13:
F2 are sitting in the canteen when they hear the whole canteen silence. In
rather bad moods already, they lift up their heads with reluctance.
"Spare me- Oh good, gracious God," MeiZuo jokes to XiMen, "I promise I'll be good- spare me from..."
"MeiZuo," XiMen interrupts, cutting his steak, "You'll never be good."
MeiZuo laughs, "That's why the girls come after me!"
"You...!"
Footsteps are heard, and a figure stands behind XiMen. MeiZuo finally knows why the whole canteen hushed.
"Lei!" MeiZuo is too shocked to say anything else. In traditional MeiZuo style, his mouth is opened in a big 'O'; his eyebrows raised high, and his eyes twinkles with charm. Hearing MeiZuo mention Lei, XiMen rattles on him.
"Yes! That-that Lei! How could he lose his memory; I'm so angry. He's leaving that BaiHe and QianHui to us! How could he? At a time like this... That Lei- He's really too much! He-"
"Yes?" Lei speaks.
XiMen turns his head. Quickly, he gives a sweet smile.
"He's really such a nice guy," He turns to MeiZuo, "MeiZuo, don't you think?"
MeiZuo and Lei laugh, "XiMen, forget trying to cover up."
"Why am I always caught in such situations?" XiMen asks. Then cheekily, he warns, "Are you sure? You don't want me to lie? I-I don't even need to cover up?"
Lei nods.
"Sit here," XiMen gestures to a chair, faking a solemn and sad tone.
"What is it?" Lei asks.
"Close your eyes," XiMen requests.
Lei frowns. But it is too late. Before Lei can react, MeiZuo jumps from his seat and covers Lei's eyes. XiMen takes over, grabbing the chilli bottle. By the time Lei removes MeiZuo's half-hearted hands off him, MeiZuo and XiMen has left. Lei opens his eyes, and the first thing he sees is the table.
"YOU ARE TERRIBLE!!!" A message on the table in chilli reads.
Lei laughs. Then his hand phone sounds. He retrieves it from his pocket- XiMen has messaged him.
"WE JUST REMEMBERED- DIDN'T YOU HAVE AMNESIA?" It reads.
"F4 WILL ALWAYS BE F4- WHETHER EITHER ONE OF US HAS AMNESIA OR NOT. AND ANYWAY, ALL OF YOU ARE TOO DIFFICULT TO FORGET." He messages back.
It is meant to be a joke, his last line. But XiMen and MeiZuo, who are just outside the canteen's doorway peeking at Lei's reaction, looks at each other with bored eyes and says, "Another cold joke."
"Lei," MeiZuo utters in an I-give-up-on-you tone, "When will you ever learn?"
"Hey Lei!" XiMen calls to Lei from the doorway, "Let's go already!"
Lei makes a thumbs-down sign. Then he takes a napkin from the table, and dutifully clears the mess.
XiMen and MeiZuo look on, used to such a Lei. They wait until Lei is done.
"Lei," MeiZuo asks, "I think you never had amnesia. It was all a lie, wasn't it?" Lei grins.
"Anyway, we have a lot to tell you," MeiZuo adds.
----------
XiMen's father made it to the door, but after worming his way there, there was nothing else he could do. "Resign to fate," a voice told him.
MeiZuo's father and XiLiang cringes their eyes when the door swings open.
"Hello there," a rough voice speaks.
They recognize it- that tyrannous voice- who would forget it? That man who cheated and lied some of their clients away, who threatened them numerous times to give up some of their assets- QianGuang. They should have known it was he.
MeiZuo's father and XiLiang glare at him. If their glare were potentially dangerous lasers, QianGuang would have been burned to ashes in a matter of microseconds.
QianGuang's coarse voice cackles, evilly, "Your businesses are going broke soon... I will get your sons to pay for your ransoms, than kill you- wouldn't that be fun? Oh... such poor, poor, poor things you are." He laughs some more.
The more he laughs, the more the hatred for him grows in MeiZuo's father and XiLiang's minds. They detest him to the very core of their beings. They feel as if they have never known hate, the true deep and dark meaning of hate, until this moment.
Then QianGuang walks towards the door, walking purposefully slow steps.
"I'm walking away, closing this door," he says, "Better make yourselves comfortable- this will be the last place you will breathe air from," then he closes the door with a loud slam. From the inside, they can still hear him laughing.
-------------
In the plane flying to Taiwan, a cute girl holds XiMen's photo in her hands. Her finger traces his features. Her hair is different now- it is longer, and curled at the ends. She is different from the last time she returned back to Taiwan, and left again. She has matured. The air stewardess happens to see the picture she holds.
"I know that man!" She says to the girl, "He's XiMen, the son of the top ten richest businessman in Taiwan! I'm a big fan of him- too bad he's too young for me..." She goes on, talking and talking.
To the girl, her words sound like a machine-gun she never meant to turn out, rattling non-stop, bullets into her heart.
XiMen, XiMen- the source of so much pain. She felt a different kind of love for him- a love in which she felt pain for him, pain for his actions, pain for his life, pain, pain, so much pain... But she could not let go of him. Once she loved him, she knew there was no way to stop.
Even if it's too painful to love, sometimes one must carry on.
The girl knows that this time that she's back in Taiwan, it's going to be her last time. She feels too weak to take anymore rejection- she has tried to hard. Cannot he see her love? She will rather be loved than love.
If he rejects her this time, she would disappear, she would pretend that he never existed. But in the very depths of her beating heart, she knows that he would be the one to make her feel safe and happy. He would be there for her.
She smiles.
"XiMen," she whispers in her breath to herself, "I'm giving you one last try."
"Spare me- Oh good, gracious God," MeiZuo jokes to XiMen, "I promise I'll be good- spare me from..."
"MeiZuo," XiMen interrupts, cutting his steak, "You'll never be good."
MeiZuo laughs, "That's why the girls come after me!"
"You...!"
Footsteps are heard, and a figure stands behind XiMen. MeiZuo finally knows why the whole canteen hushed.
"Lei!" MeiZuo is too shocked to say anything else. In traditional MeiZuo style, his mouth is opened in a big 'O'; his eyebrows raised high, and his eyes twinkles with charm. Hearing MeiZuo mention Lei, XiMen rattles on him.
"Yes! That-that Lei! How could he lose his memory; I'm so angry. He's leaving that BaiHe and QianHui to us! How could he? At a time like this... That Lei- He's really too much! He-"
"Yes?" Lei speaks.
XiMen turns his head. Quickly, he gives a sweet smile.
"He's really such a nice guy," He turns to MeiZuo, "MeiZuo, don't you think?"
MeiZuo and Lei laugh, "XiMen, forget trying to cover up."
"Why am I always caught in such situations?" XiMen asks. Then cheekily, he warns, "Are you sure? You don't want me to lie? I-I don't even need to cover up?"
Lei nods.
"Sit here," XiMen gestures to a chair, faking a solemn and sad tone.
"What is it?" Lei asks.
"Close your eyes," XiMen requests.
Lei frowns. But it is too late. Before Lei can react, MeiZuo jumps from his seat and covers Lei's eyes. XiMen takes over, grabbing the chilli bottle. By the time Lei removes MeiZuo's half-hearted hands off him, MeiZuo and XiMen has left. Lei opens his eyes, and the first thing he sees is the table.
"YOU ARE TERRIBLE!!!" A message on the table in chilli reads.
Lei laughs. Then his hand phone sounds. He retrieves it from his pocket- XiMen has messaged him.
"WE JUST REMEMBERED- DIDN'T YOU HAVE AMNESIA?" It reads.
"F4 WILL ALWAYS BE F4- WHETHER EITHER ONE OF US HAS AMNESIA OR NOT. AND ANYWAY, ALL OF YOU ARE TOO DIFFICULT TO FORGET." He messages back.
It is meant to be a joke, his last line. But XiMen and MeiZuo, who are just outside the canteen's doorway peeking at Lei's reaction, looks at each other with bored eyes and says, "Another cold joke."
"Lei," MeiZuo utters in an I-give-up-on-you tone, "When will you ever learn?"
"Hey Lei!" XiMen calls to Lei from the doorway, "Let's go already!"
Lei makes a thumbs-down sign. Then he takes a napkin from the table, and dutifully clears the mess.
XiMen and MeiZuo look on, used to such a Lei. They wait until Lei is done.
"Lei," MeiZuo asks, "I think you never had amnesia. It was all a lie, wasn't it?" Lei grins.
"Anyway, we have a lot to tell you," MeiZuo adds.
----------
XiMen's father made it to the door, but after worming his way there, there was nothing else he could do. "Resign to fate," a voice told him.
MeiZuo's father and XiLiang cringes their eyes when the door swings open.
"Hello there," a rough voice speaks.
They recognize it- that tyrannous voice- who would forget it? That man who cheated and lied some of their clients away, who threatened them numerous times to give up some of their assets- QianGuang. They should have known it was he.
MeiZuo's father and XiLiang glare at him. If their glare were potentially dangerous lasers, QianGuang would have been burned to ashes in a matter of microseconds.
QianGuang's coarse voice cackles, evilly, "Your businesses are going broke soon... I will get your sons to pay for your ransoms, than kill you- wouldn't that be fun? Oh... such poor, poor, poor things you are." He laughs some more.
The more he laughs, the more the hatred for him grows in MeiZuo's father and XiLiang's minds. They detest him to the very core of their beings. They feel as if they have never known hate, the true deep and dark meaning of hate, until this moment.
Then QianGuang walks towards the door, walking purposefully slow steps.
"I'm walking away, closing this door," he says, "Better make yourselves comfortable- this will be the last place you will breathe air from," then he closes the door with a loud slam. From the inside, they can still hear him laughing.
-------------
In the plane flying to Taiwan, a cute girl holds XiMen's photo in her hands. Her finger traces his features. Her hair is different now- it is longer, and curled at the ends. She is different from the last time she returned back to Taiwan, and left again. She has matured. The air stewardess happens to see the picture she holds.
"I know that man!" She says to the girl, "He's XiMen, the son of the top ten richest businessman in Taiwan! I'm a big fan of him- too bad he's too young for me..." She goes on, talking and talking.
To the girl, her words sound like a machine-gun she never meant to turn out, rattling non-stop, bullets into her heart.
XiMen, XiMen- the source of so much pain. She felt a different kind of love for him- a love in which she felt pain for him, pain for his actions, pain for his life, pain, pain, so much pain... But she could not let go of him. Once she loved him, she knew there was no way to stop.
Even if it's too painful to love, sometimes one must carry on.
The girl knows that this time that she's back in Taiwan, it's going to be her last time. She feels too weak to take anymore rejection- she has tried to hard. Cannot he see her love? She will rather be loved than love.
If he rejects her this time, she would disappear, she would pretend that he never existed. But in the very depths of her beating heart, she knows that he would be the one to make her feel safe and happy. He would be there for her.
She smiles.
"XiMen," she whispers in her breath to herself, "I'm giving you one last try."