49_Forgotten Story

"What- you mean??"

"Exactly what I said." Mu Lihai returned his gaze back to the tablet. He looked bored.

"Should we ask for Xu Cheng's opinion on this matter?" Zhu Kang asked Mu Lihai, still a bit perturbed from what he just heard.

"Well.. we should. He's the one who knows me best after all." Mu Lihai then reclined his back onto the soft cushion of his swivel chair.

"I'll give him a call to come visit in the afternoon then."

"Thanks, Zhu Kang." Mu Lihai put down the tablet and he grabbed a blue colored food cointainer instead. He opened it up. What came to him was a perfect line-up of chicken karaage and tamagoyaki, it even had mini tomatoes and salad!

"How cute.." Mu Lihai smiled brightly. A breakfast made for him by his girlfriend! He couldn't ask for more. And while he was fantasizing, Zhu Kang creeped closer to have a look on what he had brought. He had been meaning to ask Mu Lihai about this cute blue box.

"Oh.." when Zhu Kang saw what it was- he instinctively took a few steps back.

What a farce! Feeding dog food to him early in the morning again! He knew who made it. It must be Mu Lihai's girlfriend- Li Yao. Madam Mu wouldn't make a bento for his son like this! And Zhu Kang was certain that Mu Lihai wouldn't want his mother to make it for him either.

"You're whipped." Zhu Kang said defensively to which Mu Lihai scoffed.

"What do you ever know about having a girlfriend huh? I bet you're still a virgin with that lame glasses on." Mu Lihai remarked. He sounded very sarcastic that Zhu Kang felt wronged. What did he ever do to get such a cold boss like Mu Lihai?

"My first impression of you has now go down the drain.." the assistant mumbled lowly then he excused himself to resume his work outside. Leaving Mu Lihai in his office alone, having a nice time with his delicious, precious meal.

*

Lunchtime arrived shortly and so did Xu Cheng. He walked himself to the top floor in leisure- no one cared what he was doing since he was a friend of the president himself.

Knocks sounded from outside of Mu Lihai's office but he was in the phone with a business partner. He didn't hear Xu Cheng outside.

But the doctor didn't mind his manners and went straight inside after his knocking was perhaps ignored. There he saw Mu Lihai standing near the floor to ceiling window, looking down on the falling snow outside.

He was donned in a thick leather long coat along with his outer suit and his usual black gloves. Xu Cheng marveled on how his best friend was still able to wear such clothes when the temperature inside his office was like Sahara dessert.

"Hey." Xu Cheng made himself visible when he saw that Mu Lihai had ended his call.

"How are you doing?" he asked the man.

"Fine. Still feeling cold no matter how much time I tried not to." Mu Lihai joked. Then he went to his desk and took a file. The same one about the investigation on the accident six years ago.

Without saying word, he handed it over to Xu Cheng. The doctor took it with furrowed eyebrows but he didn't voice out questions. He proceeded to open the file and read it.

A minute went by and Xu Cheng eyes circled dramatically.

"How.. what?" he was lost in words.

"It's surprising, right?" Mu Lihai chuckled upon seeing his friend's reaction. It was the same as Zhu Kang.

"Hell, it's not surprising- it's shocking!" Xu Cheng continued reading further below.

"I can't believe it. Is fate pranking you? So how about Li Yao? Does she know about it?" Xu Cheng took a seat opposite Mu Lihai. He put the file down and faced his friend.

"She knows. And we've talked about it." Mu Lihai told Xu Cheng.

"But.. no I mean- what happened to you guys now that she knew?" Xu Cheng inquired worriedly.

Xu Cheng knew Li Yao was a good and suitable woman for Mu Lihai when he first introduced her. Even though she wasn't someone from the upper society, he felt that she was going to be a very important existence for Mu Lihai.

The first time he talked to her in the hospital where Mu Lihai was admitted before, he found her very gentle and likable. That was why he left Mu Lihai in her care without even asking for her opinion.

"Just so you know, we didn't break up." Mu Lihai started. There was a hint of serenity in his tone.

The confused Xu Cheng wanted to ask how he managed to stay sane after knowing that he was the 'perpetrator' in killing Li Yao's mother on the road. But he kept his silence instead. He was aware how sensitive this topic was for Mu Lihai. He was certain that Mu Lihai wasn't in the wrong but the man himself wasn't convinced.

But Mu Lihai was talking about the issue as if he was asking about the weather..

"Don't tell me.. it went well?" Xu Cheng asked. This time, he was a bit hopeful.

"Yeah. We talked about it and we're fine now. She doesn't blame me. But.." Mu Lihai's voice trailed off with his attention back to the window.

".. she may be blaming herself for what happened." he said.

"Why?" Xu Cheng looked more confused now than several seconds ago.

"Because her mother intentionally ran out to my car while I was driving. She was trying to kill herself." Mu Lihai didn't waver when he told Xu Cheng the truth. The look in his eyes made his friend became unable to say anything back. He was speechless.

"I know it sounds absurd but it's the truth. Even I have a hard time believing it too." the man sighed with fingers interwined and his elbows on top of the desk. He then narrated the whole story to Xu Cheng.

"What a plot twist.." Xu Cheng found it hard to believe but he didn't have a reason not to trust Mu Lihai.

"So it's a suicide all along? Man.. don't you ever resent her?" Xu Cheng couldn't help but ask. He tried to use the most polite words possible but it came out the same nonetheless.

"Who? Li Yao or her mother?" Mu Lihai asked Xu Cheng back.

"I don't know about resentment, Cheng. Maybe I do resent her mother for this strange turn of events but more than that, I'm feeling sorry for her." Mu Lihai answered in all honesty. This was what he truly felt when Li Yao told him everything.

She had narrated the events of her weekend and her discovery of her mother's diary very vividly. He almost felt like he was there with her when everything happened. He believed in every single thing she had said.

After that, Xu Cheng collected himself rather fast. Mu Lihai expected this from him. Since he was his doctor.

"So I guess you don't feel obligated to take the blame anymore?" he faced Mu Lihai again. Trying to discern the man's emotion.

Mu Lihai only gave him a shrug and it was a sign that Mu Lihai didn't think that it was relevant anymore.

Even after all these years of being friends with Mu Lihai- Xu Cheng still couldn't fathom the idea of Mu Lihai getting weak over something that he himself wasn't sure of.

He knew that Mu Lihai didn't quite remember what happened on that rainy day. But Mu Lihai claimed to be getting nightmares almost every night after the incident occurred.

Mu Lihai wasn't quite a good boy when he was in his teenage years, he was carefree and a bit reckless. He wasn't the type to suddenly become meek even though he was the one to hit someone with his car. And Xu Cheng knew this.

But somehow, something in him changed along when the accident happened. Like he was a totally different person. Mu Lihai became depressed and he started to shut himself out. He was feeding himself with negativity and he blamed himself for what happened.

Sometimes Xu Cheng doubted whether Mu Lihai would be able to get through his life again. He was really a lost cause before. And no people knew of this except for him and Mu Lihai's parents.

"Lihai." Xu Cheng suddenly asked for Mu Lihai's attention. The man turned to look at him.

"What?"

"You really don't remember what exactly happened six years ago?" Xu Cheng inquired.

"Where did that come from?" Mu Lihai raised an eyebrow.

"Well.. we always avoided the topic but now that you're alright with it.. I got curious." Xu Cheng reasoned.

"I'm your doctor so I guess I want to know the real case?" he continued.

Hearing that, Mu Lihai retracted his hands from the desk as he frowned hard. He tried to collect his memories back but nothing came up like a forgotten story. Not even the model of the car he used on that day.

How could that be..?

He was always blaming himself- getting agitated over that one incident. How could he ever forget the details of what had transpired before?

All of a sudden, a figure of a woman he knew so well came up in his head. This was the woman he had hit with his car- Li Yao's mother. She was talking to him, saying something but whenever she was trying to talk to him before, he would brush it away and close his eyes shut. He didn't even try to listen. Because he was afraid to hear what she would say to him in his nightmares.

And this time also, he couldn't hear a thing she said.

Mu Lihai tried to remember again but he got nothing. Why couldn't he remember? He was so fixated on this before.

Was this what happened once people came to terms with their fear? They eventually forgot about it?

'Maybe that's the reason..' he mused inside his head.

Then a knock threw Mu Lihai back to his senses. He saw Zhu Kang and Xu Cheng greeting each other and he stood up abruptly.

"The meeting?" he asked his assistant and Zhu Kang nodded in affirmative, he easily understood what meeting Mu Lihai was talking about.

"It's starting in another 10 minutes." Zhu Kang told Mu Lihai and his tone surprised Xu Cheng.

"Wow.. you do sound like an assistant, Zhu Kang." the doctor teased.

"And you don't sound like a doctor at all, Xu Cheng." Zhu Kang's counterattack caused Mu Lihai to laugh slightly. His amused expression irked something in Xu Cheng and that was his ego.

Mu Lihai forgot what he was thinking about just now and he was back in the mode of working.

One possibility of him losing his memory didn't even occur to him.