~|confession #13 - my life's a horror story that i wrote myself|~

"Have you ever felt the eerie feeling that you are being watched?" ~ Dr. Sang Tian *shivers*

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Despite his infuriating grandson blocking his information channels, Fang Yun had managed to gather all the basic details of his grandson, Fang Haoran's girlfriend who the said grandson had been keeping hidden from him for some rubbish reason.

Fang Yun knew who Sang Tian was, he knew about her family, and about her job, and had a nice photograph of her as well instead of those bad angled images that were captured as screenshots from the restaurant's CCTV footage.

From the information that he had gathered Fang Yun could see that Sang Tian was a good woman and she would make a beautiful pair with his grandson. This, he was sure about.

What Fang Yun was more interested in was how Fang Haoran fell in love with this lovely woman and just why he kept her a secret. If his grandson had already been in a relationship with someone then why did he keep on going to all those dates that Fang Yun had set up for him.

This also raised a tiny doubt in his mind that perhaps Fang Haoran was not really in a relationship with Sang Tian. Only Fang Haoran could give him an answer but that stupid grandson of his was away on a business tour and was not responding to any of his calls and messages.

Annoyed, Fang Yun decided to get help from Gu Nan Zhou. He was the son of Fang Yun's former daughter-in-law who had remarried after her divorce from his son and Haoran's father. Shen Jia was more a daughter than a daughter-in-law to him and that is why even after she was no longer officially a part of the family, Shen Jia was an honorary family member.

Her children addressed him as grandfather just as Fang Haoran did. The siblings were really close despite Fang Haoran's relationship with his mother being strained.

So when Fang Yun got to know that Sang Tian works in the same hospital as Gu Nan Zhou, he tried his best to get him to find out more about Sang Tian but that brat too refused him.

Despicable brats!

Both of them!

Huffing angrily, Fang Yan stomped his cane on the floor. If they were not going to answer his questions and tell him what he needed to know then he would go find out on his own.

All he needs to do is pay his could-be daughter-in-law a visit to the hospital. That would do just fine.

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First and second year residents were standing at the observation deck as they carefully watched the surgeons operating on the patient below. They were performing a Whipple procedure that had a few of the residents involved in a whisper discussion and commentary while the others were taking notes and some were simply observing.

Gu Nan Zhou was one of the observers but instead of observing the complicated procedure being performed below, he was more focused on observing his brother's new girlfriend.

He knew of her, Dr. Sang Tian, the second-year resident, saw her while doing rounds but he still did not have the chance to work with her. Till a week ago, Dr. Sang Tian was just a fellow resident, a colleague that he didn't have the chance to interact with but things have changed since then.

When Grandfather Fang showed him her picture he couldn't truly recall who she was until he heard her name.

Dr. Sang Tian has become quite a popular name in the past few weeks and has been a hot topic of discussion. Just like others, Gu Nan Zhou was also aware of the rumors going around Dr. Sang Tian, Dr. Li Si Han, and the former director Alina Chen. He did not know the full story because he did not care about gossip and rumors.

But now things were different. It involved family.

This was the woman his brother was apparently in love with and wished to marry. He could not help but be interested in Sang Tian. He just wanted to be sure that this woman was suitable for his brother, that she was not what some of the rumors portrayed her to be.

Meanwhile, Sang Tian had been feeling literal chills at her back. It felt abnormally cold and her skin was covered in goosebumps. "What the?!" a shiver passed through her body.

Sang Tian began rubbing her hands over her arms in an attempt to warm herself when her gaze fell on the man standing at the other corner of the observation deck. He was the one with whom she had collided in the hallway.

He was staring at her again just like before but when he noticed that she noticed, he turned his face away pretending that he wasn't being creepy.

When he didn't look in her direction again, Sang Tian continued watching the surgical procedure. But then instinctually she noticed from the corner of her eye that that creepy dude was staring at her yet again.

Not being the one to be scared, Sang Tian faced him again with narrowed eyes and a frown between her brows. She gave him a questioning nod as if asking, 'What's your deal man?'

Caught red-handed, the man covered his face and moved behind another resident. She continued to look in his direction for the next few minutes to make sure that he wasn't being creepy again. And fortunately, he did not.

Finally, Sang Tian could focus on the surgery being performed and take notes. The rest of the surgery went on smoothly and uneventfully. Lost in observing the intricate procedure, Sang Tian almost forgot about the creepy dude until the end of the surgery.

The surgeons had finished performing the complicated procedure and the assistants were left with the task to stitch up the patient. As the residents were walking away, Sang Tian was approached by the same man.

"Hello." he greeted as he extended his hand in front of her for a handshake, "I am Gu Nan Zhou. I am a first-year resident here."

"So?" asked Sang Tian, her eyes narrowed and she made no move to shake hands with the creepy guy.

"I apologize for being rude and staring at you. It wasn't my intention to make you uncomfortable." explained Gu Nan Zhou, "I was just curious." he smiled a very familiar smile that Sang Tian was sure she had seen on someone else's face before.

"Curious?" she asked, "About what?"

With a cat-like tilt of his head, Gu Nan Zhou smiled and said, "Curious about the woman my brother is in love with."

"Huh?" was Sang Tian's reaction. 

"Fang Haoran." the very familiar name rolled off Gu Nan Zhou's tongue, "Your boyfriend is my brother. Well, step-brother actually."

Sang Tian had no idea why this man was calling her Fang Haoran's girlfriend. Did he have some misunderstanding, she wondered, "I have heard about you from my brother. I did tell him to introduce us but he had to go on an important business trip, so -"

For a few seconds, Sang Tian could not respond. It was as if someone had messed up with the wiring of her brain but then as if a light bulb had been lit, Sang Tian started to connect the dots.

She knew that Fang Haoran was in a somewhat similar situation as hers. He did tell her that he wanted to talk with her about some important things and then during their dinner he had asked for a favor in return.

Also, that woman at the restaurant. What was her name? Yun Shu? She must have told Fang Haoran's family about her and to escape an unwanted relationship, Fang Haoran, just like her, must have lied to his family about his relationship status.

"Oh!" exclaimed Sang Tian suddenly, "Oh!" she repeated the sentiment as if she had understood the whole situation, "Oh!" she grinned and finally grabbed Gu Nan Zhou's hand in a very enthusiastic handshake.

"You are Fang Haoran's brother? Ah, yeah, of course you are." she acted as if she knew him. Tch.

"It's just we don't get to spend much time with each other to sit and talk. You know how busy your brother is and being a resident doctor isn't a cakewalk either." smiled Sang Tian making use of her best acting skills and imaginative storymaking.

With a slight raise of his brows, Gu Nan Zhou nodded his head in positive while Sang Tian continued speaking, "The minimal time that we get, we just spend it knowing each other better. But yeah, I remember, he did talk about you once or twice during some of our rare conversations."

Fortunately, that was something that Fang Haoran would do. The man was a very private person when it concerned his family, friends, and loved ones. If Fang Haoran and Sang Tian entered a relationship recently then it was normal and believable of Fang Haoran to not tell Sang Tian much about their family.

"I understand." he smiled genuinely this time.

"By the way," began Gu Nan Zhou, "if you don't mind, may I ask how you two met? Haoran is very secretive about his relationship, and knowing his personality, it's a wonder that he actually fell in love." he commented with a chuckle.

"So I am curious to know about you guys' love story. Would you tell me?" he asked but then seeing the conflicted expressions on Sang Tian's face, he added, "If you don't mind me asking."

"Oh!" Sang Tian shook her head dismissing his worries, "It's not that I don't want to tell you but you know Haoran, he may get upset with me later. So let me ask him first, okay?" asked Sang Tian in a very sweet voice to which Gu Nan Zhou simply nodded in affirmative.

It was at that moment that Sang Tian's cell phone alerted her of an important notification. She took out her cell phone from her lab coat's pocket to check the message that she had received from her attending, "I am sorry, Gu Nan Zhou, I need to go." she exclaimed, "We will talk later, hhmm."

"Hhhmm." hummed Gu Nan Zhou as Sang Tian almost ran out of the observation deck.

Taking out his cell phone, Gu Nan Zhou quickly typed a message for his brother;

Met your girlfriend today.

She works at the same hospital as me and now our grandfather is troubling me for information.

Sending the message, he put his cell phone back in his pocket and walked away. He was going to do what his grandfather asked him to. Observe Sang Tian.

But he was going to do that just to make sure that she was the right woman for his brother and was not going to tell Grandfather Fang about anything regarding Sang Tian. It was his own way of looking out for his elder brother.

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On the other side of the world, in a different country miles away, Fang Haoran received a message from his brother. He was in his hotel room, standing in front of the massive glass wall from where he could have a view of the brightly lit city sparkling in contrast to the vast black sky.

He read the message and responded to it with just one word, "Noted."

"Sir." called Cheng Xian, Fang Haoran's executive assistant, "Here's the information that you asked for." he was holding a thick folder containing documents that were of Fang Haoran's interest.

"Just place them at the table." instructed Fang Haoran, "It's late, you can leave now." 

Cheng Xian wished him a good night before leaving. Once he had left, Fang Haoran turned towards the minibar to pour himself a drink. Twirling a glass of whiskey in his hand he approached the folder that Cheng Xian had brought for him.

Opening it, Fang Haoran pulled out the first document among the many that the folder contained and read the name written on it in black, bold letters, "Yu Xin."