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When Wei Lan and Yin Yue come back to where Shin Lin, Mei Li and Yan Ran are, Wei is still in a dreadful mood. Yin Yue has just given him a tongue lashing for bringing Mei Li to their night of fun with their long lost friend. His mind, on the hand, is still stuck on that man whom Ran had been hugging so enthusiastically. One could excuse him for what comes out of his mouth next.
"So Ran, who is the airhead we found enveloped in your arms," Wei asks and two things happen; Mei immediately stiffens and Wei immediately regrets his not- so- well- thought- out question.
Yan Ran's anger barometer goes up immediately.
What the.. .the nerve of the man! She fumes.
However, she is also horrified at herself as she realises a bit too late, that in all this drama, she has forgotten about Liang who is still standing behind her witnessing the whole exchange and looking rather amused by it all.
She is surprised Liang has been so quiet, which is so unlike him.
She rebelliously draws Liang forward but in the next second decides to be civil.
Wei's eyes narrow and focus on their joined limbs. He feels like tearing them apart.
Yan Ran clears her throat. "Liang this is Wei Lan, Yin Yue, Shin Lin, and ….. uh ….. Meing? Moi? Meng? Uh….Sorry what is your name again?" she asks, a picture of pure innocence.
Payback time you witch! Shin Lin stifles a giggle and then pretends to cough.
Wei Lan rolls his eyes in disgust.
"Mei Li," Wei Lan quickly fills in.
"So Ling, you are Ran's boyfriend?" Wei Lan asks; eyes narrowed to slits.
Shin Lin almost laughs at Wei's getting Liang's name wrong. He knows it's deliberate. How could Wei Lan, with his sharp brain, not remember something this basic?
On the other side of town both Ran and Ying Yue almost bury the eyeballs in the back of their heads.
Yan Ran is surprised at how petty Wei Lan has become.
Wei is not sure why his mind is so stuck on this particular subject or why these things continue to come out of his mouth for that matter.
I have a bad case of foot in mouth, he moans in his mind.
Yan Ran's cheeks flame red and her eyes are flashing with steel daggers.
Ying Yue mentally takes off her heels and clobbers Wei's head with them.
Why is Wei behaving like a brat? He was very nice and civil earlier this evening.
Too much time spent with the female troll. It's true what they say about bad company, she concludes with a mental smirk.
Yan Ran decides to be the better person in this situation.
"Not that it's any of your business, but Liang is a friend from university that I have not seen in almost seven years," she lets out through tightly clenched teeth.
Wei feels quite foolish. He can tell that Ran is positively livid. He knows that Yan Ran rarely gets angry but when she does one had better expect a volcanic eruption.
And right now he has already pushed the line a bit too much.
Liang stretches his hand towards Wei.
"Nice to meet you …." But at that point Wei grabs Mei Li's waist and ushers her quickly towards the dance floor, leaving everyone with their jaws on the floor.
Ran suddenly feels depressed as she watches them get on the dance floor.
My emotions are all over the place today, she thinks as she puzzles over her feelings.
Yin Yue pulls Shin Lin towards the dance floor and Ran is pleasantly surprised when Liang spins her around and starts dancing around her. She laughs and they move towards the dance floor as well.
After a few songs, she is starting to loosen up. Liang is actually a great dancer. The truth is that he had been a ballet dancer for most of his life, although he had later majored in music and drama. They had quite a lot in common which is one of the reasons they hit it off as soon as they met in one if their university classes.
Liang great sense of humour and carefree attitude had managed to draw out a rather shy but talented Yan Ran out if her shell.
Yan Ran has her arms in the air thoroughly enjoying herself. She turns as she dances and the laughter dies on her lips when she notices Wei's eyes on her. She looks into his eyes for a moment and remembers how he used to look at her when they were together.
Mei Li pulls Wei's face towards her own, gives him a kiss on the lips and starts to dance so close to him that there is practical no air movement between them. Wei flushes and looks so uncomfortable that he has almost stopped dancing.
Ran rolls her eyes once again and thinks, "There really are no limits to this girl's antics."
At this rate she will probably dislodge her eye balls somewhere in her skull soon.
She almost feels sorry for Wei until another thought enters her mind that surely Wei must really love her to put up with such behaviour. That thought sobers her up completely.
She does not realise that Ying Yue has witnessed the whole thing.
She comes up and whispers in Ran's ear, "Don't let the wicked witch get you down. She just feels threatened."
"Threatened? By whom?" Ran probes, shouting to be heard over the noise.
Ying Yue laughs, "You are as blind as a bat, Ran," she says and goes back to Shin Lin.
Yan Ran shrugs and decides to let it go. Analysing her ex- boyfriend's girlfriend's mental state is not her favourite past time after all.
"She should feel threatened. You are more woman than she could ever hope to be," Liang says close to her ear, flirtingly wiggling his eyebrows.
"You are biased obviously," Ran giggles. "And flattery like that will never get you anywhere with me," she laughs.
Yan knows Liang is a terrible flirt and the best way to deal with him is just not to take him seriously.
"Never, say never," Liang says with a grin, twirling Ran around the dance floor. They dance to a couple of more songs until Ran's feet begin to throb.
When the next song starts playing she begs to be excused. The jet lag and exhaustion from the day's activities are taking their toll on her body. Liang offers to accompany her to the lounge upstairs. Even after Ran encourages him to stay he insists on sitting with her so she lets him. They talk a bit, catching up over drinks. Yan Ran has always found his company enjoyable. He is extremely funny and always makes her laugh. She is glad to be out of sight of a certain set of the gloomy eyes that have been watching her most of the night.
After a while, at Yan Ran's promptings, Liang goes back to the downstairs, leaving Yan Ran to finish her drink.
She is relieved because she just wants take a breather. This day had started slow but judging on the activities of the evening, it had picked up speed at such an alarming pace that her head is reeling. She has just started to relax, nursing her one drink when she senses someone standing over her and gasps when she realises it is Wei Lan.
Damn, so much for relaxing.
"May I join you Ran, or is this a private party", he says, smiling down at her.
Wei Lan is already sitting down across from her by the time he completes his request leaving Yan Ran to just raise her brow as there is no need to reply.
He clears his throat. "Ran, I actually came here to apologise; first for my behaviour tonight and that of Mei Li. I don't know what came over me".
"And what of your girlfriend, what came over her?" Yan Ran asks.
Wei sighs and rolls his eyes, "Unfortunately, Yin Yue and Shin Lin seem to bring out the worst in her. She is otherwise a very sweet girl."
"As sweet as hot pepper," Ran mutters under her breath.
"Look at you. Yan Ran, I'm surprised at you. You never used so judgemental. You always used to see the best in everybody".
"There are other cases that are clearly hopeless", Ran quips then she is horrified.
Wei looks at her in surprised at her cynicism but decides not to comment.
"When did she let you off your leash?" Yan Ran asks dryly
Somehow they both know who the she, is. Wei does not feel like discussing his girlfriend with his ex.
"I'm not a dog you know," he says raising his hand to attract attention from a nearby waitress.
He orders two drinks, taking them both in quick succession and then calls another waitress for another.
"Oh, really? You could have fooled me," Yan Ran jests dryly thinking back to her early impression of Mei Li marking her territory. Her lips twitch upwards.
"Actually maybe I have it all wrong. She is the one who acts like more like a dog which wants to piss all over you to mark her territory," Yan Ran continues contemplatively.
"Now you just sound jealous," Wei Lan retaliates downing another drink.
"Ah right. Should I be jealous of you or her?" Yan Ran tries to keep the banter as light as possible.
Wei Lan orders another drink after asking if she needs one too. She refuses since she has never had a good tolerance for alcohol.
When Wei Lan downs his fifth drink Yan Ran looks at him with concern and decides to say something. When did he start drinking like this?
"Don't you think you should slow down on your drinking? The night is still young after all," she asks cautiously.
Her concern does not sit well with Wei Lan for some reason. The anger and tension that he had been bottling up the whole day and the effect of the alcohol all mixed into a potent concoction, emotions suddenly erupting like an active volcano.
"Oh, so now you are all concerned about me?"
"Where was that concern when you left me?" he strikes at her merciless
The attack is sudden, quick and to the bone and leaves her breathless. It totally sucks out the light atmosphere she had been so painstakingly trying to cultivate the whole night.
She opens her mouth but no sound comes out.
"What? You have nothing to say to me? Five years and you have nothing to say?" Wei voice is rising.
He finishes another drink with one gulp and raises his hand for another. A waiter close by comes and takes his order
Yan Ran notices several patrons are beginning to take notice of them.
"Wei, I think this is neither the right place nor the right…" she starts but Wei cuts her off.
"Oh, you have the nerve to talk about time and place? Really, Ran? So when is the right time ha? Another five years from now?" he throws that at her.
"I am sorry Wei, I'm really sorry…" Yan Ran starts but again has no chance to finish before he goes off again. What can she even say?
"You're sorry? Do you know what you did to me? And you're… sorry?" he exclaims incredulously.
"If you were really sorry, why did you stay away for so long? Why did you not call me even once, ha?" he continues.
"Was I that forgettable to you Ran? Is that it? Was I not enough for you? Did you find a better boyfriend? Ha?"
"No Wei listen I …" Ran tries to interject but Wei is on a roll.
"You are such a hard and cruel woman Ran! How can you be so heartless?" He shouts viciously.
Whether it is due to the tension of the day, the annoyance from Mei Li's nagging and the several shots that he has had, Wei finds he is unable to control his fury. He is literally shaking with it. He is also exerting a huge amount of effort on trying not to strangle the woman sitting across from him.
"How do you sleep at night knowing you literally destroyed someone's life ha? Does it make you happy, knowing you made a fool out of me?" Wei Lan is literally shouting not caring who is listening.
"So why did you come back, because clearly it is not for me. Why did you not just stay away?"
Wei is literally venting all his pent up anger on her, without minding his words. He wants her to feel the same pain he felt when she left.
Their interaction is attracting more and more eyes. Although the lounge is on the fourth, the music being played downstairs is still relatively audible enough even though it is not as loud. So someone who is shouting can easily attract attention.
Yan Ran is at a loss on what to do. She does not want Wei to do this in front of his employees but she does not know how to stop him.
She had never seen this side of Wei Lan in the year they were together. She knows she deserves all this anger and more but she had not envisaged their confrontation happening in a public place like this one.
She is relieved when she sees Yin Yue and Shin Lin dashing over with Mei Li hot on their heels.
The three had heard a bit of the shouting as they were about to get to where Ran and Wei were sitting.
Yin Yue reaches them first.
"Wei Ge, what are you doing?" she says trying to pull him up from where he is sitting. He resists for a while just wanting nothing else but give that heart breaker a piece of his mind. His eyes start to water.
"Your friend is cruel, you know that Yue? Does she have a heart?"
"Ge, don't…." Yue tries to stop him, her heart breaking for these two souls. She can see tears running down Yan Ran's face. But Wei keeps going.
"I wish I never met her," Wei continues with his verbal assault.
Yan Ran winces visibly. The attack reaches its mark mercilessly.
Shin Lin rushes to assist Yin Yue.
"My friend, remember where we are. There are too many eyes here," He whispers in WeI Lan's ear.
In his current state Wei Lin could care less for his status. He glowers at the woman who is now crying soundlessly before he allows his sister and friend to help him move away to cool off.
She is such a hypocrite; an ugly heart hidden in a beautiful body, he thinks as he stumbles towards the rest rooms.
As soon as they leave, Yan Ran collapses back on her seat, feeling like a punctured tyre.
Mei Li surprisingly does not follow the others but is looking down at the crying woman with contempt.
"Yan Ran, I would advise you to keep away from my fiancé from now onwards, you hear? You already broke up a long time ago. Did you think you could come back and steal him away from me? In your wildest dreams! This is a warning, stay away from him or you will be sorry!" She says aggressively before turning to follow the trio that had gone to the bathroom.
Yan Ran just cannot find the strength to retort or refute the ridiculous assertions.
Ying Yue comes back after a few moments to check on her. She gives her a hug knowing the amount of pain is experiencing.
"Ran dear, are you going to be okay?" she asks with concern
"I'm just tired. I would like to go home please" she says tiredly, her eyes looking dull.
"Okay, can you wait a moment so I can tell the boys that we are leaving?" Ying Yue asks
"No, you stay with your brother and make sure he is okay. I will just take a taxi home. I would like to be alone please," Yan Ran says to her friend, her eyes pleading for understanding.
Ying Yue looks at her closely and sees how she looks drained and her face is deathly pale.
"Are you sure you will be ok by yourself? I know this is a relatively safe area but it's late," she asks with concern.
Yan Ran tries to smile but it does not reach her dull stormy eyes.
"Don't worry about me. I am okay. Remember I was living alone in Country A for two years." she replies picking up her purse.
Ying Yue feels her heart break once again at how lonely her friend looks at that moment.
Yan Ran takes a step or two away before she turns back to her friend.
"Is he going to be okay?" she asks without naming him.
Yin Yue smiles thinly and responds, "Don't worry about him. We will take care of him. Call me when you get home ok?"
"Okay," she agrees and makes her way almost unseeingly to the exit.