“I couldn’t remember it clearly; it was a bunch of nonsensical words. If I knew her name, at least I can go look for the girl myself, but tell me, what am I supposed to do with a nickname like this?”
Listening to Auntie Su’s complaints, Song Menghwa could not help but laugh along. Song Qingchun placed the fruit and knife down quietly, stood up, and walked toward the bathroom.
When she almost the closed the door, she heard Auntie Su say, “Whenever that number calls, it’ll play this song that is related to the person in the memory and how he wishes her well… It’s sweet and all, but tell me, why hasn’t he set a song for his own mother?”
Song Qingchun’s body tensed. It was not until Auntie Su and Song Menghwa moved onto another topic that she slowly closed the door behind her. She was in there to wash her hands, but she stood before the mirror completely frozen.
Auntie Su’s words were probably nothing more than harmless banter with her father, but it was more than that for her.
The person hiding in my memories, I pray for your happiness and safety… She was very familiar with the song; it was Lee Hang Liang’s ‘The Person Hiding in my Memory’. The first time she heard this song was at the start of the new year, just after new year’s eve. She had been afraid for her own safety wandering out alone, so she had asked him to fetch her from the Song family’s house.
He had arrived in matters of minutes. When she came out of the gate, she had immediately spotted his car. That day, the man had probably had something on his mind because she had knocked on his window for a long time, but there had been no response. Eventually, she had needed to call him to rouse him.
It was when she was standing outside the car that she had heard this song. At the time, she didn’t think much of the song, definitely not the hidden meaning behind it, but Auntie Su just said, whenever “the person hiding in my memory” called his phone, this song would play.
The words Cheng Qingchong told her two days ago started to appear in her mind.
She had said the words Auntie Su just confirmed. They both agreed that “the person hiding in my memory” was the girl he loved.
It was untrue to say that Song Qingchun’s heart didn’t feel anything, but she tried her best to suppress it to make it seem like it had nothing to do with her. She really didn’t want to think about these things, but fate seemed to be fighting against her, putting such incidents in her path to rock her heart.
She was really afraid of this feeling because it stripped her of her sense of security. The feeling of having her hope revived and dashed again and again had depleted her of her courage. She really didn’t have the bravery to go through the whole process again.
Song Qingchun knew it was not that she had stopped loving the man, but she no longer had the courage to love him. However, that didn’t mean that the love had died. She couldn’t control her heart. She would find herself at a complete loss thinking about the words Cheng Qingchong had told her. Then her conviction to spend the rest of her life with Qin Yinan would start to flicker.
This was happening again now. The words Auntie Su said had once more confused her mind and heart.
…
No matter how conflicted Song Qingchun was in the bathroom, when she exited the door, she returned to the normal Song Qingchun.
She finished peeling the fruits silently. She answered Auntie Su’s questions about the wedding politely and even accompanied Auntie Su out the hospital in the end.