Chapter 201 - Epilogue I

EPILOGUE: I

Two years later...

"What?" Dion scrunched his nose up, talking to his phone while in the middle of the luxury mall. "Wait, sis! You know that I am an hour and a half away from the house, right? The boba you want me to buy you will evaporate before I get there!"

"Evaporate? Will you boil it while driving?!"

"I am exaggerating! But it's the same! It won't be cold anymore once I get there and it's not --"

"You just don't want my milk tea to create a mess in your new car, don't you?" Devon's voice lowered, sending a chill down Dion's spine. His face distorted as Devon knew him like she could read his mind from a mile away. 

"Brother, I am... utterly sad that my little brother is --"

"Ugh! Fine!" Dion agreed through his gritted teeth. Actually, that wasn't the problem, but he didn't want to walk around the mall. He just managed to get out of some crazy fans' radar who drained his energy for today. But well, Devon had been doing him favors without complaint whenever she was out and he needed something. 

So, buying her a milk tea was nothing compared to all those times the situation was reversed.

"Gosh... I'll be late for the party," he grumbled, stomping his way to the shop she told him to get her the beverage she was craving. It didn't take long when Dion reached it without anyone noticing him with his face mask on. 

As he opened the door, Dion stopped as a woman was exiting with her eyes on the phone. Hence, she ended up bumping her head against his chest, dropping her phone to the floor. 

"Uh, sorry..." the woman apologized as she immediately picked up her phone without casting him a look. But Dion's expression remained annoyed, staring at the golden curls lazily. 

"Do you like my chest that much that you keep bumping into it every time?" he asked, catching the woman whom he hadn't seen for three years raising her head. "It's been a while, Miss De Luca."

Gabriella's eyes slowly dilate, recognizing Dion instantly. Even though he had a face mask on and a black baseball cap, she recognized him through his eyes and voice. 

"Mister Qin." She raised her brows, smiling, closed-lipped. It had been three years since she last saw him and how hilarious that was the first time they see each other after a long time, as they would bump into each other. 

Dion just raised his brows as she looked at him awkwardly. She just stood there while he was standing in the middle of the door, basically blocking her way. Obviously, with their personality, one must step aside. Dion wasn't a gentleman and Gabriella hated when she felt she was being challenged. 

"Uhm..." She cleared her throat, raising her brows as she cocked her head to the side. "... will it hurt you if you become a gentleman for once?"

"Yes. I'm in a very, very, terrible mood. So it will." His response was lazy, rolling his eyes as he recalled how exhausting it was to get held up by a group of fans. 

She clicked her tongue, aching a brow as she crossed her arms. "Sucks. Me too. I am in a very, very, very terrible mood. So I have a lot of time to spare."

"I am very, very, very, very, bad mood."

"Mister Qin, mine is ten times worse than that." Her voice grew colder as they compete who was in the more terrible mood until the people, who wanted to exit and enter the establishment started to line up on their backs. 

"Uhm, Miss..." Gabriella raised her hand as staff approached her.

"It's not me who is holding the door." She glanced at the staff before setting her eyes back to Dion. "So, I'm not the one whom you should be telling me off."

"I can double your daily sales, tell that to your manager." Dion glanced at the staff coldly before setting his eyes back to Gabriella. "You. Do you have so much time to spare? Some people just want to eat and drink."

"I should be asking the same. Do you have so much time to spare? We all just want to leave to our families."

"Well, of course. My date ditched me when I told her I hate people making me wait." Dion shrugged nonchalantly, as he actually had a date, wanting to get out of his single status. Sadly, his endeavor about this was... bad, so far. 

When she heard about this, her brow raised even more as she tilted her head to the side. "Oh?"

"Miss Gabriella! I'm sorry I was late."

Suddenly, a man behind Dion suddenly came up, making him glance over his shoulder. As soon as he caught the man's confident expression, Dion chuckled as he returned his eyes back to her.

"You were on a date too?" he asked, but she only rolled her eyes. Since the De Luca had been associated with the Qin Empire, who rose from the scandal and had been stronger than ever since it wasn't a surprise she would try to date some men in the country. 

"So, you are the reason I had been standing here for ten minutes, huh?" Dion slowly turned around to face the man. Thanks to his towering height, he could look down on this man. Well, even if he was three feet tall, he would still look down on him.

"What?" the unsuspecting man darted his eyes from Gabriella to Dion, gulping down the building-up tension in his throat as soon as he locked eyes with Dion's eyes. 

"Apologize." The man raised his brows at Dion's request. "Apologize to her, to me, and to everybody else."

"No need. Just step aside." Gabriella chimed in irritation, but Dion was unfazed. 

"Then, just apologize to me." Dion stubbornly bats his eyes at the man. "She doesn't need your apology, but I do."

"What the..."

"Apologize."

The man looked at Dion in dismay, not recognizing this stubborn man. However, the man was quick to realize that he should just do what he was told when Dion cracked his knuckled. So he apologized to him, and then to the people outside the cafe, then to Gabriella as well.

"Apology accepted." He patted his shoulder before turning around to Gabriella. As soon as their eyes met, a sigh slipped past her lips. 

"Fine. What a jerk," she grumbled, finally stepping aside as Dion still didn't seem he would make way for her. "You never fail to get on my nerves."

Dion just pressed his lips into a thin line as he stared at her. Noticing his gaze, she looked up and asked with an annoyed, "What?"

"Let's date," he answered, lacking in enthusiasm. "Since you have time to spare, both our dates are late, and I want to prove to myself that I will also not like someone fierce that is on my list. It's better to cross two in that list on the same day."

Gabriella scoffed as she looked at him in disbelief. "Jerk."

"Come." Despite her disbelief, Dion finally took a step forward and grabbed her wrist, dragging her back in for a ten-minute date. In his mind, he would cross two on his list today of which type of woman would fit him. 

"Are you out of your mind?!" Gabriella seethed, but she still ended up sitting in one of the chairs with him across from her. "I will sue you."

"Okay." He nodded while looking at the menu. She clicked her tongue in annoyance and picked up the menu as if she would tear it apart.

"I will surely tell my brother about this." She grumbled before putting down the menu with a bang. "Matcha. I'm not paying."

"Matcha, sure." Dion nodded before knocking his knuckles against the table. "Wait for me here."

"Did you really think I will just sit still here?" he glanced back at her and shrugged before walking to the counter to order. Another scoff slipped past her lips as she watched his back. 

It didn't matter to him if she left him or not since he would have reason to skip some in the list of his future girlfriend. Little did he know, he would end up being stuck on that particular list in his notes. 

Fierce but soft at the same time. Beautiful without even trying. Kind and not at the same time.  Smart and wise with a little bit of dumbness. Elegant and cute at times. 

Gabriella was smart, so she figured it out already.

"This guy… I will kill him someday," she muttered, leaning back with her arms crossed. "I'll make him regret dragging me back here and force me to be his date. I'm already annoyed with that buffoon. Let's see if he can last. Hmph!" 

And what she also didn't know was, this date wouldn't just end here. That their hate relationship would evolve into something deeper.. Something both of them weren't prepared for.