Imperfect Desires

After the phone call, Ying's mood was even more complicated. Today's Qiu Meihui didn't call to hurl insults at her face. Even her temperament was different. It really took Ying by surprise because it must be the first time she heard such a calm voice of Qiu Meihui. She had no trepidations but she was really interested in learning about the reason behind this sudden invitation. Why would Qiu Meihui want to meet her out of nowhere?

As Ying had said, they had nothing to reminisce about. The past they shared was already filled with only bitterness. It'd really do no good to any of them.

Shaking her head, she turned her head and flinched in surprise. How did she forget that Han Bohai had been in her apartment all the while? With his face supported on the heel of his hand, he was constantly staring at the side of her face. With the sun setting in the background, it gave a surreal halation effect making him appear as a beautiful portrait. 

There was no doubt that he was already handsome. But Ying found this silent version of his to be even more pleasing to the eyes. However, his silence was dangerous because she really didn't realize he was here and she had been lost in her own world for hours. The sun had already said its goodbye to the earth allowing the moon to make its way.

"Do you have something to say?" He shook his head in reply. "Then why are you looking at me?" As he opened his mouth, she interrupted, "And don't say it's because I'm beautiful. You don't need to flirt anymore."

"First of all, I never complimented you to flirt with you. That's all the words straight from my sincere heart. Please, don't doubt it." Ying's brows wrinkled slightly but she didn't say anything to allow him to continue. "Secondly, I don't have anything to say but I do want to ask something." He hesitated before adding, "But I'm afraid I'd be stepping into your personal space if I asked my question."

Ying was baffled as she said, "So, you do know that I have personal space? Then how come from our first meeting, you had been stepping into that space without permission?"

"I was invading the physical space, that's different. My question might end up touching the emotional space that can hurt you."

"If you think it might hurt me, don't ask." This was Ying's straightforward reply.

Han Bohai bit his bottom lip and hesitated before saying, "But if I didn't ask, I might not be able to sleep. It's not that I'm trying to be nosy. It's just that my sister used to say if something makes you restless, solve it before it makes your wounds relentless."

Ying exhaled a sigh and leaned back in her seat. Finding a comfortable position, she spoke again, "Then ask away already."

"Who is 'Protagonist'? And who is 'Protagonist's Lover'?" From the instant she got the call, he had been wondering about this repeatedly. Even though the person who started calling was saved under the name of 'Protagonist', the call that he picked up was actually from the caller, 'Protagonist's Lover'. These two caller id's left a deep impression. Even if he wanted to overlook, he just couldn't do so especially after seeing her reaction.

Ying closed her eyes and smirked, "Protagonist is my best friend, Xin Xiaoli." He acknowledged with a nod of his head and anticipated for her to continue. "And Protoanist's Lover is my best friend's would-be wife, Qiu Meihui. They are getting married next weekend."

"Wait! Actually I didn't want to know the identity of those people. I mean I don't even know them in person. What I'm curious about is... Why did you save their contacts like this? It's a very unique way."

Ying leisurely scrolled through her phone liked the photo from Xiu's Moments which she had posted hours ago and smiled contentedly before she answered distractedly to Han Bohai, "Since Meihui always called me the 'Villain' of her story. I truly believed I was the villain. And if I'm the villain in their love story, that only makes them the protagonists, right? You should understand it better, you must have played a lot of those lead roles." She lifted her eyes to watch an unusual expression of his but didn't point it out. Instead, she added, "In fact, I have never been the lead. I've either played the side roles or cameos in other's stories. And the story I thought was mine..." She chortled bitterly, "I became the villainess of it."

Han Bohai sat up straight as he gazed at her continuously and said, "Sometimes we have to make peace with the fact that we are the villain in someone else's story. It's not our fault. Sometimes, we just end up playing the role of the villain without realizing it."

"Wow! I never thought you'd be this sensible." Ying was honestly surprised to hear him talking so knowledgeably.

Hearing the praise, he was naturally happy but still took the initiative to clear something, "It's not my words. I just thought you should hear these words. It fits the situation."

In her heart, Ying had already figured who said those words to him. But she didn't say the name out loud. In fact, she snickered softly as she said, "Isn't it odd? I knew he wasn't mine from the beginning but losing him still broke my heart."

Han Bohai came up to her side and sat down on the floor while hugging her waist. Ying was wide-eyed when he rubbed his head against her stomach making her feel ticklish.

"What the hell are you doing?"

He looked up slightly to mumbled, "Can't you see? I'm trying to show I'm upset to hear that someone broke your heart."

Ying looked at his eyes and was speechless. Then with a slow and lazy smile, she patted his head saying, "If you didn't say it, I actually thought you're acting spoiled."

"What if I want to act spoiled? Not now. But we never know about the future."

Ying gave him an ambiguous smile as she answered, "Then I don't mind beating you into a pulp."

Han Bohai scrunched up his face but soon continued to hug her like before as he kept saying, "It's okay. I'm enough to spoil you. You don't have to spoil me as well."

Ying was really feeling helpless before this childlike person who only knew how to make her heart beat in a newfangled manner.