Secretary and a data-collector

The mountains were bathed in darkness. The rain had slightly weakened into a light pour, but the heavy clouds still hung in the sky, hiding the mood behind them.

The occasional croaking of the frogs and the light screeching of fruit bats could normally be heard during such a time, but these were muted by the loud stomping of Fei Huangjin and Guan Ting's boots against mud and wood and rocks. They occasionally stopped to check where they were, hoping against all else that they weren't lost.

They left in the morning, and now night had fallen on them.

After another half an hour, the mountain path became wider and more stable, and a few minute later, they could see the highway at the distance. They both knew that this highway led to the city.

Fei Huangjin stopped to check his phone, raising it up in the air. He trained his eyes at it until the 'X' marking the phone signal shifted, showing a single bar that meant that there was a weak, but present, network service. "Come on, come on." He muttered, dialing Ying Yue's number right away.

Guan Ting went up ahead to find anyone they could get a ride with.

Getting impatient, there seemed to be a certain coldness radiating from Fei Huangjin as he stood there with his phone against one ear. His lips were twisted in frustration and his eyebrows sunk deeper with each second that passed.

Until finally, a ringing sound reached his ears. Yes!

His eyes momentarily closed and the tightness of his chest eased a little.

The ringing sound continued six more times. However, no one answered.

***

"Well, uhh, my work there is kinda like doing data collection on various aspects…" Ying Yue grinned. That was one way to describe her spy work -- a very muted, bland, and unimaginative way to describe it, actually.

"So, let me get this straight, you're a secretary and a data-collector at some other company?" Song Yinan asked politely.

Ying Yue wanted to laugh, but she settled with flashing him a wink. "Something like that." The two proceeded to exit the restaurant, and they stood outside for a moment to settle the atmosphere between them.

"Well," Song Yinan awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, looking like he didn't know what to say.

She saved him the trouble of stammering out a few overly-polite words and went ahead with what she really wanted to talk to him about. "If you don't mind, can I call you brother?" She asked hopefully.

At first his face seemed blank. But after three seconds, he settled with a smile. "Of course."

He had never felt so comfortable to talk freely about anything with anyone save for Ying Yue -- not even with Su Jianjun. If his life was this easy before he lost his memories, perhaps he should accept it wholeheartedly. He could even bring Ying Yue along to meet his father from the Song family. His father would be delighted to know he'd found pieces of his past.

"Brother Yinan���" she started to say. Ying Yue was about to say something along the lines of 'let's meet again soon,' but her eyes travelled over to his hand, tugging at the turtleneck he was wearing, and suddenly, her curiosity got piqued. "By the way, why do you always wear a turtleneck?"

Song Yinan froze momentarily, his hand suspended on air, one finger inside the high collar of his sweater. "I have…" He gulped. "I have scars on my neck", he hesitantly replied.

"Scars?" Her eyebrows raised.

Slowly, as if he hadn't wanted anyone to see it, Song Yinan angled his head sideways and tugged his turtleneck a little lower, exposing the skin underneath. At first, Ying Yue just frowned, not comprehending what he was trying to show her. But then Song Yinan extended his neck backwards.

When the overhead light outside the restaurant hit his neck, she couldn't help but gasp.

There were light and dark linear scars between his neck and jaw, following the shape of his mandible, as if an extremely sharp knife had been used to cut through his skin long ago.

"What happened to you?" She whispered.

Song Yinan placed his turtleneck back and turned to look at her. "These were fresh after I woke up six years ago. I used to scratch them a lot and didn't bother with scar treatments, so eventually they dried up and ended up this way."

The image of his scars were freshly etched into her mind. The cuts seemed purposeful and neat, but the healing looked problematic, making it look ugly on him. Ying Yue's heart tightened. Just what happened to you back then, Ying Shen?

Ying Yue's mind was so preoccupied that she didn't realize that her phone had been buzzing in her purse, signaling an incoming call.