Imperfect Desires

Dylan was shouting from outside the house. He had gotten dressed within minutes and yet Xiu was taking her sweet time getting out to join him. He knew she was being intentional. She just wanted him to get late. Because she knew he was eager to see his Cali. Hateful behavior!

"And can you boys be any less impatient?! The world is not ending. Give me a minute!" called out Xiu from inside the house. In fact, she was not intentionally taking long. She had been texting a couple of people about her whereabouts. And those people definitely involved, Darren and Ying. For once, she was trying to be responsible.

While Dylan was impatiently pacing around, he heard someone calling his name, "Dylan!" He turned to his right and saw Liu Nuan in the front garden beside his own. He wasn"t surprised since he already got to know that Zhou Jinhai was the owner of that house than seeing Liu Nuan was no surprise at all. "How are you?"

Dylan shrugged his shoulders, "Just peachy."

"Huihui called me over for wedding shopping. Luckily, I was already in town, or else I would have missed it all."

Dylan looked at her in a bored manner as he replied, "Naunnuan, I really am not interested in knowing why my sister called you. She had been pretty close to you, it"s no big deal if she called you for her wedding or shopping or whatnot."

"Actually, she asked me to be her bridesmaid," said Liu Nuan with a smile.

"Good for you," retorted Dylan uninterested. 

She opened her mouth to say something but a voice from behind her stopped her, "You can take your cat." Liu Nuan turned to face her husband who wasn"t looking at her. Instead, his eyes were on Dylan. She hummed in reply before walking towards the door not before saying to Dylan, "I guess we"ll see each other often now."

"Seems like it," grumbled Dylan to himself. He noticed Zhou Jinhai"s thoughtful gaze on him and asked, "The cat is hers?" Zhou Jinhai nodded his head and Dylan noticed his nose getting red and itchy. Indeed, he was still allergic to cats. "Why did you let her keep it? Aren"t you allergic to cats?"

"She doesn"t live with me. I have no concern with what she keeps," replied Zhou Jinhai as he shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. He didn"t go into detail because he didn"t think Dylan would be interested in hearing him out.

Dylan was a bit taken aback by his reply. What did he mean by they didn"t live together? But they were still married. He definitely didn"t hear anything about separation or divorce between them.

"Anyways, you"re really gonna be thick-skinned? Pay me for the damage you did! That was a Tang Dynasty"s vase. It"s one of a kind!"

Dylan looked away saying, "Ask for the compensation from the cat"s owner now. She didn"t train her cat well."

"You"d do anything to avoid taking responsibility, eh?" Dylan didn"t reply. He"d be happy to take the responsibility if the person before him wasn"t Zhou Jinhai. But since it was Zhou Jinhai, it was unavoidable! He had to take his own revenge for his sister-in-law. No matter how childish it was. Zhou Jinhai sighed out while shaking his head at Dylan. "That girl with you... She"s Regan"s girlfriend, right?"

Dylan whipped his head around, "How do you know that?"

"I think we met before at the wedding a few months ago." As Zhou Jinhai reminded him, Dylan"s eyes widened in realization. They indeed met a few months ago when Darren had just begun dating Xiu. Of course, Dylan had forgotten about that because back then, he was certain that Xiu and Darren won"t work out for long.

But now he was certain that he was stuck with Xiu for life. What a tragic change brought the wind of change!

So technically, this wasn"t Xiu"s first time seeing Zhou Jinhai after her rebirth. This can be counted as second. Dylan nodded to himself.

While Dylan was lost in his trance, his jacket"s collar was held from behind as Xiu dragged him away saying, "Aren"t we getting late now?" Not even for a second did she turn her eyes to Zhou Jinhai. As if he wasn"t even there at all. But she was certainly irked to see Dylan having a casual chat with his neighbor over the fence. How friendly! She extended her hand towards him, "Car keys?"

Dylan showed her the car keys which she s.n.a.t.c.hed from his hand and moved over to the driving seat while was left frowning to himself, "Oh, wait. Who is driving?"

"I"m driving," said Xiu as she got inside the car.

"What? But you never even drove when you"re working for me," reminded Dylan. He still remembered how he was the one driving everywhere while she sat with him like she was the boss and he was the driver. How was she changing the roles now?

"That was when I worked for you. Now, I don"t." That"s all that Xiu said to make him gape at her in disbelief. Oh, how can he forget that she loved defying her boss"s orders!

He silently got on the front seat and buckled his seatbelt as he said, "I remember you said you"re not a good driver."

"I"m not," answered Xiu and his eyes widened. "But don"t worry, I have been practicing. I think I"ve gotten a lot better at driving now." Dylan heaved a sigh of relief but her next words made him choke on air. "In my mind."

"What?" He held his seatbelt as he looked at her with a horror-stricken look.

"I said, I have been doing simulations in my mind. Don"t worry, I won"t kill you. Even if we die, we"ll die together."

"Who wants to die with you? I still haven"t even wooed my girl!"

"Relax. I still haven"t gotten married, so I"ll try my best to keep us alive." Dylan looked like he was about to cry but before he could do anything, she stepped on the gas and whooshed away making him yelp and even pray for his poor soul.

Poor him didn"t even know that she was messing with him. She was only bad at night driving or parking and even that she had been practicing lately. Her driving had improved a lot since Darren"s driver, Ben would often give her driving lessons. But that was a surprise for Darren. Because she only focused on him.