That Promise

Part 2

Mu Qing woke up, and, lifting a corner of his silk eye mask, looked at the time: it was way before the alarm. He was relieved: no weird dreams! See, it was all stress. He should know better than getting all worked out, thinking too much about a certain person, about the past. Now he wondered if he looked stupid reaching out to Feng Xin.

Nah it's not that he's really going... huh, I really couldn't care less, he thought.

Anyway, time for his yoga, then skin care routine and so on: his birthday party would be in just a few days, he had to look and feel his best, while keeping on top of all the projects he was working on of course. He'd dress extra sharp that day, he'd have a meeting first thing in the morning.

"Mr Mu, I got all the details now for your trip to Tokyo in two weeks. The client sent the schedule of what they prepared for you, but either than that I kept your agenda quite free as you asked – "

Well yes what would be the point of going abroad for a project and just do back-to-back meetings in impersonal offices, not catching any glimpse of the local culture at all? He was sure people thought he was doing some tourism on the job, but well, the results spoke for themselves every time he returned from some business trip.

"Thank you", he replied, looking at the papers his secretary handed over, all in order, in a plastic wallet. "You booked a flight to Haneda Airport, that's great – "

He remembered the first time he went to Japan, years ago, when, on his way back he met Feng Xin by chance at the airport. Not him again, Mu Qing thought with a hint of annoyance. That was long ago, they had just graduated, were still on their first jobs, and Feng Xin was with a woman he was dating at the time, Ling Wen.

Mu Qing and Ling Wen knew each other, even though he wished he didn't, and he could tell she felt the same, as the three of them greeted one another awkwardly. A few days after, Feng Xin was waiting for him just outside work, looking serious, with both his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

He went straight to the point, "Has anything happened between you and Ling Wen in the past?"

Well then, Mu Qing thought, he must be so into her, I better just... tell him everything.

"I wouldn't want any contact with such a person", he replied, giving a neither should you look, and went on, "Ling Wen herself must have told you I work here, and so did she. Account manager. She left around six months ago, due to unethical practices".

Mu Qing decided not to leave any doubts on what unethical practices were, adding, "She slept with clients to secure big accounts, that is. If you don't believe me – "

He remembered Feng Xin got strangely silent. He's always had a bit of a temper, so Mu Qing really expected him to be pissed off and shout at him, maybe even try to beat him up – he rolled his eyes at that – but he didn't. Maybe he was just in shock. Well then.

Mu Qing shrugged, "I have to go. If you excuse me – "

•

"Feng Xin, there must be a lot going on at work for you to have this frown early in the morning", Mrs Lan, the old lady who walked her dog every day, said when he stopped to greet her during his usual three lap warm-up in the park. She smiled and patted his face, adding, "Take it easy, my boy".

Feng Xin gave her a strained smile, "That's right, I'm so busy with work. I will, thanks Mrs Lan".

That morning, his thoughts went to Ling Wen, a woman he dated for some time after he graduated. She was older, in her early 30s, but he didn't mind: she was beautiful, slender with cold blue eyes and black hair, hard to get just right to make Feng Xin immediately attracted. Fucking high maintenance too: she only liked classy restaurants and such.