| Fan Fiction |
by DTLCT
“Quit being lame!” Jacky shouted back.
“Hey! I’m helping you here.”
“If it wasn’t because of that accident, I rather have Silver Dove helping me.”
“You don’t like my voice?”
“I’m coming out now. Where are they?”
“They’re outside, leaning on the rail. They’ll be caught off guard if they’re this immature in spying on people. I can’t believe he took Ming Dao’s advice and called Angela up.”
“Just one more day then I can be free.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“You’ll see.”
“This is too funny, man. Ming Dao’s a better spy than Angela. Can’t believe she got Sam busted.”
“Or maybe she wants to give up?”
“Are you kidding me? She started this whole thing in the first place.” Ehlo dodges out of the way at that time. He was almost busted himself. You can’t be too proud, he thought. He’s that good.
“What did you guys talk about the other night?”
“We drank some beer and did some bonding.”
“And he didn’t suspect you?”
“Of course not. I could get an award for Best Actor any day.”
“Don’t be too eager to claim the prize when you don’t know if he’s acting himself.”
“Unless Ming Dao’s lying too.”
“Why would he lie?”
“The same reason I would lie.”
“Okay, you can go back to work. I’m off.”
“Where are you going? Home?”
“No. But I don’t care if they stalk me anymore.”
“All right then. But Johnny and I better be the first to know. Of course Qiao too. Okay, maybe Chen Yi even.”
Jacky lets out a chuckles since he couldn’t help it. “You got something against him?”
“He called me perverted in front of everyone, remember?”
“It’s unavoidable. If you drop out of the race to win Qiao’s heart, then he’ll stop picking on you.”
“What are you talking about? What race?”
“Why are we still playing this game? We all know you’re competing with Chen Yi and Sam. Soon to be Ming Dao too.”
“What does Ming Dao has anything to do with this?”
“You’ll see soon enough.”
“That’s exactly your problem.”
“What?”
“You’re always so eager to expose others’ secrets and intentions, but you never bother to explain yourself to anyone.”
“We already have this conversation, remember?”
“I’m going to get it sink in your head so you can stop it with the cool act.”
“I told you already. What’s the point of explaining when they already form their own conclusion?”
“You’re just making matters worse by doing that.”
“Forget it. I’m not continuing this conversation.”
“I need to get back anyway.”
They hang up after that.
Ehlo crosses the street and dials Ming Dao’s number when he’s on the sidewalk again. As he’s waiting for Ming Dao to pick up, he looks around casually as he’s walking back to work. He lowers the phone and hangs up as he sees the scene in front of him unfold. How in the world did Jacky know?
*****
Qiao Qiao smiles to herself as she walks out of the store, reflecting back to what happened at the beginning of the week. It was quite terrifying, but somehow she wasn’t as frightened when thinking back to that moment. As she’s waiting at the corner of the street, she looks carefully several times before crossing as the light’s changing. She walks briskly down the street and looks at her watch again. She’s late and she knows it. Chen Yi’s going to wonder if something happens again. He will give her “the talk” later. Just as she’s thinking of his possible words, her cell phone rings. She takes it out of her handbag and sees that it’s Chen Yi. Yes, right on time. “I’ll be right there. Don’t rush me.”
“Actually, I’m stuck in traffic right now,” Chen Yi informed her. “Could you wait for me?”
Qiao Qiao laughs. “I can’t believe it! You’re always so prepared.”
“Come on. I can’t control reckless drivers, okay?”
“Okay then.” She hangs up after that, slowing her pace again. She switches the gift bag to her left hand as she continues down the street. She couldn’t believer her luck as she turns right at the corner of that street. “Ming Dao!”
Ming Dao turns around and sees her. He smiles and walks towards her.
“What are you doing here?” Qiao Qiao asked.
“Waiting for Bianca,” Ming Dao replied. “What about you?”
“Supposed to meet Chen Yi around here but he got delayed in traffic.”
They begin to walk towards the café at the corner of that street.
“No Sam?” Qiao Qiao asked casually.
Ming Dao looks down on the ground upon hearing Sam’s name. “No.”
“What’s wrong? You guys had a fallout?”
“It’s more like…”
“What?”
Ming Dao looks up at her. “Jacky didn’t tell you?”
Qiao Qiao shakes her head. “I haven’t seen the guys since Monday.”
“Uh…regarding that…I want to apologize again.”
“It’s not your fault. I was careless. I have to say thanks actually.”
“Thank Chen Yi. If he didn’t yell in time, I wouldn’t know either.”
“Actually…”
Ming Dao turns to look at her again.
“We have to apologize to you for making you follow our scheme like that. After all, Sam’s your friend and we…”
Ming Dao extends his hand to stop Qiao Qiao. “It has nothing to do with you guys. We chose to take those actions instead of just asking direct questions. This is one silly game alright.” He lets out a nervous laugh after that.
“I guess so. Maybe I should just be a bad person and go to your place and demand an explanation from Sam.”
Ming Dao smiles. “Oh?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe we should all set a date for a little meeting to clear things up instead of snooping on each other like this.”
Qiao Qiao smiles also. “Maybe.”
They finally arrive at the café and choose a seat in front. As they sit down, a waiter walks by to ask them for their orders.
“Lemon grass special,” Ming Dao and Qiao Qiao said at the same time.
They turn to look at each other, surprised mixed with some shock.
“Will there be anything else?” The waiter asked, looking from one to the other, attempting to pull them out of their staring contest.
They turn back to the waiter.
“No,” Both blurted out at the same time again.
The waiter walks away after that.
”You like that too?” Qiao Qiao asked, turning to Ming Dao.
He nods. “Yea.”
“It’s rare that someone likes it. It’s the least popular drink here.”
“It tastes strange at first, but when you get used to it…” He gestures his hand. “It’s very addicting.”
“Exactly!”
They laugh.
“Besides,” Qiao Qiao continued. “People need to get it out of their head with how it should be use. I mean how come it should only be used in soup? How come it can’t be use for others? In this case, it’s a drink.”
“I totally agree. You just have to have an open mind about these types of things.”
“Chen Yi and Yan Yan would never get it.”
Ming Dao smiles. “Well, at least you got someone to sympathize with you, right?”
Qiao Qiao smiles also. “Yes.”
They stare at each other for a bit. Ming Dao breaks the stare by looking out in the street area to check for Bianca. Qiao Qiao feels a bit awkward so she looks inside the café to see if their order arrive yet.
Ming Dao glances at his watch. “I wonder what happened.”
Qiao Qiao turns back to Ming Dao. “Maybe she’s caught in traffic like Chen Yi?”
“Maybe.”
Qiao Qiao looks down at the table surface. Then she realizes it. She grabs the gift bag and hands it to Ming Dao. “Here.”
“What is it?” He gives her a puzzled look.
“Take a look.”
Ming Dao takes the bag from her and takes out the contents. After he removes the tissues on top, he sees a black box. He pulls it out slowly and realizes it’s a cell phone box. He looks up at her again. “What for?”
“It was broken because you tried to save me. It’s only legitimate that I compensate you.”
“You don’t have to.” As he’s saying that, he takes out a cell phone from his pocket. “Bianca helped me chose one out like yesterday.”
Qiao Qiao’s face fells.
“Uh…but…”
Qiao Qiao’s face brightens again. “I know! I’ll return it, but we’ll go together one of these days to pick out something else. Something that you need and actually like.”
Ming Dao smiles and shakes his head. “Must you go to that extreme? It’s all right.” He realizes something. “And how come you’re suddenly using all of these big words? Legitimate? Compensate? Too much work?”
Qiao Qiao shrugs her shoulders. “Hanging out with Jacky too much does that.”
Ming Dao’s eyes moves back and forth in a thinking mode. “I could relate.”
“So…it’s decided then?” Qiao Qiao said with a bright smile.
“What is decided?”Ming Dao asked, confused.
“We’re going to hunt for something for you together.” She takes the gift bag and puts everything back as Ming Dao’s reconsidering in silence.
Before he could reply her, they hear a familiar voice behind them – Bianca’s. They look up to see Bianca standing there with a smile.
“It’s small town, huh?” Bianca commented with a smile.
“Definitely!” Ming Dao said excitedly.
“Hi,” Qiao Qiao greeted Bianca with a smile.
Bianca sits down at a chair between Ming Dao and Qiao Qiao.
“I’m waiting for Chen Yi,” Qiao Qiao explained. “He’s stuck in traffic.”
“Talking about Chen Yi, he’s still trying to find a parking spot,” Bianca said. “He gave me the spot he found earlier.”
“Oh?”
Bianca nods. “Apparently, we were stuck in the same traffic.”
“What happened?” Ming Dao asked.
“Someone managed to get into an accident.”
“How bad was it?”
“Let’s just say they managed to stay alive.”
“If they’re not, you wouldn’t be joking.”
The waiter comes back with Ming Dao and Qiao Qiao’s drinks at that time.
“I apologize for taking so long,” The waiter said, setting the drinks down. “The blender just got jammed so we had to fix it.”
“No problem,” Ming Dao reassured him.
The waiter turns to Bianca after that. “What will you be having, Miss?”
“Uh…” Bianca uttered, turning to Ming Dao. “Are you having that strange drink again?”
“Hey, I’m not the only one,” Ming Dao said defensively.
Bianca follows his vision and spots the same drink in front of Qiao Qiao. She turns to the waiter. “Coconut juice, please.”
The waiter nods and walks back inside.
Qiao Qiao takes that opportunity to stand up. She pushes the chair in with one hand as she’s picking up the drink with the other. “I shouldn’t be disturbing you two. I’ll go over there to wait for Chen Yi.”
Bianca shakes her head. “We’re just getting together for lunch. Don’t worry. Stay.”
“It’s all right. See you two around.”
“All right then. See you.” Qiao Qiao walks to a table close to the street and sits down.
Chen Yi arrives at that time and joins her. He directs his eyes towards Ming Dao and Bianca’s table. “You’re not going to join them?”
“I just left. Ming Dao and I were waiting for you two.”
“Oh. You were with him when I called?”
Qiao Qiao shakes her head. “No. I bumped into him when I was making my way here.”
Chen Yi nods. “Oh.” He finally sits down. “So…what are you up to this time?”
Qiao Qiao brightens her eyes. “I was thinking we could strike back with a new tactic, but after talking to Ming Dao…I think I have a different plan.”
“Oh? What is it this time?”
Qiao Qiao signals for Chen Yi to lean in so she could whisper out her plan to him.
As the two are putting their heads together for a little discussion, Ming Dao’s eyes wanders towards their direction as the waiter comes back with Bianca’s order. What in the world are they up to now?
*****
Ehlo pushes the door in to see Jacky vacuuming the living room. What in the world is he doing? It’s only Friday and he’s cleaning already? “What are you doing? It’s only Friday.”
Jacky shuts the vacuum off before turning to Ehlo. “Might as well do it now. I don’t have time tomorrow.”
“Why not? You’re always so free on weekends. In fact, you’re always free.”
“I have to go somewhere tomorrow.”
“Really? Where?” Ehlo puts the grocery bags on the coffee table and sits down on the sofa.
“Can’t tell you yet.”
“Hey. What’s with all these secrets? Stop acting like those girls. Always saying half and leaving the rest for people to guess.”
“You’ll find out tomorrow.” He goes back to vacuuming after that.
Ehlo gets up and brings the grocery bags to the kitchen. “Hey! Where’s Johnny?”
Jacky shuts off the vacuum again. “He’s in a meeting with his manager.”
“Oh. Okay then. What about Wallace?”
“In his room.”
“Oh.”
Jacky turns on the vacuum again since Ehlo begins to take out the contents of the grocery.
Ehlo suddenly remembers something. “Hey! How did you know?”
Jacky keeps vacuuming the floor this time, knowing that Ehlo would just keep talking and stopping randomly. He yells over the vacuum’s sound instead of shutting it off. “Know what?!”
“Know that Ming Dao’s with Qiao Qiao!”
Jacky shuts off the vacuum and walks to the kitchen. He doesn’t care that the vacuum had banged against the floor after he tossed it aside. “What?! Come again.”
Ehlo shuts off the water before turning to Jacky. “I saw them walking together today.”
“Where?”
“The next street over from where we were.”
“Really? Strange. I didn’t know that they’re that fast. Better call and warn Chen Yi. Better yet, let me call and ask Qiao first.” He walks back to the living at that time, searching around for his cell phone.
“Hey! What about me?”
Jacky turns around to face Ehlo again. “What about you? I’m sorry to say, you’re out of the race.” He pauses briefly since he needs to correct himself. “Sorry. You were never in it to begin with.”He turns around and heads back to the living room again.
Ehlo is somewhat taken back, but he goes back to preparing dinner instead.
Jacky finally finds his phone and begins to dial Qiao Qiao’s number. He has abandoned the task of vacuuming and is sitting comfortably at the sofa with his feet on the coffee table, waiting for Qiao Qiao to pick up. She picks up by the 3rd ring. “Qiao!”
“Hey, how’s it going?” Qiao Qiao greeted him. “I was going to call you since I thought things over.”
“It can wait. I have to ask you something first.”
“What?”
“Are you with Ming Dao now?”
“What?! Who the world told you that? I thought guys don’t gossip.”
“I’m just concerned, okay?”
“Who told you that though?”
“Uh…” He looks at Ehlo’s back for a bit before resuming his conversation. “I heard someone say that he saw you two together this afternoon so I’m just wondering if it’s true.”
“We bumped into each other while I was waiting Chen Yi and he was waiting for Bianca.”
“Is that so?”
“What else is there?”
Jacky sighs out. “All right then. I’ll let you go back to whatever. I’m going to finish vacuuming.”
“Don’t hang up yet. I have something to tell you.”
“What?”
“New tactic,” She said, her voice more excited than before. “We’re going to beat the answers out of Sam without having to spy around anymore.”
“I didn’t know we were spying to begin with.”
“That’s not the point. The point is…”
Jacky glances at his watch. “I can’t talk right now. Need to finish vacuuming. I’ll call you tomorrow, all right?” He fakes a yawn for emphasis.
“All right. Take care then.”
“Yea. Good night.” He hangs up before Qiao Qiao could say anything else. He goes back to vacuuming for real after that, knowing he shouldn’t have lied to Qiao Qiao. But he doesn’t want to involve her in their silly fight anymore. It’s not worth it. By tomorrow, it will all end.
*****
Ehlo rolls over to his right side and shuts off the alarm as he tries to pull the cover over his head again. He doesn’t remember why in the world he would set the alarm for. Then his mind snaps to alertness. Wait a minute! He didn’t even set it to begin with. How could it be on? He throws the cover aside and looks around his room. He could see a piece of paper next to his alarm. Great, he thought. A typical Jacky prank. He grabs the piece of paper and is about to toss it into the trash bin on the other side of the room when he realizes there’s too many words on it to be a joke. He rubs his eyes a few times before reading the paper. He recognizes it’s Jacky’s hand-writing. He’s surprised to find a letter. What’s going on here? He looks around his room once more before looking down at the letter again. The letter said: Yu Rong…
“What’s going on here?” Ehlo mumbled out loud.
Jacky hasn’t called him “Yu Rong” in a long time. It must be serious. He pays even more attention the words.
Letter:
Yu Rong,
When you’re reading this letter, I’ll be long gone by then. Someone once said, “Each of us must take a journey to explore ourselves before becoming the person we want to be the most.” It sounds too silly and far-fetch when we first heard of it. In fact, we often make fun of it too. But I finally understand what it all means. It doesn’t matter how long we’ve known someone, but when we come to question that person, it is time to pull back and explore from within our true self and also of the people around us. For once, I have to say I’m sorry to you both. Life has taken its twist on me and I finally learn to let go of everything there is around me – at least temporarily. I will be back one day – hopefully we will still be good friends like always.
Jacky
Ehlo jumps off his bed and opens the door to his room. He looks across the way where Jacky’s room is. He walks across the hallway and opens the door to see the room empty. Jacky must have been gone a long time already. He exits the room and walks down the hallway to Johnny’s room. He begins to pound on it without caring whether Johnny’s still asleep or not. Unexpectedly, Johnny opens the door in fresh new clothes. Ehlo barely remembers Johnny’s free this weekend. Or did his schedule changed again? Considering he met with his manager last night.
“Did you know that…” Ehlo gestures his hand, not knowing where to begin.
“I know,” Johnny said, nodding.
Johnny goes back into his room. Ehlo follows, still holding Jacky’s letter in his hand. Johnny walks to his desk and picks up a piece of paper similar to Ehlo’s. He turns around to face Ehlo again, handing him the paper. Ehlo exchanges the paper he has with Johnny. The letter Johnny received is a little different from Ehlo’s. It said:
Xing Shu,
In the past few days, I have come to a decision that I’m sorry I couldn’t include you two. Sometimes in life, we must take a journey of our own in order to learn and grow. I can’t say it’s the wisest choice I’ve chosen, but I can guarantee that I will return one day - ready to fight alongside my true friends again.
Jacky
Ehlo looks up at Johnny after he’s finished reading the letter. “What in the world is he up to?”
“He seems serious this time,” Johnny said, stating the obvious. “I don’t think it’s a joke. The contents are longer this time and the style is totally different.”
“But where is he going then?”
“If he already decided, then I guess we’ll just have to wait until he’s back.”
“But when will he be back?”
“Whenever he’s ready?”
“Now you’re becoming all clichés too?”
Johnny could see how frustrated Ehlo is, so he stops himself from saying the next few words. Before he could come up with a better answer, their house phone rings. They look at each other before heading out to the living room to answer it. They haven’t received calls from the regular phone line for a while now. What’s going on here?
When they reach the living room, they find Wallace already answering it. He’s still in shorts like Ehlo.
Ehlo and Johnny look at each other as Wallace’s talking into the phone, wondering what’s going on since Wallace sounds serious.
“Yes, sir,” Wallace said obediently and seriously. “We’ll be there right away.”
He hangs up after that and turns to Ehlo and Johnny.
“Well?” Ehlo demanded.
“We’re wanted at the police station,” Wallace answered.
“What?!” Ehlo and Johnny exclaimed at the same time.
“Detective Chen won’t say anything. He said he will tell us when we’re all there.”
“I guess there goes my day,” Ehlo mumbled, making his way back to his room as Johnny follows behind.
Wallace wrinkles his face. “Where is Jacky?”
“Gone,” Ehlo replied sharply.
“What?”
“Don’t ask.” He continues to his room without another word to Wallace.
Johnny turns around. “Don’t worry. He just has some things to take care of. He’ll be back one day.”
“Sounds serious.”
“It is.” He goes to his room as well, leaving Wallace standing there.
Wallace wonders if it has anything to do with their silly spying recently. But he decides that it will have to wait. He goes to his room also, getting ready for the trip.
When they’re all outside, Ehlo spots Ming Dao and Sam across the street. What is this? He’s about to go and question them but Johnny stops him.
“Let’s not do this right now,” Johnny reminded him of their trip.
“Fine,” Ehlo muttered reluctantly.
Ehlo gets into his car and starts it up as Johnny gets into the passenger side. Wallace pulls out before Ehlo can pull out. They head for the local police station, not saying a word to each other until they arrive at their destination.
Ehlo and Johnny walk into the station together as Wallace tags behind. The atmosphere seems beyond hectic since they wake up. It’s not getting better as of now. Wallace doesn’t know what to say to the guys. He just follows them silently, hoping nothing serious is going on.
A police officer stops them at the entrance as they’re ascending the front steps.
“Detective Chen told us to come,” Johnny explained.
“Okay,” The police officer said, his face less intense than before. “Just walk down the hallway and turn right at the end of the hall. Room 23. The others are waiting for you all there.”
“Thank you.”
The police officer opens the door for them and steps aside for them to enter.
Ehlo and Johnny look at each other after they pass through the door, pondering what is the meaning of all this.
When they reach Room 23, Ehlo opens the door to see their whole group waiting for them, except for Ming Dao and Sam. Even Angela’s present. What’s going on here? Before Ehlo could speak up to ask, they hear footsteps behind them. They turn around with the door still ajar to see who it is. All three put on a surprised expression as they see Ming Dao and Sam down the hall.
“What in the world?!” Ehlo exclaimed, not able to restrain himself any longer. “Is this some kind of joke?”
“Hey, you guys!” Ming Dao called out.
“Don’t tell me you got call by Detective Chen too,” Ehlo said.
“How did you know?”
Johnny turns to the door and looks inside again. “Let’s go in and wait.”
They step through the door and close it.
“All right,” Ehlo said. “If anyone wants to confess now, I won’t get mad. What’s the meaning of this?”
Qiao Qiao steps forward among the group from the room. “I don’t know either, but I got a call awhile ago, so here I am. When I got here, I saw Sonia, Bianca, and Angela here. Then later the others show up as well. Now you guys.”
Ehlo turns back to Johnny.
“Don’t look at me,” Johnny said.
“Tell me Jacky didn’t go this far.”
“What does this has to do with Jacky?” Qiao Qiao asked, wrinkling her face.
“Once awhile, he would pull pranks on us. But I honestly hope it’s not his doing this time.”
“Talking about Jacky, where is he?”
“He’s…”
Before he could finish, the door opens again. They all turn around to see who is coming this time.
A man in his mid-40s walks into the room, carrying a folder. He closes the door before addressing them.
“Hi, everyone,” The man greeted them. “I’m Detective Chen. I’m sorry to call you all here so early in the morning and at such a short notice too. But…”
“I don’t mean to be rude sir, but is this Jacky’s doing?” Ehlo asked impatiently.
“It does have something to do with your friend Jacky. But it’s not what you think.”
“Then what should we think?”
Johnny puts a hand on Ehlo’s shoulder. “Ehlo…” He then turns his attention to Detective Chen. “I’m sorry, sir. My friend is…”
Detective Chen shakes his head. “It’s all right. I know everyone’s anxious to know what’s going on, so I’ll get straight to the point.”
“I’m sorry, but last interruption,” Qia Qiao said in a soft, apologetic voice.
Detective Chen turns to look at her, waiting for her to continue.
“Since you said this has something to do with Jacky,” Qiao Qiao continued. “Then does that mean you know where he is? Can we see him face to face to clear things up?”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t help you with that.”
“Why not?” Ehlo asked, his voice wavering a bit.
“He’s gone.”
“What?!” The others exclaimed out in disbelief.
Everyone in the room turns to look at each other, alarmed. Sonia’s face has become quite pale by now. She has been quite unnerved since they arrive, but she didn’t want to over-react. She can’t seem to hold it back anymore. Bianca grabs hold of her shoulder and tries to steady her. The guys all turn to look at each other. Even Ehlo seems to turn pale by now. Qiao Qiao looks at Detective Chen straight in the face, wondering if he’s lying or not. It can’t be, can it? They’re talking about the optimistic, cheerful Jacky here. How could it be? Jacky? Gone?
© Friday, June 13th, 2008