6 Months Later

Ying Jie’s POV

“Guigui, did you get the potatoes?”

“Yes, here it is.” I say and put the packet of potatoes that I have bought from the supermarket earlier on the kitchen counter.

“Thank you, my dear. Dinner will be prepared in a while. Call Sheng Yi over will you?”

“Okay.” I answered, and head out to the next door. Yes, Sheng Yi just lives next door. I press the doorbell and wait for the door to be open.

“You know you should stop pressing the doorbell and just use the key I gave you, right?” He said after he open the door for me. “It’s a habit. Besides, you’re just my best friend. What if you have a girlfriend in the future and she gets the wrong idea?”

“We’ll think about it when I have a girlfriend. Dinner’s ready?”

“Soon.”

“Okay, give me 5 minutes and I’ll be right there.”

“Okay then.” I say and walk back to my apartment.

***

“I’m so full.” Sheng Yi says as he spreads himself on the couch, making no space for me to sit down. I take a cushion and throws at him. “Get up! Don’t take the whole couch!”

“But I’m dead full. Hang on.” He says and slowly sits up, making space for me to sit beside him. “Who ask you to gobble up so much food.” I whisper, hoping he didn’t hear it, but I failed.

“Can you blame me? Granny always makes delicious food.”

“So you’re blaming Granny?”

“I would not dare.”

“Okay kids, enough. I’ve cut some fruits. Eat some.” Granny says as she puts down a plate of fruits platter on the coffee table.

“Thanks Granny!” Both of us said. I take the fork and take a fruit up to eat it. Sheng Yi sits up from the couch and bends towards the coffee table to take the fork. Before he could use the fork to take a fruit, I hit his hand, stopping him from getting the fruits.

“You said you’re full, so don’t snatch my fruits!” I say, teasing him.

“Hey! Granny! Your granddaughter is bullying me!”

“I’m thinking of your well-being. You can’t force yourself to eat when you’re too full.” I say, well, parts of the truth. It’s true that it’s bad for the stomach if you force yourself to eat when you’re full, but I know he’s not that full yet.

“There’s always space for fruits!”

“Guigui, stop teasing Sheng Yi. Let him have the fruits. You can’t eat finish the whole plate by yourself too.” Granny says, taking Sheng Yi’s side.

“I wonder who your grandchild is, keep taking his side and not mine.” I say softly, and getting my hands off Sheng Yi, letting him takes the fruits.

“Because I’m lovable.” Sheng Yi says as he takes a fruit and puts it in his mouth. Before he could take another fruit, I use my fork to take the fruit that he’s about to take.

“Hey!” He says, and I stuck my tongue out at him.

***

I head back to my room after taking a shower. I head towards my desk, where I always put my hairdryer, but it’s not there.

“Granny! Where did you put my hairdryer?” I ask as I head to Granny’s room, knowing there’s a high possibility that she has put it somewhere else, since she’s been helping to clean up my room.

“Oh! I put it in your second drawer of your desk.”

“Okay.” I say, and heads back to my room. I open up the second drawer and take the hairdryer out. I heard a pile of things drops on the floor as I take the hairdryer from the second drawer. I bend down to take the things that have dropped, and realised what they were. They were photos, photos of Aaron and me, during our dates before I went for chemo, during our dates after I have recovered. I sit on the chair in front of the desk, and look at the photos in my hand.

The last time I saw these photos were when I move back here, to Taichung, to my Granny’s apartment. I shove it in the second drawer, the inner side of the drawer, so when the next time I put something in, I won’t have to see them again.

I wanted to burn away those photos, to tear it apart, but I can’t, no matter how many times I tried to. Not knowing what to do with these photos, I decided to shove it inside the second drawer.

I stand up, and head towards the cabinet beside the desk. I unlock the cabinet and open it, and saw the things that bring back memories. The camera that we used to capture our moments together, the charm bracelet that he gave me when we celebrate Christmas together, the Toy Story’s alien plush toy that he gave me during one of our dates, the T-shirt, originally a couple T-shirt that I bought for us, cards that accompany the flowers he gave, movie ticket stubs when we watch movies together, the necklace that he bought for me during my birthday after I have recovered, and the watch that he gave me a few days before he left.

The watch was one of the couple watches he bought, which the other one was with him. I remember the words that he said when he gave this to me. ‘These watches will accompany us from now on. These watches mean that our time together will be forever, never apart.’ That was what he said that time, but our times together are short after that. He left me a few days later.

All these things, I wanted to leave them back at his condominium apartment where I stay in Taipei. I didn’t want to bring them back here with me, to Taichung. But these things just keep following me. I intended to leave them there, but Sheng Yi is the one helping me to move my things from Taipei back to Taichung, and he moves these things together with my other stuffs back. Like the photos, I do not know what to do with them, so I decided to lock them away. Now that I think about it, why didn’t I lock these photos together with these stuffs? I don’t know. And I never thought that I would unlock them, until today.

I’ve tried forgetting about him after I moved back to Taichung, and I have moved on with my life without him for the past 6 months, without thinking of him, until now. My tears fall uncontrollably as I thought back of the past.

I thought I have completely forgotten about him, but that’s not the truth. Even if I want to forget about him, my heart doesn’t allow it.

***

Aaron’s POV

To: [email protected]
Date: 3 March 2014 22:43
Subject: #31

Ying Jie, this is the 31^st email, and I’m not sure whether you have been reading the past emails that I have sent to you, but I’ll still write them. It’s been 6 months and 1 week, how have you been?

I’m still in the States, taking care of the business branch here. As for Rainie, she has not been recovered, but she’s getting better. The doctor says her chance of recovering is getting higher too, and I’m glad about it.

When I went to see Rainie yesterday, she has been telling me to go back to Taipei. She told me everything is fine with her, and told me to not worry about her anymore and go back to find you. I keep telling her that you’ll understand. I have been telling myself that too, that you’ll understand my reason why I left, but now, I know you won’t.

In these past 6 months, I have been convincing myself with this lie. It was Rainie who wakes me up, who brings me to see the truth with just one sentence. ‘Who in the right mind will understand when her boyfriend left with his ex-girlfriend?’ She’s right. I’m too selfish. I’ve been blinding myself. I know I have hurt you.

Maybe you have forgotten about me. Maybe you have found your true happiness. But I’ll never forget about you.

I miss you, Ying Jie.

And I love you.