei Lin could have sworn she had seen a proud smile lighting Yi Fan’s eyes. After seeing him being so capable, it hurts to see him so helpless and vulnerable.
“If you wander off too far/ My love will get you home. If you follow the wrong star/ My love will get you home. If you ever find yourself/ Lost and all alone…Get back on your feet and think of me/ My love will get you home/ Boy, my love will get you home…”
Yi Fan wakes up between something soft and something fluffy. At first he wonders if he’s still dreaming. But considering how relaxed he is, he gets the feeling this can’t be. He forces himself to open his eyes and scan the room that he’s in. The hell happened last night… He looks around expecting to find a hooker next to him but the bed is empty and the only other person in the room looks like Mei Lin who is slouched over the table. He sits up and feels the consequences of the night before. He holds his forehead and groans at the throbbing in his temples.
Mei Lin shifts and lifts her head up. “Oh, you’re awake,” she yawns, rubbing her eyes.
“Where are we?” Yi Fan asks, throwing off the covers and feeling thankful that he’s fully dressed.
“A hotel,” Mei Lin says, still yawning. “There are clothes in the dresser. If you don’t like it, the rest of it—well, most of it—is in my car.”
“Mei,” Yi Fan says. “What happened last night?”
“We had ,” Mei Lin says bluntly just so she could see the look of horror on his face. She lets out a laugh but that energy disappears as her short laugh dies. “You were drinking again, Tao told me not to take you home so I took you here.”
“Why didn’t Tao come and get me?” Yi Fan asks, trying to ignore this familiar pain in his head.
“He was busy,” Mei Lin lies.
“Mei, I might be hungover but I’m not stupid,” Yi Fan says, staring straight into Mei Lin’s eyes. “Lie to my mom and whoever else however much you want, but don’t lie to me.”
“You really don’t remember?” Mei Lin asks, sounding a bit sad. “Just how much did you drink last night?”
“If I can’t remember how I got here, how the hell do you expect me to remember how much I had to drink?” Yi Fan nearly yells at Mei Lin, feeling rather irritated by the pain.
Mei Lin orders room service in spite of the uncalled for remarks. Yi Fan’s irritation is contagious. “May I ask what happened, sir?” Mei Lin asks as they both eat breakfast.
“I don’t remember,” Yi Fan lies.
Mei Lin sets down her chopsticks to give Yi Fan a completely stare down. “You can’t expect me to be honest with you if you lie to me.”
“What makes you think I’m lying?” Yi Fan asks, getting upset now that she would even accuse him of such a thing (even if it was true).
“Because you talk in your sleep,” Mei Lin mutters before taking another bite. Yi Fan almost drops his plate, which he is holding because he is eating on the bed. The look of pure dread prompts Mei Lin to speak again. “When are you going to accept the fact that I know you and that I know of you and even about you? When are you doing to accept that I’m going to see things that other people don’t or won’t ever see?” Yi Fan stays quiet and continues eating which causes Mei Lin to sigh in frustration. “Look. I don’t know for sure what happened but I’m guessing you had a fight with your father when you went home shortly after our meal. It didn’t end well and you left home. Either that or he kicked you out. Regardless, I think it’s safe to say that there is nothing of yours in that house right now.”
Yi Fan chews longer than he has to. “So now what?”
Mei Lin sighs because that’s as close as she’ll ever get to Yi Fan accepting things. “Zi Tao and I have all of your belongings. I’ll check your bank accounts to make sure they’re secure. This room is booked for another night, so we’ll have a bit of time to find you a new place to stay—”
“Mei,” Yi Fan says, stopping the train in Mei Lin’s plans. “Why are you doing all of this?”
“I’m your secretary,” Mei Lin says simply. “Besides, you told me that if I’m ever on a date and you need me, that you expected me to come running. Well, I was on a date and you needed me, so I came. I didn’t come running though; that’s not the best form of transport in those shoes.” Mei Lin gives Yi Fan a bright smile in hopes that it would distract him from his headache. Yi Fan flinches and words of gratitude tickle his tongue but he doesn’t have the energy to say such words again so soon. “Anyway, I’ll start as soon as I get back to my place; no laptop or tablet,” she smiles again to keep the mood light. “Would you like me to pick up anything on the way back or—”
“Just get Tao up here,” Yi Fan says, not looking at Mei Lin.
Mei Lin bows and texts Zi Tao on her way out. She heads home and finds that all of Yi Fan’s accounts are in order and so she spends the rest of her time looking for a place that Yi Fan might like.
Meanwhile, Zi Tao makes his way up to the hotel room and finds it empty. Yi Fan walks out in nothing but a towel and so Zi Tao sits down in the chair near the desk and turns around while his boss dressed. “Where’s Ms. Chan?”
“Home,” Yi Fan says, rubbing a towel against his hair. As she should be.
“So what’s up?” Zi Tao asks, knowing that if Yi Fan had wanted to go somewhere, he would be waiting in the parking lot and not have been told to come to his room.
Yi Fan sighs and sits down on the bed, resting his forearms on his knees. “What happened last night?” Yi Fan asks.
“I dropped you off at the house and I was about to leave but there was screaming, so I stayed. You stormed out five minutes later and told me to drop you off at the usual place,” Zi Tao sighs. “You told me to go home because I wasn’t needed for the rest of the night.”
“Did you?” Yi Fan asks.
“Eventually,” Zi Tao admits. “Ms. Chan called me sometime around midnight, asking me to come pick you up but she cut herself off mid-sentence and said that she would do it. It sounded like you were at a club but the music was in another language, sounded like English.”
Fuzzy images of Yi Fan mindlessly bringing a glass to his lips start rolling. He remembers Mei Lin stopping a new glass. Her hand was so warm. The look that she had given him seems so dreamlike now that he starts to recall. She had pulled out her phone and started talking but Yi Fan’s hand moves on its own, brushing against Mei Lin’s wrist to get her attention. Whatever she had been saying stopped and Yi Fan was being lead out of the thumping noise.
“Duì zhǎng,” Zi Tao says, bringing Yi Fan back from his blurry memory. “I was the one who told her to take you to a hotel. She went by the house and got your things; I have the rest—”
“Tao,” Yi Fan says, feeling the guilt eating at him already. “Just…be quiet for me.”
And so Zi Tao sits there as he watches his boss dry his hair and rub his temples. “Duì zhǎng,” he says again after a long fifteen minutes of silence. “She really cares about you.”
Yi Fan stares at the ground for a while before saying, “I know.”
As if on cue, Yi Fan’s phone rings because Mei Lin is calling. “I’m sending you some places to consider. Tell me which one you like best and I’ll get right on it. Your accounts have been untouched and no one will be able to access them now but you—”
“Mei,” Yi Fan sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “It’s a Saturday; take the day off.”
Mei Lin blinks, “Sir…”
Zi Tao raises an eyebrow. Do you care about her too?
“Stay home,” Yi Fan says. “Call Lau, apologize for ditching him last night, and make it up to him however you deem fit.” He sighs again, surprising even himself as to what he’s saying. “I just—Just leave me alone for a bit.”
The long silence from the other end makes Yi Fan wonder if Mei Lin had hung up. But then she finally says, “Sir, you’re a bad liar,” before hanging up.
“Would you like me to leave as well?” Zi Tao asks with a bit of a smile, knowing that Yi Fan really doesn’t want to be alone.
“I would like you to be quiet,” Yi Fan says, trying to sound mad. He gets a message from Mei Lin and they’re links to condos and apartments not too far from the office. “I’m surprised she’s still here,” Yi Fan mutters to himself as he scrolls through his options.
“I’m still here,” Zi Tao points out.
“That’s different,” Yi Fan says. “We have a history, she—she’s not even suppose to be here and yet…”
“If you don’t want her around, then just fire her,” Zi Tao says. “That’s what you’ve always done.” The silence causes Zi Tao to ask, “Do you want her around?”
“I don’t not want her around,” Yi Fan says.
All the while, Mei Lin is about to leave her small apartment and head back to the hotel when she remembers Yi Fan’s suggestions. She decides to stop and call Henry. “Are you free now?” Henry asks upon answering the phone.
“Sort of,” Mei Lin says, the guilt clear in her voice. “He actually told me to call you.”
“Whoa, pause for a second,” Henry laughs. “Kevin told you to call me? Does he have a snarky message for me or what?”
“No,” Mei Lin says with the same underlying laugh in her voice. “He actually told me to apologize and make it up to you by any means that I deem fit. You know, for ditching you last night like I did.”
Henry knows that Mei Lin can’t see the look of shock on his face but there is one anyway. “So how do you plan to make it up to me?”
“Not sure yet,” Mei Lin says, playing with her words. “Is it alright if I come by later tonight once I figure something out?”
“You should ditch me more often if it means you’ll spend the night,” Henry smiles.
“Hey, I’m getting another call; see you tonight,” Mei Lin says at the sound of some annoying beeping.
“Until then.”
Mei Lin switches lines and before she can greet the person on the other end, Lu Han nearly shouts, “Do you know what’s happening right now?!”
“Ow,” Mei Lin winces at the high and panicked voice of Lu Han. “Obviously not…”
“Wú Lǎo Bǎn is about to fire his own son!” Lu Han says frantically, a bit more quiet now.
“Shén me?” Mei Lin asks, feeling her voice slip away.
“I overheard Mr. Hoang and him talking and he seemed pretty mad. Mei, I was just asked to pull up Yi Fan’s contract and they’re going to terminate it,” Lu Han says as he strains his voice so that he is not to be heard.
“They can’t do that,” Mei Lin says. “Not without reason or cause.”
“Yi Fan has given his father more than enough reasons to fire him,” Lu Han points out. “This was the last straw.” Whatever it was. Mei Lin puts Lu Han on speaker and quickly changes into something presentable. “Mei?”
“Keep talking, Lu Lu,” Mei Lin says as she grabs her things. “I need to know everything.”
“What are you going to do?” he asks. What can you do?
“I’m going to take care of this,” Mei Lin says. Like I always do. “It’s a Saturday, Lu Han. No one is even normally in the building.”
“You normally are,” Lu Han says. “What happened last night?”
“I’ll tell you about it later; right now, I need to know everything on the matter. If Yi Fan gets fired from being PR’s Department head, then who is going to replace him?” Mei Lin proceeds to drive to the building.
“You are,” Lu Han says, as if it’s the most obvious answer. “You do practically everything already. All you would have to do is get another secretary and sign a few more papers. You would lose your contract with Yi Fan but you would be the head of two Departments.”
“That’s a bit too much power for someone who is not of the family,” Mei Lin says. “Isn’t the board worried about that?”
“I don’t know; they’re having a meeting right now,” Lu Han sighs.
“Why aren’t you there? You’re a Department Head.”
“Department Heads aren’t the same as board members,” Lu Han says. “Remember? We’re the gears and they’re the ones who decides what it is that this machine does.”
“They can’t do this,” Mei Lin hisses, nearly speeding. “He has a right to know. It’s his son, for goodness sake.”
“Something tells me that’s not the case anymore,” Lu Han says carefully.
“Is he being disowned or fired?” Mei Lin asks. Your personal life should never affect your work, not to this extent.
“From the sounds of it, both,” Lu Han sighs. “What are you going to do?”
“If they think I’m going to willingly take my boss’ job from him—again—then that old man has another thing coming.” Mei Lin pulls into the parking garage.
Lu Han hears the car engine stop and Mei Lin get out of the car. “They’re in the main conference room on the thirty-eighth floor.”
“Of course they are.”
“You still haven’t told me what you’re going to do,” Lu Han says, biting his lip.
“I’m going to give them an ultimatum.”
“Is he really worth it, Mei?” Lu Han asks as calmly as he could. “You’ve worked here a year and you would already be the head of two Departments. Why would you risk all of that for a boss who treats you like you’re replaceable and has no respect for you? All he does is use you, Mei; you’re better off just letting this be.”
“Lu Han,” Mei Lin says seriously as she gets onto the elevator. “If you really wanted me to just let this happen, you would’ve never called to tell me what was going on.”
“You had a right to know,” Lu Han says.
“And I thank you for telling me,” Mei Lin says.
“Mei, just let it be,” Lu Han begs. “You deserve so much better than this.”
“I’m sorry Lu Lu, but I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing that I betrayed someone who trusts me,” Mei Lin says, getting off on the top floor. I won’t do that. “I might deserve better, but Yi Fan does not deserve this, no matter what his father thinks of him.” She gets off the elevator. “Lu Han, one more thing: do not tell anyone else, you understand?” She hangs up after conformation. Mei Lin doesn’t even bother knocking and opens the doors to the conference room, cutting off Mr. Wu midsentence. She reminds herself to use formal speech before Mr. Wu has an ulcer. “My apologies for interrupting, but I’m really not sorry. If you want to fire your son then you’re going to have to fire me as well.”
Mr. Wu’s anger dissipates into bafflement. “Duì bù qǐ?”
“If you want to fire Yi Fan, then I’m leaving as well,” Mei Lin threatens.
The board members mutter to themselves and amongst each other concerning this. Mr. Wu is about to speak, but an even older man gets his attention and whispers something that Mr. Wu does not like. “We will have to discuss this further, Ms. Chen,” Mr. Wu replies as calmly as possible.
“No,” Mei Lin says bluntly. “You either allow both of us to stay with our contracts untouched or you can fire the both of us now so that I can start packing our things to save everyone some time.”
“Watch your mouth,” Ms. Wang warns.
“I’ll stay if Yi Fan stays,” Mei Lin repeats. “There’s nothing to discuss.”
“Ms. Chen,” Mr. Huang says in a calm voice.
“So I guess the question right now is: Do you hate your son more or do you need me more?”
“You’re bluffing.”
“Are you willing to bet on that?”
Mei Lin stands firmly not letting anything slip through her composure. She knows that the board will decide in her favor because they know as well as she does that if she leaves, so do all of her ideas and designs. All of the patients and projects in progress that are under Mei Lin’s name would leave with her and GIBI can’t afford that, not after the success of the last quarter. Their stock would crash.
All of this is considered by the board as they whisper to each other and finally to Mr. Wu to announce the consensus. “Yi Fan can stay,” Mr. Wu says through his teeth. “I expect him here, on time, first thing Monday morning.”
Mei Lin bows, trying not to let a smirk spread across her face, “Thank you, sir.” She leaves the conference room but she can already hear the remarking being made about her. My life here is going to be hell…
“Mei!”
Mei Lin turns around and sees a very upset Yi Fan. , Lu Han… “Sir?”
“What the just happened in there?” Yi Fan asks as the board pours out of the conference room. Yi Fan’s ignorance surprises those coming out seeing how some had thought that Yi Fan made Mei Lin risk her job.
“Nothing,” Mei Lin lies. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Mei,” Yi Fan says, knowing that she’s lying. “What’s going on?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Mei Lin repeats. “Did you pick?” She starts walking towards the stairs.
“Don’t change the subject, Mei Lin,” Yi Fan says firmly, stopping her from swiping her ID card to get to the roof. “Why was there a board meeting just now and why were you here?”
Mei Lin keeps quiet and pulls her lips thin to keep from lying any more. “Sir…” Yi Fan waits but Mei Lin only looks down at her feet as if she had done something shameful, but it was only to hide anything that might give away what Mei Lin had done. “Can we just forget about it? It doesn’t matter anymore.”
“It matters to me,” Yi Fan says, keeping his hands firmly on her shoulders. “What did you do?”
“She saved your career,” Mr. Wu’s voice booms.
Mei Lin winces at the sudden tightening of Yi Fan’s grip before his hands are practically just resting on her shoulders. She takes this moment to slide her ID card and make her escape to the roof. “What did you say?” Yi Fan asks, not realizing that Mei Lin is gone.
“I had half a mind to fire you an hour ago,” Mr. Wu says. “You should be grateful to have such a loyal employee because I know that I sure as hell would’ve had you packing.”
“If you wanted to fire me, then at least have the nerve to do so to my face,” Yi Fan hisses. Instead of being so underhanded.
“I was,” Mr. Wu admits bluntly. “But I needed approval from the board.” He sighs, “But now I can’t even if I want to because if I do, Ms. Chen would leave, and our company can’t afford to take such a loss just because you were disrespectful to your own father.” Yi Fan’s anger is silenced by the sudden realization of what Mei Lin really did. Mr. Wu laughs to himself at how clueless his son is to the situation at hand before turning around. “Next time you decide to pick a fight, think about the consequences, because I promise you that there are going to be many coming Ms. Chen’s way for what she did today.”
Yi Fan quickly makes his way to the roof but finds the final door to be locked. “Mei!” He knocks on the door. You can’t lock this door. “I’m not leaving until you open this door, and you’re going to have to leave eventually, so—”
Mei Lin opens the door and tries to walk past Yi Fan but he catches her arm and nearly swings her back up on the roof before closing the door behind him. Ow…
“Why did you do that?!” Yi Fan shouts, not caring now that they’re on the roof. “Why would you do that?!”
“Did you want to be fired?” Mei Lin asks softly, looking down at her shoes.
Yi Fan is baffled for the second time in less than ten minutes, not expecting Mei Lin to take the conversation down this route. “Well, no but—”
“Then why are we arguing?” Mei Lin asks, finally looking at Yi Fan with squinted eyes to keep the sun out.
“Because you risked your career for—”
“For what?” Mei Lin asks. “For you? And what’s so bad about that?”
Yi Fan is still confused, unsure as to why Mei Lin would go so far. “He’s going to make your life a living hell—”
“So?” Mei Lin asks. “That’s not your problem, that’s mine. I told you not to worry about it; why won’t you listen to me?”
“Mei…”
Mei Lin finally feels comfortable enough to step closer to Yi Fan. “Forget about it, okay? It doesn’t matter anymore.”
But it does matter. Mei Lin walks past Yi Fan and back down the stairs, leaving him alone on the roof with the bright sun and shaky breeze. He sits down with his back against the door, not caring that the heated metal is burning him through his thin t-shirt. He needed to feel something besides this crazed confusion. Why would she try to hide something like that from me? Yi Fan runs his fingers through his hair. What if Lau hadn’t given me a heads up? Yi Fan concludes that he would have gone about his life like an ungrateful bastard. Maybe she didn’t want to stress—no, I would look like a complete fool if I hadn’t found out. But why would she want everything to be as if nothing’s changed. It takes Yi Fan another fifteen minutes to realize that nothing has changed. Everything has been the same; Mei Lin has always been this way, even from day one. Maybe my mother isn’t the only one I should be trying to be a better person for.
Translations/Author's Notes:
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The song that Mei Lin sings to herself is My Love Will Get You Home by Christine Glass, which is frequently heard on the Chinese Drama: Heart of Greed (溏心風暴) and other Chinese Dramas (in other words: this is a very popular/common song in the Chinese Drama world).
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Just a reminder: Mei Lin's last name can be romanized into either Chan or Chen depending on which dialect the character is speaking in. Zi Tao uses Chan to respect the fact that Mei Lin is from Hong Kong, which primarily speaks Cantonese, even though he's speaking to Yi Fan in Mandarin; where as Mr. Wu (as well as Mrs. Wu and other Mandarin speakers) will call her Ms. Chen because they are speaking in Mandarin. Just know that even though the English is different, the characters (meaning, the written Chinese characters) are the same, and thus have the same meaning and are referring to the same person (they're not typos, I promise).
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Most of the surnames used in this story (with the exception of a few) are very common in China. To know more, please check out this recently made video that explains it very well. To be honest I chose the surnames of people that I know and made up some of the given names (first names)...that just goes to show how common the surnames are ^^;
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