Imperfect Desires

Earlier in the day, someone said she was gonna make people cry with her generosity. And that someone was none other than; Yan Ying herself!

Right now, everyone in the private room was crying but whether it was tears of joy or not... It was hard to say though. But did it matter? Her mission was accomplished already!

And that's why Yan Ying was definitely satisfied with this result. 

All of her team members were more than happy when she brought them to an internet-famous restaurant. But who knew she would order the specialty of this place. And that happened to be; Super Spicy Hotpot!

It was so spicy that tears were inevitable. But Ying personally loved that about this place. Her team members might disagree with her preferences though. Not like she cared about that. If they wanted her to spend money, it was gonna be on her terms. Or nobody was gonna get to eat anything today!

"Team leader, are you taking revenge on all of us?" asked Mark when he noticed her smiling through her own tears. 

"What do you think?" she asked in return. "But you can't deny that this is the best Hotpot ever!"

Mark shook his head saying, "I'm not denying it. But..." He breathed through his mouth while wiping his tears. "You're really cruel by placing the bet of whoever ate the hotpot without any drink, that person would get a week off of work."

"Anything is fair in love and war," she retorted with a peal of evil laughter.

"No wonder you're still single," he replied making her face twitch. "By the way, did you recover your memories?"

"I don't have amnesia," said Ying.

"Then how come you don't remember Destiny Novell?"

Ying rubbed her nape, "If only I knew that." She placed her chopsticks down and got up, "I'm gonna pay the bill now." Saying that she walked out of the private room and came out for some fresh air. She paid the bill but didn't go back inside. Neither was she planning on doing it. Her nose and eyes were red from that spicy hotpot so she decided to wash her face with cold water.

She sat down at one of the benches after she came out of the washroom but her nose was still itchy. She rubbed her nose, sniffling repeatedly. She was again gonna rub her nose when a napkin was suddenly extended towards her. She looked at the napkin and then at the person who offered it. He was sitting at the other end of the bench earlier but now had slid closer to her.

"Wipe your tears with it," he said. 

Ying frowned at him, "Are you blind? I'm not crying!"

"So, you're done crying?" he asked.

Ying glared at his face which was hidden behind those big shades and that baseball cap he wore. She took a deep breath, "Even if I was crying, what are you trying to do? Act nice? If you're then don't bother. I am not used to receiving kindness from a stranger."

He was quiet for a long while before he mumbled, "I wasn't used to it either."

"What?" asked Ying since she didn't hear him clearly.

"I said kind strangers might be rare but not completely extinct."

Ying didn't know why but she asked, "Have you met one?"

She was surprised when she saw him not only nodding but also flashing a pearly white smile as he said, "I knew the living example."

Ying finally took the napkin from him and rubbed her nose again saying, "Living example? Did you meet an angel or something?"

"Hmm... She was indeed an angel." He replied thoughtfully.

"You're a weird stranger," said Ying. "But looks oddly familiar. Have we met before?"

He slid even closer and even lifted his cap while taking off his shades as he asked, "What do you think? Have we?"

Ying squinted her eyes at him and suddenly had a realization, "There you are!" She pointed towards a stand that had different magazines and his face was on one of those magazines cover. "See? I knew you looked familiar."

He looked really disappointed as he put his cap back on along with shades and shook his head at her, "I guess I expected way too much."

"Why do you look like I snatched your candy?" She was only joking but when she turned her head, she saw him putting candy into his mouth. But hearing her words, even he was frozen still. "Are you kidding me? You really have candy?"

He shrugged his shoulders and put the candy in his mouth before saying, "What's wrong with that?"

"I guess nothing is wrong with that," retorted Ying calmly. "Han Bohai, right?"

He was taken aback as he looked at her and nodded, "So, you do know me."

"Don't flatter yourself. I'm not a fan of yours. I just have an impeccable memory."

"Impeccable memory?" he scoffed. "It sounds funny since you don't even remember me."

"It's funnier, that a celebrity like you still remembers bumping into a nobody like me."

His eyes widened as he stared at the side of her face. "So, you do remember that incident?"

"Who can forget having a live experience of seeing a celebrity?" 

He could hear the sarcasm in her voice but didn't comment over it. He didn't mind it at all. "I guess you calling me a rare animal was more memorable."

Ying coughed, "You even remember that?"

"Couldn't help it," said Han Bohai and smiled at her. "Besides, aren't you being very humble by calling yourself a nobody?" Ying quirked her brows at him. "Dr. Yan Ying." Her eyes widened and before she could question him, he went on, "Two months ago, you were invited as a special guest to the archeology convention in the Capital."

"We met there?" asked Ying and he shook his head.

"Not really. I just saw you there for the first time." 

"What was a celebrity doing there?" questioned Ying curiously. He was about to answer when she stopped him, "Don't bother telling me that. I don't want to know."