Imperfect Desires

601 He Deserved I

On the other side, for the past ten minutes, Darren was just staring at Ying waiting for her to speak up already. However, the girl who never hesitated before was now in such a deep contemplation that she wasn't even uttering a word. She was either chewing on her lips or playing with her nails, it was apparent how uncertain and reluctant she was.

Tapping his foot impatiently, Darren urged her, "Are you sure you have something to say? Or you're just wasting my time? What's up with dilly-dallying? That's so not your style."

"Give me a minute," said Ying, depressingly. She was depressed and now annoyed at how Darren was rushing her to talk.

Darren folded his arms and leaned against the wall beside him in a bored manner.

In the meantime, a million thoughts had already crossed Ying's mind. Originally, she dragged Darren over because she wanted to ask him about Chen Xiu's mother. But now that he stood in front of her, she wasn't so certain anymore. It wasn't a secret to her that Chen Xiu's death had affected Darren's life. Even if the impact wasn't the greatest to him, he was still one of those people who suffered.

She learned nothing about Chen Xiu's childhood. Neither from Zhou Jinhai nor from Han Bohai. She could only think of Darren but bringing it up now didn't feel right.

She could see how Darren was so happy now with Xiu. If she brought up Chen Xiu's name would it be like prickling on old wounds? She really couldn't bring herself to hurt him intentionally. It wasn't right and she knew that herself. In this confusion of whether to ask or not ask, she had wasted a lot of time.

Darren covered his mouth as he yawned and said, "Whenever you think of what you really want to say, please call me again. For now, I'd like to leave."

"Wait!" Ying exclaimed as she held him back. "What's the hurry?"

"My Sweets is waiting for me," he replied naturally.

Ying shook her head, "She is not a kid. She'd be fine without you."

"Whether she'd be fine or not, I can't say but you are certainly not fine. What's up with you? If you have something to say, just say it already. I really don't have patience for this."

Ying took a deep breath before saying, "I invited your brother to the party." She finally decided not to say Chen Xiu's name at all before Darren. She would never want to see Xiu and Darren having any kind of hard feelings because of her. It was better to be safe than sorry.

"So?"

Ying's veins twitched at his offhanded retort. Who was he kidding here? "You really don't care?"

"Should I be caring about this?" asked Darren irritably. "I can't avoid him for life. And since he is your childhood acquaintance, it's only right that you'd call him. I already had expected that. If I had any problem, I wouldn't even be here." historical

Ying was left stumped for words for a while.

"What if I did?" inquired Ying, a bit doubtfully.

"Go and have fun with your guests. Don't let your brain work overtime over nothing."

With that he left her side with a bemused expression gracing his face. Ying honestly didn't know what to make of this situation. Even Dylan would show more of a reaction after hearing Zhou Jinhai's name but the person concerned, in other words, Darren was completely unaffected.

Ying's brows knitted up as she looked at Darren's retreated back with a complicated look. "What game is he playing? Is he okay with his brother or is something else is up that I can't see?"

No matter what is was, she was glad that there won't be any problem at her party. It was still uncertain whether Zhou Jinhai would show up or not but even if he did, at least, she could relax that Darren won't get into an argument with his elder brother.

....

"Did you call Ying Jie's boyfriend? Is he coming?" was Ah-Si's very first question when he saw Xiu walking back to his side with a cheerful expression.

"Of course, he is coming. Can't you see who invited him?"

Ah-Si decided to ignore Xiu's complacent expression as he asked, "When will he be here?"

"Before the party ends," answered Xiu plainly without disclosing any other information. "Shouldn't you be paying attention to when your own girlfriend is coming? Why are you focused on someone else's boyfriend?"

"It's the curious cat inside of me that's making me restless. I have to see Ying Jie's boyfriend at all costs. I need to know if he is a match for her or not."

"Since you think so highly of him, I'm even more curious to learn about his identity," stated Ah-Si without sounding unduly curious.

Xiu didn't pay attention to his words as she looked around distractedly before asking, "By the way, those decorations says that it's a bachelor's party. Where is the said bachelor?"

"He is not invited," answered Ah-Si with an amused expression. Seeing how Xiu looked at him with her mouth agape, he chuckled, "I'm serious. Ying Jie didn't invite bro. You'll find everyone at this party except for the would-be groom."

Xiu looked over at Ying's direction and gave her a big thumbs up, "She certainly is worthy of being my Jie. Marvelously done!" She shifted her eyes to Ah-Si as she inquired, "Why do you look so happy though? Your brother is not invited and you're okay with that?"

"He deserved it," answered Ah-Si.