Faith in Me

Chapter 4 - The Day After

"Where are they now?" Yang Sao asked.

Xi Ze scrolled through his text messages. "Didi went home after the scenes got rescheduled."

"Yue's leaving now," Kang whispered, pointing towards the door where Yue and Yangjin-jie were gathering their belongings.

Yang Sao took in Yue's slackened posture and silent demeanor. For the first time, Yue exited the building without bidding anyone goodbye.

Something's definitely wrong with the kids.

***

Dylan aimlessly paced the length of his bedroom floor before wandering out into the living room. He sat down on the couch and turned on the television. He flipped through a few channels but nothing interesting was on. He looked at his watch – the basketball game was not going to air for another few hours. He sighed dejectedly and ambled into the bathroom, peering curiously at his reflection in the mirror. He turned from one side to the other before leaning in closer – at least he was getting some color back in his face. It was fortunate that of all the F4 members, he was the one least prone to a hangover. Of course, it probably helped that he threw up most of the liquor the night before. He also vaguely recalled Hao Ge forcing two aspirin pills into his mouth and making him down a bottle of water before tucking him into bed.

Thank God for Hao Ge.

Thank God for F4.

Dylan's stomach grumbled and a strong wave of hunger suddenly overcame him when he realized he hadn't eaten anything all day. He padded into the kitchen and evaluated the sad contents of his fridge: one lone egg, a half carton of expired milk, and a leftover boba drink from four days ago. He briefly considered drinking the boba but his delicate stomach roiled in protest and he quickly slapped himself. "Low point," he muttered as he dumped the boba down the sink. Suddenly, he was sorely regretting his choice to put off grocery shopping in favor of playing those extra League of Legend games with Xi Zi yesterday morning.

He returned to the living room and texted F3 to see if anyone wanted to get food with him. Almost immediately, as if they were all together, he received three replies in tandem: a green vomiting emoji from Kang; a sleepy emoji from Kuan; and a middle finger emoji from Xi Ze.

Dylan winced. He did put his friends through the ringer last night. Pulling out his iPad, he quickly made some purchases – a bulk package of extra spicy Big Roll for Xi Ze; a super plush neck pillow for Kuan; and a deranged looking clown clock for Kang. Feeling a bit less guilty, he found himself scrolling through his phone until his finger stopped at Yue's last text message. Normally, she would be his fourth choice as a food buddy after F3 but it was almost a given that she was still not speaking to him after what had transpired last night.

Dylan sighed. He had been royally pissed off when she had run off in her van and left him standing alone in the street; however, he had to admit that by this morning, that anger had mostly disappeared and now he was experiencing an unfamiliar restricted feeling in his chest. Something like guilt and regret. But why? He was only trying to help her and protect her. It wasn't his fault that she insisted on suffering when there was absolutely no reason for it!

He was silently contemplating who else he could call when the phone in his hand unexpectedly rang.

Yang Sao?

***

An hour later, Dylan was grasping three grocery bags as he rode the elevator up to Yang Sao's apartment. He was touched when she had called to check on him, and they had chatted a few minutes before she mentioned that her son was postponing his visit and she was on her own for dinner. Since he was also craving food, he offered to make her his favorite meal – hot pot – complete with his super special, super secret home-made Sichuan dipping sauce. She had readily agreed and he promised to be by her place within the hour after picking up the necessary ingredients from the grocery store.

Happy that he wouldn't be eating alone, Dylan bounced on the heels of his feet and energetically pressed the doorbell multiple times before the door swung open.

"Aiyah, Didi, once is enough!" Yang Sao scolded gently as she let him in.

He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."

They made their way to the kitchen as Dylan began unpacking the grocery bags. Yang Sao's eyes widened as he continued to pull out one item after another. "So many things for one little hot pot!"

"I don't play around when it comes to hot pot, Yang Sao," Dylan replied seriously, his eyes quickly scanning the counter to make sure he wasn't missing anything. "Do you have an apron I can borrow?"

Yang Sao smiled to herself as she walked over to the pantry and retrieved a bright yellow apron imprinted with small white bunnies and bright pink flowers. She turned to hand the apron to Dylan and almost laughed out loud at the look of horror on his face. "Is that the only apron you have?" he asked politely, his eyes darting desperately around the kitchen for another apron. Yang Sao nodded innocently.

Dylan sighed. He reluctantly took the overly feminine apron from her and put it on. He made a face when he felt the fluffy balls dangling at the end of the tie strings bounce against his back as he moved towards the counter. Thank God only Yang Sao was present or he'd have a tough time keeping up his manly image in this atrocity. He looked up and saw that Yang Sao was staring at him in amusement; not wanting to be on the losing end of this hopeless battle, he leaned down towards her and flashed his most handsome smile. "I can make anything look shuai," he said in a conspiratorial tone as he winked at her.

She refused to react. "A wink only takes one eye, Didi."

Yang Sao was floored when he immediately executed a perfect one-eyed wink. "I know, but I like to do things my way," he laughingly responded and she couldn't help but smile at his playful antics. What a charming rascal, she thought affectionately to herself as he busied with some vegetables.

None too quickly, she realized that she had allowed him to distract her into dilly-dallying. She harrumphed. Dylan was dangerously good at making people forget the task at hand when he was engaging them in conversation.

Her phone beeped and she checked her text messages. "Didi, I need to go call my son. Can you handle this by yourself?"

He set a pot of water on the stove and waved her off.

Yang Sao slowly made her way into the bedroom and perched gingerly on the edge of her bed. She patted her hair to make sure her bun was in place and smoothed out a few wrinkles from the bedspread. She studied her nails. She wiped her glasses clean. She straightened some frames on her nightstand.

A few seconds later, the doorbell rang. "Didi, can you please get the door?" she called out to the kitchen.

Dylan responded in the affirmative and she waited expectantly for the sound of the door opening.

Almost simultaneously, she heard two very shocked voices:

"Shen Yue?!"

"Wang He Di?!"

Yang Sao smiled. Let the games begin.

***

Author's Note:

Hello again!

My apologies for the somewhat delayed update. Life's been a bit busy and I'm playing catch up, but rest assured that I have an outline for this story and intend to write it all until I reach the ending I have in mind. :)

As always, thank you so much for your continued readership and support. It really means a lot to me that you guys are enjoying this story and that you care whether I update or not. I appreciate you!

Until next time,

J.