Chapter 31: Have We Met Before? (2)

2 April 2023 | kaiyang

When I opened my eyes, I was lying horizontally on the sofa with a soft and furry throw draped over my body. The sky outside was already dark and the office was dimly lit by a table lamp at the executive table.

Noticing that there was someone else in the room sitting at the table, I sat up immediately and a sudden lightness hit my head.

Hearing my audible gasp, the man at the desk glanced up from his phone. The white light from the lamp illuminated his face and I froze. The man dressed in a long-sleeved t-shirt looked to be in his late-20s. He had fair, glowing complexion, and despite a slightly round face shape, his attractive face still appeared small and slim. Short fringe that was slightly parted hung loosely across his temple, covering half of his straight brows above a pair of enchanting rui phoenix eyes, with charming raised corners. Beneath his tall nose, his plump lips were slighted parted, but they quickly pursed into a half-smile.

"You're awake? Did you sleep well? When I came in, I saw that you were asleep and didn't want to wake you," he said, suddenly getting to his feet and approaching me. His calm and elegant demeanour was a stark contrast to mine—confused and disheveled.

He passed by me and walked towards the light switch beside the door and flicked it on. The lights in the room flickered once and came on. I glanced at the man again, and did a triple take.

Cheng-zong? Was I still dreaming?

I shook my head, blinked hard, and rubbed my eyes. The man standing in front of me still looked like the person whom I had just seen in my dreams. If I was not dreaming, it meant that Cheng-zong existed in reality; and as dreams are related to our subconscious state of mind, if my dream self knew Cheng-zong, did my real self actually know this man as well?

"Have we met before somewhere?"

"You remember me, Yujuan?" he replied with a delighted question.

I frowned. If he knew my name and was addressing me on a first-name basis, were we actually acquainted? "Sorry, I'm not sure. You look kind of familiar, but I don't remember we've met before..."

"My name is Cheng Yujin," he said, his voice gentle and magnetic with a trace of a smile. "I believe that this is the first time we are actually meeting."

My eyes widened in surprise and I took in his appearance carefully, realising that I had never actually bothered to commit Cheng Yujin's appearance to memory. "You're Cheng Yujin? That Cheng Yujin?" The person who called himself a professional-songwriter but actually stole the credits of others?

As my ears registered that my voice had subconsciously sounded slightly disdainful, I cleared my throat and quickly added: "What are you doing here? I mean, why am I here? No, I mean—why are you here?"

Cheng Yujin laughed. "Did you sleep yourself muddleheaded?"

I shook my head and got up to my feet. "I was asked to wait here for Tan Qing. I'm supposed to meet her."

"Well, this is my office; and Tan Qing asked me to meet you here."

"Why?"

"She said that she wasn't able to make it, and asked me to take good care of you."

I searched around for my phone before seeing it sitting on the marble coffee table. Tapping on my lock screen, the time shown was 7:53pm. There was also a message from Tan Qing.

She apologised that she had a last minute work schedule and said that she had asked her friend Cheng Yujin to meet with me first. She also informed me to follow Cheng Yujin's arrangement as he can help me, and if I listened to him, I would be able to meet Ai Ju'an.

"Are you hungry? Shall we go get something to eat?" Cheng Yujin asked after I had seen Tan Qing's message.

I glanced up from my phone and looked at him with a softened expression. "Tan Qing said that you can help me."

An indulgent smile came upon his face as he looked back at me. Then he moved towards the door and held it open. "Yes, but before that let's get you something to eat. I heard that you had skipped lunch and I also heard your stomach growl a few times while you were sleeping."

A slight embarrassment fell upon me and I rose up hastily, acquiescing in his suggestion.

"Hold on," I said, just as I took a step out of the room. I looked at him doubtfully. "Tan Qing also said that if I listened to your arrangements, I can meet Ai-laoshi. Today."

Cheng Yujin seemed slightly taken aback, but his expression quickly turned into one of amusement. "Your Qing-jiejie won't lie to you. I can let you meet him. Today."

"When?" I asked, checking the time, feeling that it may be somewhat inappropriate to arrange for a last minute meeting at this hour. Anyway, I didn't have to meet him right here and right now. It would be good enough if I could see him in person just before I leave.

The sound of laughter echoed in the now empty and quiet office. I stared at Cheng Yujin in confusion. The corners of his lips were raised in a beautiful arc, revealing a row of white teeth. The mirth passed from his lips to his obsidian eyes, reflecting a soft and gentle light.

Cheng Yujin continued to smile at me, and as I was enthralled by his heart-shaped smile, he said: "Ai Ju'an is my pseudonym. The Ai Ju'an that you have been wanting to meet is me."

*

Cheng Yujin turned off the car's engine and a heavy silence fell upon us. He pulled out his phone and replied to some messages. Seeing that he was busy, I remained quiet and made no effort to move.

My hand smoothed over the seatbelt nervously—it already felt like a crime to be driven by a celebrity and riding shotgun. Gazing out of the window, I studied our surroundings carefully and wondered if it was really alright for me to be seen walking around and eating in public with a public figure of the opposite gender.

I must have been out of my mind when Cheng Yujin suggested to take me to a restaurant, but I had instead insisted that all I needed was a burger from a fast food restaurant. Even without rationalising, wouldn't a restaurant offer more privacy? Moreover, famous people would patronise restaurants that had private dining rooms or spaces, wouldn't they?

Alright, maybe when Cheng Yujin agreed to have fast food for dinner, he meant that he would take me to the location but I would have to eat by myself, or maybe he meant that we would have to order takeout. Or maybe he planned to have the food delivered to the car?

I stared at the large brightly lit yellow "M" logo on the little building a few metres away, wondering whether I should ask him which of the three options he would prefer.

As I turned to face him, Cheng Yujin apologised for keeping me waiting, and pulled out a mask from his pocket to wear. Then, leaning towards me, he opened the glove box and rummaged through it briefly to find a packet of disposable medical face masks in a ziplock bag. Before he could offer me one, I took mine out of my bag and wore it.

His eyes curved into little crescents above his black mask as he awkwardly stuffed the ziplock bag back into the glove box.

As we walked towards the fast food restaurant, I followed behind him with my head lowered, feeling it incumbent on me to maintain a careful distance between us. Through the glass windows, the restaurant did not appear to be crowded, likely because it was past the usual dinner rush hour.

Cheng Yujin stopped abruptly and turned around to face me. "Why are you trailing behind?"

I scurried up beside him and whispered, "Is it really alright for you to be seen in public with me given that you are a public figure?"

"Oh, are you concerned about being associated with me?" he asked, sounding dejected; but his tone suddenly changed when he added with a smile in his voice: "But I'm not too concerned about being associated with you. It's my pleasure."

There was a moment's pause as I struggled to find the appropriate words to respond.

"Don't worry about it," said Cheng Yujin gaily. "In recent years, I've been relatively out of the spotlight, hence I'm not too bothered that I'm attracting attention. And people don't actually recognise me, unless they are fans."

His voice was clear and full of assurance, and I felt my throbbing heart calm down. But it didn't stay calm for long.

Long after we had collected our trays of food, settled down in a quiet corner of the restaurant and removed our masks, adrenaline was still coursing through my veins and I felt myself fidget each time someone looked in our direction.

With stiff fingers, I unwrapped my fish burger before tearing off the seal of the garlic chilli sauce tub. I then methodically sprinkled half a packet of salt into my coca-cola, before stirring the drink and observing the effervescence on the surface. After rubbing hand sanitiser on my hands, I picked up my burger and tore off a small piece of the bread and fish filet with my fingers, dipped it into sauce, and placed it into my mouth.

I was halfway through my burger when Cheng Yujin suddenly broke the silence—which was starting to get stifling.

"You're still the only person I know who eats your burger in such a special and elegant way, and you even have to add half a packet of salt to your drink," he observed casually, before taking a sip from his drink.

His remark came out of nowhere, surprising me. Hastily, I responded with the first whole sentence that formed in my mind. "I only do that for fish burgers and coke. Not for other kinds of burgers or beverages."

Cheng Yujin nodded, smiling to himself. "Exactly."

"What do you mean?" I returned with a polite half-smile.

"I mean that it's your eating habit," he said quickly; and added after a thoughtful little pause, "you can say that it's a distinctive thing about you."

I pursed my lips together, then released them into a subtle pout. "Is it very strange? Everyone has their own unique way of eating and drinking."

Cheng Yujin nodded in agreement, his eyes never leaving me. At that moment, as I met his soft and yearning gaze, a pang shot through me at a few new yet oddly familiar vivid memories which suddenly overcame me.

As my brain registered that these memories came from the strange dreams which I had been having the last few months, I heard myself quip: "Just like how you have to add tabasco sauce to your pasta, baked rice and pizza; and speaking of pizza, you even have to fold it into half to eat it like a taco."

"You remember that about me?" he asked in a voice that was low and soft, like a light breeze gently caressing my cheek.

Hold on, what did I say? How did I know that? When I was communicating with him as Ai Ju'an, I didn't recall that he had said anything like this in his messages or during our phone calls. Moreover, this was the first time that I was meeting him in person. Why did those images appear in my head?

Whatever it was, surely a bootlicking response would never go wrong. "Whatever Ai Ju'an laoshi said, of course I remember."

Cheng Yujin's eyes darkened. "No, I meant: you remember that about me—Cheng Yujin?"

His question was very strange. In fact, his earlier words also sounded very strange—it sounded as if he had always known about my peculiar eating habit regarding fish burgers. But I had never mentioned it before in my conversations with Ai Ju'an.

"Sorry, this should be our first time meeting, right? I shouldn't have any shared memories with you, should I?"

"Alright, yes—as 2023 Yujuan and 2023 Yujin. This sounds complicated, but—"

"You have a call," I interrupted, distracted by his phone buzzing against the table. The caller ID flashed: Manager Wang Yanran.

Cheng Yujin picked up his phone and answered the call, still looking at me. Under his piercing gaze, I dipped my head and quietly pushed another morsel of burger into my mouth. All I could hear was Cheng Yujin humming in acknowledgement as Manager Wang on the other end of the line seemed to be the only one speaking.

A short while later, he hung up and nudged me to take a look at Weibo.

I was trending on the hot search list again.

More accurately, both Cheng Yujin and I made the list.

***