Chapter 16: Morning After Mayhem

~NeRd~

"MMMmm," yawning loudly, San Chai stretched herself out in the bed. The morning sun was beaming warmly into the room, and she tucked herself back under the soft covers for a few more minutes of sleep. Suddenly realizing the strangeness of her surrounding, she jolted upright. [Where am I? Why am I here? What was I doing last night?!] As the mental third degree continued, she started to recall the events of the night past. [Then Dao Ming Si sat down and…DAO MING SI?! THAT PERV?! WHAT IF? AM I? IS THAT WHY?] She immediately glanced downwards at her body and breathed a sigh of relief to see that she was still dressed in her dinner attire. [Calm down, calm down! There is a very logical explanation to this.]

"Yo," Dao Ming Si strides into the room with a cup of juice in one hand and a bagel in the other.

"Ahhhh!!!!" San Chai shrieked at the top of her lungs. For one thing, she half hoped all her assumptions were incorrect, and secondly, she was too busy freaking out to notice when he had entered the room.

"Chill. Before you get up and start throwing things, let me assure you NOTHING happened." He pointed to the living room area where the sofa bed was in disarray.

"I slept on that crappy thing last night while you enjoyed the luxury of my bed. As for WHY you're in my room…well you fell asleep on the deck yesterday, and I couldn't think of anything better." [Good thing I thought this out before she went kung fu on my head]

"O. Well that makes sense. I have to say I didn't expect…"

He interrupted her, thrusting the breakfast to her, "You should eat something. You're still too skinny."

"How would you know what too skinny is anyway? I can't help it if I'm built like this." She tried to argue while nibbling on the bagel.

"I had to pick you up to bring you here yesterday. I was afraid you'd shatter in my arms." His tender speech and the concern in his eyes gave San Chai goose-bumps.

"You didn't have to pick me up," suddenly getting a mental picture, she started to blush.

"I see. So sleepwalking is one of your many talents right?"

"Well, you could have woken me up." She answered matter-of-factly.

"O and miss out on the spectacular San-Chai snore symphony? Nah!"

"I DO NOT SNORE!!" San Chai insisted.

~*~

"Hey don't you think it's time to get Ah Si up? We'll reach the islands in a few hours," Ximen suggested to Mei Zuo as they made their way down the main corridor.

"Yo…Dao Ming Si! Sleeping beauty, get up!" Mei Zuo called through the door. "Hey, Ximen give me the master key you made…he's not answering."

Frozen in her place on the bed, San Chai could only watch in wide-eyed horror as the two playboys burst through the door. [Stupid Dao Ming Si!! Did he HAVE to go to the bathroom right this minute? What do I tell them?! Shit, there's no where to hide…o boy, my face feels hot.]

"Sa..Sa…SAN CHAI?!" The two guys shouted in unison, toppling over each other. Adding to the awkwardness of the situation, Dao Ming Si dashed out of the bathroom—shirtless.

"What happened? Who's shouting?" he asked in a flurry.

"OOO WOW. DID YOU GUYS? NO WAY! WHOOOO GOOOO AH-SI!!!" Suddenly, the two usually suave guys were jumping around in hysterics praising and congratulating a very stunned and confused Dao Ming Si.

"WAIT A MINUTE!!" Finally coming to her senses and able to formulate sentences, San Chai cut the celebration short. "NOTHING happened. It's a long story, and you guys have real bad timing."

"Ah-Si is that right? Why aren't you wearing a shirt then? Why is she in your bed?" Ximen asked his friend anxiously.

Grunting, he answered, "Nothing happened. I was getting ready to take a shower when you two bozos started yelling."

Before Ximen had a chance to interrogate further, Dao Ming Si narrowed his eyes and leaned closer to his two companions to inquire in a low growl, "And HOW is it you got in here?"

"Hehehe! Well, I'm glad to see that our two favorite virgins are still…well OUR TWO FAVORITE VIRGINS! But umm..we gotta go!" Mei Zuo blurted out frantically.

"That's right! Gotta get everyone up for uh breakfast. Yeah. See you guys later!" Ximen's last words were mere echoes as the two dashed out of the room and down the hall.

With that catastrophe over, San Chai looked up at Dao Ming Si. Noticing his bare and well-tanned torso, she flushed pink again. [I didn't realize he was so toned. He is a handsome guy beneath the pig exterior.]

"Ahem," clearing his throat, Dao Ming Si looked at the floor when he said, "I'm going to take a shower now. You should probably get washed up and head down to breakfast. I'll see you there."

~*~

It seemed that everyone was in high spirits that morning, and the table was abuzz with chatter and the clinks of tableware. Ah-Si arrived at the dining hall, and noticed that San Chai had not come down yet. Mei Zuo and Ximen eyed him suspiciously, but Dao Ming Si glared them down. The breakfast table was set up near a large bay window, and the view was spectacular at mid-morning. Lei sat alone on the window seat, looking out at the ocean and sipping his latte. San Chai dashed into the room, her damp hair bouncing and her ruffled skirt fluttering.

"Well, well look who made it to breakfast!" Mei Zuo chuckled when she had settled into the seat next to him.

"Hush and pass me some pancakes. I'm starved."

"What could you have been doing that drained you of so much energy?" he smirked.

"I was up late into the night thinking of a way to put you on par with the rest of humanity. Sorry to say there's just no hope for people like you." San Chai stated sarcastically before taking a large bite of pancake.

"Ouch. Glad to see she's still herself. If you don't want to tell, we won't ask anymore about WHY YOU WERE IN AH-SI'S ROOM this morning," Ximen declared with a look of innocence plastered to his face.

"San Chai! You didn't really spend the night with that, that guy did you?" Ching He whimpered.

The table went dead silent, and even Lei turned his attention to her.

[Gah. Everyone's staring at me. What to say…the truth is the best I think.]

"Gee Ximen how considerate of you not to spread any rumors based on conclusions you drew yourself. Seeing how this is not going to die down, I'm going to tell the truth." [Well, maybe not the part about crying or the part about seeing Jing and Lei.]

"Yes. Do tell us why the two of you were together this morning. Not to mention Ah-Si was only barely dressed," Mei Zuo couldn't resist the chance to pour fuel on the fire.

San Chai shot him a nasty look, but continued selecting her words as carefully as a presidential candidate, "Yesterday was something of an interesting night. I walked around for a long time, and I stopped to rest on the upper deck. That's where Dao Ming Si found me on his walk around the yacht. I ended up falling asleep, and he decided it was better not to wake me. That's why I spent the night in his room."

The table was silent again, and San Chai was feeling a bit panicked. [Great. Why are they all looking at me like I have horns sprouting from my forehead.]

"Pwahahhaah. That is the lamest story I have ever heard," Ximen announced.

"Whatever. When you decide to come out with the truth we're all ears. But really don't expect us to go for something that ridiculous," Mei Zuo agreed.

"It IS the truth you idiots," Dao Ming Si hissed at the two.

"Honestly, I don't know why you want us to continue to see you as a hopeless virgin. Truth or not I would think a MAN would want people to assume he had finally gotten somewhere with a woman. How old are you again?" Ximen mused. In a flash of limbs, Dao Ming Si had plunged over to Ximen's seat and soon had him in a firm headlock. The group erupted in laughter, and San Chai was relieved that the spotlight was no longer directed on her. She even joined in the laughter at the sight of two full grown men wrestling on the floor. She continued giggling until she noticed Lei at the window. He turned as if on cue, and their eyes locked for the first time that morning.

~~~~

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