Imperfect Desires

Although Dylan was giving Xiu some dirty looks, inwardly he was quite amused. Even though he often asked her what was so special about her that everyone would just fall in love with her instantly, he never forgot the reason why once upon a time he fell in love with her. He would never deny that he loved her candid nature and he knew that was the reason why everyone felt so comfortable in her presence. 

Once he told Darren that Chen Xiu was born to be a star because her presence had always demanded attention and it had the ability to ensnare people. He was one of those people. And now that the same Chen Xiu was before him in another shell, he couldn't deny that she never really lost her halo. It was still there. Perhaps, it was her inner wickedness that had been suppressed in a previous life that was new but the rest of her was still as genuine as always. 

But just as any other day, he still loved to annoy her because the way she fought back had always left him speechless. Even though he was always on the losing end. No matter what he wasn't willing to give up on this bickering.

"Stop staring at my wife or I'll really poke your eyes out."

Dylan's daze broke as he cleared his throat and scowled at his best friend, "She is rubbing off on you now." Darren's brows knit up while Dylan added, "You're also becoming violent like her."

Darren raised his fist asking, "Would you like to taste my violence?"

Dylan cowered back smiling sheepishly, "No, thank you. I'm alright." Darren wanted to roll his eyes at this best friend of his but ended up smacking his head lightly. Dylan rubbed the side of his head and said, "Dazi, you didn't even invite me to your birthday party."

"When have I ever thrown a birthday party?" inquired Darren.

"Are you forgetting, Dylan? Regan doesn't like celebrating his birthday," Cali also chimed in since she was also very familiar with this matter. She had been in Darren's life for years but had never seen him celebrating his birthday, not even once.

"Of course, I know that you only have dinner with Francesca on your birthday and that's your birthday tradition. But..." Dylan pointed at Xiu and added, "This time should be different since she is around."

Darren's hand around his wife's shoulder tightened as he pulled her closer and kissed her temple saying, "The tradition is still the same. But now I just have all the more reason to look forward to my birthday."

"Huh?" Dylan was dumbfounded. "What are you even saying? Did she actually manage to make you look forward to your birthday? The one day you hated the most?!"

"Are you still underestimating my skills, Hedi?" 

Dylan noticed Xiu's proud look and felt at a loss for words. "So, is it really true that if you love someone enough you'd want to bring a change in yourself?"

"You let it be... And why are you even curious about my husband's birthday? It's not like you're ever invited. Don't worry, you won't be in the future as well."

"Can you both stop referring to each other as husband and wife? I get it that you put the ring on, but the marriage is yet to be done. Stop giving me second-hand embarrassment!"

"Just the ring? Interesting..."

Dylan looked at Nora who was eyeing her best friend but didn't understand what it was. He did notice the shared wink between Nora and Xiu along with the affectionate smile that Darren passed to Xiu. But was he ever able to understand these gestures? No, definitely no!

"It's our way of practicing for the future, any problem?" 

Dylan laughed awkwardly as he said, "As always, my dearest sister-in-law is ready to throw me out."

"If I really wanted to throw you out, you wouldn't be here dancing on my head!"

"Dancing on your head? What? You have a dancefloor on your head? I don't think it's big enough for me."

Dylan smiled provocatively at her and she smiled sweetly in reply as she said, "Then you should go on a diet. At this rate, you won't fit anywhere."

"I think you should stop teasing Dylan already."

Xiu's brows quirked up at Cali's remark meanwhile Dylan's eyes lit up. 

"Oh my gosh! My girlfriend is taking a stand for me."

Xiu stared at Dylan's lovestruck look and smiled to herself. He looked so excited just because his girlfriend spoke up for him. Sigh! Xiu really was questioning his mental age all over again. Why was he always like a kid who would be happy with a single candy?

"Since Cali has spoken, I'll stop teasing you, Hedi."

Dylan gaped at Xiu, "Hey! You don't listen to me but you instantly agreed with my girlfriend?"

"Sorry, Hedi! But you're the only one I love to mess around with apart from Nora, my dear Dora."

"Keep me out of this," Nora instantly shot back. She definitely didn't want any part of their banter. She was happily enjoying her time with Ah-Si that wasn't very often.

Xiu stuck her tongue at Nora saying, "Sis, I'm not dragging you in. I'm merely announcing my love for you."

Nora laughed at Xiu as she said, "Well, keep that for your dear husband."

Xiu clutched her chest with a pained expression, "I can't believe you're doing this to me after everything I've done for you."

"Xiu darling, don't..." 

Xiu took the warning seriously as she nodded her head and agreed to keep her out of this. But she still turned to Cali and said, "Cali, just a reminder that in your relationship, you're gonna have to be the man."

"What nonsense are you spouting?!"

Xiu ignored Dylan and continued, "It's true and you know it. Dylan is such a baby and you need to protect him at all costs." Dylan wanted to argue that he wasn't a baby but hearing the rest of her words, he was stumped. "He is such a baby that he is still scared of ghosts."

Dylan fired up, "Oi! I'm not scared of ghosts anymore. I've conquered my fear!"

"Woah!" exclaimed Xiu exaggeratingly. "That's the spirit!"

Dylan's body tensed up, "Where is the spirit?"

Xiu pressed her lips together before pointing at herself, "Here! Right in front of you! I'm the spirit!"

Dylan exhaled the breath he was holding and smiled, "Great! If it's you, then I'm not scared."

"What? Don't want to conquer your fear?"

Dylan waved his hand as he slouched back, "Let it win. I don't even care anymore." He even hid behind Cali as he added, "I don't mind hiding behind my girlfriend for life. She is pretty strong. I have full faith in her."

Xiu suddenly laughed so hard that tears leaked from her eyes as she said, "I'm sorry. I just realized... This is Dylan's way of sweet-talking." Hearing Xiu's words, even Nora started laughing. "I can't believe that you're infuriating all the time and yet I find you so adorable."

Dylan proudly pushed his chest out saying, "That's my talent. I was born a lovely baby. You can never hate me."

"Yup, that'd be a challenge indeed."

"By the way, Ah-Si, why are you stuck to your girlfriend?" Since Dylan's attention shifted to Ah-Si, everyone else also looked at him. 

"I haven't seen her in days," replied Ah-Si.

"Why?"

"Dad was sick and I was taking care of him at home. He just got a bit better yesterday and went to work straight away. He truly is worrying me now. He really doesn't care about himself."

Xiu suddenly was alert as she jumped to her feet and went up to Ah-Si, "What happened to Ah-Xin? I just met him yesterday and he seemed fine. Yes, he looked tired but that's all."

Ah-Si's brows knitted up, "You met dad yesterday?" Xiu nodded her head. "Where? You didn't come home."

"I went to see him at work," replied Xiu which left Ah-Si choking on air. 

"You actually managed to go see my dad at work?" Xiu nodded her head. He held her hand and went on, "Sister, help me out then."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Now, I'm very clear about where you stand in my dad's priority list. So, please help me and ask him to take care of himself. He is really careless about his health and I'm afraid that... I'm afraid that I'd only know about someone irreversible when it'd be too late just like how it happened with mom."

Xiu took a deep breath as she asked, "What happened to Ah-Xin?"

That's when Ah-Si detailed her about how Xin Zimen suddenly fell ill on Monday morning and left Xiu perplexed. That was the day she called Xin Zimen twice because of her marriage certificates and she didn't think anything was wrong. She really didn't notice anything at all.

How did she not even notice yesterday? Oh, it must be because Xin Zimen always looked at her with such gentleness that she'd never been able to notice anything else about him. 

She closed her eyes briefly and when she opened them, she looked at Darren saying, "Regan, I need to leave. Right now!"