F̶i̶r̶e̶d̶
BastardThe line may as well have been dead. Kidnapped. Please let him be kidnapped. Mei Lin practically speeds to the GPS-located location. It isn’t until she is forced to stop by police does she realize that she’s about to approach a blocked off intersection. “What happened here?” Judging by the ambulance… “Gale!” Gale’s head moves in the general direction of her name. The officers let her through. “What hap—” Tear-streaks, red eyes, and a blank face, Mei Lin hugs her stone-cold friend.
Mei Lin had to get the story from one of the paramedics. “They were in the left-most straight-going lane, stopped at a red light. Guy claims to have spent the night at his fiancé’s house—he was in the driver’s seat. They were headed to the park to meet up with their babysitter before going to work…or something like that. Anyway, someone ran the red light and t-boned the car. The girl has a slight fracture in her arm but we’ll know for sure once we get them to the hospital. The impact caused more whiplash than anything and the little guy’s neck never stood a chance… Everything was captured by the CCTVs—are you their lawyer?” Something about his voice lacks life.
“No, I’m her proxy,” Mei Lin says. It goes without saying that Alistair is still not dead to Mei Lin. “Why are they not being taken to the hospital?” I refuse to believe that he’s dead.
“He didn’t suffer,” one of the paramedics says.
As if that would help. Mei Lin struts over and nearly drops to her knees at the sight of the motionless child. She feels for a pulse in spite of the many protests. Lu Han is going to sue if Gale is not of sound mind.
Yi Fan is soon on the scene as well. “What the hell—”
“Alistair’s dead, be kind.” Mei Lin has angry tears streaking her face. “There is no justice in this world—none at all.” First your mom, then Tao, and now Alistair…
Yi Fan debates whether or not this is an appropriate time and place to comfort Mei Lin, but he decides against it. “They’ll make it through this,” he says. “Lu Han isn’t the Head of the Resource Department for nothing.”
“We should get back to the office. Being without one Head is bad enough, they don’t need half of the thirty-seventh floor missing too. We have a Board meeting today, let’s not leave Yi Xing out to fend for himself.” They return to the office and the amount of composure that Mei Lin is caking on is concerning.
Everything is happening too fast. Yi Fan also has yet to process what had just happened. Life is so fleeting.
The two could hardly focus during the meeting but Mei Lin is sure to take notes. “Where is Lu?” Mr. Wu demands. “How can we be sure that we can move on with this project if I don’t have the—”
“Mister Lu is attending to a family emergency, sir,” Yi Xing says politely, “I will be—”
“Fire him,” Mr. Wu says with a wave of his hand.
“Pardon?” Mei Lin asks, the phrase bringing her back to this reality.
“I don’t have to explain myself,” Mr. Wu says. “Have you something to say, Miss Chen? You’re on thin ice as well, you know—leaving unannounced like that, it’s unheard of.”
“My apologies on behalf of Lu Han, sir,” Mei Lin says coolly. “Not all of us are capable of functioning properly after the death of a loved one.” Yi Fan swallows and the atmosphere thickens. “It’s something you would find difficult to understand, I’m sure.”
“Shén me ne?!” ("What?!") Mr. Wu is already an unsightly shade, somewhere between red and puce.
“Mei…” Yi Fan says. “Don’t say something you’ll regret. They need you right now and—”
“Shut up, boy,” Mr. Wu hisses. “Apologize this instant or—”
“Or what? Are you going to fire me too?” Mei Lin challenges. “How is that going to look exactly? What do you think the headlines are going to say when they see that you fired someone who just lost their son to a terrible accident? I will not apologize for speaking the truth—”
“How dare you?” Mr. Wu slams his fist onto the table and stands in the process.
“Tell me something then, Mister Chairman,” Mei Lin says. “Where is your wife’s grave? I only ask because you did not attend her funeral. Now you can say that you had other matters to attend to, but surely you can spare an hour or two from your busy schedule to pay respects to your late wife—or do you mean to tell me that this company is more important than those that you love—if you loved her at all that is.”
“That’s enough out of you!” Ms. Wang shouts.
“For someone who cares so much of this company and its image, you do very little to keep up your image inside the company. Anyone can produce good statistics; what sets one apart from the rest are the people behind it. Now what does it say to your employees, your competitors, and your clients if you haven’t the time nor respect for someone who made it possible for you to be where you are today?”
“You have a death wish, young lady,” Mr. Hoang is practically steaming. Mr. Wu too angry to produce words.
“Are you mad enough yet?” Mei Lin asks. “Lu Han not being here doesn’t seem so bad now, does it?” There’s a soft, knowing smile one Mei Lin’s face. “Would you rather him be here and do a half-assed job or not here at all? Because those are your options.”
“Mr. Lu does have quite a bit of vacation time saved up,” someone on the Board says quickly. “And Mr. Zhang here is his right-hand man—I’m sure he’s more than capable—”
“Fine!” Mr. Wu finally says. “Meeting adjourned. Chen, my office, now.”
“The hell were you thinking?!” Yi Fan asks in a strained whisper.
“Lu Han’s not fired, that’s all that matters,” Mei Lin says. “The guy just lost his son, he doesn’t need to lose his job too.”
“Are you trying to get yourself fired in his place? I won’t have that, you know.” Yi Fan walks with Mei Lin to Mr. Wu’s office.
“Just Miss Chen,” Mr. Wu says, attempting to shut the door on him.
“You’re not going to fire her,” Yi Fan says confidently. “If you do anything, it’ll be an admission of guilt. I’m all for the truth but—”
“Shut your mouth, boy.”
Mr. Hoang and Ms. Wang exchange looks as they evaluate the power couple before them before whispering something into the chairman’s ears. “Are we done here?” Mei Lin asks, knowing that look. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
Mei Lin leaves but Yi Fan stays behind for a moment to add, “Be careful there, you’ll give yourself a .” He catches up with Mei Lin just as she gets into the elevator. “Where are you headed?”
“Hospital,” Mei Lin says. “Lu Han has a concussion and Gale fractured her right arm. Both are pretty beaten up and we have funeral arrangements to attend to—and by ‘we,’ I mean me.”
“I don’t like it when you’re like this,” Yi Fan comments. “It’s like you’re in some sort of mode that someone just flicked on—it’s scary.”
“You don’t have to come along if you don’t want to see it,” Mei Lin points out.
They get off the elevator and go to their respective offices to tint the glass to change, grab their things and leave. Victoria and Krystal exchange looks. Victoria giggles at how Krystal mouths “twins” once they pass the lobby and enter another elevator. “You would think that they shared one brain!”
“You don’t have to come along, you know,” Mei Lin repeats as they ride in the elevator.
“Someone has to remind you how to be human again,” Yi Fan smirks.
“I do believe that you just called me a piece of furniture.”
“It’s fitting,” Yi Fan shrugs. “A declaration of love would transform you.”
“Then that makes you Belle.” Mei Lin rolls her eyes and checks her phone to see that the car is waiting out front. “Let’s go.”
Yi Fan circles around the car and gets into the backseat from the other side. The ride is silent and tense. Mei Lin focuses on what’s happening on the other side of the window glass while Yi Fan’s gaze is forward-facing. His hand seems to want to remind them both of something when it accidently brushes against Mei Lin’s. Mei Lin hardly noticed but doesn’t move. Realizing that there was no protest, Yi Fan slowly laces Mei Lin’s fingers with his, his thumb rubbing the back of her hand even slower. The gesture is distracting enough to keep Mei Lin’s mind off of more morbid things.
When they arrive, they are almost immediately sent back. “I have things covered,” Lu Han says. “Even if you don’t trust my judgment, you can trust Yi Xing’s. You and Fan have been through enough—we’ll be fine.”
“Lu Lu…” Mei Lin is skeptical after hearing those last words.
“Just…” Lu Han adds, “Take care of the other stuff though, would you?”
“Pardon?” Mei Lin isn’t sure what he’s referring to.
“I’ll take care of all the medical and legal stuff; take care of Alistair for us, would you? Get him cremated and give us the ashes—Fan should know something about that.” Lu Han hardly glances at Yi Fan. “Oh, and I appreciate what you did for us back at the office. Thank you.” He bows and adds, “Yi Xing,” before either of them could ask how he knew what had happened less than an hour ago. “Go home, you two; get some sleep for us.” They turn to leave but Lu Han’s scrambled mind thinks up of one more thing, “Fan,” they stop, “if you could do something about the press, I would really appreciate it.”
What Mei Lin and Yi Fan got out of that was: we would like to be left alone for a while. To which they took no offense and carried out their respective requests. By the time it is dark, they are at a small café trying to break down the face they had to put on with a bit of coffee. “You hate coffee,” Yi Fan remarks. “Why didn’t you get tea?”
“It’s decaf,” Mei Lin says, “relax.”
“How are you holding up?” The fact that they’re in public keeps Yi Fan from reaching over the table for Mei Lin’s hand.
“Better than they are, I’m sure,” Mei Lin sighs.
“You can’t compare your situation with theirs. Be honest now.”
The shaking look of concern earns him another sigh but an answer as well. “Everything’s been prepared and Yi Xing has been notified. What he asked of me is done.” Yi Fan waits for what he had asked. “I’m too numb to feel anything but a sense of duty right now. I’m tired but not enough to sleep; I have energy but not enough to smile. What about you?”
“I’m not very close with anyone involved,” Yi Fan admits. “It still leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth—”
“Maybe that’s from the coffee.”
Yi Fan smiles, “Maybe.” Not as good as the stuff that you keep in the break room for everyone. “I don’t know, Mei, I feel bad but I don’t feel like I have a right to give them my condolences.”
“You can give them your condolences by doing your job. The last thing those two need right now is to worry about the office.”
So for the next few months Yi Fan and Mei Lin work to compensate for the tragedy until the couple felt fit to return to work.
“You want to talk about it?” Mei Lin asks casually one day in the lab.
“Just keep on doing what you’ve been doing for the last few months, Mei,” Gale says dryly. “Just keep working like nothing has happened.”
Mei Lin looks up and feels insulted. “Pardon?”
“You’re excused.”
“I’m not going to apologize for covering for you,” Mei Lin says. “If it came off as me not caring, then I am sorry. But I did what you wanted—”
“And what was that exactly?”
Are you looking for a fight? “You wanted to be left alone.”
“No, that was what Lu Han wanted.” You didn’t even so much as give me a phone call.
“So tell me, what did you want from me? What could I have possibly have done to make that situation any better?”
“You could’ve been there! A hug would’ve been nice, you know.”
“… Since when were you so—”
“Since my son died.”
Silence.
“Gale,” Mei Lin says. “It’s not like I’ve never come by and knocked to see how you were doing. You never opened the ing door—”
“Mei—”
“How the hell was I supposed to know that you wanted me there when you never reached out to me? I can’t read minds!”
“You seem to be able to read your boss’ mind.”
So that’s what this is about.
“Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you two are practically functioning without communication.”
“Are you upset that I didn’t give you a shoulder to cry on or that I’m being professional about my current relationship—are things not well with Lu Han?” Silence again. I’ve struck a nerve. “So are you jealous that I’m spending more time with Wu Yi than you or is it because we have a better relationship than whatever is happening in your life right now?”
“What relationship?” Gale asks. “I buried the ring with the ashes.”
“Gale—”
“I see Alistair every time I see him, even their voices are similar and… it just hurts too much, Mei.”
So this is what you really wanted to talk about. “It wasn’t his fault—”
“I know,” Gale sighs. “But it still hurts and I don’t think I can be with him—” Mei Lin interrupts by hugging her friend. “I just don’t know what to do anymore, Mei… we just don’t know anymore.”
“Do you love him?” She feels her nod. “Then do what we’re doing. Do your job and just see what happens. You shouldn’t give up just because it hurts right now.” It is now Mei Lin’s turn to move Gale out of the lab so that she can cry.
It is almost closing time anyway and meanwhile, Yi Fan is down on the ground floor to see to the other half of the situation. “Are you here to offer to buy me a drink again?” Lu Han asks dryly. Cause I could surely use one if you’re buying.
“I was thinking more like we could go to the park and kick the ball around,” Yi Fan says. “You like soccer, right?”
“I thought you were more of a basketball guy,” Lu Han says.
“Are you telling me that you’re passing up the opportunity to mop the floor with me?”
Tempting. “Fine. But you’re going to buy me a round when I kick your .”
That’s more like it. The outcome of that game is a draw. Lu Han blames it on the rain. The two sit on a bench as the rain washes the mud off of their sportswear. “How are you holding up?”
“About as well as I can be… considering,” Lu Han sighs. “How’s you and—”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“Why did you do this anyway?” Both are still breathless.
Yi Fan shrugs. “You’re an important employee to the company and a friend of someone that I care about very dearly; do I really need a reason to be concerned? I know what it’s like to lose someone that you love—”
“Fan,” Lu Han chuckles. “You don’t have to say anything. Tell Mei that she has nothing to worry about and don’t worry, I won’t mention anything to anyone—I’m not even sure what the heck is even going on between you two.”
“What does the rest of the company think is going on?” Yi Fan asks.
“They think that you two are just being more serious about your careers now that all eyes are on GIBI; they think this is just your way of responding to tragedy; they think you are planning to take over the company and Lin is helping to make it happen.”
“Why would I try to take it over when I know it’s going to be mine anyways?”
“You know that the chairman is not going to just step down. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if you were tired of waiting.” I honestly would rather work for you right now.
“It would be in poor taste if I were to do that to my… father.”
“You and Lin seem to be worrying a lot about the company’s image lately.”
“It’s my job,” Yi Fan says. “Once you have the inner workings running smoothly, you can focus on the external things.”
The two sit there for a while as the rain starts to pour even more. They had left their phones in their cars, so Yi Fan can’t pick up when Mei Lin is calling. She gets concerned and tracks his phone to the park. I highly doubt he’s sitting in his car and ignoring his phone. Mei Lin grabs two of the largest umbrellas and asks to be taken to the park. It’s empty save for the two getting drenched and playing soccer in the mud. Mei Lin steps out and watches them for a moment under the shelter of an umbrella. “You boys done yet?” she asks when the rain wasn’t as loud. “You’ll catch a cold if you stay out here any longer.”
“Yes mom,” Lu Han laughs. Mei Lin opens another umbrella for him and Lu Han walks to his car. “Why are you handing me a trash bag?”
“Unless you want to ruin the interior of your car, I would advise that you use this to cover your seat.” Mei Lin hands him a towel as well. She then turns her attention to the drenched man who is standing right where she had left him. She raises the umbrella to his height and gives him a questioning look. “How’s he doing?”
They walk to his car as Yi Fan attempts to dry himself with a towel courtesy of Mei Lin. “As well as you can expect him to do.”
Mei Lin nods and Yi Fan stops next to his car to shake out his hair. Mei Lin shies away from the flying water and Yi Fan laughs, teasing her by shaking his head even more. Mei Lin shoves Yi Fan out from under the umbrella as a result and more laughing ensues. “Did you really have to take him to an outdoor field? How would GIBI possibly function if their prince were to fall ill?”
“If we somehow managed without you for over two months, then I’m pretty sure that they could manage without me for a few days,” Yi Fan says from under the towel. “Besides, do you see any indoor soccer fields around here?”
“Keep the towel and go home so you can take a hot shower,” Mei Lin rolls her eyes.
“What did you need me for?” Yi Fan asks. “Did you hear back from the other companies? What did they say?”
“They said that they would be more than happy to participate in a joint fundraiser, whatever it may be. They would like to do it at the end of the year and that’s what I wanted to talk about. I was thinking that in light of last year’s events, we replace the Gala with that fundraiser…”
“I’m not sure how the chairman is going to feel about us uprooting his long-standing tradition and his one chance to try to give back to his employees but—”
“Maybe we should talk more about this later, when you’re more, uh, dry.”
“Why don’t we just talk in the car?” Mei Lin thinks it over for a moment. Was that too direct?
Mei Lin walks back to her driver and Yi Fan thinks that she is about to get in, but to his surprise, the driver drives off and Mei Lin lets herself in his car. There is little talking in the car besides Mei Lin mothering Yi Fan into turning off the air conditioning for the sake of not catching a cold. In spite of Yi Fan’s long legs, they walk slowly because of Mei Lin, even though she insists on walking her normal pace. Yi Fan showers the moment they arrive and Mei Lin opens up all the proper files. By the time he comes out in fresh clothes, Mei Lin is set up for a formal discussion.
This is not what I had in mind, but you’ve always been so professional.
“I think the best course of action would be to make a public budget and every company will contribute an equal amount of money towards the production of the fundraiser,” Mei Lin says. “Since we want to focus on the more human side of our cold companies, why not something unorthodox and have a talent show?” Yi Fan smiles at the word “our” and nods. “Each company can submit a maximum of five acts and the money will be raised through ticket sales—each ticket will be worth one vote, and the act with the highest vote count will be the company that will not have to contribute to the final donation by the other companies.”
“What will that final donation be?” Yi Fan asks.
“It will be in correlation with the number of votes that was given to the winning act,” Mei Lin says. “I already have a few venues in mind but I haven’t gotten around to checking them out just yet—”
“Don’t worry about that,” Yi Fan says, “I’ll go—”
“With all due respect, sir—”
“My name is Wu Yi,” Yi Fan corrects.
“I would prefer to not let you go alone,” Mei Lin says, hoping he would get the hint. She takes his smile as agreement.
They discuss the details for this talent show for the next hour or so, and just as they are getting to talk about deadlines for the submitted acts, Yi Fan’s stomach makes an audible grumble. He ignores it and pretends that it did not happen, but Mei Lin continues their conversation as she makes her way to the kitchen. Yi Fan thinks that she is helping herself to a cup of water, but doesn’t realize she is attempting to cook until she is asking where he keeps his knives, and he sees that a cutting board and veggies are already out.
“What are you doing?” Yi Fan asks, quickly getting up to try and stop her.
She finds the knives on her own and begins chopping the washed vegetables. “I know you’re not very familiar with this process, but it’s called cooking. Us less richer folk do this so that we can eat and silence that sound and feeling we get in our guts.”
Yi Fan is too busy trying to stop Mei Lin from moving around so much in his kitchen to rebuttal the sarcasm. “No, I mean why are you doing that here?”
“Do you honestly expect me to wait until I get back to my place to eat?” Mei Lin stops to ask. “A girl has to eat, you know.”
Yi Fan gives up and sits down at the bar table of the kitchen to watch. “First off,” he says, now that he is of sounder mind, “you’re not exactly considered ‘less richer folk.’ You make just as much, if not more, than me—you just never spend any of it. And second of all, are you honestly hungry or are you just being indirectly nice again?”
“I do spend my money,” Mei Lin says, “I just don’t spend as much as you do. And as for that second part, it’s a bit of both.”
It surprises Yi Fan that she admits it but he doesn’t say anything. They talk in more detail about the fundraiser and which charities they should propose to the other companies. “We are a biomedical engineering company, hospitals would be a safe bet.” Mei Lin nods and types in some more notes. “Speaking of hospitals,” Yi Fan says carefully.
“I’m fine,” Mei Lin sighs. “My leg will never be the same but Junsu recommended me a vocal trainer so I can properly yell at you now.” She adds, “bié dān xīn,” ("don't worry,") for good measure and throws him a wide smile just in time to catch Yi Fan’s kiss on her forehead.
“I will always worry about you,” he says in a low voice. Mei Lin is silent, feeling the heat rising. “Would you listen to me if I told you to stop worrying about me?”
She lifts her head up a bit but still can’t bring herself to look at him. “Only if you fired me,” she says coyly.
Yi Fan bites his lip and hopes that Mei Lin would tilt her head up a bit more. “I would never do that,” he ensures.
“I know,” Mei Lin says. Everyone knows. Her eyes land on her watch. I wonder if the driver went to bed yet. Her hand reaches for the phone but Yi Fan grabs her wrist and they both don’t move for a few moments. “I should get going; you know how it’s going to look if we arrive in the same car to work tomorrow.”
They have been speaking only barely above a whisper so Yi Fan says, “If you’re as quiet about it as you are now, no one will even notice.” Yi Fan pulls Mei Lin into his lap and to his surprise. she rests her head on him. “I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t feel comfortable with, Mei.”
“I know.” I want to stay but… “I like to keep work and… other things separate, if possible. How about we go to karaoke tomorrow night. I’ll be able to prove to you that my voice is better.”
“There are other ways to prove that your voice is working,” Yi Fan suggests.
He can’t help but chuckle and Mei Lin pushes herself out of his arms but she too is laughing. “Goodnight, sir,” she teases as she texts the driver her location. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“No,” Yi Fan says dramatically. He jumps up and hugs her from behind before she can reach for the doorknob, holding her like a newly won stuffed animal from the fair. “Stay,” he whines.
Mei Lin giggles at his sudden childish behavior. “See, this is how you know you’re tired,” she laughs. “You revert to a tenth of your age. Go to bed, Wu Yi. There’s always tomorrow.”
There is indeed always a tomorrow, however, it is not the kind of tomorrow that anyone was expecting. At the meeting to discuss Yi Fan’s new charity idea, things go sour very quickly. “That is a ridiculous idea,” Mr. Wu says. “Why should we change such a tradition just because—”
“Because what?” Yi Fan asks, clearly fed up with where the conversation is going.
“Maybe we should vote,” Mei Lin suggests.
“Maybe you should keep your mouth shut,” Mr. Wu snaps. “I will not have my own son disrespect me—”
“This isn’t about disrespect,” Mei Lin corrects.
“That’s rich, seeing how you’re interrupting me,” Mr. Wu hisses.
“I would not be able to get a word in otherwise,” Mei Lin says calmly. “This proposal falls in line with the company’s new goal to show the public that we are not simply a statistic in a newspaper. It will make quite a statement and show that we respect every employee equally.”
Mr. Wu is silent but still seething. Yi Fan takes the opportunity to add, “So the question is, do you have something against Tao or do you have something against Mei—unless you forgot that she, too, was shot.”
“Are you implying that I should yield simply because she saved my son’s life?”
“Am I being fired? Last time I checked, I was still an employee here,” Mei Lin says, not missing a beat.
“The only reason why you are still here is because my son is too seduced by—”
“He is not your son!” Mei Lin blurts. And in that moment, Yi Fan knew that his so-called father had known all along. “If you’re going to continue to claim such a thing, you should start acting like it by at least acknowledging the fact that a good friend of his died.”
“He was a no good son of a and how dare you criticize—”
“What? Your parenting style? Are far as anyone is concerned, you have none.”
Yi Fan is slowly coming around to realizing what’s coming. “Mei…”
“No,” Mei Lin says. “He’s not going to fire me, because before everything else, he is a businessman that he knows that losing me is bad for business.” Mr. Wu is irate because he knows too well that she is speaking the truth. “He doesn’t have to fire me,” Mei Lin says firmly, “I quit.”
Translations/Author's Notes:
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"Someone has to remind you how to be human again" . . . . "Then that makes you Belle" = Yi Fan and Mei Lin are making a reference to Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
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bié dān xīn (別擔心) = Don't worry.
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