Imperfect Triangle

Chapter 4

"I want a brother, not a girl," he said and it was not the only thing he complained about that night.

When it was nearly midnight, Jin's mother took me to her room after bathing me. Lying next to me on a queen sized bed, she whispered in my ear. "Go to sleep and you'll see your baba tomorrow morning."

It was strange that I was not thinking about my dad. Not even my mum. I imagined the blinking eyes, the batting lashes and the freckles of Jin's mother in the dark. I concluded that I liked this lady.

"Will they ever stop playing? I can't sleep," I murmured as my eyelids got heavier. The noise of mahjong and the men's swearing seemed everlasting.

"If you're staying with us tomorrow night, I'll take you to my mother's. You will get a better sleep there," she assured me, patting my chest. Seconds ago she said my dad would pick me up tomorrow. She lied, I assumed.

"Is your mother as kind as you?" I asked.

"Well...not really. She's very strict but you'll love the food she cooks."

"How does Jin sleep every night?"

"He doesn't. He plays until he's exhausted. Crazy that he needs so little sleep." I listened to her laughter when she spoke of her son.

That was the first night with Jin's family, and I have never seen my parents again. Every piece of my life has been reshuffled like mahjong tiles ever since. I switched to a different school and lived in a different house. The way I walked and the words I used were passively changed.

My name remained the same. I'm still Wu Qian-xue but my surname holds an alien meaning to me after Mr. and Mrs. Wu vanished. Regardless of their cruel abandonment, I hope they are not dead. Wherever they are, I hope they are not suffering.

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My phone buzzes frantically on the table. I jerk my arm out from under my head and find myself waking up in a deserted 24-hour McDonalds, again(A Nobel Prize to whoever invented that).

It is the third night in a row I try dodging the awkward silence at home. I will probably catch a cold from the extended stay in an air-conditioned room, but the low temperature I experienced is pleasurable compare to Grandma's icy glare. I only need an other round of twenty-four-herbs to boost my defense system.

"Hello?" annoyed, I answered the phone without glancing the screen. It's probably just another scam call informing me that there's a mysterious package for me or luring me to borrow some cash with unbelievably low-interest rates.

"It's me."

"Who?"

"Toshio. Did I wake you?"

I wipe away the saliva drooling down my mouth and sit straight, then I realize Mr Morita can't see how disgusting I am. His call startles me as I thought he must have forgotten about me by now.

"No, how are you?" I ask, shaking away my tiredness.

"I'm good. I'm in Tokyo to run some family errands."

"I see. Wait a minute. Am I charged for an international call?"

"No, I'm pretty sure I'm the one who's paying."

"Okay. Sorry for asking." Dang, I'm embarrassing myself, I think to myself as I cover my reddened cheek with my palm.

"Don't be. Where are you now?"

It's twelve o'clock. I should be on my bed, so I lie.

"I'm alone in a hotel room too," he replies. I can't help but picture him wearing an expensive ivory cream bathrobe, gazing at the gleaming Tokyo Tower through the windows, probably holding a glass of whisky on the rocks. I also sense something odd in his voice. It's attractively deep as usual, but it is also veiled by something else.