Imperfect Desires

"Ying Jie!"

Xiu couldn't tell why but she was genuinely so happy to see Yan Ying standing at her door. Perhaps, it was because of the comfortable feeling that she brought to her, but no matter the reason, Xiu really liked her only after meeting her twice or so.

"Hi!" Ying waved at her with a smile saying, "I actually came over to see Regan but he isn't home. And I think I heard from someone that you live right opposite his unit. So, I decided to give this to you. It'll be a waste otherwise."

Ying had intentionally chosen this time to appear when Darren wasn't home. She had to go through so much trouble of making a whole set of the lunch box to bring with her before she came up with this stupid excuse. She was waiting for Xiu's reaction now.

"That's wonderful. Come inside," she offered and while Ying was startled at how enthusiastic she appeared to be, Xiu had already dragged her inside.

"Oh, Dylan? I didn't know you're here," said Ying with a bit of surprise. She really didn't know Dylan was here. What was he doing here on a weekend though?

Instead of answering her, Dylan pointed at the lunch box in her hands and asked, "What's in that? I'm hungry."

Ying placed it down on the coffee table and as soon as she opened the lid, the delicious aroma wafted out making the two hungry people drool at the sight of the food before them. 

Miso soup. Tempura. Spring rolls. Yangchow fried rice.

The four leveled lunch box contained everything drool-worthy. Ying definitely went overboard just trying to come up with an excuse to see Xiu. But actually, she wanted to do this much for Xiu since this young girl had been very pleasing to her eyes from the very beginning.

"Comrade, it's time to attack," said Dylan as he rubbed his hands eagerly.

"Wash your hands first," nagged Xiu making him groan but he still got up to wash up his hands.

While those two went to wash their hands, it allowed Ying to look around her apartment. She had spent the previous night in her office going through the details she had found. But no matter how she looked, the result was the same. Xiu was Destiny Novell. But that wasn't the truth that was shocking to her. Other than that information, she had received two more important clues.

One; Xiu was suffering from retrograde amnesia.

Two; Her teams couldn't find anything related to Destiny Novell for so long because the information regarding her had been sealed within their own syndicate's server.

Shocked? Ying was more than just shocked now.

First, she needed to confirm whether Xiu had recovered her memory or not. Second, she needed to know how Xiu was associated with her syndicate. But if Xiu really had no memory, the second one was gonna be a lot tricky to find out about. However, she had never given up so easily and she wasn't going to do it even now.

After all, the trickier it was, the more she'd be getting the thrill. 

For now, her first and foremost mission was to collect a DNA sample. Before anything, she had to confirm Xiu's relationship with Xin Zimen. She had already gotten Xin Zimen's DNA sample which was quite easy since she just had to ask Uncle Kuan for it. 

"Ying Jie, why are you just standing there?" Xiu came back with her hair tied in a messy bun at the top of her head. "Sit down, be comfortable. It's only me and Dylan here. Even my roommate is not around. Oh, I so wanted her to meet you."

"Your roommate?" asked Ying pretending like she knew nothing about Nora. 

"Yeah. Nora is more like a sister than a roommate though. But today, she's not around. I'd make sure to introduce you to her soon." Taking a pause she asked, "Would you like something? Coffee? Tea? Juice?"

"Water is fine," replied Ying politely.

Xiu went to get water for her but she heard Ying asking, "I'd like to use the restroom."

"Oh, you can go to the one in my room. My room is on the left side," instructed Xiu since Dylan was in the guest restroom, she could only send her to her own room. 

And that was exactly what Ying had hoped for. Because arriving at the restroom, the only thing she did was taking Xiu's toothbrush for the DNA test. "I feel like a thief right now, but I have to be discreet about it. I'm so sorry little one." She didn't even know why she was apologizing. But she felt bad for sneaking around Xiu without her knowledge of what she was up. For the first time, Ying felt like a bad person for invading someone's privacy.

When she came back, she heard Xiu reprimanding Dylan, "Can't you wait for Ying Jie? How can you start eating even before her? She's the one who brought all this."

"And she offered it to us. We can eat. Besides, I haven't eaten anything since yesterday."

"What about your breakfast with your 'it's-more-than-like' girl?" 

Dylan growled at her smug look before saying, "I lost my appetite when she acted so indifferent."

"And now you got your appetite back?" Xiu was shaking her head at him.

"You both really love to bicker. It really makes me feel like you're both long lost siblings."

Xiu and Dylan looked up to see Ying coming towards them. She also sat beside them and watched them eating happily. It brought a great deal of comfort to Ying knowing that even though she was invading someone's privacy, she was still able to make this little one smile with her food.

With a spring roll in his mouth, Dylan said, "I'll have to ask dad. Maybe he had a mistress we know nothing about."

Xiu hit his head for that remark making him almost choke. "That is not a nice thing to say about your father."

"It was a joke," stated Dylan. "Besides, my mom would have killed dad already if he had so much as even thought of cheating on her."

"I agree with that," chimed in Ying with a smile. "Weiwei would really go crazy."

They laughed around at the table keeping it a very casual and carefree meal filled with small talks and laughter. The three of them forgot the burdens they were carrying. Xiu completely forgot that she was not feeling well, Dylan forgot that he had to face his feelings and Ying forgot that she was on a mission. Right now, those three were merely like friends who were busy sharing old stories with each other.

"Dylan was such a crybaby back then," Ying laughed at Dylan sharing his childhood embarrassing stories with Xiu who also laughed at him without holding back.

"Ying Jie, why is your memory so good?" Dylan whined. "Can't you let those embarrassing moments stay buried in the past?"

"Sorry. But you always looked so cute while crying with your squishy cheeks that all of us loved to make you cry even more."

"See. They all bullied me back then." 

"Dylan, where are you squishy cheeks? I want to squish them."

Dylan pushed her hand away, "Don't you dare touch my face."

"Haha... He always got mad like this back then as well." Ying told walking down the memory lane. "I have so many pictures of him from childhood. He was really a very adorable baby."

"I wanna see those," announced Xiu.

"No, no way!" Dylan panicked. Xiu was gonna tease him till death after seeing his childhood pictures. He wasn't gonna let that happen. 

"Sure, I'll show you next time." Ying didn't pay any attention to him at all. "By the way, don't you have any childhood memories to share? Any particular memory that you still remember?"

Xiu's smile dropped. Chen Xiu's childhood memories weren't very clear to her. Perhaps, everything was filled with darkness so her mind made it hazy for her. As for Destiny, she knew nothing. Absolutely nothing!

"It's okay if you don't feel like sharing."

Xiu shook her head. "It's not that. I just don't remember. Actually, I have retrograde amnesia. I can't recall anything before the age of eighteen."

Even though Ying had Xiu's hospital records, only now she managed to confirm that Xiu was still suffering from amnesia. She had not been able to recall anything in the past five years. Well, this just made her work to get more difficult.