MEMOIRS THAT WERE LEFT BEHIND (2)

Kang Sola passed the time inside a Thai restaurant. She took a sip off her Thai milk tea absent-mindedly, then sighed after swallowing. She stared at the glass window far in the distance and observed the busy people went from opposite directions, uncaring towards each other. She also saw vendors at the side who passed the time like her sitting in their booth while waiting for interested consumers.

The teacher's words were on-loop inside her head.

"It's good timing that we meet today, Miss Kang. I was just about to call Chen Lihua and Chen Lingtian's guardian."

"Why? Is there anything the matter, Teacher?"

They convened inside the principal's office and seated themselves on the couch just across the principal's mahogany desk.

"You see, Miss Kang, we have a camping field trip scheduled by the end of this week. The teachers instructed all the kids to ask their parents or guardians to fill out a form containing their approval of their child's participation in the activity. The form also requires a guardian's consent to join the activity as the child's chaperone." The principal explained.

"The goal of the activity is to promote an alternative way of learning for our students and at the same time, ensure that the children and their guardians could bond outside their usual setup."

"I see. How come I haven't heard about it? It's scheduled this weekend already? Have you talked to my mother or father or anyone in our household?"

"That's the problem, Miss Kang. The form's submission has lapsed already but we have not received the Chen twins' yet. The deadline was last Friday."

"…They did not submit?" Kang Sola's brows knitted together in understanding and frustration. "The kids… They did not want to go?" She muttered under her breath.

She promised the principal and teacher before she left that she would bring it up in their household for a serious discussion and will revert to them within the week. She also got two copies of the form they were talking about on her way out.

She sighed again. After the meeting at school, she went straight to the Thai restaurant where she's currently located. She's waiting for a friend to arrive.

"Sola!" A lady in a modest blouse and skirt terno waved at her. Her straight, black hair went past her shoulders.

"Jingjing! Hi!" Kang Sola stood up and waved back in acknowledgment. She wasn't exactly ecstatic about this meeting. It was more obligatory in nature.

Su Jingjing found her seat across her friend and ordered her drinks.

"What's the nature of this meeting, if I may ask?" Kang Sola straightforwardly asked. She's gotten a bit uneasy.

"Uhm… First of all, thanks for agreeing to meet up. You must be busy."

"I happened to have a slot open in my schedule. You're lucky our schedules match." She chuckled good-naturedly, then took another sip from her milk tea.

Su Jingjing's order also arrived. "It's about Xue Guangxi."

Upon hearing her best friend's name, she felt her stomach churn all of a sudden. 'I should have guessed. I can smell trouble.'

A slight flicker of guilt and remorse danced in her eyes. "What about Xue Guangxi?"

At a time such as this, she decided to play cool.

Su Jingjing was not just any other girl. She's Xue Guangxi's first love.

Xue Guangxi was known to be a ladies' man, but Kang Sola had learned that he had only earned that reputation after his heart was broken by this very lady in front of her.

In other words, the relationship between Xue Guangxi and Su Jingjing must have been awry and nasty, and if anything, traumatic and outright harrowing.

She had heard the tale, but she wasn't there so she did not see the whole commotion unfold. She did not know if the story was rather exaggerated, but upon learning that her first older brother was once again involved in ruining these two people's lives, she somehow felt obliged to help recover and mend their relationship a little.

From what she had learned, Su Jingjing had been victimized by the plot too. Her older brother and Su Jingjing's uncle worked together and attacked the sixteen-year-old Xue Guangxi, and used the girl as bait.

She felt rotten inside whenever she learned about her older brother's wrongdoings. And here she was, left alone, trying to somehow salvage whatever's left to be salvaged – that is, if there's any, in the first place.

She's the only one left to clean up his mess.

So, even if it's not her place, and even if things between Xue Guangxi and Su Jingjing ended long before her arrival into the picture, and long before she met Xue Guangxi, she felt it her obligation to help because of her brother.

Kang Sola felt the churning inside her stomach worsen. 'Xue Guangxi will not like this.'

She let out a nervous laugh after hearing Su Jingjing's request. "Hehehe. I don't know. Xue Guangxi will burn me alive… You know how he is around you…"

"Just open up opportunities for us to meet. I'll do the rest." Su Jingjing was quite determined. She looked pst the hesitation in Kang Sola's visage.

Kang Sola scratched her temple. "Can I think about it first? You won't tell him, would you? I would rather not let him know about my involvement."

Su Jingjing's eyes lit up. Kang Sola's answer was almost a 'yes'. She grabbed both of her hands and clasped it together. "I won't tell him. Oh, Sola!!! All I want is his forgiveness. I have suffered sleepless nights for years in agony and guilt."

"Is that all that you want? His forgiveness?" Kang Sola silently inquired but there was unintended sharpness in her tone. Even if she's helping this lady, if Su Jingjing will break Xue Guangxi again, she doubted that she could simply stay still.

"Yes… But…" Su Jingjing trailed off, released her hands, and bowed down.

'Uh-oh.' Kang Sola squinted her eyes. Her senses were on high alert. She could definitely detect trouble just brewing around the corner. 'Kang Sola what are you getting yourself into?! Xue Guangxi will definitely kill me. That's for certain.'

"I still love him. I have always loved him." Su Jingjing coyly admitted like a fine maiden.

Kang Sola balled her hands into fists under the table. While she wanted to clean her brother's mess, she, of all people, would not want to see her best friend hurt again, by the same woman.

"I can only do so much for you, but, Xue Guangxi is the only person who can decide for himself and no one else. Just to clarify, I'm not here to play cupid for you."

"I… I understand… I just want to… get closer to him…" Su Jingjing played the role of a maiden who was like a damsel-in-distress. "Even if I get closer to him… I can already see it – he will push me away."

"But I will persevere until he sees that my apology is genuine, and maybe then, he'll open up to me even just a little bit." She raised her head and smiled at Kang Sola. "I have high hopes that it will work. I have my entire life dedicated to appeasing his anger. After all, I am to blame, right?"