The Great Artist // NINE PERCENT Chen Linong

22

○ Ne ne ne ne ne never stop ○
○ He just wants to collect more Barbie dolls ○

"Did I mishear that?" Jocelyn said as soon as she heard the news. "What is wrong with already moving on from him?" the artist asked. "Girl I didn't know that you're capable of doing such thing I... I thought you were going to cry for months and then it would leave a scar in your heart that you can never erase" Jane said.

The three are at a boba tea café in Taiwan. The artist's two friends were coincidentally at Taiwan as well, 1 for the sole purpose of a mission and the other for a business trip. They simply chose the location just because nothing beats Taiwan's boba tea, nothing at all at that.

"I thought that I was too" the artist bitterly chuckled. "Was what?" the spy asked. "I thought that I was going to act like those teenage girls breaking up with their lovers and crying over them for the next 2 years and then kill themselves. You know, those cliché movies. But I might have help from someone... special" she smiled.

"Spill the beans, who helped you? Guy or girl? Their occupation? Age?" the businesswoman started asking a whole series of questions. "It's HIM isn't it? The man you brought to Bouvet Island, the writer, it's him isn't it?" the spy asked. "You catch on fast" she said.

"I'm a spy, expect nothing less from me" the spy said. "Yes it is him, and I must say that he did a good job in helping me move on, especially when he knew exactly how it felt to be used in all sorts of ways" she said. "So who is that lucky man?" Jocelyn asked, sipping the boba milk tea she bought for herself.

"The writer we met the last time I joined an exhibition, when I was still underestimating myself, putting myself down, so naïve and didn't even realize that he was cheating on me. That man who helped me realize that I truly am the great artist" she said. "The writer? You mean... Chen Linong?" Jocelyn asked in shock as the artist nodded.

"But tell me, what did you truly say to yourself when you moved on from him? What made you move on that fast?" Jane asked. The artist smiled and said "I told to myself that he was just using me, that I was just one of the many puppets he had, that I was just a pretty little doll for him waiting to be destroyed by him, and that I WAS one" she said.

"The writer helped me realized that when he does that, he doesn't deserve me physically, mentally, emotionally, by my soul, heart, body, and mind" she said. "Fancy seeing you here" a voice asked. They turned their heads and saw a tall man dressed in formal business attire.

The artist stood up from her seat, her look stern as she muttered his name "Mu Ziyang" "Hello to you too" he said with a disgustingly bright smile. "What do you want with me?" she asked. "I wanted to apologize... and to know if you would want to get back together" he said.

She couldn't believe what she had just heard. Get back together? After everything he's done he wants them to get back together? It was unbelievable of him to think that lowly of her. Did he think of her as some sort of lovesick girl who would get back with him in a split second?

Maybe if the writer hadn't helped her then she would, or not. She has lost interest in him anyways. "I beg your pardon?" was all she could muster up the energy to say to him. "Oh baby, I know you still love me and still want me, so come and get what you want" he said sickeningly.

"You must be out of your mind, sir" "There is no need for formalizations" "Oh there is a need for that. I'm 7 years younger than you and you own a whole company. There surely is a need for formal speaking, Mr. Mu" she said. He scoffed "Is this how you treat me now, as an unknown man acquainted to yourself? Is this how you treat someone you love, Michelle?" he asked.

"You must be mistaken, sir. Who is this 'someone you love' you were talking about?" the artist asked. "You... you don't even recognize me as someone you love anymore?" he asked in shock. "Do you think that lowly of me? You're not someone I love, at least not anymore" she said.

"I gave you everything!" the CEO fumed. "No, I gave YOU everything. I was the one who you abused when jealous or stressed, I was some sort of stress reliever. I was the one who got all the attention to you, I was the light that shone on you, creating your spotlight. And what did you do to me?You used me, controlled me as a mere puppet. I was one of your collections" the artist said.

"What?" he managed to say. "And I'm safe to at least say that in past tense, WAS one of your collections" she said again. "Who made you like this?" he asked. "Your actions did, Mr. Mu. And I want nothing to do with you anymore. This is our final acquaintance. I hope you live well with your new lover" the artist said and steps out of the café.

Her two friends followed her as well, shooting the CEO a look of disgust. "So that's what you've been hiding in your heart" Jocelyn said. "Partially I guess. The other part is that the writer and I are in a relationship now, he didn't promise me anything but he did commit his love to me as I did to him" the artist said.

"Are you sure of what you're going to commit?" Jane asked. It was way too early for the artist to find such replacement but the two had a feeling that this time, it's going to be different. That things aren't going to be the same with the writer as it was with the CEO.

"Sometimes, you need to forget those who used and left you and then find a replacement immediately to show them how worthless they are. But I don't see the writer as a mere replacement or distraction. I swear by my heart and soul, that I will never stop loving him"