Imperfect Desires

When Dylan heard her saying that he wasn't her type, he couldn't help sighing in exasperation. "I know I'm not your type. You don't have to repeat it so often." He took a pause, seeing her paying no heed to his words and said, "Jokes apart, why were you staring at me with such an unusual expression?"

The corner of her eyes crinkled slightly as she answered, "Your mother was nagging at you and you seemed to be enjoying it. I just found it really weird. It seems like you really do love her."

Dylan chuckled on his own before nodding his head, "Yes, I do love her. But why I looked so amused wasn't because she was nagging at me. Actually, she was worried about me. She hates it when I skip the lunch and since I always take her simple words nonchalantly, she often uses her motherly nagging to get me back on track. However, let me tell you, my mom is not scary at all even when she'd be trying to act like one."

"So when you say that nobody loves and blah blah blah, you're just being a dramatic bitch?!" 

Dylan's face twitched at her choice of words to describe him but he decided to overlook it for once. "Hey! I wasn't being dramatic, since the time my sister had a daughter, my value declined. I'm no longer the youngest child and that's why everyone just ignores me."

Xiu didn't feel any pity even after seeing his sulky face as she said, "Aiyo! Some people are really thankless in life. Just because everyone doesn't give you the same attention as they used to, doesn't mean your value declined or you're no longer the loved one in the family. That's bullshit. I'd do anything to have a family like yours."

Dylan's brows raised while she looked heavenward and said, "Oh, dear God! Why so unfair?! He doesn't even value his family and yet he has one. I, who actually wants one, is left an orphan again! What nonsense is this?!"

Dylan's eyelids drooped for a moment as he was reminded that she had no family. But soon his eyes flashed as he said, "Are you trying to tell me that you don't consider my best friend as your family?" That was one quick-witted remark.

"Huh?" Xiu glanced at him in surprise.

Dylan clicked his tongue before rummaging out his phone saying, "I should tell my best friend that the girl he thinks to be his whole world, doesn't even consider him as a family."

Xiu gaped at him for a moment before rubbed her hands together, "Why is my hand itching so much?" Her eyes darted around before settling on Dylan dangerously making him take a step back in horror as she continued, "I feel like punching a douchebag uncle!"

Dylan clenched his fists tightly to hold himself back but couldn't do so as he pointed a trembling finger at her face saying, "I'm warning you! Enough with that uncle! I'm not that old yet!"

"Oh, right!" Xiu clicked her fingers together in realization as she continued, "As I said once, you aren't old. You're just ancient like zebras."

"Zebras? How did they become ancient?" questioned Dylan overlooking the part that she called him ancient yet again. He didn't want to be as childish as she was. It wasn't worth it.

"Zebras are black and white, doesn't that mean that they are ancient?" retorted Xiu feeling proud of her comeback but her answer left Dylan speechless. 

He rubbed his forehead in worry, "I don't know why Dazi think that you're all about sugar and spice along with everything nice. When I can bet that you're all about sarcasm, wine and brainless remarks!"

"But everything about me is still fine," added Xiu with a wave of her hand.

"Fine? How so?" Dylan crossed his arms before his chest.

"As you said, I'm made of wine and everything about wine is just fine..." smiled Xiu making Dylan roll his eyes.

Dylan flicked her arm saying, "Sis, that's your obsession for wine talking." Xiu stuck her tongue at him in response showing how childish she could get.

Both of them entered the company keeping a reasonable distance which was a striking contrast to the way they left the company. However, the pair of eyes around them didn't stop staring at them. Since the lunch break wasn't over yet, their floor was still empty.

Just as Dylan was about to enter his office, Xiu held his wrist again making him turn to look at her inquisitively. "You can stop running from yourself." Dylan's brows furrowed together as she went on, "Trust me, you won't end up anywhere. Because the people who run from themselves, don't really have a place to go to. I have tried it and it didn't work. So, stop questioning your pain or feelings. Just go with life."

He tilted his head to a side, glancing at her with an odd look in his eyes. "Remember, the Universe is magnetic, it'll eventually lead good things to you but it depends on you whether you're ready to accept those good things or you're still stuck on the bad ones of the past."

"What happened to you? You really give me chills when you're being nice to me. I really am not used to it," said Dylan trying to alter the course of tension and seriousness in the air. He certainly was the kind of person who felt suffocated if the tension in the air could be thick enough to feel like you could cut it with a knife. He was a lighthearted and jolly person, who believed in getting over things after a drink or two.

Perhaps, that's why he didn't want to be this serious with her. Especially because he had never seen her being this sincere with him before. Obviously, he'd feel uncomfortable with this sudden change. He probably was still skeptical about her intentions but he didn't voice it.

Meanwhile, Xiu didn't mind his words or the suspicion in his eyes. She simply smiled at him and her hand slid down from his wrist to his hand as she took it in her own and looked straight into his eyes. "Qiu Hedi, thank you!"

"For what?"

'For loving me when no one else did it. For believing in me when even I didn't believe in myself.' Xiu didn't voice out her thoughts. Just shook her head, shrugged her shoulders and said, "Just because..."