A 100 ways to Remember you, Honey.

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

March 2025, Beijing China

The group was silent for a while to take in what Jenny had just said, that she dated Jay. It was so strange because Jenny had never mentioned this in the many years that the girls had known each other. "I didn't tell you guys because it wasn't nothing serious and he didn't really want it to be public, it's not big deal really." Jenny said nonchalantly. Crystal looked at Daphne with a pained look in her eyes and excused herself for a walk alone, Daphne followed after her. She knew that anything related to jay was still painful for her friend to listen to and decided to make sure she was ok.

January 2020, South Korea

*RIING RINNGGG*

The alarm shook crystal up from her restful sleep and she jumped up remembering that it was the first day of her trainee life. The nerves gave her the worst diarrhoea and nausea ever but she managed to overcome it, took a shower and got ready for the long day ahead. Whipped up some pancakes for herself and Daphne, ate and left for the company.

Looking around the studio, she was the first one to arrive, it was 6.45am so she still had some time to take a look around the studio and calm her nerves. Slowly, the boys from whom she met the other time came in along with Shelly. She greeted all of them with a smile and was ready to maybe start the day with some stretches or whatever trainees did.

Instead, Shelly pulled her aside and made her take notes at the corner of the dance studio and was handed a schedule. "This is the schedule of the 3 foreigners, you'll be in charge of taking care of them and making sure they need to be where they are while the others are at school or classes. Also, the youngest will be in your care as well. Make sure you do your job well, I've got to run. There are contacts of the respective people that the boys are supposed to meet, so bring them there in one piece. If anything goes wrong it's on you." Shelly dumped all this information on her and left for a meeting with Mel.

Crystal was in shock, she did not expect this to be her task on the first day, 'baby sitting' was what she would call it. Maybe it was just for today and then maybe the next week she would be able to learn more about the film industry.

Back at the apartment

Daphne was having a lazy day at home, tidying up her room, making some snacks and preparing her design portfolio to hopefully get investors to start up her own clothing line. Different fabrics and patterns were laid on the floor for a mini photoshoot of the different tops are dresses from her new collection. It took about 3 hours for her to style and shoot the outfits. Since she had no one to model the clothes, she modelled it for herself and got some shots on her DSLR as well as her phone. It was almost time for her favourite part of the day, and she couldn't wait to see Yi Xing again.

As she was a few blocks away from the Art studio, it started drizzling. Not wanting to get her art materials wet, she picked up the pace and started running. Suddenly, a nearby food delivery van that was speeding past her, splashed dirty ground rain water on her leaving her soaked and cold. Daphne cursed under her breath and was fuming mad. It was her day to meet the man of her dreams and this of all things had to happen to her! Leaves and road debris were all over her clothes, her hair and her precious art materials.

She loudly cursed and decided that she would give the class a miss today, she couldn't show up in this attire, it would just ruin her mood and Yi Xing might be grossed out at the sight of her. As she turned around to head home, she stood face to face with the one and only guy she was waiting to meet that whole week. "Hey are you alright? I think you look a little..." Yi Xing struggled for the right words to use in this situation as Daphne looked so upset. Before he could come up with a word, Daphne shrugged it off and told him that she was ok and was just heading home to get changed.

He then stepped closer to her to make sure that she was fully under his umbrella and told her that his new apartment was just around the corner and if she didn't mind, she could freshen up there. Since it was pouring, and Daphne would have to travel a longer distance to get home, she agreed. But also because she secretly wanted to go to his house and have a (hopefully) romantic evening.

As the pair walked towards Yi Xing's new place, he made sure to put on his sunglasses that hanging on his chain, pull his beanie down and make sure that his mask was hiding his face, slowly putting his arm around Daphne to make sure she was covered by the umbrella but also wanting to be closer to her. She tried to hide her smile when his arm came around her and embraced the feeling of being cared for by such a charming and sweet guy. The rain was too heavy so they had minimal conversation.

Finally, after a 15 minute walk, they entered a very fancy and private condo complex. They took the lift up to the top floor and were greeted by Yi Xing's house cleaner, who was just about to leave for the day. Daphne was stunned by the penthouse and the interior. It seemed too chic and expensive, someone his age could not normally be able to afford such a luxurious looking apartment. At the time, she was too cold to ask him any questions, Yi Xing closed his umbrella and directed her to the bathroom and instructed the housekeeper to get the essentials for her. "Don't worry about anything, just take a hot bath in case you catch a cold, the housekeeper will prepare and leave dry clothes for you when you're done." he gave her a small smile and closed the door of the guest bedroom.

Daphne had to take some time to fully look at the room and the bathroom, it was literally more beautiful than any of the hotels she had ever stayed in so far. The room was white and airy, had a scandenavian feel to it with lots of natural light, floor to ceiling windows and white linen curtains. A few beautiful potted plants around the room and a queen size bed with the softest looking duvet, it was a room really fit for a celebrity. She walked towards the double doors of the bathroom and saw that everything was mostly iridescent white marble and the bathtub was made for royalty. There were scented candles, bath bombs and as many essential oils as one needed.

She felt like she was dreaming and was just taking everything in. Walking into the bathroom she prepared the bath and enjoyed soaking in the warm water with beautiful scenery. It was definitely not safe to be in a stranger's house but she trusted that Yi Xing was a genuine guy that wouldn't hurt her.

About 10 minutes into the soak, her phone rang and noticed it was Crystal calling her, she picked up and was about to tell her friend about her wonderful situation at Yi Xing's apartment but her friend sounded really upset. "Hey.. what happened?
Is everything alright?" "NO everything is going so badly I feel cheated and I have to take care of these young kids and ferry them around and deal with their tempers and their instructors. Everyone is just taking their frustrations out on me. This is really not what I signed up for. Not to mention the stern looks I get from their leader, I just want to quit, it's not worth it." Crystal sounded so defeated and Daphne felt bad that she was enjoying this cozy rainy day while her friend was suffering.

"Oh no, what time do you leave for the day? Let's get a good dinner ok? Text me when you're done!" Daphne said, Crystal thanked her for listening and hung up. She felt bad for Crystal, chasing your dreams was really having to give it your all and enduring anything to get where you wanted to be, she was inspired by her best friend to chase her dreams just as much. With that thought, she was fired up to start uploading her fashion photos on her new site. A knock on the door came, and she could hear the housekeeper letting her know that a fresh set of clothes had been laid out on the bed for her to change into. Daphne shouted back a thanks and finished up her shower.

She put on the thick cream coloured cashmere matching tracksuit and made her way to the living room, to thank Yi Xing for his kind hospitality. As she made her way there, she could smell the delicious scent of food coming from the kitchen and made her way there instead. She found Yi Xing standing at the kitchen counter, pouring noodles into 2 bowls, and looked up to face her when he heard her enter the kitchen.