Fan Fiction |
by Naomi
A small distance from the ship, at a secluded part of the harbour, a helicopter descended from the sky and deposited two persons and two suitcases onto the sandy shore. In the barest of seconds, it ascended into the air again and departed in the direction it had arrived, quickly disappearing into the sky.
Pulling their suitcases behind them, Dao Ming Si and Shan Cai made their way to the wharf and sat down on one of the benches facing the ship. It was still very dark, and despite the city lights which from a good distance seemed to illuminate the harbour, their surroundings were dim and lifeless.
“Are you cold?” asked Dao Ming Si as he noticed Shan Cai shivering. His voice was so warm and full of concern that Shan Cai immediately forgot that she was cold.
“I’ve never been on a helicopter before,” she told him while he opened one of the suitcases and pulled out a woolly jumper. With an endearingly shy smile, he wrapped her inside her jumper.
As he buttoned it down the front, he answered softly, “I know there are a lot of things you haven’t done before. If there is anything you want to do, just tell me, and I’ll try my best to organise for us to do it together. We have the rest of our lives to do everything together.”
Shan Cai held his hand and smiled at him sleepily, “I want to sleep.”
“Sure,” he replied with a naughty grin, “We can do that together as many times as you want.” He geared himself for a scream, a whack or at least some sort of objection, but he got none. Instead, Shan Cai took his lips for a quick kiss before snuggling her head onto his shoulder and mumbling, “Good night.”
Fighting the urge to bounce onto his feet and do his happy dance, Dao Ming Si rested his cheek gently against her head, closed his eyes and whispered, “I hope you know that there are other meanings to ‘sleeping together’.”
Shan Cai, conscious or not, nodded.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
At breakfast the next morning, F3, Xiao You, Aisha and Xiao Qing sat together in Hua Ze Lei’s dining room in an awkward silence, no one quite sure how to start a conversation. It was eight thirty. Only half an hour to go. If this half an hour can pass in silence, then Dao Ming Si and Shan Cai would have safely boarded the Superstar Virgo and begun their journey to Hong Kong.
Suddenly, Hua Ze Lei’s mobile ringtone broke the silence. He fumbled for his phone in his trousers, pulled it out quickly and glanced at the screen for the caller’s name. The blood drained from his face as he brought the phone to his ear. “Jing?”
“Lei, what on Earth is happening?” cried Jing in a flutter of excitement, “Where’s Ah Si?”
Hua Ze Lei felt a lump in his throat. “Where are you? Are you at his house?”
“Yes! Ah Si’s dad invited mum and me to eat breakfast before we try on the wedding attire. We arrived two minutes ago only to find their servants running around the whole house looking for Ah Si!”
“What else is happening? What are his parents doing?”
“Ah Si’s dad is planning to call his men out to search and investigate very soon. Lei, tell me what’s happening!”
“I can’t. I’ll talk to you lat–”
Mei Zuo snatched the phone off him and said firmly, “Jing, tell Ah Si’s parents that we are looking for Ah Si as well. Make it seem like no one knows where he is.” He paused for a few moments then added softly, “Show us that we can trust you.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was eight forty-five. A voice from the loudspeaker filled the air, announcing the departure and arrival times of the Superstar Virgo. Dao Ming Si took Shan Cai’s hand and squeezed it gently before waking her up. “Come on, let’s go to Hong Kong.”
They dragged their suitcases behind them and walked along the raised platform, stopping at the entrance to the ship. A door steward welcomed them with a smile and asked for their boarding tickets. Dao Ming Si pulled out two tickets and handed them over. His palms grew sweaty and Shan Cai held her breath as they prayed that the man would not ask for their passport, visa or any other means of identification to match the details on the tickets. If that happened, they would be caught straight away. The door steward, seemingly oblivious to the mistake he was making, stamped the tickets and returned them to Dao Ming Si’s hand. “In you go,” he permitted their entry with a smile.
They found their room, quickly locked the door and simultaneously heaved a huge sigh of relief. After her second glance around the room, Shan Cai regained all her energy and began spinning and dancing over the soft pink carpet. “Mei Zuo’s ex-girlfriends must be so rich! This is an executive room!”
Indeed, it was another one of those unbelievably posh, stylish, luxurious and elegant hotel rooms which Shan Cai should be – but still was not – used to living in, considering who her boyfriend was. Dao Ming Si opened the glass doors and stepped out onto the balcony, followed by Shan Cai and her silly smile. “Why are you smiling like that?” he asked, his own mouth curving upwards for no more reason but the mere sight of his beloved girlfriend. “We’re not safe until the ship pulls away from the dock. Someone could be knocking on our door anytime and we would be caught and brought back to Taiwan and taken back to dad and –”
Toot toot!
The sound of the ship’s horn confirmed their safe escape. Dao Ming Si took Shan Cai’s hand and immediately pulled her out of their room. “Breakfast time!”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was late in the afternoon and little has changed from the morning’s state of things. Dao Ming Cheng was constantly talking on the phone, either ringing someone or being called, using his phone to search madly across the country for his only son. Dao Ming Feng remained calm and resumed her corporate work, knowing her son well enough to remember his classic way of avoiding problems – disappearing. It was nothing out of the ordinary but Dao Ming Cheng had been away from home for too long to understand. Is he kidnapped again? When will they call us? How much do they want?
Meanwhile, Xiao Qing was in her apartment working on an assignment when Hua Ze Lei turned up unexpectedly at her door. She was still angry with him for shouting at her when she was at the rooftop with Jing. She knew that he had no idea about Jing’s engagement with Dao Ming Si and he was simply shouting at her for being rude towards Jing. However, Xiao Qing was angry at the way he treated her without considering that she had reasons – every reason – to be rude.
Hua Ze Lei walked in with a cheery smile; one that seldom occupied his sleepy, deadpan face. He sat down on the sofa and watched Xiao Qing return from the kitchen with a cup of tea for him. He took the warm cup into his palms and sipped its contents while looking around at all the drawings, paintings and origami pieces in the room. Her artworks were mainly pictures of animals, flowers, landscapes and skies, but one particular drawing caught his attention. He pointed to a pencil sketch of a kitten.
“I remember you said that you really like cats,” he commented with a grin, “Cute drawing.”
Xiao Qing shrugged. “Jing rang me an hour ago. I think she wants to –”
“Can you draw a picture of me?” he asked, ignoring her questions.
“If you want. I think Jing wants to –”
“Can you draw a picture of me now?” Hua Ze Lei insisted.
“Why won’t you listen to me?”
“Why can’t you talk to me without talking about Jing?!”
“Lei, why can’t you stop avoiding your problems?!”
“I’m not avoiding my problems!”
“Why can’t you just be a little more confident and –”
“Tell her I like her?! Tell her I love her?! Qing Qing, do you know how many times I have done that already?! Do you know that I get the same response over and over again?!”
“Just listen to me for once!”
“I know what you want to say!”
“If you really did know what I wanted to say, then you wouldn’t have shouted at me at the rooftop!”
Hua Ze Lei fell silent. He suddenly felt a pang of guilt in his stomach.
*FLASKBACK*
She looked at him intensely and her eyes reddened. “Hua Ze Lei,” she said slowly, her voice barely audible, “You will regret those words.” She used her sleeve to wipe the tears which had fallen already, turned her back to them and disappeared.
*END OF FLASHBACK*
At that moment, Hua Ze Lei’s mobile ringtone came to his rescue. Xiao Qing frowned and turned away from him as he pulled out his phone. “Jing, what’s the matter? Yes. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“Jing wants you now?” she asked dryly.
He looked at her annoyed expression and lost all his words. “I…she…we –”
“Just go,” Xiao Qing cut him off. “Please. Just go.”
Hua Ze Lei opened his mouth again but nothing came out. He took her hand, brought it up to his mouth and was about to kiss it, but he let go. Without another look or even a goodbye, he opened the door and left.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jing smiled as Hua Ze Lei sat down at the table with her at a café. She looked at him intently and explained, “I know that Ah Si and Shan Cai ran away. You don’t need to tell me. I’ve guessed it. I called you out to thank you.”
Hua Ze Lei frowned. “I didn’t plan the escape. F4 worked together. Actually, Mei Zuo did most of it.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I want to thank you for believing me even when the others didn’t. Thank you for believing that I had my reasons to allow…or not refuse…the engagement.”
He smiled.
“And thank you…for letting me…cry on your shoulder.”
Hua Zei Lei’s gaze fell down to the tablecloth and he frowned again. Too much has happened in the past few months and he thought he had moved on from loving Jing. But the mere sound of her gentle words of appreciation seemed to fill his heart again. For all these years, he had longed for the moment when Jing would let go of her ego and admit that she needed him. She just did.
“Lei?”
No response.
“Lei, I want to go back to Paris.”
He shot his eyes back up at her and stared blankly into her face. Instantly, his heart began racing with his breath as he fumbled in his mind for words. It’s now or never again, he thought. This will be the last time. “Will you ever love me?”
Jing wanted to cry. For the barest of seconds, she felt the sky collapsing on her. She swallowed hard and bit her lips to hold back her tears. This was the boy she has loved as a little brother since she was eight years old. He asked her. Again. She had to hurt him. Again.
“Will you?”
Her silence froze him.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hua Ze Lei climbed out of his car and ran. He ran and ran and ran, as if his life depended on it, all the way out of the carpark, across the front yard and through the reception. He hit the button for the lift five times, and without waiting, he hauled open the door to the emergency stairwell and flew up ten stories before surrendering to the lift to reach the eightieth floor – the top floor of the building.
He stopped in front of door ‘83’, and without ringing the doorbell, clasped his fingers on the doorknob and turned. It opened.
Xiao Qing jumped from the sofa and gaped at him with her eyes almost falling out of their sockets. Hua Ze Lei closed the door behind him and ran over to her, sinking along with his heart onto the sofa. Xiao Qing sat down beside him but he stood up again, turned away from her and took a few steps forward. She knew he was crying.
She remembered what she saw at Dao Ming Si’s house yesterday morning. In fact, she never forgot it for one second since it happened. Jing was crying on his shoulder and Xiao Qing knew that it had caused him a lot of pain and frustration. He had been strong fighting his feelings, but Jing’s behaviour yesterday had undermined him again.
She came up behind him, her eyes brimming with tears, and slowly slid her arms around his waist, leaning herself softly against his back. She had to hold him and keep him warm, or he might collapse.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was just past midnight. Dao Ming Si was sitting on a deck chair on the balcony with Shan Cai wrapped tightly in his arms. They watched the water moving past slowly below them as they cruised away from the Taiwan Strait and entered the South China Sea. Apart from the bedside lamp in their room, they were surrounded by darkness. They could not see where the water met the sky, where they came from or where they were going. Their surroundings were silent apart from the soft ripples of water below them and the distant voices of other passengers. There was no one near them. No distractions. No one watching them. No looks of jealousy or disgust. No one who could possibly stand between them, around them or with them. There was only Dao Ming Si and Shan Cai in their own secret world again.
He brushed a strand of hair away from her face and brought a soft kiss to her forehead. “Remember the first time we went out to sea together?”
Shan Cai smiled as the memory flooded back into her heart. “How could I not remember? That time, I had my first kiss. And it just so happens that it was with a pineapplehead.”
“What was wrong with my hairstyle?”
“It looked ridiculous! I was happy that you changed it.”
Dao Ming Si grinned. “I’ve always wanted to ask you… did you actually want to kiss Lei that night?”
“No!” Shan Cai replied with a gasp. “I didn’t want to kiss anyone.” Then she added with a smirk, “Especially not you.”
“What are you talking about?!” cried Dao Ming Si, “You’re the one who pushed me to the ground, pinned me down and stole MY first kiss!”
She could not help but bury her bright pink face into his chest. “It was an accident,” she mumbled, “Someone knocked me over. How many times do I have to explain this?”
“It wasn’t that bad, was it?” he asked, almost holding his breath for the answer.
She sensed that it was a serious question and looked up at him reassuringly. “Before it happened, I didn’t want or expect it to happen. But after it happened, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
“Are you telling me that you fell for me because of that kiss?”
Shan Cai smiled and leaned backed into his embrace. “No, I’m not. It wasn’t until that time you saved me from the guys at Ying De and took me to your house, that my feelings towards you began to change. At first, I was confused about why I cried when you picked me up into your arms. Later, I realised that it was because I felt very warm and protected.”
“It was my fault. I should have believed you when you said you didn’t sleep with the deejay.”
Shan Cai shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. It was through that incident that I realised how important you were to me. I remember telling you that it’s all right if nobody believed me, as long as you believed me. I don’t even know why I said that at the time.”
“You had a crush on Lei back then,” Dao Ming Si said sarcastically, “I still remember that time when I took you to Okinawa, you were hugging Lei on the beach. When we came back to Taiwan, I knew you went on a date with him.”
She giggled and wrapped her arms around Dao Ming Si’s neck affectionately. “What you don’t know is that during the whole date, I was thinking about you. Lei kept on walking ahead and I was trying to catch up with him. I even bumped into someone but he just walked on. I remember thinking that if it had been you, you would have immediately scolded the person I bumped into.”
Dao Ming Si laughed and pinched her on the cheek. “Stupid woman. Of course!”
“And remember how I slapped you after I heard that you were leaving Taiwan and going to New York with your sister?”
“You said you were extremely happy that I was leaving. But thinking back, you were crying too.”
Shan Cai nodded and hugged him tightly. “I knew that I had no right to be angry but I was so upset about the fact that I might never see you and your smile again. I think it was then that I truly realised how much I needed you. And after you risked your life to rescue me from Xiao Shun, I have to admit, my heart was completely your’s.” She blushed and tried to laugh off her embarrassment. “I don’t even know why I’m telling you this.”
“It’s okay. It’s okay,” Dao Ming Si quickly assured her, touching her face with his hands. “I like it when you’re able to tell me so calmly how you feel about me.” Although his movements seemed gentle and relaxed, his heart was beating harder and faster than ever in his twenty-one years of existence. He had never even dreamt of having this conversation with Shan Cai, let alone the many things in her heart which she has just revealed to him.
Dao Ming Si took Shan Cai’s hand and pressed it against his heart. “Tell me, Shan Cai, do you still only love me one-tenth of how much I love you?”
She remembered the answer she had given him when he ‘officially’ asked her to be his girlfriend. She had told him that she only loved him one-tenth of how much he loved her, and had no confidence that she would be able to love him as much as he loved her. Thinking back to how stubborn she used to be with her feelings, her eyes reddened and she became dangerously close to tears. “Pighead. Don’t you remember what you promised me?”
Dao Ming Si looked at her, confused. “I’m very sure that I remember everything I promise you. But what are you talking about?”
“You promised me that you would make me love you more as our relationship progresses.”
He smiled and let out a sigh of relief. “Then you should tell me if I’m keeping my promise.”
Shan Cai spread her fingers out over his heart and nodded. “Ten out of ten.”
“That’s not true.” He shook his head and reached a hand into his pocket. “Shan Cai, although I’m making you love me more, I will always love you more than you love me.” He pulled his hand back out, and in his palm was two beautiful diamond rings of while gold, both designed with the meteor shower pattern which Shan Cai was so familiar with – the symbol of Dao Ming Si’s love for her.
She felt the tears falling down her face as he gently lifted her hand – the one which she had placed over his heart – and brought it up to his lips for a kiss. “I love you, Shan Cai. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to take you to every place in the world. I want to see the sunrise and sunset with you everyday. I want to look at the stars with you every night. I want to tell you everything in my heart. I want to know everything in your heart. I want to be the person you dream about every night. I want to be the person you think about everyday. I want you to be the person who sleeps beside me every evening. I want you to be person I wake up to every morning. I want to look after you when you’re sick. I want you to look after me when I’m sick. I want to laugh with you. I want to cry with you. I want to eat with you and watch TV with you and shower with you and sleep with you. I want to spend every single moment of the rest of my life with you. Shan Cai, will you be mine forever?”
Shan Cai closed her eyes and melted in his arms as she felt the breath of each word reach into her heart. She simply could not imagine her life without Dao Ming Si because he had already completely taken over her mind, heart and soul. “Only if you will be mine forever too,” was her answer.
With the biggest smile that has ever appeared on his face, Dao Ming Si took one ring and carefully slid it onto Shan Cai’s ring finger. “I don’t believe we need an engagement,” he explained softly, “I don’t need time to reconsider whether or not I want to marry you. I knew from the first moment I looked into your eyes that you would always be mine.”
Wiping her tears from her face, Shan Cai took the other ring from his hand and slid it onto his ring finger. “I love you, Dao Ming Si. I really, really, really love you.”
“Don’t cry, Shan Cai,” he whispered, cupping her face in his hands, “I know this isn’t the best way for us to get married. We don’t have a big, grand wedding and you don’t have a beautiful wedding dress to wear. We don’t even have a witness. But I promise you with my life –”
At that moment, a brilliant array of shooting stars flashed across the sky of the South China Sea. Even the diamonds in the sky descended down onto Earth to witness Dao Ming Si and Shan Cai’s true marriage of love, to fulfill all their wishes, hopes and dreams, and to promise them a life of perfect happiness together.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Xiao You and Xi Men stopped in the middle of an overpass in the city and looked up at the stunning streaks of light darting across the sky. Grinning from ear to ear like crazy, he flung his arms around her and told her for the first time, “I love you!”
“I love you more!” Xiao You replied. She stood up on tiptoes and grabbed Xi Men’s head, delivering a wild kiss to the man of her dreams. She still could not register with her mind that he was no longer just in her dreams.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Tip me! Tip me!” yelled Aisha as she ran around the rooftop of Mei Zuo’s mansion, “Ha! You can’t get me! You can’t get me! OH MY GOODNESS!” She came to an abrupt halt and pointed up at the sky, jumping up and down excitedly. “Look, Mei Zuo!”
“I’m not falling for THAT trick again,” Mei Zuo scoffed, “I know you’re going to run off and disappear once I look away and it’ll take ages until I find…A METEOR SHOWER!” He ran over to Aisha and seized hold of her by her hand, with no intention to ever let go.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
On the sand, Hua Ze Lei had fallen asleep on Xiao Qing’s shoulder after their night stroll at the beach. Her eyes were half closing when she was suddenly surprised by a flash of brightness in the distance. Raising her head slightly, she discovered that the whole sky was illuminated by stars falling onto Earth. “Lei, wake up! There’s a meteor shower!”
Hua Ze Lei opened one eye, then the other, and a sleepy smile crept onto his face. Although he was still half asleep, he was awake enough to realise that what he truly needed now was not Jing’s love. It was to hold Xiao Qing in his arms. He did.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Dao Ming Si placed Shan Cai slowly and gently down onto the bed and climbed over her tiny body. As he dimmed the bedside lamp, he lowered his head and sealed her lips in their first kiss as husband and wife. He brought his hands up to caress her face, trailing his lips over the delicate pair of eyes which had intoxicated him and driven him crazy a little less than two years ago. He revelled in the softness and beauty of the shape of her body beneath him, and realised that he had never felt happier or more confident in his whole life. She was so sweet and submissive tonight that he wanted to kiss her until he could no longer breathe. After all, he knew that if he ever lost her, he would lose even the strength to breathe – because only she could take his breath away.
Overwhelmed by the feeling of his heart beating so tenderly against her own, Shan Cai slid her fingers through his hair and gently tugged his head down to deepen the kiss. She had nothing to hold back now. Her only desire was to love him, devote herself to him and give all of herself to this man whom she loves with her soul. She adored his desperate possessiveness of her; the strong yet gentle caresses which would only ever be given to her. She could never separate herself from him again. The weight and warmth of his body ontop of her enticed her with a sense of love, security and protection which no one but Dao Ming Si could offer. Not even once had he needed to reassure her about how much he loved her, because this man would never let even a hint of doubt reach her mind.
There was something very powerful about loving and trusting someone so much that there were no barriers anymore. He would never hurt her, humiliate her, leave her alone or break her heart. She would never hurt him, humiliate him, leave him alone or break his heart. They could fulfil any desire and show their selfish yet selfless love for each other without second thought, because they truly belonged to each other now.
As Dao Ming Si watched Shan Cai close her beautiful eyes, he felt himself melting in sheer love and adoration for his wife. The thought of spending the rest of his life with her proved to him that he was by far the most fortunate man on Earth. He ran his hand softly over her heart, reached down to slip off her dress, and took Shan Cai as his own forever.
28-Jun-2005