Daoming Si took Katie back to his house. He thought sending her home in this state would spark a lot of questions from her family and that it would be difficult to explain. Besides, he felt better if he could keep an eye on her. He pulled up in the large driveway of his house, cut the engine and checked in on her next to him.
Katie was fast asleep with her head lolled over her left shoulder. Her hair covered her face which must be damp with the amount of tears that she cried for the past half hour since he found her at that club. It still felt so surreal to him.
About 5 hours ago, he had only just arrived back in Shanghai, seriously jet-lagged but he couldn't wait to see his friends again so he surprised Ximen and Meizuo in the Bridge room. He knew they would be there because they had a project to complete together for a unit. Then, they went to meet up with Huaze Lei and Shancai at Shancai's part-time job, a bubble tea joint, just as she was finishing up. When Daoming Si suggested they all go to supper and was about to invite Katie, Shancai blurted out that Katie was on a date and she was at a club. For reasons unknown, Daoming Si went off like a grenade. He was so furious that he stormed off, leaving his friends behind, and sped off to said club with an intent to throttle the girl for dating some random guy.
When he arrived, all that he intended to say had disappeared. There was only adrenaline coursing through his veins when he looked up from the dance floor of the sleazy place. Katie was being dragged off by a guy. He had to literally fight his way through the Member's Section to get to her. No one was a match for him, not even when they tried to gang up on him. He was raised to fight and defend himself just because he bore the Daoming name. It was a gift and a curse for there would be many out there who sought to kidnap a Daoming for ransom, or so his mother always said so both him and his sister were sent to self-defence classes from a young age.
The one named Shen Yihao was the worst of them all. He could not pull a punch to save his life and Daoming Si didn't break a sweat defeating him. But he felt completely helpless when he saw the state that Katie was in. He immediately felt bad after calling her stupid and his heart had felt like it ached when she cried in his arms.
He went around the car to the passenger side and tried to gently wake her but she was either dead or dead to the world. Seeing that she was still breathing, he decided it was the latter. The adrenaline had drained away and he was feeling jet-lagged again. He also hadn't had anything to eat since he touched down. He scooped her up once again and entered the house.
His butler, Mr Jiu, hurriedly informed him that his friends and Shancai had been waiting for him in the study for an hour. "Mr Jiu," he said in a low voice, not wanting to wake Katie up. "Let them know I'm not free for the rest of the night. Our friend, Katie, isn't well. I'll call them tomorrow and explain. Please see them out for me." He started walking towards his room.
A guest room would be more appropriate but he was concerned she would be unmonitored. She could also wake up alone and scared of the unfamiliar place. Furthermore, there was no way in hell he was going to sleep in a guest room in his own home. Besides, the guest room beds were awful compared to his super luxurious one.
He put her down onto his king-sized bed and she stirred only to get comfortable. She slept like she was running in freeze frame with one arm above her head, the other in front of her, and both legs in mid-run stance. It would have been hilarious and photo-worthy if he hadn't noticed the mark on her right cheek. It was mostly bruised with a linear red mark. Whoever hit her, probably the same person he was fighting, was wearing a ring on the hand he used. Daoming Si felt his blood boil and clenched his fists at the thought of anyone hurting her. It was unforgivable.
His stomach grumbled but he was too exhausted after the flight and the fight to eat then turn in. He decided he would take a quick shower, go to bed and leave the rest to tomorrow.
The next morning, Katie woke up to the familiar scent of waffles. Her eyes weren't open but her nose tingled and she sniffed the air to be sure. It was definitely waffles and Katie loved waffles with a passion! Her eyes flew open but were momentarily blinded by the sunlight streaming in from the windows so she squinting for a bit to allow her eyes to accustom to the light. When her vision focussed, the first person she saw was Daoming Si.
"Daoming Si …" she croaked. Her voice! It was barely audible. It sounded horrible, like she had been screaming at the top of her lungs all night. Except she didn't as the memories of last night's events came flooding back to her mind. Shen Yihao, that bastard! she thought scornfully as she tried to get up from her sleeping position. "Ow …" she groaned in a loud whisper. Her body ached, her neck hurt and her cheek stung. Everything hurt. He'd better still be alive, she thought furiously. Because I'm going to kill him myself!
Daoming Si quickly put away the magazine he was reading to help her up. He was awfully gentle and seemed to know exactly where it hurt because he didn't touch any of those areas when holding her up. "Hey, you okay?" he asked worriedly. He propped her up to sit against some pillows as she adjusted to get comfortable.
She nodded. "Where are we?" she wondered aloud. She looked around. The room was equivalent to about the size of the apartment that her aunt and uncle lived in.
"My room," he answered as he poured her a glass of water. "I brought you here last night. I figured you wouldn't want to go home after that … episode." He presented her with the glass.
She stiffened up when he said it was his room. That meant it was his bed she had been sleeping in and was still sitting on. This just became embarrassing and awkward at the same time. Katie didn't know how to react or what to say except "Thank you" in a small voice.
"You're welcome," he replied then yawned. "Sorry, I'm still jet-lagged. I managed a few hours before my bio-clock woke me up about an hour ago so I've just been reading some stock market stuff while waiting for you to wake up."
More awkward. They had been sleeping in the same bed! She had never shared the same bed with a guy before. She hoped, at the very least, she didn't snore or drool. If she did, she would rather the floor swallowed her in one gulp than to endure a word Daoming Si would have to say about her slumber misdemeanours. She sipped the water and it felt soothing. She was parched. He was babbling on about something.
"Hey, are you listening to me?" Daoming Si barked at her rudely, looking annoyed.
What was his problem? "Huh?" she blurted out in a hoarse voice. "What did you say?" Every second word was a whisper. She couldn't hear herself properly either. It was downright irritating.
"I said," he grumbled for needing to repeat himself. "Have some breakfast. Mr Jiu had the kitchen prepare some waffles over there. I hope you like waffles." She nodded, a little too eagerly, and he grinned. "Good, then get dressed and we'll go see the family doctor. There's some women's clothes and make up over there that I asked Mr Jiu prepare from a boutique store."
"What for?" she croaked, side-glancing the rack of clothes next to the en-suite bathroom.
"Have you heard yourself lately?" he reminded. "You sound like Death itself. Plus I want him to have a look at your neck and face. That bastard left marks all over you." He sat on the bed next to her and peered at her face a little too closely. She darted her gaze away and down at the dark blue sheets that was his bed. "Look to your left."
"What?"
"Look to your left." She did and he inched closer. He grazed her cheek with the back of his index finger and it stung. She cringed and backed away slightly. "See, that definitely needs looking at. You have no choice." He got up, went over to the breakfast trolley and wheeled over to her side of the bed. "Eat." He commanded.
It was waffles. She didn't need to be invited twice. She dived right into it. Daoming Si walked away and stood in front of his floor-to-ceiling window, hands in his pockets. Katie stole a glance at him while stuffing her face with the waffles. She knew he was tall over the many times she had stood before him but she never noticed how lanky he was. She knew he had a ridiculously perfect porcelain complexion for a guy but she never noticed the aura of confidence that exuded from him. He wore his signature "pineapple head" - that's what Shancai called it, a red and black pullover jumper and skinny black jeans with impeccably clean white shoes.
"So why did you come back so soon?" she asked when she almost finished. She also finished the glass of orange juice on the trolley. "I thought you were seriously considering staying there for studying." She wiped her mouth with a napkin. That was possibly the most satisfying meal she 's had all week.
"Because you said you missed me," he replied and her heart skipped a beat. Okay, she had to admit it now. He was good-looking, like in a gorgeous kind of way. When he wasn't up her ass about senseless things, and yelling like an unreasonable lunatic, he was cute. Even when he wasn't smiling. "Didn't you?" He started walking in slow motion towards her.
She swallowed the lump in her throat. "I missed you like everyone else did," she countered. "You're a pain most of the time. Your presence is hard to miss."
His face fell to a frown. "That's it? I came all the way back here to see you …" then he quickly added. "And my friends, and this is what I get? That I'm a pain that is hard to miss." He was losing his temper.
"Hey," she told him firmly. "Chill." She put a hand on his chest and pushed him away. "I'm going to wash up. Hang in there." That was the quickest exit she could come up with. The atmosphere was getting too awkward for her. She slid out of the bed, making a wide berth around him as he eyed her accusingly, and quickly ran to the en-suite bathroom. She saw her reflection in the mirror. She was blushing big time. "Shower. You need a shower right now."
Daoming Si couldn't believe his ears just now. He practically flew all the way back from London, saved her from imminent death seeing as how motivated that shitface was when strangling her last night, let her sleep in his bed in his home for the night, and prepared her breakfast and the itinerary for the day. And all she could say was she missed him like everybody else and that he was a pain.
Furious would be an understatement as he watched her disappear into his en-suite bathroom. He heard the shower come on. He scoffed under his breath. Women, he thought. I can't seem to figure them out. First, Shancai. Now, Katie. Then he stopped himself. Wait, how did I go from liking Shancai to talking about Katie? What's going on here?
His mobile phone pinged. It was a text from Ximen: "We are at your house. Are you home?" Perfect timing. He left his room, down the corridor, took two steps at a time down the stairs and went to the door. He flung it open just as Ximen wanted to knock. His fist was in midair.
"Hey!" Daoming Si said a little too cheerily. "Glad you guys are here."
Meizuo's face fell. "That's not a good sign. When you need us, something's wrong."
Daoming Si rolled his eyes. "Shut up and come in." The boys walked to the study. "Where's Lei and Shancai?" he asked casually.
"Lei went over to Shancai's house to help her move," Ximen replied. "Shancai's father has a new job so they are moving into a smaller place closer to campus." Daoming Si nodded, acknowledging. "Hey, you're different." Ximen looked at Meizuo quickly then back at Daoming Si. "You don't care about Shancai and Lei as much now. That's weird."
They went to the study. Mr Jiu served them some tea. The boys expressed their concerns over Katie after Mr Jiu passed on Daoming Si's message from last night. Shancai, in particular, was worried about Katie but they knew better than to disrupt Daoming Si once he's decided on something. So Daoming Si told them about last night's events and they applauded his heroics.
"Si, what a man!" Meizuo commended and patted him on the back hard. "Katie must be so touched. Did she betroth herself to you for the rest of her life?"
"And …" Ximen added. "Since you're sleeping in the same bed, did you guys do it?" Both Meizuo and Ximen peered closely at Daoming Si eagerly.
"Did who do what?" Katie's croaking voice interrupted. She stood in the doorway wearing a black shift dress with a denim shearling jacket and tan ankle-length boots.
The boys laughed uncomfortably. "Nothing," Ximen said and quickly changed the subject. "You look nice."
She looked down at herself. "Really? Thanks," she replied. "The rest of the clothes either didn't fit or suit me." She pulled her long black hair to one side. "Anyway, I'm ready."
Daoming Si shot up from his seat. "No, you're not," he said and strutted up to her in 3 strides purposefully. He walked around to her back. "The tags are still on, stupid." He ripped them off. "Now you're ready."
"I would appreciate it if you would stop calling me stupid," she grumbled. "There's stupid and there's true innocence. We're not the same." She secured her tan leather saddle bag over her shoulder. "Anyway, I'm going home. Thanks for your rescue and hospitality."
Daoming Si held up his arm to obstruct her way and nearly hit her in the neck in the process. "Wait a minute," he said firmly. "We're going to the doctor's first."
"Thanks but I don't need a doctor," she replied. "I'll be fine."
"Not negotiable." He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and started to drag her out the door with him effortlessly. He used his free arm to wave to his friends who were still sitting in the study dumbfounded. "Bye guys. I'll catch you later."
When Daoming Si arrived at their usual hangout later that evening, everyone was there, including Lei, Shancai and two unfamiliar girls hanging off the arms of Ximen and Meizuo. He never understood how the two of them could have so many women in their lives. As far as his experience went, women were either wealthy and cold like his mother, violent and oppressive like his sister, unbearably righteous but dedicated like Shancai, or … like Katie. He hadn't figured out what kind of woman Katie was just yet.
When Shancai saw him, she looked worried. He did a mental check on himself. Was he happy? No. Was he sad? No. Did he have warm fuzzy feelings when he saw her just then? Not really. He might be very well over her just yet. "Hey." he said and sat down next to Meizuo.
"How's Katie? Is she okay?" Shancai asked like she completely ignored his greeting just then.
Daoming Si didn't mind her behaviour today. Normally, it would have upset him if she didn't acknowledge him but it just didn't today and he didn't care either. His mind was too distracted with Katie. "She's fine," he said and the waiter set down his usual drink. Ximen must have made an order for him prior to his arrival. "The doctor said her injuries are superficial so they should heal with time. Her throat will too. I sent her home afterwards."
"Good," Meizuo said. "But we do have one question to ask you: do you like Katie?"
Daoming Si was surprised. Meizuo had caught him unaware. But that was Meizuo every time. "What do you mean?" he muttered, still reviewing the question and his answer.
"I mean, would you go out with her? Would you hold her hand? Would you kiss her? Would you …" Meizuo trailed off like a train.
"Okay!" Daoming said, annoyed. Meizuo liked to tease him for many things and romance was at the top of his list. "I get it. Now, shut up. You're annoying."
"So, would you?" Ximen probed, adjusting his round-rimmed glasses.
"Why are you asking me this now?" Daoming Si growled. "I don't know." His friends could be so aggravating, breathing down his neck and asking questions he had no answers to.
Lei finally spoke up. "Because we think you like Katie." He smiled in his cheeky fashion. Lei rarely smiled. His stoic expression usually represented all of his emotions. But since being with Shancai, Daoming Si noticed he had been more expressive of his feelings. Maybe that's the power of love, cliche as it was.
"Think about it:" Meizuo said. "You're no longer pissed off seeing Lei and Shancai together, which means you're over it. Then you came jetting back on a plane to Shanghai not short of one week after a video call with, NOT one of us but, Katie. You came to meet us then you ran off to Katie as soon as you heard from Shancai that she was on a date with a stranger. Then …"
"Okay, I get it!" Daoming Si cut him off in frustration. "I care about her, okay? She's been a good friend when I was with Shancai. Now that she's in trouble, I feel I should look after her. What's wrong with that?"
Ximen clapped like it was an encore. "And there we have it, people," he proclaimed with a smile. "Our Daoming Si has a new target."
"She's not a target," Daoming Si insisted. "I just want her to be alright."
"So you just want to be her angel," Meizuo chimed in. "You don't want her to reciprocate your good intentions."
"Just do what I tell her to and that's enough." Daoming Si replied.
Now it was Shancai's turn. "May I remind you that it was quite suffocating when we were together? You wanted this and expected that. You're quite the overbearing, unreasonable person. It was hard."
Daoming Si rolled him eyes at Shancai. "Please," he said. "You were frustrating yourself too. I can't believe I put myself through that ordeal. Thank God you're Lei's problem now."
Shancai was indignant. "Oh, grow up Daoming Si." she growled and sank back into her chair, folding her arms.
"Hey, that's what Katie said the day I humiliated you in the cafeteria." Daoming Si chuckled.
"If you have the nerve to say that," Shancai retorted. "Then have the guts to say you like Katie." She glared at him.
Daoming Si finally gave in. "Fine, I like her. Is everyone here happy now?" All his friends were smirking. I'm going to regret this. I just know it.