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The next day, several tabloids publish a story about a lover's tiff in one of the popular clubs in the city. The pictures are a bit unclear and no names are published but for those who know Wei Lan and Yan Ran, the descriptions leave no doubt as to who were involved in the incident.
Wei Lan is still oblivious to all this as he is still in dreamland.
He does not know what wakes him up first; his phone ringing or the sounds of someone groaning close to him.
"Wei, ahhh…can you make that thing shut up please?" Shin groans holding his head like it is about to burst.
Wei just grabs the phone and switches it off without checking who was calling. He is not faring any better than Shin Lin. It has been a while since he had such a bad hangover.
Shin Lin stumbles out of bed and into Wei's bathroom. He is looking haggard; his right hand is on his forehead and his blood shot eyes are barely open.
Shin Lin uses the bathroom and staggers back trying to walk as gently as possible because he feels like there are little men playing drums in his head. Unfortunately, due to his eyes being barely open, on his way back he bumps his foot on Wei's bedside table and he yelps loudly.
"Ouch!" he cries hopping around on one foot.
"Lin!" Wei complains hiding his pounding head under his pillow.
"You better have a very good reason for making so much noise so early in the morning," Wei Lan grumbles moodily.
"Why are you sleeping in my bed anyway?" he groans disagreeably.
"Aw-www! Bro, stop shouting, I am right here," Shin Lin complains. "I bumped my foot against your stupid table on my way from the bathroom."
"I don't know why I slept in your bedroom either. After your insistence that we drink some more last night, I have no clue at all how we got here let alone who decided the sleeping arrangements. Remind me next not to ever get into a drinking competition with you. Ahhh…!"
"Shin shut up for one minute, will you?" comes a muffled voice from under a pillow.
"Aww, my head hurts so much. Go make some hangover soup for me." Shin Lin tries his luck.
His request gets Wei Lan to remove the pillow from his face in astonishment.
"Are you crazy? Which part of me spells chef? Am I your servant?" Wei Lan returns with a frown.
"Don't you know how to be hospitable to your guests?"
"What guest? I never invited you over. And if you keep sprouting nonsense I'm going to throw you out."
"Why do I have to be best friends with such a nasty guy," Shin Lin grumbles under his breath.
"I heard that. Do you want to open the front door for you?"
Lin decides to ignore his foul- mouthed friend.
"Do you have anything that I can take for my head-ache? I feel like there is a rock band playing in my skull." Shin implores grouchily.
"There is a bottle of pain killers in the cabinet. Bring me some too, will you? Remind me not to drink that much next time we go out."
After taking the medication and drinking lots of water to rehydrate their bodies, they reluctantly go downstairs for breakfast.
Aunt Mo, Wei's housekeeper, already has their food ready on the table. She realizes their poor condition and decides to leave them to their own devices while she cleans the rest of the condo.
A few minutes later as they are eating their food, Lin turns to his friend.
"So…Wei, about last night…?" Lin asks cautiously knowing there is a chance he could get his head bitten off for his effort.
Shin Lin's question takes Wei Lan a bit by surprise. He has not had time to process everything that happened at the club the previous night.
Although he was a bit drunk, he knows that the reason he went berserk was that he never had anywhere else to vent his pent up anger and frustration over what happened five years ago. He had not felt like talking about his pain, preferring to lick his wounds in private. Besides, the reason for his pain was nowhere to be found. Now that she was back maybe that is why he had not been able to hold back.
It is unfortunate though that he had to do that in public. If his dad ever finds out, he would never hear the end of it.
"Argghhh… Don't remind me Lin. I must have been totally out of my mind." He covers his face with his palms in irritation.
"Bro, I always suspected that one day you would lose one of your screws. But who would have ever thought the Ice Prince would lose it in his own club of all places."
Wei glares at Lin coldly.
"Shut up Lin," he says a clear warning in his eyes.
His friend ignores him though.
"Bro, you looked like a lunatic or a wild cat. I was afraid you would scratch Ran and give her rabbis or something."
"Lin, should I help shut up your stinky mouth?"
"Bro, I am just saying, I have known you for so long and I have never seen you get that out of control."
"Okay Lin, stop rubbing it in alright? Speaking of which…" he is cut short by his ringing phone.
He groans when he sees the caller ID.
"You better get that bro," Lin urges.
It is definitely the last thing Wei needs this morning. His headache feels worse.
He still picks up the call anyway.
"Dad…" That word is barely out before he is getting a scolding from Chairman Jin.
"Wei, what was that last night? What are you? Twelve? Clearly you're not as mature as I thought. You're still fighting in night clubs?"
"Dad…."
"No I am not willing to listen to your excuses. Who is the girl this time? I thought you and that Mei Lan girl were getting along well.."
"Mei Li.." Wei interjects wryly.
"Whatever… Are you not getting along well? But here you are again about to ruin it all again. I have indulged you too much. Who is that other girl anyway? Do you want me to get involved?"
Wei Lang's expression becomes dark immediately.
"Keep away from her Dad. I can take care of this myself. "
"Oh! I see you seem to care about her. If you really do, then make sure that what happened last night never happens again. Oh by the way, I took care of all the tabloids. You can thank me later," Jim continues.
" And next time you get drunk again, and get into a fight, at least think of your reputation? This might have been cute when you were younger, but it's not anymore. Get a hold of yourself."
Wei Lan is not even given a chance to reply before he is greeted by a beep, beep sound from the phone.
It's like a hit and run accident.
"Got an earful?" Lin asks sympathetically.
"That's the understatement of the year," Wei replies dryly.
"That bad, hey?" Lin asks
"Well, it could have been worse, I guess. At least he took care of the tabloids."
"Why am I not surprised that it's all over the news already? You are so popular man," Lin puts in wittingly.
"Lin, stop mocking me, or I will throw you out," Wei warns looking annoyed.
"But seriously what are going to do about Ran?" Lin addresses the elephant in the room.
"Ahh Lin, can I just nurse my hangover in peace. I will think about everything else tomorrow," Wei says sounding exhausted.