Xueer exits her car with a small bouquet of flowers in hand. She walks inside the cemetery until she has reached the tombstone that she came for. She bends down to place the small bouquet before moving back and staring at the name engraved on the stone.
"Hey..." she quietly muttered. "How are you up there...? I hope you're doing fine..." A sad smile rises up from her lips. "I'm doing fine too....Well....Kind of..."
She crouches down and traces the name in the grave stone as a lone tear escapes her eyes. She quickly wipes it away and takes a deep breath to control her emotions.
"I miss you..."
She looks at the tombstone one last time before standing up and leaving for her next destination.
As she arrives, the people who have became familiar with her, sends a smile on her way. Xueer returns the smile to each of them until she has reached the elevator. She fiddles with the hem of her shirt and nervously exhales as she waits for the lift to reach her floor.
When the elevator doors opened, the girl takes shaky steps until she has reached the very familiar door. Before she could reach for the handle, the door opens to reveal a person that she has gotten acquainted with, about to exit the room. She was surprised to see Xueer while the latter was confused to see her.
"Did something happen...?" Xueer nervously asks.
She moved aside and Xueer saw more people huddled in the room. Her heart starts to beat erratically upon recognizing them. When the older woman sees her hands shaking, she grabs it and pulls her back to reality.
"Hey, it's fine."
Xueer nods her head and takes slow steps inside the room. The people inside made way for her once they saw her. The moment Xueer saw the subject of their interest, all the noise disappeared from her ears as tears immediately made themselves visible.
"...Xu Jiaqi....."
As soon as the barely audible whisper reaches her ears, the girl tore her gaze form the window and slowly faces her caller. Her dull eyes were suddenly filled with emotions as her eyes widens upon seeing the woman in front of her.
The doctors observingly watches Xueer make her way towards the girl and takes a seat on her bed.
A teary chuckle went past her lips as she brings a hand up to cup the side of the girl's face. When her hand made contact with the skin of her face, Jiaqi's tears fell one by one. Seeing her cry, the tears that's been welling in Xueer's eyes also overflowed.
The hand that was previously resting on the side of her face, traveled to her nape and gently pulled her in her embrace.
One by one, the doctors take their leave to give the couple their much needed private time together.
~~~~~~~~~
When all their tears have dried up and their emotions have a stabled, a doctor comes in to examine the patient. Unlike when she just woke up, the doctor was able to gather information with the help of Xueer.
When asked about her condition, Jiaqi said she didn't feel any particular pain. But she said that she was feeling extremely exhausted. Upon hearing this, the doctor told her to either eat a proper meal or try to get a real sleep. Jiaqi chose to eat a meal prompting the doctor to leave and ask one of the nurses to deliver her a suitable meal.
After Xueer excused herself to take the call from her father, Youshuo enters to check on her. Jiaqi repeats the same thing that she told the doctor when asked about her condition.
When he was about to say something, he sees the frown that was forming on his cousin's features.
"What's wrong?"
Jiaqi's frown deepens. "I feel like.....I'm forgetting...something important..."
Youshuo takes a nearby stool and places it beside her bed.
"I can't tell what it is....but...I feel like it's something very important..."
"Hey," Youshuo says while giving her knee a soft pat. "It'll come by." he assures.
"The doctor didn't said anything about amnesia, right?"
Jiaqi shakes her head.
"Then, you'll be fine. Don't stress on it too much. You have lots of time to remember it."
Their conversation was cut short when Xueer enters with the meal that was prepared for Jiaqi.
Youshuo gives her an assuring smile and a light squeeze on the shoulder, telling her that everything will be fine. Jiaqi nods her head in return and watches the doctor takes his leave.
After they were left alone again, Xueer proceeds to feed Jiaqi and massage the sore spots in the latter's body.
"Do you want to take a bath next or just lie down for now?" Xueer asks her after she finished tidying up the empty plates.
"Lie down for now," Jiaqi answers.
The younger helped her with lying down and Jiaqi patted the empty spot beside her to beckon the former to lie down with her. Xueer followed the request without hesitance then snuggles closely to the older's body.
"You dyed your hair purple," Jiaqi says as her hand brushes the younger's hair while the latter hums in contentment with the given attention.
"Do you like it?" Xueer cutely asks.
Jiaqi smiles at cuteness and nods her head.
"When did you do it?"
"Last month,"
Jiaqi's hand momentarily stopped moving before she continued with the action.
"Last month...." she quietly mumbles but still loud enough for her girlfriend to hear.
Xueer became worried upon hearing her tone. When Jiaqi sensed this, she tried to cover up her distress to assure the younger but the emotions shown in her eyes betrayed her. She sighed to herself and nuzzles her nose in Xueer's hair as she holds her closer.
"What happened the past month...?"
Xueer thought back to all the things that has happened and slowly updates her. Jiaqi smiled after hearing that all of them has been doing well. But there was something else that she wanted to know.
"Xueer..." she hesitantly says.
The younger looked at her curiously with a hint of worry.
"...Can I ask...what happened at the competition...?"
As she asked the question, Xueer subconsciously tightly gripped her hospital gown and her breath became shaky. Jiaqi immediately whispered words of comfort in her ear to calm her nerves.
She wasn't expecting her to still continue after her reaction so she made sure to reassure her and make her presence known as the younger speaks.
~~~~~~~~~
The medical team immediately ran towards the couple while the guards either went to the backstage, surrounded the bees' seats, or spread among the rest of the competitors. The rest of the team were ushered outside of the venue when most of them starts to give traumatized reactions.
As the ambulance came, a student--undoubtedly from the Bees University--was dragged out from the backstage. Xueer glances at the smirking student with a pained expression as she follows her girlfriend's body to the ambulance.
Once Zhaoyue recovered from the shock and saw the student getting dragged into a guard's car, she contacted the police and told them that a suspect for attempt murder will be brought to their station. And to ensure that the case will be thoroughly taken care of, like what Jiaqi requested, she added that the victim was from a first class family.
When that was solved, she walked over to where the rest of her team and the production was.
"Zhaoyue,"
"Yes ma'am,"
"You're close with the YC students so I'm asking you to check on them." One of the higher ups from the production says. "If they can still compete, we'll give them time to condition their selves then proceed with the competition. If they're not, then we'll have to pull them out. The rest of you check on your assigned school. If almost half are no longer in the condition, this competition will be stopped." she adds.
Everyone nods their heads and went towards their assigned teams while Zhaoyue stayed.
"Ma'am?"
"Yes? Do you need anything else?"
"Can I ask what will happen to the Bees?"
The woman sighs. "First, we need to make sure that student stops causing trouble. For good."
Zhaoyue nods.
"But if we can't give enough proof for her to end up behind the bars, the production is big and known enough to blacklist their whole school from any competitions and from the entertainment industry."
Zhaoyue sighs in relief and thanks her before doing her given task.
~~~
In the infirmary, six more bodies lie down on the bed, all with oxygen masks. Zhaoyue talked to the doctor and asked if they are in any shape to compete. The doctor replied saying that four of them was passed out when they arrived in the infirmary while the other two were terribly shaking. He also informed her that another one of their friends seemed really shaken up but didn't want to be at the infirmary.
Zhaoyue thanked the doctor for the information and went to search for the rest of the YC students.
She searched everywhere until she saw Yanni absentmindedly seating alone at one of the benches under the three. She quickly figured that she was the other friend that the doctor was talking about. She carefully approaches the girl and sat beside her in silence.
After a while, Zhaoyue heard sniffles beside her. She shifted her position and pulled her old friend in a hug.
As she got engulfed with the hug, Yanni completely broke down.
Zhaoyue just kept on rubbing her back until she has calmed down. She didn't say a word to the latter as she guides her back to the infirmary. She asked the doctor to keep an extra eye at the only conscious girl in the room as she takes her leave to report that more half of the girls in their team is in nowhere state to compete.
As she made her report, she learned that more than half of the schools were also in no condition to compete. So like what they had discussed, the competition was completely cancelled.
~~~
At the hospital, Xueer impatiently waits outside the operating room. She didn't even heard the approaching footsteps nor her name being called until she felt a tap on her back.
Xinwen and Yuzhuo mirrored the same scared and worried emotion that fills her eyes.
Her body defeatedly slumped towards the two and hugged them as tight as she can. But she didn't cry. She couldn't cry. Her head was filled of all the possible news that the doctors will deliver to them.
After what felt like eternity, the head surgeon for Jiaqi's operation comes out and informs the three that the bluenette made it through the operation.
"However," he quickly added. "We don't know when she'll wake up."
Xueer shakily nodded her head as the doctor shows them the way to Jiaqi's room.
While the doctor requests for Xinwen and Yuzhuo to go with him, Xueer stayed beside Jiaqi with her hand tightly gripping the latter's semi-cold ones. That was the only time when she let her tears fell once again as sobs escape her lips.
~~~~~~~~~
"Then...after two days you were transferred here...and then the next day you–"
The purple head's voice cracked and Jiaqi took it as a cue to pull her even closer and caress her hair. She has a guess on what happened next so she told the girl that she didn't have to continue the story.
When the younger calmed down, she looked up to her girlfriend with red glassy eyes and tells her, "Let's not do this again."
Jiaqi immediately saw herself three years ago as the words left her lover's lips. She saw the same fear that clouded her thoughts and the same anxiousness that came with it reflecting in her eyes. And it pained her to see the that woman she loves the most is hurting because of her.