10 | Sunshine - Part 1

What was supposed to be a perfect holiday had turned into one tumultuous night. Moreover, it was ruined by an actual detective in a suit. Though Taiwan wasn’t a big country, the chance of her finding a man like him was one to a million.

She always enjoyed riding the bus to many places but the ride she took at that moment was filled with anxiety. Sighing was all she did every single minute to release the tense within her stomach.

A mirthful giggle from two high schoolers across her seat caught her attention. They were squealing over a magazine with the poster drama of ‘Eyes of The Ocean’ on its cover. The main leads, starred by Lin Yiwen and Zhu Guocheng were staring at each other with the eyes of true lovers. It was a drama about a man and a mermaid, focusing on fate and unrequited love.

The drama was booming and became the trending topic since its first episode that the poster was ubiquitously seen in every corner of the city. There wasn’t even a day without her seeing a taxi or an advertising truck carrying the poster passing around.

The mermaid was running away from her kingdom because of the political marriage with a merman from another sea. The merman was starred by another handsome man called Ma Chuanyi, which Meiying thought looked really cool in a suit.

‘But I don’t mind having a forced marriage with a gorgeous man like Chuanyi! She doesn't have to run away, really!’ said one of the teens with kittenish giggles.

It was the dumbest thing she ever heard.

‘Try to be in my shoes and let me see if you can still giggle like that.’ Meiying darkly mumbled to herself while resting her chin on her palm. Falling in love with something that was forced didn’t make sense to her.

The large window on the bus showing how people doing their daily normal and suddenly she felt so envious. Ever since her sudden encounter with a young man named Huijing, she wasn’t sure her normal life would be normal anymore. Sighing, Meiying glanced at the name card Huijing left for her last night. The golden logo of the Criminal Investigation Bureau on the corner left looked authentic enough and the office had confirmed there was someone named Wang Huijing in Crime Investigation Affairs Division.

After Huijing left, her father changed into a completely different person. No matter how stubborn she was to keep asking her father the questions, he remained silent. It was the first time she saw him crying like he did last night since the death of her mother, or even worse than that. Being the mighty and strong he was, never in her wildest imagination had she expected to see him in such a state. She squeezed her eyes shut whenever the moment the man told her that her father used to be a criminal in the past. Each of her memory with her father was telling her the otherwise.

Though she didn’t like meeting the man for the second time, she must have an eye-to-eye talk with Huijing without any interference. She could only hope that Huijing could tell her a hint about their past. She was already involved; she had the right to know.

The bus announced that they were close to her destination so she pushed the button on her side. When they arrived, the high schoolers across her also rose from their seat and still giggling to each other.

‘It was hard to suddenly engaged to someone but that will eventually work out in the end, right?’ said one of them.

‘Yeah, love would eventually win in the end!’

Very naïve . . . But she could understand knowing they were still young and still idealistic about romance. She did too, before her mother passed away. Ever since then, romance was nothing but summer birds that swiftly fleeting away. Her romance life was never that of fairy tales—more like horror stories.

‘Study, study, study! Is that all you have in your mind?! You’re nothing but a nerd bitch!’

Meiying rolled her eyes at the memory. Her friends kept telling her that romance was like chocolate, it tasted sweet and bitter at the same time but that was the reason it was perfect. She tried, but she tasted nothing but bitterness.

Love was all about a selfless sacrifice.

But when Huijing made her choose, she started to hate herself.

Because the first thing that came into her mind wasn't her father, but her career.

She had made it that far, sacrificing her times and relationships. She just couldn’t let anything smashed the fruit of her hard work into nothing.

Meiying had to lean on the railing to stabilise herself. All of sudden, her emotion took over her that she had to squeeze her eyes and shook her head. Taking a deep breath, Meiying tried to ease the uneasiness that was growing on her stomach.

‘Are you okay, Miss?’ asked one of the high schoolers that were standing before her.‘Do you need some help?’

Suddenly, Meiying felt so bad for thinking how dumb their conversations were earlier.

‘Yeah, I’m okay. Don’t worry.’ Meiying pulled a lackluster smile at the two.

‘Our school is near if you need some medicine,’ said the other.

‘I’m just feeling a little uncomfortable since this morning but I’m all good. Thank you so much for asking.’ Meiying flashed an ‘OK’ gesture with her fingers.

‘Okay. Be careful on your way, Miss.’ They slightly bowed before tapping their cards on the paying machine. Meiying waved her hand at them before tapping hers and sighed as she took off from the bus. She looked in the direction of the girls and faintly smiled. They couldn’t help her problem, but sometimes a little thoughtfulness from strangers could make her day slightly better.

She still had an hour before her meeting time with Huijing so she decided to buy a scallion pancake just so she wouldn’t vomit on Huijing’s face when she met him later. Meiying joined the queue and it didn’t take long until she was two persons away from getting her order. However, the man before her suddenly shoved his hands everywhere from his shirt pocket to his pants’ pockets. He scratched his head and looking around with uneasiness.

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author's note

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Scallion Pancake [蔥油餅] is a savoury, unleavened flatbread folded with oil and minced scallions. Unlike Western pancakes, it is made from dough instead of batter. It is pan-fried, giving it crisp edges and chewy texture. A unique characteristic of scallion pancakes is the many layers that make up the interior, which help to contribute to its chewy texture. There are a lot of variations these days and the popular one is the one that rolled like kebabs with different flavours and fillings.

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