The coffee was getting cold as its steam slowly faded off while LinYing stared at it. Almost lifeless yet drowned in thoughts.
He YuFen had her eyes on LinYing. She too was drowned in thoughts. Thoughts of what could have happened to LinYing that left her in this pitiable situation. The last time she saw her, she was at the airport ready to fly off to the US. Ready to live her ambitious dreams to the fullest.
And now she is back here. Looking like one who had lost it all.
"How long have you been around?" She Inquired.
LinYing didn't say anything, she was hesitant before she casually said "For a while...." She looked away.
LinYing was obviously shifting away from answering the question. And YuFen could see that. So she didn't push it any further. She didn't even bother asking her further about what happened to her because it seemed she wasn't ready to answer.
"Come and work at my company. There's an opening I believe is best suited for you. So....come and work there" she offered. She could already guess that she needed help.
"I don't need it...."
"You are always like this" YuFen insisted "You're always this stubborn even in highschool. You would never admit to not being okay or needing any help. But this time I insist. Come and keep me company at my company"
She knew LinYing would reject the offer if they kept debating. That was how much LinYing valued her prestige. She wouldn't admit to wanting any help and would rather bear it all herself other than asking anyone for help.
But YuFen was a bit surprised that LinYing calmly sat there for awhile without even bothering to argue against it. That was new and she guessed what had hit her... wasn't that small.
YuFen's phone buzzed as she stole a glimpse at it.
He YuFen dropped her business card on the table and got up to her feet. "Even if I ask you from now tomorrow, I doubt you'll easily open up to me so I don't want to push you. I believe you also need time for yourself. But I just want you to know, no matter what happens, you can always come to me. I'll be waiting" she took up her bag. "So... Feel free to tell me when you feel like it"
YuFen left. She had an important meeting to attend to and she was already late.
Cheng LinYing sat there, her eyes on the card and her mind on the situation.
She had questions for her. Questions she didn't even know if she had answers to. She wanted to hand over the card back. She wanted to insist that she was Okey and didn't need any pity or help. She wanted to be independent as always. But, why couldn't she do that.
At that moment she Simply felt weak and defeated. As though she was giving in to life in all ways that she had once fought against.
********
As soon as the van drove into the BLUE SEA COMPANY Environment, The Fans that had been camping around the company rushed towards it. They were mainly high school girls, if not all. Dressed in their uniforms and excitedly rushing to the van with their boards while screaming.
On their boards were written slogans like:
WE LOVE YOU!
MINGMING! YOU HAVE MY HEART!
MING MING LOVE!
EAT LIVE LOVE SHENMING!
All boards they had in their hands had similar slogans and the chanting from these enthusiastic girls was no different. If the slightest opportunity was given to them, they'd literally tear down the car and drag down the person in it.
While they screamed their lungs out, The Reason behind the screaming sat there casually. He was in the middle seat of the van. Leaning backwards with his legs crossed, he scrolled through his phone with a lollipop in his lips.
His eyes were shaded with sunglasses as he let out a loud sigh. "They're on it again.... Why haven't you taken down these anti-Fan Pages?" He looked up at his driver.
The driver who was in his late 30s looked back at him after packing the car "I told the CEO about it, she's yet to handle it"
"It's been weeks already. And this page keeps growing " He pulled off his glasses while looking out through the tainted window. "We should go, I have a deal to seal"
He managed his way down from the van. With the bodyguards to protect him from the excited fans, he made his way into the company.
ShenMing had arrived at the CEO's office but she wasn't in the office. So he decided to give her a flash. "I came to see you but you are not in, where are you?"
"I have a meeting, you should meet Mr Hong for anything " She had cut the line after replying. He had no choice but to meet Mr Hong who was her secretary.
******
"Why haven't you renewed your contract yet?" Mr Hong questioned ShenMing who was sitting down opposite him in his office.
"I believe I already made it clear that I won't be renewing it. I'm retiring" he was straightforward about it.
"Why are you still on about retiring? How can you retire just like that? You're not even old or something " Mr Hong snapped.
"I was not kidding when I said it. I want to retire and I don't have to be old to do that" he continued.
"But why on earth would you want to retire now? I mean you're the pride of our noble company! You're literally one of the best idols out there! You have millions of fans worldwide and your music and whatever you do sells well! You've steadily been one of the hottest and trending idols over the years and there's no sign of that heat going down anytime soon" He looked right into his sunglasses "So why on earth would you want to give all that up?"
ShenMing hesitated "I'm bored"
Mr Hong gasped "You haven't given it enough thought yet, you should think more about it before jumping into a rash conclusion. Renew your contract while you're at it and give it some more thoughts..."
"I've already made up my mind. I won't renew it and I'm retiring at that." He insisted "You already have a new boy group in the making. And they're generating some buzz recently so .. I think you could focus on them. I'll be retiring"
Mr Hong seemed exhausted as he ran a hand through his hair "Don't do this now...I mean... You know you're literally the top 1 celebrity we have to boast of from our company. So if you leave now.. don't you think our company will lose a lot? Even the new boy group we're about debuting will be affected heavily? Don't you think your fans would destroy them even before they debut? So please.... consider this"
ShenMing stared at his wristwatch and stared at Mr Hong "I'll talk to Miss CEO about this when she's here, There's no hope negotiating it with you. I'll be off" He expressed as he got up to his feet "You too should consider it before the Internet gets the news of me retiring from another source" he said as he walked away.
"ShenMing! ShenMing! Shen- " He had already walked out of the office.
Mr Hong simply sighed "This is bad"
====EXTRA SCENE====
The night was cold. LinYing sat down beside her bed, leaning against it while staring at the short table before her. On the table was the card YuFen had given her and another paper that seemed like a receipt. But was actually a bill. The bill from the hospital her mum was in. Her bill was piling up and she didn't know how she would pay up for that soon.
She was drowned in thoughts. Just like she had always been, staring blankly at the table while thinking of what to do. Ever since she had taken her friend's business card come, she had been considering taking the job offered.
She needed it, and she knew more than anyone how much she needed such a decent job that would pay her handsomely. She desperately needed the money now.
LinYing made considerations. Accepting the job doesn't necessarily means letting her know about what really happened to her. But it also meant that she was going to live in the shame she was running away from for long now.
But then again she considered her situation and weighed which was better. Facing the shame now or letting things get messy on her side.
It took some days of thought for her to make her conclusion that night. And she finally got up from where she sat and picked up the card on the table.
She had decided to call YuFen and accept the job.