Imperfect Desires

-Xi'an International Airport-

The huge airport couldn't lose from the city's biggest shopping mall in any sense. The tiles under Dylan's feet gleamed white and spotless. People were milling around the terminal's door. Dylan looked up at the plasma screens of arrivals on the wall and checked the time on his wristwatch.

Seeing how he was early, he decided to lounge on one of the low comfy chairs to wait. Normally, he wouldn't leave his office this early but today he had to. Plugging in his Airpods, Dylan blasted the music to escape from the cacophony of noises. 

His attention was on reading business news on his phone before he opened his itinerary to see if he had anything planned for the weekend. "Lunch with mom?" His brows arched up slightly as he read his tomorrow's plans. He really hoped it wasn't about another blind date.

A pair of white sneakers came into his line of sight and as he lifted his eyes, he was met with his best friend's gray orbs. Dylan smiled widely as he stood up and almost jumped to hug Darren. "Daz! My Dazi! I missed you!"

Darren pushed him off his body and said, "What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you I'll call my driver?"

"Aren't you happy to see me instead?"

Darren nodded and threw his backpack towards Dylan which he easily caught and said, "Let's go now. I'm tired."

"Yes, boss!" Dylan replied and they both walked off in the direction of Dylan's car. As they both settled in, Dylan asked, "How was Xia Capital?"

Darren stayed quiet in reply for a moment before saying, "Same as it has been for a while. Unbearable and suffocating." The capital was a place which once made him feel alive and now, all he felt was dead inside. The capital held his worst and best memories. Somehow, he just couldn't overlook the worst ones to cherish the best ones.

Dylan looked at him through his peripheral vision and said, "I need your help." Darren looked at him with a questioning gaze and he went on, "Let me stay at your place for a couple of days."

"Why?"

"Didn't you hear? I have a little invader in my house. I feel like an outsider in my own place these days. That little monster is really annoying." 

At Dylan's reply, Darren didn't question since he knew who had been giving a headache to Dylan at his own place. "If you're comfortable with the ghosts of my place, then you're most welcome to be our guest," replied Darren with a straight face.

"You're just messing with me, right? There are no actual ghosts, right?" Dylan asked while trying to keep his inner fear from showing. 

"Maybe... Maybe not," was Darren's vague reply in a very thought-provoking tone.

Dylan took a deep breath and trained his eyes on the road. The ride to Darren's place was a silent one after that. They both didn't talk. Darren because he was tired and Dylan because he didn't want to disturb Darren. Dylan parked the car outside Darren's apartment building and helped him with his light luggage. 

Seeing how sad Darren was looking, Dylan suggested, "Dazi! How about a bro's night out?" Darren stopped walking and as Dylan caught up with him, he noticed Darren's eyes were focused in a certain direction. "Why did you sto-?" Dylan's words were stuck in his throat as he followed Darren's gaze.

A man had been standing outside the electronic glass doors with a cigarette between his lips. Seeing Dylan and Darren, he put out his cigarette and walked in their direction. 

"Hello, old friends!" 

Hearing that greeting, Darren's hands clenched into fists as he gnashed his teeth in fury. Noticing the way, Darren's eyes were shooting cold daggers at the other person, Dylan held his clenched fists in his own hand and patted Darren's shoulder.

"Don't punch him," Dylan had just spoken when Darren shot the damn caution out the window and threw a punch right on his jaw. "Aiyaya! I said don't punch him." Turning towards the man who was holding his jaw with his hand, he said, "Jinhai, what the hell are you doing here?"

Zhou Jinhai straightened up and rubbed the side of his jaw. He looked at Darren's hard expression and said, "I was curious. Curious to know why an old friend is so determined to destroy me."

"It's not possible that you just came all the way from Capital because of your curiosity," claimed Dylan in a knowing manner.

"Don't talk like that Didi, I might assume we are still friends," replied Zhou Jinhai with a woeful expression.

"If we are not friends, then don't call me Didi as well."

Zhou Jinhai's eyes were still looking at Darren but Dylan was coming between them like a wall. Dylan knew what kind of a battle was gonna start here if he moved. Darren had been fighting a battle of anger within himself daily and seeing Zhou Jinhai, Dylan was certain that Darren was gonna lose this battle with his own buried rage.

"Regan Darren Salvay... I have a single question for you. Why?"

Darren pushed Dylan aside and looked into Zhou Jinhai's eyes as he answered, "You had a beautiful rose in your life." Zhou Jinhai's brows furrowed as Darren spoke slowly, "A rose full of life and love. The rose wilted in your garden because you didn't give it the attention and love it needed even though that rose gave you all that it had; its pleasant scent to its calming touch."

Darren poked at his chest in an aggressive manner and snorted, "Because of you, the withered rose disseminated and dwindled into nothingness. And you're still asking, why?"

Darren's eyes held pain and rage along with disappointment. He wasn't angry with the world, he was angry with himself. For Zhou Jinhai, all he had was a disappointment and nothing else. He was disappointed because Zhou Jinhai couldn't cherish or protect the person he once said he loved. 

Because of him, Darren lost the girl who was just like her name; beautiful like the break of dawn. Until now, Zhou Jinhai didn't even realize that Darren had been talking about Chen Xiu. But the look in Darren's eyes had shaken Zhou Jinhai.