11 Chapter 10: No Matter What It Takes

Xin Ran didn’t believe how easily she had just turned him down with one call, Xin Ran thought as she replaced her smartphone into her handbag. She was discharged the same night and returned with Janny to the apartment they lived in.

The apartment turned out to be rather cosy and feminine-looking, with pastel pink-coloured walls. She spent a few minutes staring at furniture, followed by the television and then, the large hot pink laptop on the coffee table. But if she could work the smartphone so well, what more were these gadgets?

She took over with her deft fingers, allowing them to do their work and turning out the entire gallery of photographs in the laptop in her curiosity.

“But there doesn’t seem to be any photos of me,” Xin Ran muttered.

Janny sighed. “Because this is my laptop, Xue Xue. Yours was badly damaged during your car accident.”

Her relaxed eyes popped open in surprise. “Oh, I’m sorry. Do you happen to know who I liked in the past?”

Janny eyed her suspiciously, before feigning ignorance. “Hmm… is it… Is it…?”

She finally ended, “….Marvel?”

Xin Ran shrugged, running her smallish fingers through her straight hair and staring at the wall. Had Tang Ying Xue really liked Marvel even without meeting him? She greatly wondered what was on Ying Xue’s mind, even if she knew she would never be her. Because she liked Jing Yue, and not Marvel. Perhaps this was where she and Ying Xue differed.

She took a few moments to familiarise herself with the surroundings, touching and moving each item at home, partly due to curiosity and also hoping that she would somehow recover some of her memories as Ying Xue. However, this instead resulted in more confusion in her mind, and in the end, she decided to return to her room to ponder, and allow whatever memories that would come naturally to make their presence.

Instead, she found herself sketching in her mind, an image of Jing Yue. Starting from his attractive eyes, his muscular physique and the warmth of his hands on her, she was unable to abstain from thinking of him again.

Her smartphone beeped and a message appeared on the screen of her phone from Marvel.

“Hey there! Wanna talk?”

She typed back, “I thought I made things clear between us.”

“That doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”

He was right in a way. There was nothing wrong in making friends with this Marvel, as long as he didn’t cross the line or proved risky in some manner. Even if she liked Jing Yue and wished to pursue a relationship with him in the future, he shouldn’t control her from making friends out of her own accord.

“Okay. You have half an hour then,” she typed hastily.

He sounded a little emotional. “Hi!”

“Uh, hi.” Now, what did people talk about these days? Movies? Books? Cars? The weather?

“How are you doing today?”

“I’m totally fine!” she faked a laugh. She didn’t know how to begin a conversation, but Marvel seemed to know what to say. He continued by talking about the condition of a rumoured epidemic in several countries.

“Ah, Hart X?” she shrugged. “Do you think it has a chance to strike our city?”

“With the conditions of the hot tropical weather and medical facilities, it should take some time before it gets serious. Based on my analysis, it is possible to be... Around half a year? By then, the authorities should have already made preparations to prevent infection.”

She smiled to herself as she considered his answer. “If we go under lockdown mode, what will you do at home? Will you get bored?”

Xin Ran had asked that question because she wasn’t sure what people of her age did other than playing with computers, smartphones or watching TV. She read books, but reading was such a subjective hobby. Some liked it and some did not. Whereas gaming and watching television was somewhat more popular, she analysed. She wasn’t into politics, so she didn’t read.

“I am into cooking and baking. So I surely won’t get bored.” Whoa, that was completely unexpected! That coming from a man! But then she reminded herself that many culinary chefs across the world, which she read in magazines at the hospital, were men. So maybe in this day, it was considered rather normal.

He added, “Plus, I have you as a friend. So if I need someone to talk to, I can give you a call, can’t I?”

She smiled again. This man sure had a smooth tongue, and she liked talking to him. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to have a friend, after all.

“Yeah, you can.”

He discussed some of the cake recipes he had attempted and insisted he wasn’t an expert yet, since he was only trying to learn since the girl he liked had a sweet tongue. However, she had not been conducive to his feelings, and he had ended up dismayed. She instantly felt sorry hearing his depiction of unfortunate events.

“Maybe there will be one day that you will find the girl of your dreams,” Xin Ran said hopefully. As her friend, this was the most she could help him with, by giving him her best wishes.

“Perhaps one day we can meet,” Marvel said. “Good night, my friend.”

Good night? But it was only six in the evening. Ah! She realised the time. They had been speaking for over an hour, and she had lost all track of time. Her phone was starting to bug her to have it charged as the battery was now well under ten per cent, so she hurriedly plugged it to the desk charger and lay back on the bed thinking about her call with Marvel earlier.

Marvel… Jing Yue. Tell me, Tang Ying Xue, who would you prefer? She questioned in her mind, observing the posters of Ying Xue’s favourite celebrities on the walls. None of these stars looked as charming to her as Jing Yue, though. She could easily visualise his lips on hers, vividly remembering the passion of his gentle kisses on her lips in the lift.

Would Jing Yue kiss her like that again, and what would happen the next time they kissed?

And right now, her mind was overflowing with playful and naughty thoughts of what they could do the next time they kissed. She didn’t know what Jing Yue thought of her just yet, and maybe he just kissed her to make her remember. She was determined to not lose in the battle for Jing Yue to fall for her.

So what was it that youths did nowadays? She would write a bucket list of all the things she wanted to do with Jing Yue, and she would not stop until she had accomplished her target.

And this immediate target was for Jing Yue to reciprocate her admiration for him! She would have that happy ever after ending with Jing Yue no matter what it takes!