LET ME TELL YOU (2)

I took a bath after cleaned my apartment to erase the trace of Meng Bao and our date today. It was just a short date, but Meng Bao really made an impact on me. I didn't understand this feeling either, but I had this sense of familiarity with Meng Bao.

Whenever Meng Bao was around, I wanted to take care of him, nurture and protect him, just like how I raise Mengmeng before. They had the same sense of familiarity. And I practically raised that girl so she would understand how to live like an ordinary person. 

I knew that Mengmeng lacked love when she was young. Mengmeng told me that she lived alone with her grandmother and few servants, indirectly showing that she was from a wealthy but estranged family. One time, I caught Mengmeng crying under a tree alone, holding a new sketchbook that she begged me to buy two days before.

            ---

'Mengmeng, why are you crying here?' I asked. I crouched in front of crying Mengmeng and patted her head. 'Is there something wrong? Did you get hurt somehow?'

Mengmeng sobbed. She looked up at me with her swollen eyes. She must've been crying for a while here, 'Yes, Batman-Jie. It hurts…'

'Did you fall? Or did you accidentally cut yourself somewhere?' I began to check her arms and knees, hoping that she didn't get hurt too much. But Mengmeng shook her head weakly, she pointed at her heart and said;

'It's hurting here, Jie. It hurts so much…'

I frowned and touched her chest, but I found no injury. 'Did you fall and hit your chest?'

'No, Jie… it just hurts so suddenly after I met my mom…' Mengmeng remembered the conversation she had with her mother and cried again. 'Today is her birthday. I want to give her something nice. Since she visits grandma and me today.'

'She is working in fashion. She is so good at choosing a great dress, suit, and many more! I admire her so much, although she rarely calls me, at least she still remembers me. So I want to give her something special for her birthday.'

'That's why I asked you to buy me a sketchbook before. So I can draw beautiful dresses for my mom! But when I showed my drawing to her, she looked at it with disgust and threw this sketchbook away. Telling me that my sketch is ugly, and I need to be better at sketching since she is a lot better than me when she was my age.'

'SHE SAID THAT?!' my eyes widened in shock. I couldn't believe that a mother can be that evil. Even my mom would be thanking Buddha if I wasn't ranked top ten from the bottom in my class. 

Mengmeng clenched her chest again, 'After that, my heart keeps hurting, Jie. Please help me. I don't know why it keeps hurting.'

I took the sketchbook from Mengmeng's hand and checked what she drew. I saw a flowery dress, which wasn't badly drawn, though it still looked ugly compared to the drawing I saw in comic books. But Mengmeng really drew this with love! Even Mengmeng wrote something under her sketch, 'Mom will look great in this floral dress. She will smile more and call me more often.'

Mengmeng was only ten, and she didn't have any friend except me since she was homeschooled. So this must be her secretly wishing for more attention from her mom.

I stared at sobbing Mengmeng, 'Mengmeng, do you want to heal that pain in your heart?'

'Yes, please help me, Jie…' 

I hugged her gently and kissed her forehead. 'This is the only thing that I can think of. My hug will make you better.'

Mengmeng sobbed lowly as she rested her head on my chest and gradually closed her eyes to sleep after too much crying. 

---

"Ah, I miss Mengmeng so much… where is she now…" I pondered. I slumped on my bed and checked my phone. I checked the Rent A Boyfriend app who strangely reset to default again. Now I can see the selections of other rental boyfriends.

But I just clicked on 'Your Meng Bao' account to check on him.

"I wonder if Meng Bao is currently having a date with his real girlfriend…" I sighed as this thought kept on eating me. I should really stop doing this rental boyfriend thing after we met my parents. Meng Bao was just being professional. It was me who used feelings here.

I checked the clock that showed ten at night, so I put down my phone and went to sleep. I closed my eyes but opened them again after a while. 

I couldn't sleep right now, so I kept shuffling on my bed. Not knowing what this restlessness in my head was. But I knew there was something that would give me a good night sleep.

'I want to hear Meng Bao's voice again…' I thought. I wanted him to call my name again. It was somewhat… comforting, I guess.

…

If only he can call me now…

~You make me feel special!~

My phone rang in the middle of the night. I frowned and thought it was my boss asking me to book something late at night again. But no, it was a new number instead. My frown grew deeper now, "I swear if this is a prank call, I would—"

I accepted the call, asked first, "Hello, who is this?"

I waited for a response, and there was only silence on the other side for few minutes. As expected, this was just a prank call. I clicked my tongue in annoyance and said, "Don't prank someone in the middle of the night! I will block you now!"

"No, Jie, please wait—!" the man across the call finally opened his mouth. I was stunned when I heard his familiar voice. 

"M—Meng Bao?!"

"Yes, it's me…" Meng Bao answered.

My blood surged up as I never expected Meng Bao to actually call me. But just by hearing his voice soothed me, honestly. 

"W—Why are you calling me late at night?" I asked. "Wait, how did you know my number?!"

"Y—Your personal contact automatically popped out in my Rent A Boyfriend," Meng Bao replied.

"Ah... alright," I sighed in relief. For a moment, I thought Meng Bao had access to Rent A Boyfriend company or something, so he can see my personal contact from the company confidential data.

"Why are you calling me then?" I asked again.

"I…" Meng Bao paused for a while, then continued with his husky voice, "I just want to hear your voice, Ying Jie."