Back at the office, Liu Junyi was busy looking through business proposals. Finishing the last of the stack, he flipped the paper back to the first page and set it on the stack on his desk. His body relaxed into the curvature of his cushy black leather chair as he massaged his glabella with his left hand, his right hanging lifelessly off of the arm of the chair.
He closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the head rest, a sigh escaping his mouth as he did. The business proposals that came in seemed to all have the same outline, partnering with other big businesses to expand the business, when really it was just the other business leaching off of them. The advantages presented were all temporary and never gain them anything in the long run, but he had to accept them. His father had been ushering him for the longest time to get the business moving, saying they were at a standstill.
At last, his hands pushed down on the dark oak table, lifting himself off of the soft cushion and onto his feet. He needed a toilet break.
Junyi stuck his hands into his pocket as he made his way to the bathroom, but as he did, his fingers got tangled in a bundle of string-like material. His eyebrows dipped down into a frown and he pulled it out. Only then did he remember, it was a beautiful yet simple gold coloured necklace with white jewels stemming from its centre, a ruby, heart-shaped gem hanging from the jewels.
It was a necklace he had come across in a nook under one of the chairs lining the corridor walls as he left. He had planned to pass it to the receptionist before leaving, but it slipped his mind when work intruded. He stared at it in his palm, a shine flashing by as he walked under the sun. It was a piece of art, a masterpiece, a jewelry so beautiful he was starstruck when he first picked it up.
His thumb caressed the engraving on the back of the necklace, flipping it over to see what it was. "C.A. 2000... must be their name and their birth year?" he thought aloud. It felt immoral to bring someone else's belonging with him to the bathroom, so he turned back to leave it in his office.
Junyi returned to his office, his hands covered by a thin layer of half-dried water. He sat without moving, thinking. If he personally returned the necklace to its owner, would there be a chance that they would agree to sell it to him? Yes, it didn't make a lot of sense, but if there was even a smidgin of a possibility that this could get his father off his back, he was willing to try it.
With both his elbows on the table, he sighed again, this time one that seemed to show that he knew he had a lot of work to do.
-
The bowl that was just served was quickly emptied. Now that Aiyu was by herself and not tired out of her mind, the thoughts that had been building up since she first became conscious came crashing down on her. She stoned out and her eyes glazed over, letting out a small gasp. Her hands flew into her pockets in a rough manner just to feel nothing. Her back straightened as she sat up to search the drawers of the tables by her hospital bed. Nothing. Where? An edge of anxiousness and panic started to show itself in her actions.
Calming herself, her palm pushed against her tense chest as it rose up and down in short intervals. She felt an alternation of rage and fear, her breath quick and short. The necklace was a present from her parents to her on her 18th birthday, and it was so precious to her that she almost always kept it with her.
Aiyu pulled the sheets off in a frenzy and ran towards the door to see the nurse who had served her the porridge before passing by. She paused as the door slid open, about to ask Aiyu where she was going in such a hurry. "Sorry, where did they put my clothes and belongings when I was admitted?" She asked between rushed breathes. "Oh, they passed it to the guy who came with you, don't worry about it," she said in a reassuring tone.
Hearing this, Aiyu felt her muscles loosen up as she thanked the nurse.
-
Walking down the hallway, it was obvious which apartment was Aiyu's; the only apartment without a door and in its place, police tape. It was Changchang's first time there after the incident, and looking at its figure getting larger and larger sent shivers down her spine. As Chanming was bending under the police tape to enter, she tugged at his shirt. Her head was down when he turned to look at her.
"Hey, if you aren't ready to go in yet, it's fine. I can go by myself." He paused, and before he could say more, she looked up at him. "No, I'll go in... and I want you to tell me exactly what happened," she said firmly, but her body disagreed. There was a slight tremble in the hand that held on tightly to Chanming's shirt, and there was a quiver in her lip when she stopped speaking.
"Are you sure? You can take your time." He took a tiny step to his left, facing her completely. she took in a sharp but long breath. "Yes."
They went in together. The first thing Chanming did was check the bathroom, making sure a certain red substance had been cleared wholly. Yet the books that had been strung on the ground by the bookshelf remained untouched. He bent down and picked them up one by one, placing them back where they came from. The apartment looked exactly the same as before, but the air felt so different.
"Come and sit." Chanming patted the spot on the couch next to where he sat. "I'll explain everything."
-
Back at the hospital, Aiyu laid with her legs atop the bedsheets and her intertwined fingers resting on her abdomen. The things that weighed on her mind were so heavy that they would sink her into the ground if they were ever objectified. At the same time, nothing could be deduced from her expression, which was blank. The silence that filled the room was covered in the thoughts in her head.
Without warning, tears swarmed her eyes, wetting her bottom lashes as they took their time making their way down her cheek. Even then Aiyu did not move, she did not feel like moving. She knew Chanming and Changchang could come in at any time, but a few drops of tears wouldn't make her eyes red.
Aiyu pressed the little area after the knuckles of her index finger against her closed eyes, wiping the tears off as she did. It just so happened that just as she had composed herself, there was a knock on the door. The very next moment, Chanming and Changchang piled in, a black bag in Chanming's hand.
"We brought your phone!" Changchang said in a cheery tone, skipping over to the bedside. "Also there was a message from an unknown number. It has our country code, so you might want to check it." She passed the phone over to Aiyu. Aiyu stared down at the phone. She felt a certain reluctance to look at the message, knowing it could very well be sent by the person who deliberately murdered her entire family because of a feeble thing like love.
Her grip on the phone tightened and her jaw clenched as her mouth curved into a frown. Collecting her emotions, she unlocked her phone and went into the message. "What is it?" Changchang curiously peeked over her shoulder. "It's from... Yang Jinhai. He's Zhen Jin's chief executive officer's secretary. They found my necklace apparently," Aiyu replied, feeling relieved.
"Your necklace? The ruby one?" Changchang asked, to which, Aiyu nodded. "Must've fallen out on the way here. But the CEO of Zhen Jin, huh. If I recall correctly, it's Liu Junyi, right?" Chanming said, a pensive look on his face. "Liu Junyi? I swear, I thought that the guy who helped you when you fainted looked so much like him," Changchang added, her arms crossed as thought she were trying to solve a mystery. Chanming flicked her on the head. "Isn't he just Junyi? How else would he have found her necklace?"
While the two were busy squabbling, Aiyu was left thinking. Jinhai's message was short and curt, as if he wanted to negotiate which made her worried. Junyi not only helped her get help when she fainted, but now he even found her necklace? She feared they would want something in return. She was aware of who he was, almost everyone in the country did, but she only knew his name in correlation to Zhen Jin and nothing else.
After a moment of deliberation, Aiyu responded to him, thanking him and asking when would they be free to meet. Rather than the message reply she was expecting, she got a call instead. Chanming and Changchang stopped their chattering at once, their attention snapping to the ringing of her phone. "Is that Jinhai?" Chanming asked with raised eyebrows. Upon hearing Aiyu confirm this, they ushered her to pick up the phone.
"...Hello?" Aiyu was first to speak.
"Hello. Is this Ms Chen?"
"Speaking."
"Ah yes, so you see..."
The call went on for a bit, with Chanming and Changchang silently watching Aiyu nod and discuss something with Jinhai. When they finally said their goodbyes, Aiyu looked up at them. "He says there is something they want to discuss with me, but not to worry because they will definitely return the necklace without asking for anything in return, then proceeded to ask when I will be available to meet," she explained. "Oh! He also mentioned it would be okay to meet in the comfort of my hospital room."
Changchang paced the room. "Hmm... what could they want to discuss with you?" Similarly, Chanming pondered this. "Maybe they want to buy it off of you? It is a really pretty necklace," he considered. "But it has my initials carved in the back. Why would they want it...?" Aiyu's eyes suddenly lit up. "I should tell my parents what happened, they must be so worri-" She froze, her finger hovering over the call button. It was as if everything went over her head, she had completely forgotten why she was there in the first place.
Without saying a word, the two gently hugged her.
"Everything'll be alright."