Imperfect Desires

Darren had just left the hotel gym with his attention solely on his mobile screen. His brows were furrowed in concentration as he read through the content of the email. His attention was broken the moment, he heard the loud 'splash'. Instinctively, he had lifted his eyes and looked around.

Much to his surprise, he found Xiu's furious figure having an outburst of profanities. The expletive words oddly didn't match up with her innocent-looking face. And yet, she didn't look like a shrew when she pounced on that man.

"Ouch!" Darren even closed his eyes as he saw her kicking the man's 'plonker'. "That must have felt like hell." He bit out with a shake of his head.

But what really amused Darren was the scene that unfolded after that. The way she hugged and pleaded with Nora made him smile on instinct. That friendship tugged at his heart. He had already gathered from their earlier encounters that Xiu had a razor-sharp tongue which had no mercy when it was let loose. But she was also an honest person who knew where to draw a line.

"Mr. Salvay!" Darren's gaze broke away from Xiu and Nora as someone called him. He turned to see one of the hotel employee coming his way. "I was about to come to your room."

"What for?" Darren asked in confusion.

She extended a black folder towards him saying, "Someone left this for you at the front desk."

Darren took the black folder from her hand and said, "Thank you!"

The employee smiled and replied, "That's my job. Besides, our Manager wanted to know whether we should extend your staying period like usual?"

Darren looked where Xiu was but didn't find her there anymore. He felt a bit disappointed but he shook it off as he said, "I'll let you know." The employee nodded and turned to leave.

Keeping his attention on the black folder, he went back to his Presidential Suite where he found his best friend pacing around frantically. Paying no heed to Dylan, Darren opened the folder and checked the content inside.

"Daz! Where were you? I was waiting for so long?" Dylan complained as he saw Darren not even lifting his head to spare him a glance. Darren's sole focus was on the information lied before him on the coffee table.

"I was at the gym," Darren replied offhandedly to get Dylan off his back.

Dylan sat beside Darren on the sofa and said, "Dear bro, do you know what happened?"

"I wonder..." Darren started as he flipped through the set of information languidly. "Did you finally realized that you're a woman stuck in the body of a man?"

"Darren!" Dylan shouted at him for such an inappropriate remark.

"Don't be ashamed. I always had a hunch. Don't worry, I'll still love you as much as I do now," Darren replied just to piss off his best friend even more.

"Daz! Don't get on my nerve!" Dylan gritted out through clenched teeth. He was so infuriated by Darren's words. Did he have to insult his only best friend like this?

"Fine, I'll stop now. Tell me, what happened?" Darren placed the contract back on the table as he

"Not telling you anymore!" Dylan huffed back in anger.

"Suit yourself," said Darren in a monochrome manner.

Dylan gaped at him for not even asking again. Wasn't he the least bit curious? Or perhaps he was certain that I won't be able to hold myself back? Well, I'll show you! I can definitely keep it to myself!

Obviously, this was a lie. Dylan Qiu and actually could keep something from his best friend? It was something unheard of. And yes, Darren was also very much aware of this fact.

Holding in his itch to spill the beans, Dylan looked at what Darren was looking through and frowned. "Are you finally looking for a place to stay?" He sounded surprised. "I thought you were eventually gonna turn this Presidential Suite into your home."

Darren could feel his sarcasm but had no desire to argue. "After a whole year, I do feel sick of hotels." Darren gave a vague reply. "These are some places that my assistant sorted out for me." Turning to face Dylan, he added, "Let's finalize a place over the weekend."

"Why are you looking through all these options?" Dylan scowled. "You know you are always welcome to come and stay with me."

"I am scared," Darren replied making Dylan frown.

"Why?"

"Now that you know you're a woman in a male's body, I'm scared you might jump on me."

Dylan was finally ticked off as he really jumped on him to punch him. And that's how the best friend ended up having a WWE fight over the living room's sofa. Darren was laughing all the while Dylan was trying to keep his temper in check. It was a friendly fight. After all, none of them could really bear to hurt the other one.

"Oh come on, you know you can't resist my charms," Darren added fuel to the already blazing fire.

"Your jokes are losing their charm along with yourself." Dylan huffed like a kid in annoyance. "But really can't you just stay with me? Or you can always go to your villa in Rose Gardens."

Darren's face stiffened as Dylan mentioned that place. "Aren't you tired of having me as a roommate all through college?" Darren's voice was calm but Dylan felt something off yet again. "As for Rose Gardens... You know I built that villa for a reason. When that reason is no more, it scares me to even enter that place again."

Dylan pursed his lips and said no more about this topic. He knew he would hurt Darren even more if he continued to push him. Perhaps, looking for a new place was the better option.

"I'll help you look for a place," Dylan said as he picked up the details of different properties. "You're not gonna buy a house?" He questioned as he saw that all the properties were either a penthouse, condo or a bachelor pad.

"I'm gonna live alone. Why bother buying a huge house where only I'll reside?" Darren replied matter-of-factly.

"You're right. But you can always have ghosts as your tenants. I heard ghosts love to reside in huge houses." Dylan spoke in a spooky way. "And you're a magnet for attracting trouble. I'm sure ghosts will also fall for your charms."

"R.I.P," Darren replied while Dylan's brows knitted together in confusion.

"Who should rest in peace? The ghosts?"

"No. Your sense of humor!" Darren flicked his forehead making him wince in pain.