Imperfect Desires

"Doctor, how's my Sister Xiu's condition now?" asked Han Bohai as he looked at Xiu lying unconscious with a bandage around her head. He remembered leaving her in the morning without that extra bandage.

The doctor placed Xiu's chart down and said, "She had a concussion when she came yesterday but since today's injury had been to her head again, we can't be certain about her condition."

Being Xiu's assistant, Han Bohai wasn't clueless about Xiu's mental health. He left the room with the doctor to discuss her condition in detail and when he came back, he found Xiu's mother standing beside her bed.

He silently watched as she took Xiu's hand in her own and whispered, "Xiu, baby, mom really loves you. Why don't you understand?"

"Neither do you," said Han Bohai as he stepped inside the room. Xiu's mother wiped her tears and looked at Han Bohai with furrowed brows. "If you had understood her, she wouldn't be here right now."

"I did everything for her sake."

Han Bohai snickered, "But you never bothered asking her whether she wanted all that or not. Because let me tell you, I have been around her since I was a high school student and I can assure you that Sister Xiu had never been happy being a glass doll."

Xiu's mother was about to leave when he spoke again, "I'm really disappointed in you today. I never thought you'd raise your hand at her as well."

Xiu's mother frowned at him as she asked, "How do you know what I did?"

Han Bohai held her hand wrapped in a bandage and said, "It's obvious. I have seen the relationship between you both for years. You hurt your hand for hurting your daughter. The question is how did Sister Xiu finally manage to trigger you that much?"

"You talk too much," said Xiu's mother with a glare and left the room. 

Han Bohai shrugged his shoulders as he watched her receding figure and mumbled, "I talk too much and you hate facing the truth." He walked up to Xiu's bedside and poked her cheek saying, "Sister Xiu, you're the biggest headache of my life. Can't you stop worrying me to death for once?"

He sat on the couch and didn't realize when he slept. His eyes only fluttered open when he heard someone groaning in pain. In a flash, he ran up to Xiu and looked at her face contorted in pain. As she opened her eyes slowly, he smiled brightly at her asking, "You're finally awake." Xiu stared at him blankly and he added, "Can you hear me? Is it hurting? Should I call the doctor for you?"

"Who are you? Who am I? Where am I?"

As her eyes stared at him with confusion, he asked, "You don't know me?" Xiu shook her head lightly and even that made her moan in pain. Han Bohai sat beside her on the bed and held her hand while caressing her face he said, "Honey, how can you forget me? I'm your dear husband."

Seeing his cheeky smile, Xiu rolled her eyes at him saying, "Fuck off!" 

Han Bohai laughed at her reaction since it was rare for Xiu to curse like that. "If you can't even believe that then you shouldn't have tried to play that memory loss game with me."

"How can you say that I was acting?" 

"Because you're an award-winning actress and no one can play this role better than you," replied Han Bohai making Xiu feel bitter. She really was willing to play the dumb but he really caught her way too fast. But she couldn't say anything since Han Bohai was the only person close enough to tell when she was faking.

However, what she didn't tell him was that when she opened her eyes, she really couldn't recall anything. Neither him nor herself. Everything felt blank and for a moment, she felt at ease for having a clean slate in her memory. But that ease was short-lived.

Han Bohai held her hand tightly, bringing her back to reality as he said, "Can't you stop scaring me like this? I really have no one else other than you. An orphan like me really needs a sister like you. So, stop getting sick."

Xiu ruffled his hair playfully and said, "I'm not going anywhere. Not that easily. Stop whining and call the doctor for me. My head is gonna explode otherwise." While he was about to leave, Xiu called him, "Xiao Han!"

"Hm?"

"Were you the one who found me?" 

"Nope. When I came back, the doctors were already treating you. I think some nurse must have found you," replied Han Bohai.

Xiu frowned at his reply because the voice echoing in her mind sounded brimming with concern. And if it didn't belong to Han Bohai then who else could be worried for her?

While she was still trying to sort out her memory, her personal phone's ringtone caught her attention. She didn't show any response for two reasons; one that she was too tired to move and two that she didn't want to talk to anyone. 

But the caller seemed persistent and it made her even more curious since her personal number was only with Han Bohai. With much effort and willpower, she stretched her arm and took the phone from the side table.

Staring at the name flashing on the screen, her brows raised instinctively in surprise. She placed the phone against her ear and opened her mouth to say something but the person on the other side beat her to it, "Why do you take so long to pick a damn call? Anyway, I have a question. It's more like a mystery to me though. So, help me with it. Do you think love at first sight exists?"

Xiu gaped as she heard that question and wanted to yell. But her head injury didn't allow her to strain herself so she calmly replied, "Mr. I-Forgot-You-Casually-For-A-Year, you really have the audacity to call me after a year and ask me a stupid question? And how did you get my number?"

Darren rolled his eyes at her reply and said, "Dear Dumbest Superstar, first of all, my question is not stupid. But you certainly are stupid. Second of all, I have your number exactly in the same way as you know who's calling. By the way, I think you're expecting my call for a year now."

Xiu pressed her lips together. He really caught up fast. Just like he didn't delete her number after their phones exchanged, she didn't do so as well. And he was right, she was expecting him to call but he never did just like he had been expecting her to call him first.

In the end, they both were equally dumb as they waited for the other one instead of taking the initiative on their own.