Touched by an Angel

Chapter 3- Scars of the Heart

"Oi, Lei, are you even listening to a word I'm saying?" asked Ah Si angrily.

It was lunch time, and F4 were sitting together, talking like they always did. The four didn't have many classes together so they made the most of their breaks. Just then, Ah Si had been talking about his new BMW.

Lei didn't reply to Ah Si's accusation. He stood up and left the table, leaving F3 feeling bewildered.

"What's his problem?" asked Ah Si irritably.

"You know Lei, probably didn't get his 15 hour sleep last night," said Mei Zhuo predictably, as always, being the one to try to prevent a fight.


Lei arrived at his art class ten minutes early. He had been looking forward to this all day. Looking forwards, that is, to seeing Shan Cai.

To his immense surprise, he wasn't the only one there. A girl was already sitting at a desk, examining yesterday's notes and scribbling fast. Then Lei's shock turned into delight, for the girl was none other than Shan Cai.

Slowly he approached her. But she seemed to not know that she was no longer the only one in the room, or if she did know, she showed no signs.

"Hi," he said finally, seeing that she wasn't going to look up.

Startled, she jumped and then turned to face him. "Hi," she said softly, nodding to acknowledging his presence. Then she turned back to her work and started writing again.

That worked well, thought Lei sarcastically. "How are you feeling?"

"Good thanks," she murmured, not looking up. Lei had the sense that she wanted him to leave her alone. Just one more try, he thought.

"So the doctor released you from hospital?"

Her head snapped up. "How did you know I was in hospital?" she asked suspiciously.

This confused Lei. "I was there, remember?"

"You were?"

So she doesn't remember our short conversation, Lei thought. She did seem very drowsy and confused when she had talked to him. So even if she did remember traces, she probably thought that it was her imagination or dream.

"It was very brave," said Lei, deciding to change the topic. "You know, protecting the toddler and sacrificing yourself," he added, after seeing her puzzled expression.

"Oh," she whispered and then blushed.

Just then the bell rang and she seemed genuinely pleased that she was saved from answering him as the class came flooding in.

Lei sat back into his chair despondently. He took out his books with a sigh as he prepared himself for another boring hour of endless talk.


Lei walked aimlessly down the street. Ah Si had been annoyed with him for the rest of the day because of his inattention during break, so VS hadn't been much fun. Besides, with his mind all confused by the contradicting actions of Shan Cai, he couldn't really concentrate.

So he thought that a walk might clear his head a bit. He passed a jewellery shop. A ring caught his eye. Turning to take a closer look, Lei gasped. It was identical to the ring... the ring he had given to Jing for her birthday.

It was made especially for Jing and there was no other ring in the whole world that was like it- he had made sure of so. There was no other girl like Jing in the whole world, so why should she wear the same rings as other girls? That single ring caused a rumour which spread like fire. For months people assumed that this was an engagement ring even when Jing had publicly denied so.

Lei never voiced his opinions, but he secretly wished that the tabloids were right; that it was an engagement ring. Jing had given it back to him the day she dumped him. She said that it was her wish, that when Lei had found his true love, that he would give it to her. Lei told her sternly that he would not find anyone else he loved more than her.

Jing had smiled knowingly and said that one day he'll see what she meant. Stubbornly, Lei had thrown this ring into the sea, as a token of his undying love for Jing. But to see this ring appear in front of him again was a miracle. Was it a sign?

Suddenly a powerful force pushed him from behind. Lei stumbled forwards and almost fell. A girl hurriedly rushed over to him and asked if he was alright, mumbling words of apology. Standing up and dusting himself, he looked up to face the girl.

It was Shan Cai.

"You!" she whispered accusingly as she saw his face.

Lei almost grinned at her bewildered expression. We seem to be meeting everywhere, he thought. "Yeah, me."

She recovered immediately. "I'm really sorry. I wasn't looking... I should've been more careful... I..." she trailed off sheepishly.

It's kinda ironic, thought Lei bemusedly, yesterday I ran into her, and today she ran into me. What kind of game is fate playing here? "Don't worry," said Lei, "Accidents happen."

She nodded shyly and then put forth her hand. "I'm Shan Cai. Dong Shan Cai."

Lei refrained an 'I know', thinking that it would be rather unnerving for Shan Cai if he said he already knew her name before she introduced herself. He shook her outstretched hand and said, "I'm-"

"Lei!" a voice shouted from around a corner. A figure of a young girl came bouncing up.

Shan Cai stared at him with disbelief. "Lei?" she asked weakly. "Hua Ze Lei?"

Lei nodded.

Shan Cai quickly let go of his hand. "I'm sorry about today. I've got to go now. Bye..." she paused for a moment. "...Hua Ze shao ye." With that she took off and soon disappeared once again.

Lei shook his head, puzzled. She was always appearing and disappearing so suddenly. And why did she suddenly change her attitude when she found out his name? And just when he was about to get to know her.

"Lei!" shouted the girl who had called out his name before and was now right in front of him. "Earth to Lei! What are you thinking about?"

Lei looked down and saw the cute face of Xiao You, the object of Xi Men's adoration. "Nothing much."

Xiao You rolled her eyes. "They day when Hua Ze Lei thinks of nothing much is the day the world will come to an end."

"And will you date Xi Men before then?" Lei asked, teasing her back. Xiao You was like a sister to him. With all her naiveness and cute innocence, he just wanted to protect her with all that he could from the brutal reality.

Xiao You stuck out her tongue at him. "Xi Men's too much of a playboy." Then she smiled cheekily and put her arm around his warmly. "But you're not."

Lei laughed, knowing perfectly well that Xiao You was joking. Both knew that their relationship was that of a brother and a sister.

But with Xi Men, it was a completely different matter. Xi Men had liked her ever since he met her. But she had rejected every single offer of his, saying that she was not the type to be played around with. Desperate, Xi Men had tried to give up his playboy habits. But Xiao You still wouldn't date him, though everyone (aside from Xi Men), knew that she liked him.

Frustrated, Xi Men went back to dating one woman a week, and then after seeing Xiao You again, stopped. Then he heard a rumour that Xiao You was with another guy so he went back to being a playboy, saying that he had given up on the 'stubborn annoying brat'. But whatever came out of his mouth was obviously not what his heart meant for after a month, he was back in to win Xiao You's love.

So it's been on and off for around two years for Xi Men. It was the same cycle. Trying to get Xiao You's love, getting rejected, calling Xiao You all kinds of names in front of F4 (but never Xiao You), saying that he gave up and goes back to being a playboy and then deciding to give Xiao You another 'last' try.

There were so many last tries that Lei lost count. It was quite amusing to watch the two, though sometimes F3 just wished that the two could just get together so they'd stop having to listen to Xi Men's rants about Xiao You being a 'heartless cruel monster'. But Lei was confident that Xi Men and Xiao You would ultimately find happiness.

Xiao You's voice interrupted Lei's thoughts. "Was that a girl that you were with?" she asked, winking at him.

"Yes."

Xiao You ooo-d and aaa-d non-stop. "Guess I'm no longer the only girl in your life," she said, pretending to cry.

"Nope, but you'll always be my favourite," teased Lei.

Xiao You gently smacked him on the head. "Stop trying to sweet talk me. Save those tricks for some other girl. They don't work on me." But even as she said it a smile was forming on her face. Then she suddenly looked thoughtful and her head tipped sideways slightly.

"What's wrong?" asked Lei.

"Just doing some thinking," said Xiao You.

"Now this is when the mountains fall, the sea dries, the sun burns up and the earth swallows us whole," said Lei.

Xiao You scrunched up her face and pinched Lei on the arm. "Stop being mean," she complained. Then she suddenly smiled evilly. "You'd better stop teasing me or otherwise I'll tell your girlfriend that you're cheating on her!"

Lei replied calmly, "She's not my girlfriend. She's just someone from my art class." Who I happened to almost have killed, he added silently.

Xiao You gave him a disbelieving look. Then she said, "Is her name Shan Cai?"

Lei's head snapped up at the name. "How do you know?" he asked Xiao You.

Xiao You grinned. "Are you sure she's not your girlfriend?" she asked mischievously.

Lei sighed. "Xiao You, you're purposely bringing up old unhealed wounds and putting salt on them. You know how I feel about Jing."

"I'm sorry, Lei Ge," whispered Xiao You.

"Now tell me about what you know about her," commanded Lei, changing the topic.

Xiao You's face darkened. "I don't think it would be a good idea if you date Shan Cai-"

"Xiao You-" Lei started but Xiao You cut him off.

"That's not what I meant. It's difficult to explain. I know Shan Cai because we went to the same high school together. Back then, she was a cheerful, funny, smart, outgoing, nice and basically everyone loved her. Then she went out with some guy and she started to change. I didn't know her that well, but this is what I heard from one of her close friends."

Xiao You paused, and then she went on. "At first, she was so happy with him, and all her friends were happy for her. But then she started to spend less time with her friends, saying that her boyfriend wanted to be with her. They used to joke that she had abandoned them in favour of her boy. And then she started to be late to classes, extremely late. And she would look really tired and fall asleep in class, as if she hadn't slept all night. Her grades started to drop, and her friends were worried about her."

"I wasn't very close to her, but even I noticed the changes. She was jerkier and got startled easily. Then one day, when she went over to a friend's house and one of them discovered that she had bruises on her back. They asked her and she claimed that she fell over some time. They didn't believe her and kept asking. Finally she gave in and told them that her boyfriend beat her up. But she said that he apologised, so the friends let them be, thinking that it wasn't really their business. But then over the next weeks, they discovered more bruises. They became really worried and told her to break up with him. But she made all these excuses for him. She said that he was going through a really rough patch; she said that his parents were getting divorced and that he was upset. She said that he claimed that she was the only thing he was living for. She refused to break up with him, no matter what her friends told her."

"And then one day, when we were at school, a police officer came up and pulled her out. They said that they needed her as a witness... for attempted murder. It turned out that her boyfriend got drunk and almost killed her when she refused to give him money for heroine. But what was amazing was that Shan Cai didn't tell a single one of her friends about this. But after the police came, the whole school knew. The boyfriend went on trial and only got six years in jail, because his lawyer claimed that his was under the influence of alcohol."

"But after this, Shan Cai changed. She became withdrawn and started to talk less and less. She ignored her friends, who tried to comfort her. She used to be extremely talkative and bubbly. She was so passionate about everything... she had this fiery spirit within her that made all those she talked to feel appreciated. But she became such a recluse. She lost all her friends, who gave up on her. She started to concentrate on school work. She had nothing in her life but school work. She became a completely different person. I remember she used to love to sing, but she stopped that too. He broke her, Lei, he broke her spirit. And I don't' think that it can be mended. Those scars in her heart... even time can't heal."


A/N: Please review!!!