Imperfect Desires

"What exactly is she doing inside?" inquired Ying as she looked at Darren impatiently. She had been called here because Xiu wanted her to meet someone. But now that she was here, she couldn't even see Xiu much less the person she called her here for.

However, she was really curious about this person for whom Xiu called her here so urgently. 

"I have no answer for you Ying," said Darren as he put his son in his lap, facing Ying. 

Ying's attention was caught by the little tiger who was blinking his big eyes as he stared at her attentively. He was chewing on his small fist and seemed to be enjoying it as well.

"Stop staring at my son," Darren frowned at Ying and put his hand in front of his son's face. Well, he intended to put his hand on his eyes but his big hand covered his son's small face easily. "Don't get any ideas about my son in that head of yours. I won't let you live!"

Ying snorted at him, "You're really impossible, even as a father!"

"Whatever," was Darren's response.

It was good that someone finally came downstairs to stop these two from getting into a fight. At first, Ying took a glance and turned back. But suddenly, she was stunned. She looked back at the person and continued to stare intently in disbelief.

The girl in front of her looked exactly as she looked in her memory. The same violet-colored hair. Those piercing and exaggerated tattoos. Her goth makeup and leather suit. Those long chains around her neck were also as familiar to her as anything. 

Even when the girl came to stand right in front of her, Ying was still in a daze. She felt like she had traveled back in time. Exactly the time when she first saw the girl in the underground fighting ring. 

"You..." Ying didn't know what else to say. She couldn't find the right words right now. No, she had no words. She never expected to see her here. Was she the one Xiu was talking about? But how did Xiu know about this? Ying frowned to herself. After all, her short encounter with this strange girl was unknown to everyone in her life. 

"Do you still recognize me?" asked the girl who stood in front of her.

"Of course, I do!" answered Ying. "How can I forget the most stubborn girl I've ever come across?"

Ying could still remember how she had repeatedly warned this girl to not continue with the fighting in the underground club but she refused to listen to her. She called her 'mentor' because, in the short three months, Ying had ended up giving her a lot of advice on her fighting skills. She had offered to join the organization where she worked but she was refused again. 

She always felt like the girl was up to something. As if there was a bigger secret behind her but it was a shame she never figured it out.

"I went back to the fighting club to look for you but everyone said, you never came after your last fight."

"Ying Jie, it's me."

"Huh?"

"You can't even tell that it's me. Xiu!"

Ying was dumbstruck once again. 

"The reason why I appeared like this in front of you was in fact to make you recall the time we met. After all, you only met me in this attire," said Xiu with a small smile on her face. "I told you I had amnesia, and when I recovered my memories, I remembered you as well. The mentor whom I really liked. However, you're also the person I've wronged."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Do you remember you lost your authorization card?" asked Xiu and Ying nodded her head in a daze. "I stole it," she continued. "You can also say, I used you. The moment you trusted me enough to tell me about your identity, I had it planned. I needed your help. So, I used your authorization card."

"That's why my lost authorization card miraculously came back as well?" asked Ying.

Xiu nodded her head, "Yes. That's how it happened. I only needed it to..."

"To make Destiny Novell disappear!" Ying felt like a lightbulb lit up in her head. It finally made sense why her card was used back then. Even when the investigation proved that her card was used, she kept on not believing it. After all, she couldn't recall it. She even suspected if she had a memory loss or something. But now, it was all clear before her.

"Yes, I needed to hide from the ones who were trying to kill me," stated Xiu calmly. "So, I used this way. I know it wasn't right but it was the best I could do at that time. I thought if I borrowed your card for a while and returned it safely, you'd never notice. After all, it's not like I used it to disclose national secrets or anything."

Darren silently listened at the side. He really didn't know why Xiu was insisting on writing all the wrongs that Destiny did. But he also understood that Xiu had her own thoughts and he'd never go against her choices. Since she said it was the right thing to do, it must be the right thing to do.

"Ying Jie, you can punish me however you like. Even though back then I didn't think it was a serious matter, but now I understand it was indeed a serious matter. Losing your authorization card could have gotten you in big trouble."

Ying waved her hand off, "Even if I want to punish you, my big boss aka your Uncle Xin Zimen will never let me do anything. Besides, as you said, it wasn't really a big deal. Nothing serious happened and you didn't harm anyone as well." Then she made a round around Xiu and said, "I still can't believe I never noticed this before."

"It's because my disguise was too good," smirked Xiu.

Ying could only nod along. Indeed, who would associate the elegant-looking Xiu with the delinquent-looking girl from years ago? But now she had no reason to deny it either.