"Here, Kiana, have a seat. I'll go get you a drink. Would you like juice or barley tea?"
"Mhm, barley tea is fine, thanks."
"Okay, just a moment."
Kiana blinked, waiting until Mei had gotten up and headed to the kitchen before she began to curiously survey her surroundings.
She had heard rumors when she first started at the school that Mei was the young lady of ME Corp. Kiana had originally thought that even with her family's fall from grace, Mei would have maintained her former dignity and decorum. But looking around now...
The decorations in the room were quite plain and simple. It just seemed a little cheerless, lacking the warmth of a lived-in space.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Two glasses of barley tea were placed on the table, interrupting Kiana's thoughts. She looked up at Mei, who was now sitting across from her, and offered a goofy smile.
"So, what's really on your mind, Mei? You've seemed on edge all day."
"Well... about that... how should I put it..."
Mei tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and let out a soft breath, as if setting down a heavy burden.
"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure myself. I just had a dream last night... about when I was a child."
"About your childhood?"
"That's right." Mei nodded, cradling the glass of barley tea in both hands. Mustering her courage once more, she recounted the story she knew about her past kidnapping.
"Actually, I let go of that incident a long time ago. It's just that recently... maybe it's because the day to visit my father in prison is approaching, so the stress got to me and caused me to have that kind of dream."
"Oh... I see..."
Kiana nodded, but then asked with confusion, "But... even so, why are you avoiding Fu Li? He shouldn't have anything to do with that, right?"
The moment she finished speaking, Kiana noticed an indescribable expression surface on Mei's otherwise composed face.
It was a look that was part shame, part guilt.
Kiana understood at once. So, what was truly worrying Mei wasn't the nightmare itself, but something related to Fu Li.
But that raised a question. No matter how you looked at it, it was impossible for Fu Li to have had any connection with Mei during her childhood.
Silence fell over the room. Kiana sat up a little straighter, quietly waiting for Mei's reply. After a long while, a soft sigh broke the quiet.
"Fine... if you must know, you can't tell Fu Li."
"The truth is, when I was kidnapped as a child, I wasn't the only one. There was another boy with me, a little older than I was."
"After I woke up, my father and my psychiatrist at the time never mentioned the boy. But I know he was real. And..."
"He's dead... He died protecting me... forever gone, in that snowy field."
At this point, Mei's grip on her glass tightened. She spoke with a hurried breath, "And the reason I'm avoiding Fu Li is because he's just... so much like that boy."
"Even though I can't remember what the boy looked like, the feeling they give me is so, so similar! It's as if they're the same person! Just as gentle, just as reliable."
Just as... willing to be by her side when she hit rock bottom...
The image of Fu Li and the figure from her memory began to overlap. Hazy faces and faint smiles intertwined in her mind, a low murmur tormenting her heart.
This feeling, it was simply cheating. It was like a fatal poison, making her fall hopelessly in love with Fu Li.
For a girl her age, such feelings should be perfectly normal, but... but...
Why did falling for Fu Li make her feel so miserable?
It felt as if she was betraying the boy who had given his own life to save her...
Mei hugged her head. Deep in her heart, she was torn between her affection for Fu Li and her guilt toward the one who had passed away.
The line between life and death was irreversible.
"Mei..."
Seeing Mei clutching her head in anguish, Kiana moved closer and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
She never would have imagined that Mei had such a past.
Someone who has passed away...
Kiana sighed. Deep down, she understood that feeling all too well, because she'd had a similar experience.
People who are gone, even as the memories fade, are endlessly idealized in the heart until they become perfect.
And the price of that perfection was becoming an insurmountable obstacle when you meet someone you truly like, just as it had for Mei now.
Only, it seemed this obstacle had become the very root of Mei's pain...
"Mei..."
Kiana reached out, wanting to comfort her, but seeing Mei flinch away instinctively, she thought for a moment before taking a business card from her wallet and placing it on the table.
"Mei... I don't really know how to comfort you, but if you ever feel like you can't take it anymore, you can go see this psychologist. She's really good."
A psychologist?
Hearing Kiana's words, Mei slowly lifted her head and looked at the business card on the table.
It was an adorable card with a pink, flowery border, just like the woman in the photo—she had wavy, long pink hair and bright blue eyes. All in all, a very lovely girl.
For some reason, Mei felt the person looked vaguely familiar. Her gaze shifted slightly, landing on the name printed on the card.
Elysia? Is she... a Westerner?
Mei reached out, picked up the card, and sighed.
"Thank you, Kiana. I'll... I'll think about it. If I really can't go on, I'll go see her."
"Okay. And if you're short on money, be sure to tell me."
Looking at Mei, who, despite her haggard face, still held a stubborn glint in her eyes, Kiana opened her mouth, but ultimately swallowed the words she wanted to say.
This means... I really can't tell Fu Li about the true source of Mei's heartache...
After all, it was Mei's important secret.
In the end, Kiana stayed with Mei for a little while longer before leaving her apartment with a hint of regret, leaving Mei all alone in the empty room.
---o---
Late that night, at three in the morning.
Just like the night before, Mei, who had been asleep, suddenly began to tremble. Then, she shot up in bed, her eyes filled with a terror even more intense than before.
Trembling, she reached out to switch on the lamp, but her hand touched something furry.
Her body went rigid. Slowly, ever so slowly, she turned her head to look.
And she saw, where her lamp should have been, a pink HOMU doll, staring straight at her.
The next second, a piercing scream tore through the night sky.
---
PS from the Author: Rehabilitation successful!!! I feel like I can get back to a regular update schedule starting today!!