The next day, Ai reached the hospital right in time for her appointment with Jack Si. His assistant led her, and she promptly nodded her head.
"Hello," she greeted as she stepped inside.
"Heyyy, Zhou Ai. Welcome. Please have a seat."
Taking a seat opposite him, Ai could then carefully observe him and to her speechlessness, she found herself staring at Jack Si with awe. By now, everybody knew how much Ai loved Jun's eyes the most. But it was the first in all this time that she was attracted to someone else's eyes.
Jack Si's bluish-grey orbs felt otherworldly as if he was a prince of some faraway fantasy land. She felt herself suck into those eyes.
"Zhou Ai?" He waved his hand in front of her eyes.
Her daze broke and she coughed, her cheeks feeling warm. "Y-Yes."
Aunt Shuang is so lucky to have him…
On the other side as Jun walked into Sky, he let out a sneeze. He blinked and frowned heavily as he rubbed his nose.
Why do I feel so annoyed for some reason?
Ai said, "Thank you for giving me this appointment."
He waved his hand. "My pleasure. I heard a lot about Jun's girlfriend, so I wanted to meet you for a long time too~ How are things going with him? Does our Jun take good care of you? I can be your agony Uncle you know~"
"It's going well," Ai truthfully said. "He loves and cherishes me a lot."
"I see."
"But he doesn't want to keep the cat I brought. So we are fighting over that."
"Ah? You have a cat?" He beamed.
"Yes. But he is jealous of him."
"Hahaha! Ahhh, this is my first time hearing this," Jack Si laughed heartily. "Don't worry. The men in the Liu family cannot go against their wives for much long, you know~ He will accept his defeat sooner or later," he winked.
They joked around and laughed for some time like this.
"Jun wanted to come with me too, but he had an important meeting at Sky."
Jack Si blinked. "Oh. I thought this is about your friend."
"It is…" Ai slightly hesitated. "But Jun was also concerned."
"I see," Jack Si nodded. "No problem. Anyway, coming back to your purpose of visit, can you tell me in detail about this friend of yours? What you saw, heard or felt?"
Ai went on to explain every last doubt and uncertainty that had grown root in her heart after meeting Guiying at Dream High.
After patiently listening to her, Jack Si leaned forward, pressing his fists together. "I understand. That's what you mentioned before too in our text messages."
"Yes."
"But honestly, this is still very little information to rule in split personality disorder. I did propose that it could be the case. But there are a lot of factors behind a change in someone's personality. Stress is one of the major factors and yes, it can indeed cause somebody to create a new identity, but it can also force a person to undergo a simple change in their habits. There are many cases where a non-alcoholic person has started to drink because they cannot handle the situation he or she is in. Or a model student trying to cheat in an exam if the situation is dire enough to force him."
He continued taking a pause. "You say that it's very unlikely for your friend to smoke or address you with your full name. But have there been any changes that can cause this shift recently?"
Ai gave it a sincere thought and the only thing that came to her mind was the Summit. Guiying had lost and even though she expressed her happiness that Ai won, Guiying very well could have been feeling stressful from inside. Ai also couldn't be sure of what pressure she might be facing at Dream High after her loss.
"There have been but…"
"But you feel it's not strong enough to warrant such a drastic change?"
Ai slowly nodded in response. "She cannot tolerate smoke. Even on the road, she always kept her distance from people who used to smoke cigarettes. But that day, she looked really adept in smoking as if…she was doing it for years which cannot be the case. There has been an event where she suffered loss. But I don't think one loss could make her change like this."
"Then there should be something else that happened which you are unaware of. See, the first thing we should understand is if this change is simply caused by stress or is it really split personality disorder? Because if it's the latter, then the matter is not so simple. A different personality isn't born overnight."
She blinked. "You mean?"
Jack Si explained. "In almost all cases, a different personality is developed during someone's childhood."
She looked at him, bewildered. "Childhood? That back?"
"Yes. Split personality disorder usually develops in someone as a method to cope with trauma. The trauma can be anything. It can take the form of long-term emotional, mental, physical or sexual abuse. When that child isn't able to handle it, they want someone to protect them and at times, they get this protection from within themselves in the form of a second personality. That 'other someone' is a stronger version who can deal with the things the child himself cannot deal with. It's like a way to detach themselves from the trauma and reality."
Ai felt more and more incredulous.
A traumatic childhood for Guiying?
She knew that Guiying didn't have parents and that must have definitely been hard on her. But Cai Lingyun was always by her side, caring for her and supporting her. The brother-sister pair had weathered the harsh life and survived. So with Cai Lingyun by her side, what trauma could Guiying have gone through? And how did he not protect her?
"I…we have been friends for a long time, but she never told me anything about a trauma."
Jack Si sighed. "It's not easy, Zhou Ai. No matter how close you are, people hesitate to share their deepest concerns because they don't want to be judged. To open up about your personal situation takes a lot of courage. It's like baring your heart to the world and that, by no means, is an easy feat."
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