Imperfect Desires

Xiu's attack was so sudden and unexpected that it really caught Ah-Si by surprise. Oh, did we mention that she didn't really show any mercy? Because she didn't! The hit on his calf was really done brutally maybe not with all her strength but it was painful enough to make Ah-Si fall on his knees. 

And just as his knees made contact with the hardwood floor making a thud sound, another wave of pain traveled through his body. He winced in pain and was about to turn his neck when Xiu stepped on his gastrocnemius muscle putting her wait on his legs in a way that his kneecaps were crushed up against the floor now while her baseball bat went around his neck and put him in a headlock.

"Ahh!!" Ah-Si couldn't help screaming a bit in pain as she tightened the headlock and the baseball bat's solid surface against his throat almost choked him to death. "X-Xiu!" His voice broke as he was coughing from this choking. He tried to lift his hand to get himself free from her grasp but Xiu was one step ahead again as her knee hit his spine with such precision that he almost coughed up blood.

"The more you resist, the more bloody it will get. That's not a threat, it's a promise. I have been to jail twice as you know it, I don't mind visiting it for the third time. After all, third time's a charm."

Ah-Si's eyes widened at her words while Xin Zimen raised his lips in an arc. Damn! He was loving this girl's weird and crazy style. She looked like a street thug. A violent and ruthless one at that. But he was loving it. Every bit of it. 

The reflection he saw in her was so vivid at this moment that he really felt like that person was standing before his eyes acting overbearing as she always did. 

"Xiu!" Nora called out to her seeing how Ah-Si was looking like he was in pain. His pain and struggle were palpable on his face. Xiu might be a dainty looking girl but in anger, she could become someone's biggest nightmare with her sheer will to crush the other person. 

Xiu looked at Nora with a stern look. "You stay out of it! It's between him and me now. If he has the guts to make my sister cry than he should learn about this sister's wrath as well."

"Dad!" Ah-Si called out to his father who looked too amused to even bother with all of this.

"I warned you to be nice with Nora in the morning, you didn't listen. Now, I can't help you," Xin Zimen simply decided to stay at sidelines. Why would he fight his son's battle? "Remember, you asked me to stay out of the matter of Ava's mother. I'm gonna do just that now."

"You definitely didn't act like that in the morning," retorted Ah-Si.

"That's because, at that time, I was uncertain whether she is Ava's mother or not, but now everything is clear. So, I'm gonna be a good father and stay out of the adult son's life like he always wanted me to."

Hearing his words, even Xiu raised her brows and looked over. Can you guess what Xin Zimen was doing? The scene before Xiu's eyes was that Xin Zimen was sitting cross-legged on the couch while a bowl of melon seeds was placed on the handrest of the couch with his elbow perched beside it supporting his face as he munched on his melon seeds with a beautiful smile on his face.

'Seems like I gave him the right title. He is weird!' she thought to herself and heard Ah-Si coughing badly. She looked down and realized that her grip had tightened even more and she might have stopped his breathing there. Ooopsie! She didn't even realize it!

"Xiu! You're gonna kill him!" Nora couldn't help herself. She really didn't want Xiu to be this willful. No matter what if Xin Zimen really decided to do something, they both will be in trouble. No, much worse, their whole family will be in trouble! Even if Xin Zimen didn't act like that but she had heard his name plenty of times in the news to know what status or power he held. 

He was a terrifying man! And that wasn't even a secret anymore to the world!

"Fine," grumbled Xiu as she dropped the baseball bat, and just as Ah-Si thought he was gonna be able to breathe now, she held both his wrists and twisted his arms behind his back.

"AHHH!" Okay, this was worse for him since he felt like she was actually gonna dislocate his shoulder or his hand. Something was definitely gonna get broken tonight.

"Why are you screaming at this time, Ah-Si?" Xin Xiaoli's voice was heard as he came down the stairs in his night suit while yawning. He was sleeping peacefully when this commotion downstairs ruined his sleep. "What's up..." his words died down in his throat as he looked at his brother on the floor with tears in his eyes. "Fuck!" He looked at the person who was torturing his brother and gaped at her. "Xiu?"

"Good to see you too, Li bro!" Xiu smiled at him but that smile held a warning. As if saying, you move and he dies!

"What is really happening here?" he blurted out in shock.

"Oh, nothing. We are just collecting some debt. Nothing too big. You can go back to sleep." 

"Bro, she's gonna kill me!" 

"No, I won't do that. If I kill you, my sister will cry more and I hate seeing tears in her eyes. So, I'm gonna spare your life for her sake."

"And if she wasn't involved?" the question came from Xin Zimen who still was chewing on his midnight snack.

"As I said before, I really don't mind visiting the jail for the third time." Xiu even winked mischievously at this time. She looked like a possessed person who didn't care about anything at all. Her one-track mind was really on a bloody route tonight.

"I love that spirit of yours," chuckled Xin Zimen in amusement.

"Dad, is it really time to laugh?" Xin Xiaoli asked looking at his father.

Xin Zimen shrugged nonchalantly but didn't react at all. It was already good enough that he wasn't helping Xiu in beating this idiot son of his. How dare he made a girl cry? Is that how he raised his useless sons? How and why did they both turn out so differently? Neither they managed to inherit the boldness of their mother, nor did they managed to inherit his manners. Such a disappointment they both were!

"Xiu, you call me a brother. Why don't we sit down and talk this out?" suggested Xin Xiaoli.

"AH!" 

His words only incited Xiu's anger which was why she used even more strength making Ah-Si groan in pain. "My sister also sat down and talked. Did he listen? No, he didn't!"

"Bro!" Ah-Si looked at his brother with pleading eyes with tears in his eyes as well. "Help me!"

Xin Xiaoli looked conflicted. "He's asking me to help him."

"So? Pretend like you didn't hear it."

"I can't do that." As Xiu puts more weight on Ah-Si's calves with her foot. Xin Xiaoli slowly backed away, "Okay. I'll back out. But you go easy on him. He has been spoiled and loved in his life. He really can't take your brutal ways."

Xin Xiaoli was right. Since Ah-Si was the youngest, he was just like Dylan who only saw the good things in life. But Ah-Si was the spoiled prince while Dylan was more like the childish prince. But one thing was common, they both knew nothing about physical pain.

Dylan only managed to grow out of his shell when he met a tomboy like Cali who could put him on the floor with one punch. And since that was against his pride, Dylan managed to take boxing glasses. But Ah-Si never had to. He had so many bodyguards following him from a young age, why would he need to lift his own fingers for anything?

"What are you really trying to do by doing this?" asked Xin Xiaoli as he saw how bad Ah-Si's face looked now. He was pale as if every single part of his body was aching. 

Xiu placed her knee on Ah-Si's back and smiled evilly at Xin Xiaoli before she shoved his body on the floor. Her one hand twisted one of his arms while the other was holding his face down against the floor now. 

"I'm gonna teach your brother a lesson of reality," said Xiu in a dangerously low voice. "Maybe he has not seen the world. He needs to learn that not everyone has a loving or perfect family like his!" She looked up at Xin Xiaoli as her eyes glinted with sadness and rage, "Some of us grew up in dysfunctional families as well!"