Cherry's Story Epilogue: Huiyin's Story (Patreon)

Three years have passed since Huiyin last saw Cadence Isle from this very same ferry.

When she first arrived on the island, it was a starry night just like this one. At first, the island’s shadowy silhouette was a menacing sight to her, but now she sees it as her second home.

And someone I love is waiting for me there.

She goes to her room and begins to pack her belongings back into her luggage. A book falls from the desk and she picks it up.

It’s the pocket dictionary Lexa bought her for her birthday. Nowadays it’s worn and hasn't actually been used in forever, but it’s become a lucky charm for her.

Thinking about those days in Cadence Isle gives her motivation to pursue her dreams.

And in a few hours, I will be back reliving those dreams.

She sits on the bunk bed and thinks about what kinds of students she’ll be teaching there. There’s going to be international students just like her asking for some guidance.

It might be overwhelming at times, but she knows she can do it.

As her grandma says, “We are always student for life.”

The boat’s finished docking onto the pier. Huiyin rolls her luggage down the steps and begins making her way through immigration. She wonders if anyone will be there to greet her this late at night.

That would be silly… I can wait to see their faces again.

Very few people are on the ship anyway and the island feels empty and silent. It’d be surreal to see any more people walking about right now.

As she walks down the familiar main street, she sees two people standing in its center.

“Huiyin, welcome back!”

Huiyin drops her luggage on the spot and starts to tear up.

Somebody launches themselves into Huiyin, hugging her tightly.

“I missed you a lot.”

Huiyin feels her body being squeezed by Mima.

“It has been three years…”

“Yeah…”

“God, I missed you so much.”

Lexa walks over and picks the luggage up off the floor.

“I’ll wait in the car ‘til you two are done being gay.”

She’s smiling as she walks to the carpark. Huiyin starts to giggle through her tears.

Huiyin feels Mima’s heartbeat against her. Everything is pulsating.

“It feels good to have you back in my arms,” says Mima. “I missed this sensation so much.”

“Yeah,” Huiyin says, “me too.”

The two continue their embrace under the pure moonlight.

After indulging in Huiyin’s reaction to a chocolate latte named after her, Mima begins to unpack her belongings.

Their new life together as a working couple begins today. It just feels so … unbelievable.

Huiyin starts climbing the stairs, carrying some of Cherry’s kittens up with her.

“They are even cuter than the photos you showed me!”

“I love them so much,” Mima says. “I hope they warm up to you.”

“I am so glad I can be with you.”

“Me too.”

“We sound like two grandmas already,” Mima says.

“We sure do.”

“Help me unpack your things. You’ve brought so many books…”

“I’m a professor after all!”

Mima can’t help but smile. She will always find it impressive that Huiyin took an accelerated course in higher education and not only survived but also got accolades for it. Everyone at the Yayue university has sung praises of how revolutionary her research will become once she starts teaching agriculture history at Celeste Academy.

I feel so proud of her…

The kittens start purring at their newest roommate.

When Huiyin returns from her first day at Celeste Academy, her facial expressions are so complicated Mima can’t tell what she is feeling.

Mima’s first move is to pour her a cup of coffee. Huiyin sips from it slowly, savouring the taste.

“I missed this,” she says.

“What’s the matter, sweetheart?”

“There’s good news and bad news.”

“Tell me the good news first.”

“I wanted to introduce myself as Cherry, but my students all want to call me Ms. Huiyin. That’s so embarrassing…”

“Aww…”

Huiyin drinks from the cup again.

“I’m happy that I can use the name I am proud of here. It’s a new feeling and I’m elated.”

“I hope,” Mima says, “that will be a constant source of joy.”

“Yes, it’s music to my ears when students call me Ms. Huiyin.” Huiyin lets out a chuckle. “Honestly, my heart skips a beat.”

“Your students respect you.”

“Yes, I treasure them so much.”

“I think you’ll make a good professor.”

“For the bad news, well…”

“Annoyed at the university?”

Huiyin nods.

“I was asking for support to help my international students. I’m still inexperienced and I know how much attention the students need. Everyone’s too busy, though.”

“Yeah,” Mima says as she goes to the sink to wash her cup. “You’ve been there after all.”

“If Lexa and you weren’t around, I don’t think I would have survived.” Huiyin finishes her latte. “That’s why I am just frustrated.”

“So, what now?”

“I am going to reconsider the curriculum with Lexa. Maybe, I need to design a special course for them.”

Lexa now holds a special position in the faculty chair and teaches Library Attunements to any students interested in becoming a librarian. She also spends her time presenting free lectures to the public. There are some on history and even some others on the Celestian language that may interest international students.

“That way,” Huiyin continues, “the international students can catch up with the others.”

“You know,” Mima says as she turns on the tap, “you’ve become more articulate. I like this new you a lot.”

“Huh, really?”

“Mhmm, it’s cool. Now I have even more reasons to admire you. You went from a hardworking student to an equally hardworking and caring teacher.”

“I haven’t taught anyone yet,” Huiyin says. “That’s embarrassing.”

“You’ll do a good job, don’t worry!”

Huiyin groans.

“You haven’t changed one bit. You just love to embarrass me, don’t you?”

“And you haven’t changed either: you’re still so easily embarrassed.”

“I’m trying to get embarrassed less, but when you say those things it makes my heart flutter.”

“That’s why I love you,” says Mima. “You’re so sincere.”

Huiyin starts blushing a lot. Mima just finds her so cute.

“Man,” Lexa says, “watching you teach is like riding a rollercoaster. How do you manage to make agricultural history sound so interesting to undergraduates? I can’t believe it.”

Huiyin and Lexa are walking to the teachers’ lounge for lunch. A week has passed and the two have become not just colleagues but comrades in sharing pedagogical techniques.

“I am just passionate about it,” Huiyin says.

“You might steal some of my students if you keep it up. I’ve had people asking me about my past because they want to know how I got to know you. It’s just so weird.”

“That is so nice to hear.”

Lexa smirks. “We need more librarians in the future, so don’t be too good at your job.”

“I wonder if I am a good teacher, though.”

“You are.”

“I noticed one of the students was struggling to jot everything down. They reminded me of myself. I want to help them as much as possible, so I’m just wondering if I am too fast.”

“It’s possible. But you know, that’s the kind of detail experienced teachers might not even be able to observe. My experience is that I’m just talking about X and Y and I forget if the students are following me. It sounds so clear in my head, but maybe I’m just monologuing to myself. You, on the other hand, are sensitive to it. That’s what makes you a good teacher.”

“Is that so?”

“Yep, it’s your first time teaching properly. Maybe you're just feeling a bit nervous.”

“That’s probably it,” Huiyin says. “All these new experiences — my students calling me Ms. Huiyin, teaching them about agricultural history — are very overwhelming.”

“You can do it. You have my approval.”

They arrive in front of the teacher’s lounge.

“Well,” Lexa says as she opens the door, “let’s eat.”

Huiyin walks in, feeling a bit more confident but still —

I’m still a bit scared…

Mima knows the stress is getting to Huiyin.

She can see it in her eyes. When Huiyin drinks her coffee, it’s a quick gulp as if she’s in a rush. Then, Huiyin starts spattering out a stream of words. The pace never lets up.

“I am so worried about this new international student. They’ve been coming to my office and asking me to go through the lectures again. Everyone else is following it fine but not them. I wish I could do more,” Huiyin says as she takes one more large gulp of coffee.

I wish I could do more too.

Huiyin looks at Mima and says, “Am I complaining too much?”

Mima shakes her head.

“Your problems are my problems, dear.”

This is a new stage of their life together. They’re both working adults, almost reaching the prime age of their lives. Their relationship feels different to the lovey-dovey kind of relationship she used to dream about having with someone.

“I feel like the stuff I talk about is” — Huiyin sighs — “very depressing.”

“That’s okay,” Mima says as she holds Huiyin’s hands.

This change is admittedly a bit frustrating, but she knows she wants to be with Huiyin.

“Really?”

“Yes, dear. We’re changing, but my love for you hasn’t changed one bit.”

I’m still smitten with you.

This Huiyin may be different from the Huiyin she first fell in love with, but she’s still Huiyin.

She kisses Huiyin.

“Maybe,” Huiyin says as she starts to change into her pajamas, “I’m just afraid.”

“Afraid of what?” Mima is sitting on the bed and brushing her hair with the help of a mirror.

“That I haven’t changed one bit. There’s still more to learn and I can’t see that ever changing in the future.”

“Silly, you have changed. And you are very smart already. Come here.”

Huiyin starts moping as she lays beside Mima.

“I am scared of disappointing people,” she says. “I feel like I never grew out of being an international student. Nothing’s changed. I feel powerless.”

Huiyin rolls over to her side of the bed, further away from Mima. Mima climbs onto her.

“You are the change, dear.” Mima strokes Huiyin’s hair. “You are the international student I fell in love with and you are changing the system by being you.”

Huiyin turns her head and sees Mima smiling.

“Come here and gimme a kiss,” Mima says. “We don’t see changes often because change is never complete. Change is always a struggle.”

Huiyin is brightening up again. She places a kiss on Mima’s cheek.

“But how do I know that I actually changed something?”

“You won’t. And I won’t either. Change never ends. Nothing is permanent except change itself.” Mima holds Huiyin’s hand and plays with her fingers. “That’s why the story never ends: you may be a teacher now and your understanding of the world may change, but your history as an international student will never change. That’s fine, dear. That is why you are important.”

Mima kisses Huiyin on the forehead.

“Your story hasn’t finished, dear.”

“You are right,” Huiyin says as she kisses her back. “This is a new chapter to my life and I just want to see it have a happy ending.”

“We are having a happy ending right now because we’re together after three years of being apart. Even better, it can be a happy beginning too.”

“Yeah.”

“I love you,” says Mima.

“I love you too,” says Huiyin.

They close their eyes, comfortable in the thought that they are by each other’s side again. They remain anxious about the future.

But Huiyin and Mima are together and that’s what matters most.

The international student that worried Huiyin turns out to be one of her best students. They would hurry to her and say, “Ms. Huiyin, I did the extra reading you told me and it cleared up so many things!”

Their behavior reminds her of her student life here.

I feel like reading through my diary again…

After school, Huiyin goes to the bedroom and opens her diary. She reads through some of the many entries that colored her life since she first became an international student. Some episodes make her laugh, some make her sentimental, and there’s a few that make her sob.

As she flips for a new page, she realizes the diary is almost complete. There’s only one blank page left. She gasps and recollects the time back in Yayue when her teacher assigned her to write as many diary entries in Celestian as possible.

Huiyin can tell she has grown just from how much she has written in the diary.

She was once a naive international student studying agricultural history with the help of friends and dictionaries. She’s now a teacher trying to help her students succeed. This almost complete diary shows her how grand the developments of her small journey really were.

Mima’s right: I really am the change.

She takes out her pen and writes the last entry of her diary:

Dear Diary,

This is the last page of my diary. It’s been three years since I wrote my first words on you. Now, it is time for me to get a new diary and begin a fresh story.

It is time to say farewell to you, my friend. I will miss you and the old stories welled up inside you. I will read you to remember those moments that helped sketch out my purpose in life.

May these words stay with you and me forever.

Huiyin closes the diary and takes out a new notebook. She opens the first page and a rush of memories from her school days floods her mind. This is now a new story, not of Cherry and Mima, but of Huiyin and Mima. Where will this story lead her, she wonders, and will she find the success she seeks in the end?

She scribbles down some notes on what she plans to do tomorrow.

A new page of her life is ready to be written.

FIN

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