Lena arrived at Gary"s apartment and she quickly ran up to his floor.
At the same time, Kris pulled up his car to park, and he spotted Lena getting out of the taxi and running inside.
"Weird... I thought she said she was with my mom... What is she doing here?" Kris turned off the car engine and slowly walked to Gary"s apartment too. He sent a text to Lena but she did not reply back.
Kris had to wait a bit before he caught the next available elevator. When he arrived at Gary"s apartment, he was about to knock but stopped.
"Do you still like me?" Kris could hear Lena ask Gary.
"Of course. You"re my best friend, there is no way I would hate you." Gary replied. He glanced at the clock and noticed that it was about time that Kris should be coming to his house too.
"Why did Lena come today?"
"Not that... I meant like... like you use to."
"No. I told you that already last time too. I have romantic feelings toward you. Why?"
"Ugh..." Lena was frustrated. How should she even start the conversation? She can"t just say "You"re from a different world aren"t you..."
"What"s wrong with you, Lena? Don"t tell me you like me now? I am not getting mix up between you and your current boyfriend right now, he"s the devil in disguise."
"No! I don"t like you. I just... it"s complicated." Lena replied.
"Well... Since you"re here, I can give you the signatures you needed from me to my fans."
Lena had asked Gary to sign a few things for the young college boys who wanted the master hacker"s signature. Although, Gary had died... his mysterious ident.i.ty online still exist.
"Here you go. I made it extra pretty and put it on expensive paper." Gary handed them to Lena.
Lena took the signatures and looked at it. She paused... and tilt her head a bit to look at the signature at a different angle.
Gary had always signed his name in cursive... but now.. he was not. And his the dots for his "I" is a checkmark instead of the usual dot.
Lena had seen this signature before. Lena stared at Gary who had his back to her, as he searched for something in his drawer.
His signature... and that stupid gun-pointing motion...
"Erik?"
"Hmmm?" Gary replied instinctively. After half a second, he realized what he just did. Gary turned around and looked at Lena. "What did you call me?"
Lena used her left hand and covered her mouth. "Oh my....gos.h.!.+"
Gary pointed his finger at Lena. "You... who are you?"
"AH!" Lena was ecstatic. Gary was someone she knew... "Erik!!"
Lena put down the papers of signatures and rushed to give Gary a hug. On the other hand, Gary was full of shock and confusion... How does she know?
Gary tried to push Lena away from him but she gave him a tight hug. "Hey, hey... who the f*ck are you?" Gary put his hand on Lena"s head and pushed her back.
Lena finally released him and smiled at Gary. "It"s me.. Shen Qian."
"Huh?" Gary stepped back and tried to process what Lena said. "Shen Qian.... Little Qian Qian?"
"Yes!"
"From the design team?"
"Yes!" Lena nodded her head.
Gary walked closer to Lena and then poked her forehead.
"Ouch! What are you doing?!" Lena rubbed it.
"Why are you here too?"
"Me? Why are you here? I am here first."
Gary paused and thought about it. He went through Gary"s memories. "That"s right.... Lena did change her att.i.tude... it was that time when her engagement was canceled."
"That"s weird... If you are here... then who is Shen Qian?" Gary asked.
"Shen Qian? You mean I did not die?"
"You died...? No, you are very much alive. When did you come here?"
"Hm.... about a few months ago... It was the day after Senior Han asked me out."
"Really?" Gary started laughing. "Make sense now, actually. You were completely different from that day on."
"What do you mean?" Lena was curious. If she was Lena... does that mean Lena was her?
"You didn"t come to work for three days... and then he came to your apartment and you beat him up really bad."
"Oh my G.o.d...." Lena was devastated... What other things did the rich pampered Lena do to her?
"Now that I think about it... I fired you too."
"WHAT?!"
Erik Chen... he was Shen Qian"s boss. Shen Qian worked for his company right out from graduation. Erik was a casual boss due to his chillax personality and young age. The Chen family, there, owned the major entertainment industry.
Because Erik had two older brothers, he did not have the same expectations as them. He was able to pursue what he enjoyed and worked in the small company that he built himself.
"Yeah... I fired you. You come to work every day, demanding that I don"t pay you enough and that my dress code for women was too strict." Gary explained. "And other stuff.... but yeah."
Lena giggled. She should be pitying her real self right now... but if it was fate that led them both to their new lives... Shen Qian now... she must be happy.
Lena smiled and she started getting emotional. She wiped a tear from her eye.
"Why are you crying? I fired you... but my sister gave you a job... you like it there better anyway, okay?" Gary panicked, trying to console her. Him now and the original Gary never liked seeing women cry.
"I"m... just happy." Lena looked at Gary. If Erik was here.... does that mean Gary took over Erik?
Maybe... in the other world... Lena and Gary could have another chance to fall in love. The things that they missed in this world... they can have it there.
"You know who missed you the most? Your Senior Han..." Gary laughed as he looked at Lena. "Now you are here, with your own happy man.. do you miss him?"
"No. I had a crush on him, okay... love is different than having a crush."
Lena looked back at Gary... reminiscing how good the original Gary had always been to Lena and her. She cried even harder this time... mixed with both sad and happy tears.
"Stop crying, please!" Gary went to the desk and started pulling out tissues for Lena.
"I"m sorry." Lena was just getting emotional... and the tears just keep coming.
Gary patted Lena"s shoulder and handed her the tissues. At that moment, the bedroom door immediately opened.
Kris pushed Gary away from his Lena and embrace Lena into his arms. "What did you do to her?"
Gary put his hands up in surrender. He had forgotten that he was meeting with Kris. "I didn"t do anything, I swear."
"Get out!" Kris spoke.
Gary looked at him and immediately left. "This is my house... why did I have to leave my own bedroom... gosh he is so scary! What did she find in him..."
Gary looked back at the closed bedroom door... "Shen Qian..." He smiled. Gary thought that he was stuck and alone in this new place... but he felt much better, having someone he knows... and she is also his best friend here.