Imperfect Desires

~Qiu Family House~

"I'm back!" 

Dylan exclaimed as soon as he entered the house. At first, he thought of taking Xiu to a restaurant but she refused. So, he offered to take her home and thinking about those gentle and loving eyes of Zhao Wei, Xiu couldn't say no anymore.

"Keep it down! Do you want the whole world to know that you're back?" Xiu looked at him with dissatisfaction.

Seeing her disgruntled face, Dylan wasn't fazed at all. Instead, he was feeling even more lively as he nodded and exclaimed again, "Ma! I'm home!"

Xiu punched his stomach since he was doing it intentionally to get on her nerve now. "Can't you act like a human for just a minute?"

"My company is with a monster like you, how can you expect me to act like a human?" retorted Dylan while taking a step back to make some space between himself and Xiu. He knew she wasn't gonna let this go.

And he wasn't wrong at all. Xiu glared at him. "You! Who are you calling a monster?" 

"Of course, the monster knows herself!" He stuck his tongue out at her while running away from her. Xiu took off her heels and threw at him one by one. When he managed to avoid those heels, he laughed contentedly, "You missed!"

Xiu folded her sleeves and clenched her fists at him. "Don't let me catch you. Or I'll really show you what a monster like me can do!"

"I'm not an idiot. Why would I let myself get caught?" 

"What is going on here?" 

Zhao Wei looked at Xiu and Dylan who were running around like kids and raised her brows in amusement. Dylan hid behind his mother and said, "Ma, save me from her!"

"Weiwei, get out of the way! He called me a monster!" Xiu pointed at Dylan while complaining to Zhao Wei.

"Xiu, you're wearing red. And even look like a devil. If I won't call you monster than what else should I call you?" 

Zhao Wei hit his head, "Shut up, Dylan! That's very bad!"

"Ma, you can't take her side in this one. Stay out of it!" 

Xiu also agreed, "Yes, Weiwei, you should really stay out of this. I'll deal with this lumpy rabbit myself!"

"Lumpy?! Rabbit?!" Dylan gaped at her. "Ma, she called me fat!" Zhao Wei nodded her head thoughtfully. "Ma, say something."

"What can I say in your defense when you're jumping around like a bunny?" retorted Zhao Wei and pursed her lips.

With these loud bantering, it would be a wonder if it didn't catch the attention of everyone in the house.

Xin Zimen and Qiu Jiayi who had been in the study upstairs also caught the wind of this bantering. When they came down, both of them looked rather surprised at the scene before them. 

"Your son is at the losing end," said Xin Zimen as he watched Dylan getting agitated.

Qiu Jiayi frowned a little, "Interesting. Very interesting."

"Who is she?" asked Xin Zimen looking at Xiu.

"I don't know," answered Qiu Jiayi before adding, "But I sure am liking her feistiness. Reminds me of an old friend."

Xin Zimen eyed his best friend before muttering, "Old friend..."

Meanwhile...

Dylan touched his face and said, "Xiu, I'm not fat. My six packs might have faded now but I'm still very healthy."

"Fatty!" was the only reply he got from Xiu.

"I thought we are partners!" whined Dylan.

"Partners in crime only. Don't take it so seriously," replied Xiu.

"What is Regan then?" asked Zhao Wei.

"Oh, he's the partner in life. There is a difference." Said Xiu with a smile. As soon as her boyfriend was mentioned, her whole persona was taking a turn again.

"Oh my, my! Such a hypocrite you are! Whenever Dazi is mentioned, you become a beautiful maiden in love, but with me, you're like a cactus!"

"I've warned you not to bring my Regan between us."

Zhao Wei was getting a headache now because of these two who were not ready to back off at all. Now she finally understood why Darren said that he felt like a babysitter around these two. They were a real handful together.

"Xiu, where is Regan? Why didn't you bring him with you?" Zhao Wei thought of something to interrupt these two who weren't backing off. 

"You aren't happy to see me here?" asked Xiu with a sad face.

Zhao Wei was taken aback by the sudden shift in Xiu's expressions as she hugged her and said, "No, no. That's not what I meant. I was just asking why are you with Dylan on Sunday."

"Oh," began Xiu. "That's because of your son. He ruined my sleep to drag me to a stupid luncheon..." Then she narrated the whole story of what happened at the luncheon surprising Zhao Wei who looked at her son strangely now. "I really wanted to spend the rest of the day with Regan but he didn't pick my call. Didi said he must be sleeping so I didn't go to disturb him."

Zhao Wei nodded in understanding. "It's good that you're here." She looked at both of them before asking, "Now would you like to tell me why were you both even arguing?"

"He called me a monster," answered Xiu almost instantly.

"Did I say something wrong?" Dylan looked at her challengingly.

Xiu narrowed her eyes at him before sighing out, "If you really want to say something, you should call me a ghost. That suits me better." Dylan's eyes widened at her reply. While she leaned close to him as she whispered, "Before rebirth, I was also a wandering ghost."

"You're just trying to scare me," Dylan answered bravely. At least, he acted like he was brave.

Xiu shrugged her shoulders, "Not my problem that you don't believe me. But don't say I didn't warn you. Because there is a ghost behind you right now."

"Ah!" Dylan held his mother's arm and yelped out. 

"Hahaha..." Xiu laughed out at him. "You're really gullible." She pinched his cheeks cutely.

Dylan leaned his head on Zhao Wei's shoulder as he said, "Ma, I can't deal with her."

"Who told you to start this?" came the reply from Zhao Wei and Xiu at the same time.