Nuptial Chamber Next Door

While she was ruminating, they had arrived at their destination. Ye Zhengchen parked his car in the garage of a small building.

He took her through the lawn, entered a house and turned on the lights.

The light reflected from the light green curtains on the windows, giving the room a nice refreshing look.

Yu Yin looked around. The room was furnished very simply and had a masculine air.

“Is this your house?” she asked.

“ Yes. I was staying here when I first came to Japan”, he said, “ a year ago, I moved to an international hostel. I come here only occasionally now.”

Ye Zhengchen showed her the layout of the rooms. “ The first floor has the living room and the kitchen. The bathrooms are on the second floor. There are two bedrooms on that floor as well. One is a western style bedroom while the other one is furnished in a Japanese manner. There is a folder inside the drawer here. It has instructions on how to use all the household appliances. If you don’t understand anything, just call me. The phone is in the living room. Every Saturday afternoon, a Chinese help comes to clean. Just don’t let her in the study.”

“I know”

Finally Ye Zhengchen took her to the study and gave her the keys “ These are the keys. Keep it since you will stay here.”

“ Which room should I stay in?”

“Wherever you want”, he casually added, “ I live in the hostel.”

Ye Zhengchen took out a pathology book from the shelf.

“ Have a look at the book. When I hand over the data, you should be familiar with the subject matter.”

After this, he looked at his watch. She was surprised to notice it wasn’t a Rolex or Jaegar, but a brand she didn’t recognise with a seagull as the logo.

“ I need to go now.”

Seeing him in a hurry, Yu Yin just nodded, even though she was hungry.

“Sure. I can see you’re busy.”

After Ye Zhengchen left, a strange emptiness seemed to surround her.

She unpacked the luggage and was wondering if she should go out and eat something.

Just then there was a ringing sound.. She opened the curtains to see Ye Zhengchen entering the lawn while carrying a bunch of stuff in plastic bags. The security system was set up in a manner that a bell would ring anytime someone entered the door.

She went to the door but Ye Zhengchen had already entered using his own key.

“ I bought some food for you”. He stood at the door and handed over the bags. He pulled a stack of yens from his pocket and handed her those as well.

“ Keep this. There is a twenty four hour convenience store about five hundred metres from here. Whatever you need you can buy there. Keep an eye out for the traffic lights..”

Although these were just simple words, she could feel her heart beat faster as she could discern the care and concern he felt for her underlying these words.

“ Thank you !”

“ Don’t worry. Japan is very safe”

“ That’s great.”

Yu Yin knew that his indifference and alienation was not derived from any hatred. He just didn’t like anyone, especially his father, dictating the terms of his marriage.

So she had come here, determined to give him a chance to really know and understand her.

********* *********

The next day, Ye Zhengchen turned up in the evening to give her some data. Yu Yin had deliberately cooked an elaborate dinner. He looked at the table with an expressionless face, silently rejecting the invitation.

“ I need to do some research at the institute today.”

“ You need to go back to the institute so late at night?”

“ I need to work on something”, he hastily put on his coat.

“ I’ll wait for you then.”

“ I’m going to be really late.”

Shortly after he left, Yu Yin packed the food and drove herself to the research building in the Osaka Medical school

The professors usually worked till eight ‘o clock, and the students left by nine

After nine o clock, only the students who were working in the lab were present in the building

She found Ye Zhengchen’s lab but he was not there. One of the students asked her to go to the laboratory for viral culture.

As she walked up the stairs, she could see Ye Zhengchen standing in the corridor, quietly watching something through the glass doors.

She didnt know what was inside, but the look in his eyes seemed to suggest a rare and profound emotion.

After gazing like this for a while, he turned and looked out of the window, seemingly immersed in the scenery outside.

Dim light shrouded his back. He looked a bit lonely.

But he wasn’t really looking at the scenery. He seemed to be waiting for something or somebody.

After some time, he looked at his watch and gently stroked the wrist band with one finger.

Once again, he went to the door and looked in, a naughty smile hanging on his face.

Yu Yin’s fingers tightened on the handrail.

A woman’s intuition told her there was a woman behind the door.

Seeing Ye Zhengchen open the door, Yu Yin quietly walked towards the lab.

There really was a girl inside. She was sitting in front of the microscope. Her long hair was rolled up in a bun, revealing a cute face. Her loose lab coat was unable to hide the delicate curves of her body. Ye Zhengchen hugged her from behind, his hands unashamedly moving towards the girl’s chest.

She was shocked and turned to see him. She blushed when she saw who it was.

Shamelessly, his fingers delved into the opening of the coat.

Yu Yin turned and leaned against the wall, inhaling deeply.

She would not believe this. Even if she saw it with her own eyes, she would not believe this. Ye Zhengchen was not such a person.

In the quiet corridor, she could hear them speaking inside the room.

“ Dr Ye, this is a place where we are dedicated to save lives. What are you doing?”

“ No one saw us.”

“ What if someone did?”

“ We’re just giving them some ideas ..I don’t mind.”

“ I will report you.. I..”, the girl’s voice weakened and Yu Yin could no longer hear her.

The corridor was filled with the smell of disinfectants. She felt like it smelled of death.

Yu Yin held the bad with one hand, while the other hand fisted, driving her nails into the soft flesh of her palm.

“ Please, let me go..” , the girls voice was soft and pleading.

“ Girl..”, Ye Zhengchen’s voice sounded sensuous and deeply emotional.

“ Tonight, when you come home, you wear the white lab coat..”

Yu Yin could no longer bear the hear the rest of the conversation. She felt like throwing a bucket of cold water on the two people inside.

She took out her phone and dialled Ye Zhengchen’s number.

She could hear the sound of the phone ringing in the lab.

“ Let me take this call”, he said, “ wait for me.”

Ye Zhengchen walked out of the room with his phone in his hand, “ Hello”

Yu Yin did not speak till he saw her.

For a second, he was shocked. Then he pulled her into the dark staircase as fast as he could.

“ Why are you here?” he asked her.

She smiled coldly.” Why? DId i disturb your flirting?”

He hesitated. There was a clear sign of guilt on his face but he did not apologise to her.

Clearly he refused to admit that he was wrong. Even knowing that he had hurt her deeply, he was unwilling to give her an explanation, or even admit to his guilt.

Yu Yin understood. Her face twisted and tears fell in the dark.

“ Do you like her?”

“ Can’t you figure that out ?”

She shook her head and no one spoke for sometime.

There was a sound of a chair scraping the floor from inside the lab. Hurriedly, Ye Zhengchen said, “ You go back now. Tomorrow, I’ll come by to tell you everything.”

The next day. Ye Zhengchen told her the entire story. This girl was called Bo Bing and he had fallen in love with her. But the organisation asked him to break up with her. The reason was very simple. He had been sent to investigate on the bacteria reseracch being carried out here, not to fall in love with a girl.

He came back and duly broke up with her, but he could not control his own emotions and made a big mistake..

As for what that mistake was, Yu Yin did not need to ask.

“ Why didn’t you tell me all this earlier?”, she asked.

“ Dad said that if I told this to anybody, he would make sure that she would be sent to a place so far away that I would never be able to find her.”

“ If you like her so much, why did you not think of what would happen if you fell in love with her ?”

“ I count not control my emotions!”

She did not understand. How could he not control his emotions when it came to falling in love with a person who was forbidden to him? Yet, he had been in full control of his emotions for ten years, twenty years.. And at the last minute he had given in to his impulse!

She shrank back in the sofa.

“ What are you going to do?”

“ I don’t want to hurt her”, he lifted his head to look at her. There was a tenderness in his eyes, the likes of which she had never seen. “ No matter what happens in the future, I only hope that the damage to her is limited to the minimum…”

“ And what about me?” Did he even think that she too was hurt in this as well ?

“ You do what you need to do, don’t worry about anything else. When the time is right, I will apply to the seniors and have you sent back.”

“…”

This was what Ye Zhengchen thought of her.

After so many years of patiently waiting for him, she had finally got an opportunity to get close to him. She was not willing to give up, she was not willing to be kicked out by Ye Zhengchen. Under no circumstance could she tolerate losing him to another woman.

Sometimes you needed to fight for your love.

Jealousy often blinded intellect.

Someone as intelligent as Yu Yin actually forgot that Ye Zhengchen had done niothing to hurt her. On the contrary, he was trying to minimise the damage to her as well.

He wanted her to leave just to ensure that she didnt waste any more of her time on a man who did not love her.