As they were walking out of the sparring room, Kai Xin's phone rang.
When DX gave her the phone back, it was almost dead and so, she had totally forgotten about it.
Glancing at the encrypted number, she knew exactly who her caller could be : Ghost.
She excused herself from DX to answer the call. Before the caller can say anything, she snarled, "How dare-"
"It's me."
Kai Xin frowned and glanced at the number before putting the phone back to her ear, "Phantom?"
"Something's wrong with him."
"What now? Is he dead?"
"I don't know. He was-"
The line got cut off mid-sentence. Kai Xin glanced down and noticed that her phone was dead.
Even though he nearly got her into trouble, she cannot help but be worried about Ghost.
Phantom would never help Ghost to prank her. For him to call, something serious had happened.
She sighed. Despite what he did, she had always had a soft spot for him.
"DX..." She went to DX and told him that she had to leave to meet her friends.
DX nodded and offered to send her but she declined the offer.
"Since Han Ye was away and cannot filter your emails for you, you must have lots of emails to go through. Don't worry about me. I will call an Uber."
She was right. He did have a lot of things to go through before the meeting with the Board of Directors tomorrow.
However, he was still worried about her. The sparring session earlier was meant for her to practice and to get rid of her frustration.
He knew that even if she did not show it, she was still affected by what happened.
Sensing it, Kai Xin hugged him. She glanced up and reassured him, "Really! I'm fine now!"
....
Once he saw Kai Xin entered the car, he turned and headed back into Callum's room. The smile on his face was gone by the time he opened the door.
When he saw the freshly showered Callum who had a pack of cold peas on his groin as he played a game on his computer, he frowned, "You better eat those peas yourself."
"Fuck off."
DX sat on the couch next to the computer station and he was back to his serious mode when he asked curtly, "Anything?"
Callum glanced at him from "He's at the safe house. By the way..."
He passed him some files before explaining, "We couldn't find any video feed of Shangguan Xing attacking or carrying your Kara into the room."
He pulled up a photo of Shangguan Xing, "In fact, the last video feed on him was when he turned into the hallway. Oddly enough, the last video feed on your Kara was when she went back into the mansion."
As he flipped through the files, DX asked, "Any idea?"
"I checked back all the recordings and found that at the time of his disappearance at 7.27pm and her disappearance at 9.35pm, someone hacked into our security camera and changed the live feed to a previously recorded video feed. It was for a short period of time. 4 minutes 35 seconds worth of previously recorded video to be exact."
DX frowned as he listened to Callum. The Du Mansion's cyber security was built by the best team in the world.
To hack it without being sense by anyone, this person must be someone skillful. DX turned to Callum and told him curtly.
"Call Han Ye."
.....
Kai Xin stopped the Uber few blocks away from her home before taking a normal cab to AVENGE.
The first thing she saw when she went up the hidden pathway was a figure dead asleep on the couch and another sitting near him on the wheelchair.
"What happened?"
Phantom looked up. He looked haggard as he explained,
"I don't know. He came back drunk and smelly last night. I thought he was feeling guilty over what he put you through and left him alone, but when I checked on him this morning, he was hyperventilating and his temperature was rising."
Kai Xin went over to check Ghost's temperature, "Fuck! He's having a high fever!"
"What should we do?"
Kai Xin frowned at Phantom's stupid question, "What do you mean by what should we do? Take him to a doctor of course!"
Phantom stopped her from getting Ghost up. When she glared at him, he explained, "He cannot go to the hospital. There would be a record."
She snapped, "Then what? Let him be?"
Just then, Ghost mumbled something and the two leaned down to listen, "N-No hos-hospital. Smell."
Kai Xin growled in frustration. This guy hated hospital.
"Fine. We won't dump your dumb ass at the hospital."
She turned to Phantom and asked, "Phantom, can you please get me some warm water and a clean towel?"
Phantom nodded and wheeled into the bathroom to get the stuff.
Kai Xin quickly removed Ghost's shirt and pants which was covered in beer and sweat.
When Phantom handed her the stuff, with his help, they wiped off the sweat and dirt of the guy's body before helping him into a spare set of T-shirt and jeans.
Ghost seemed more comfortable now that he was no longer sticky and smelly. However, he was still sporting a high fever when Kai Xin placed him down on the couch.
"Daisy..."
As she was preparing the cold towel for his forehead, Kai Xin heard him called out to her. When she glanced down at him, he had this glazed look on him.
"What?"
He smiled and winced in pain when his dried lips cracked open and blood ooze out, "I'm glad you are safe..."
"No thanks to you." Even though she scolded him, she cannot help but to tend to him.
Gently, she wiped off the blood and applied some Vaseline on his lips before feeding him some water.
She turned to Phantom and asked, "Has he eaten anything?"
"No. I'll go make some porridge for him."
When Phantom wheeled out, Kai Xin took Ghost's bad hand and gently massaged it. She had noticed the tremor earlier. No doubt, he must be in pain.
At first, Ghost felt an unbearable cold running through his body.
However, when Kai Xin massaged his hand, it was as if he could feel the warm from her body flowing into his and giving him the sustenance and strength to keep living.
He glanced up at her and mumbled, "I'm sorry."
Kai Xin sighed, "Don't do that again."
He reached out to caress her face as he said softly, "Were you scared?"
She hesitated for a moment before nodding once.
In an accusatory tone, he mumbled, "You didn't trust me."
"Jeez, Ghost!" she sighed angrily, "How do I trust a guy who placed me back in that awful day?"
Taking her hand in his, he said weakly, "I'd never hurt you. You and Phantom. I'd never hurt any of you."
Kai Xin looked at him. Now that he was out of his usual high end shirt and sunglasses, he looked so vulnerable. Like the first time they met.
Except for the dyed hair, he still looked very much like the young boy she once thought was a ghost.
Kai Xin sighed. She did not want to get into a debate with him when he was so sick, so she conceded, "Alright, alright. Rest now."
When Phantom came back with the tray of porridge on his lap, he saw Ghost sleeping on the couch with his head on her lap.
She was singing the lullaby that Ghost often sang as she gently caressed his head.
Phantom shook his head as he placed the tray on the table.
Those two had an unnatural bond that was hard to explain. They were not lovers, yet they were more than friends.
It was as if their cruel past bounded them together in a manner that was poignantly beautiful.
Phantom chuckled ruefully as he thought, "If only we met in a different circumstances..."
As he wheeled to the fridge, Phantom said in a low voice, "You know...You are the reason he dared to do all those things."
Kai Xin frowned at the accusation, "No, I'm not!"
"You always forgive him no matter what he did to you," Glancing at her, he added, "I care about him as much as you do but you seriously need to draw the boundary. Otherwise, he would be the cause of your death."
Kai Xin glanced down at the sleeping man on her lap.
"I know, but..."
As she gently caressed his hair, she said softly, "Even though he acted like an idiot, even though he played with my life...I can't help but be worried about him."
"Who are you really in love with now, Daisy?"
Kai Xin hesitated as she looked at Phantom. She had never thought about this.
The instruction from Ghost was to get DX to fell in love with her and not the other way around.
Sure, she knew that she was dangerously close to DX but was she really in love with him or the idea of him?
The idea of love was confusing for her. She did not understand what she was feeling whenever she saw DX.
Glancing down at Ghost, she saw that he was frowning and beads of sweat were forming on his forehead.
From the looks of it, he seemed to be struggling with his nightmare.
Sighing out loud, she gently caressed his shoulder to reassure him that he was safe.
Despite his actions, he was there with her all the way. During those first few years, he kept her going whenever she felt like giving up.
As he passed her a drink, Phantom said, "If you truly care about him, you need to leave him alone."
The moment the words were out of his mouth, Ghost started shivering violently in his sleep.