"I wish to have the power to take all your pain as mine."
— Shen Yichen
Present Days
Ruan Yue reached the interview just in time. It seemed like there were 5 other candidates for this job. They would take only two.
The Interview was called at evening, an odd time, as the CEO, Fu Zeyu couldn't attend in the morning because of his flight schedule. Zeyu, the same age as Yichen, recently became the CEO as his dad retired. He and Yichen used to work together in the Art Development department at first and then Programming development.
Fu Zeyu was reviewing the CVs before the interview started. He stopped at Yue's CV.
"She looks like a model. God! She's really pretty!"
Yichen covered her picture on the paper with his hand. "Can't you just be professional?"
"I was just being modest, dude! Chill!" Zeyu said, surrendering. "She looks familiar! I feel like I have seen her before."
Yichen eyed him one more time before taking the CV from his hand.
Yue was the last one to be called. When the last candidate before her came out of the room, she heard her calling someone and saying, "I think I just fell in love! Too bad that the handsome one isn't from this company. He's the CEO of NYUXEN."
Two minutes later, an executive called her name, "Ruan Yue, you can go in."
She knocked her at the door and asked for permission to get in.
"Come in," a voice called.
She bowed slightly.
"Please have a seat."
She took the seat in the middle of the room, raised her face for the first time.
Shen Yichen was sitting in the middle with his name and designation mentioned in front of him.
Co-CEO, NYUXEN.
She was taken aback by his appearance at the interview.
"Is that why he said he couldn't give me advice?" She thought. "He is professional. But why didn't I know that he's the CEO of a company now?"
Besides, it was Fu Zeyu.
There were two more people.
Wu Jian, Chief, Publishing Department.
Wang Pengxi, Head, Communication Management.
"Ruan Yue— what a pretty name!" Fu Zeyu remarked.
Yue shifted in her seat, feeling a bit uncomfortable at the sudden comment. First comment.
"Thank you for saying that," she retorted softly.
Yichen noticed and passed a note to Zeyu, "She is uncomfortable. Don't say any unnecessary things."
Zeyu glanced between Yichen and Yue, then nodded.
"Sorry, Ms. Ruan. That was not professional of me at all. Are you ready for the interview?" He asked.
"Yes," she said calmly.
"Alright, What games do you normally play?" Wang Pengxi asked.
She looked at Yichen for a nano second before answering.
"I play Arena of ZaYi every now and then. Other than this, I haven't really played any games."
"Then why did you become interested in this particular game?" Wu Jian asked.
"Yingyue, this character. My ex colleagues told me I look like this character, that's what got me interested in the first place. I started playing often."
"I was right," Zeyu exclaimed, suddenly getting all the attention. "That's why I thought you look so familiar. Actually Shen Yichen was part of this game creation and he was the one who designed and did everything for the character Yingyue. Look, even your names are kind of the same."
Yichen sighed, closing his eyes. He didn't understand if he felt embarrassed or not. But he wanted to disappear now. Yue watched him carefully for a second and then tried to refocus on the interview.
Everyone moved away from this topic as well.
"Anyway, You have got experiences of working at some large gaming companies in Zhangsi," Jian nodded in acknowledgement. "I wonder, what made you quit and come to Qinghe?"
Yichen's eyes moved to her hands, fingers suddenly shaking. He looked at her face, he nodded at her trying to assure her, it's okay, despite his curiosity.
"Qinghe is my hometown. I knew at some point I needed to return," she started. "I graduated from Zhangsi University and worked at some companies. To be honest, I wanted to return some time later but due to some personal reasons my plans changed. I wanted to come home."
"Well, is there any particular player you can mention with whom you worked with on the project of testing? How was your experience?" Pengxi asked.
Her eyes shook this time. Yichen as her hand raised up at her neck, scratching.
"Well, you can just talk about any project that you did and it was hard to achieve success there, but you did it at last," Yichen added, trying to shift smoothly.
"Yes, that's a great question," Pengxi acknowledged.
She felt relaxed and explained really well and they were all satisfied with her answers.
"Alright, you can leave now. We will contact you soon," Zeyu said.
As soon as she left the room, Yichen stood up and said, "I am leaving."
"Shouldn't we discuss?" Zeyu asked.
"You three do, I'll send you a document with my comments by tomorrow," he said, storming out of the room.
"I think it's better to discuss it some other time. I'm tired too," Jian added.
***
"What the hell really happened to you to make you shake in fear that much!" Yichen thought as he was walking.
He spotted Yue walking to the exit. He moved fast to be in front of her. Their shoulders touched, but he acted as if he didn't see her and walked towards his car.
"Shen Yichen!" She called.
He looked back, pocketing his hands and waiting for her to come.
"Thank you!" She said.
He tilted his head, "For what?"
She stayed quiet, not saying anything suddenly.
"Are you going straight home?" He asked, sighing.
She nodded, "Yea, I will take the bus."
"Get in the car," he said, opening the door.
"Are you staying at Yuan's place tonight as well?" She asked.
He shook his head.
"Where do you live?"
"Ruan Yue, I cannot hold the door for long," he said calmly.
"Ah—sorry," she said before getting in.
He smiled but quickly hid it under his nonchalant look.
"So, the character Yingyue—" Yue started and got interrupted immediately.
"I just imagined and created. Besides, there were other developers in the project," he said.
Nodding at his response, she replied, "That's what I thought. Artists tend to absorb everything and their art shows their experiences. There must be other characters you created that have close resemblance to your friends."
He glanced at her and a soft curve appeared in his lips.
"You really ended up with a gaming career," she added a few minutes later. "Are you happy?" She asked.
Yichen echoed the question, looking at her, "Are you happy, Ruan Yue?" His tone was so soothing and comforting that Yue hadn't heard from anyone in years.
"Am I happy?" She thought. "I'm trying to forget everything to be happy."
Her eyes became teary within a second. She turned to the window, "Shen Yichen, could you roll down—"
Rolling the window down, Yichen watched her feeling the air.
He heard her sniffling quietly. His heart shattered.
"All these years, I thought I knew all about you but, do I really know you at all?" He thought in silence.
She fell asleep a few moments later. He didn't wake her up even after reaching the destination.
When she woke up, she found him with his eyes closed, and his overcoat spread over her. As she shifted in her seat, making a small noise, trying not to wake him up and not knowing he wasn't actually asleep, he opened his eyes.
He got out of the car, and opened the door for her.
"What time is it?" She asked, getting out.
"It's almost dawn," he replied.
"What! Why didn't you wake me up?" She spoke with her sleepy voice.
"Xiaoran called. Your phone was on your lap," he retorted.
"Didn't you receive?"
"No. I sent her a message from my phone that 'we are at the garage and you are sleeping.' She came to see you—" he replied, relaxedly.
"And?"
"There's nothing after that. Let's go."
She furrowed her brows in confusion and gave him his overcoat.
Once they reached the 11th floor and Yichen made sure she went inside, he came down, scratching his head.
After that he went straight to his office. There was no time to be home.
***
9 Years Ago— 12th Grade
A Day After Ruan Yue's Mother Died
Yichen was standing outside the funeral alone. He greeted her mother while Yue was gone for some time. No one saw him there.
He stayed until he could have a glimpse of Yue. He didn't count how many times he saw her quietly and left in Zhangsi after she moved here.
Weekend— Vacation— or any day when he could get off early from school, using all his savings from the scholarships and pocket money he got from his parents.
He saw Yue's stepmother, Wang Lihua dragging Yue's father, Ruan Jinhua out of the building. He put his hoodie on, hiding himself.
"Are you crazy? Why are you thinking of taking her back in?" She spoke in an authoritative tone.
"She got no one here. I'm her father. How can I leave her alone?" Her dad spoke in a sad voice.
"She has a stepfather and stepbrother here. They are her family too. It was her choice to leave us. Why would we take her back?"
"Lihua, it was you. Not her. You left her no choice but to leave. I didn't say anything because her mother was alive. But now— I don't think I can ever forgive myself if I don't take her responsibility. She's my own blood."
"How dare you blame it on me?" Lihua asked with a venom in her voice. "Do you expect me to just sit and watch if she hits on my son and tries to seduce him? She has an issue with her character. Just like her mom. That's why I hate pretty girls, they are all rotten to the core. All they care about is seducing boys."
"Lihua, I want to remind you that she's my daughter. You better not talk about her in this way. How could this be her fault if your son—" He stopped, widening his eyes.
Yue was standing there, listening to everything. Her face was hardened. She hasn't cried at all.
Her stepmother hesitated at her appearance. Yue looked between them and said, "You don't have to fight because of me. I promise I won't interfere with your life. I'll stay here. I'll be at university soon, so you don't have to be wary about me."
She didn't wait to hear any response. She walked slowly, passing Yichen in the corner, and sat on the bench a little far from the funeral hall.
She closed her eyes. She didn't count the time. It felt an eternity when she finally opened them.
Besides her, she saw a bread, juice, and chocolate cake, with a note.
"I will always be there for you. When the world gets better, let's meet at some better place."
She looked at each word for some time, and then burst into tears. Crying like a child.
Yichen, standing far, felt his world shaken up. His fists closed as he leaned in the back, closing his eyes and hiding in the shadow.
"I thought I could ease up my pain if I leave, but in the end, I was all alone without you."
— Ruan Yue