Imperfect Desires

After Xiao Li had left, Ah-Si thought about it long and hard before deciding to go and look for Xiu herself. The things that had been on her mind involved Xiu, so he had to go and look for her. He couldn't talk to anyone else about his troubles but the best person to talk to would be the one who troubled him in the first place.

That's why when Nora left Xiu's room, he knocked on the door and stepped inside.

Seeing Ah-Si at the door, both Darren and Xiu shared a look. "Oh, I just heard you're sick. What are you doing here?" Ah-Si had just opened his mouth to say something when Xiu continued, "Did they shift you the patient's ward as well? How unfair!"

"Patient's ward?" repeated Ah-Si as he stared at her strangely.

Xiu pointed at Darren and said, "He is a patient." Then she pointed at herself, "I am a patient." Then she pointed at the room they were in as she went on, "That makes it a patient's ward or the room or whatever." Finally, her finger stopped at Ah-Si's figure as she continued, "And now you're here as well, my fellow patient! I warmly welcome you to my sick abode!"

Ah-Si couldn't help but chuckle at her warm welcome. He instantly forgot what had been bothering him for days now. 

"Don't just stand there," said Xiu as she beckoned him over. "Come inside already."

Ah-Si nodded his head and came to sit on the chair placed beside Darren's bed. He looked at Xiu and Darren's intertwined fingers as they laid together. 

"How are you feeling now?" asked Darren.

"Oh, I'm much better," replied Ah-Si.

"It doesn't seem so," said Darren as he looked at Ah-Si's sallow and pale look. He had clearly seen Ah-Si but it seemed to him like Ah-Si lost a whole lot of weight in just one night. He didn't just look weak but also very sick. "Are you sure it's just fever and nothing serious? Maybe you should get a complete health checkup."

"I'm fine," said Ah-Si.

Xiu tutted, "Such a healthy man... My best friend's cruel soup did you dirty! Even a healthy person would fall sick after eating it. Comrade! You have my respect!" Ah-Si pursed his lips as soon as Nora's chicken soup was mentioned. "By the way, how did you manage to drink it all? Was it delicious?"

"If you look over the saltiness, it was delicious," said Ah-Si.

Xiu made a face, "But who can look over the saltiness? Salt is enough to overwhelm my taste buds. I can't possibly taste anything else." She took a deep breath, "But clearly, you could do it! That's why I said, you have my respect! I finally believe how much you love my best friend."

"You didn't believe it before today?" questioned Ah-Si.

"I had my doubts," replied Xiu. "So, now that I believe you. Let me tell you the benefits of convincing me of your love. From now on, there'd be no curfews on your dates. You can bring her home as late as you want and it doesn't even matter if you didn't bring her home at all!"

"Wow!" Ah-Si acted surprised. "What a tempting benefit! I should have tried to make you believe in my love earlier."

"You should have," agreed Xiu. Seeing him smiling, Xiu spoke again, "Now that I'm done making you smile again, tell me. What brought you to us?"

Ah-Si paused as he looked at her face. "Why? I can't come to see how you both are doing?"

"You left your sickbed to come and check up on us, I don't know whether to be grateful for that or call you dumb!" Xiu didn't beat around the bush as she added, "You are not in the condition to be worried about us. So, tell me what really brought you here? You didn't come just for chitchat, did you?"

"Actually," began Ah-Si. "I do want to have a chitchat with you both. And it's an important matter as well." He took a deep breath and went on, "I spent my days thinking about this repeatedly. I've thought about it all for so long but I am not able to understand it at all. No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to come to terms with something."

"What is it?" questioned Darren in a serious tone. "What really is bothering you?"

Ah-Si pointed at Xiu and said, "If I say she is the one bothering me, what would you say about that?"

Xiu frowned in confusion and Darren rubbed her head saying, "If it's her then I can solve anything. Tell me, what about her is bothering you. I'll fix it. Whatever it is, I'll fix it."

Ah-Si looked at Darren carefully as he asked, "Do you believe in everything she says? Even if makes no sense?"

"Love begins with trust," replied Darren. "Or should I say, love is trust? So, I do believe in everything she says. Whether it makes sense or not, isn't my concern."

"Where does this blind trust come from?" asked Ah-Si.

Darren looked at Xiu who smiled at him and said, "He asked you a question. Give him an answer."

"Earlier, my wife just told your girlfriend that love is blind. And I just told you love is trust. So, that means if love and trust are all the same, both are blind equally. If I can love her blindly, I can trust her blindly as well. Because I don't believe in doing things half-heartedly." Darren took a pause and looked at Xiu lovingly, "That is why I'm willing to believe everything she has to say. Because if I can't even believe in her, how can I believe in anything else?"

Xiu tsked at him, "Sweet talker!" She rolled her eyes and sighed, "Ah-Si, you're clearly not here to discuss why he believes in me. Why don't you just say what you really came here for?"