Chapter 238 - Weird One

Every person is born with their distinctive traits that set their personality apart. That helps in making someone's individuality shine. But there are certain traits that we develop with time either by copying someone or we are forced to adapt with time, and people around us. 

However, every person has a part of the toxic traits within him as well. Xiu also had her own fair share of toxic traits but one of those that she was reminded of every morning was... Apparently, she thought that she could do anything in just 10 minutes which was never right. And with this particular mindset, she kept putting her alarm on snooze.

Her phone's ringtone made her groan in irritation. In her half-asleep state, she attended the call, "Why are you calling in the middle of the night?"

Darren rubbed his forehead and sighed as his assumption came to be true. She was indeed sleeping till now and had completely forgotten what they talked about last night. Ugh! This girl really needed to pay some attention!

"I didn't know that '7 o'clock in the morning' was also known as the middle of the night. Is this some kind of cultural difference or I'm too dumb to realize it?" came Darren's voice making Xiu's eyes wide open. She immediately sat up and looked at the phone screen to check the time and facepalmed herself.

"Shit! Sorry! Really sorry! Baby, just give me 5 minutes, I'll be right with you," said Xiu and hung up the call in a hurry. She frantically tried to get up but her foot got tangled in the sheets and she ended up falling face-flat on the floor.

Meanwhile, Darren was left staring at his phone screen with a silly smile. She called him with such adoration that he couldn't possibly bring himself to get mad at her. He languidly scrolled through his phone before wearing his shoes and walking out of the apartment. 

He checked the time and since it's already been 15 minutes since they spoke over the phone, he lifted his hand to ring the bell. However, Xiu pulled open the door right at that moment. Darren lifted his brow at her as he looked at her from head to toe. Her hair was still slightly wet and that's why she hadn't tied it. Her nose was oddly red and her eyes seemed like she cried? Cried? 

Darren frowned at that thought. Then he caught sight of her putting the shoes in her hands down to wear them while she passed her handbag to him to hold. As she wore the shoes, she looked at him with a smile but her eyes twitched slightly as if she winced in pain.

"Sweets? You okay?" asked Darren in a concerned tone.

"Perfect!" replied Xiu hiding her pained expression. Earlier when she fell down the bed, her nose had taken all the impact and it even bled a little. But she didn't want to tell him that otherwise, she knew he'd drag her to the hospital. 

They didn't go far for breakfast, it was a place around the housing society. Xiu ordered beef rice noodles, some fried breadsticks, and some soy milk. Then she looked at Darren, who only ordered Jianbing, a Chinese crepe for himself. 

"Hm? That's enough for you?" asked Xiu and he nodded in reply. "I thought you wanted to have breakfast with me? But you aren't even eating anything?"

"The keyword is 'WITH YOU'. Breakfast is just an excuse to spend more time with you in the morning," replied Darren with a straight face.

Xiu was really fascinated at how he managed to say those words with that straight face. Xiu took a long deep breath and said, "But why do you even need excuses to spend time with me?"

Darren scratched the back of his neck as he said, "Oh, that's right. I don't need excuses to see my own girlfriend." As they were having a normal conversation, the breakfast was served and Xiu dug in almost instantly. But just as she took a bite of her beef noodles, it was so hot that she almost spit it out. "Aye! What's the hurry? Be careful."

Xiu's eyes watered at how hot it was, she really was being clumsy today. But why was her clumsy side coming out today of all days? She was really annoyed to think about it. However, she learned one important lesson today, she really needed to stop being in a hurry so much. And for that, she needed to do everything on time.

While she went back to eating but this time taking her time blowing on her food first, Darren asked, "By the way, what did you talk about with Wei Ma last night?" Xiu lifted her eyes to glance at him inquisitively as he went on, "I mean, you both spend an hour talking. She didn't tell you any embarrassing stories of my childhood. Did she?"

Xiu laughed at the way he was looking at her trying to pry. "Do you have any embarrassing stories?" she retorted. Because to be honest, she personally didn't think he could have any embarrassing incidents. It just didn't seem to sit well with her.

Darren shrugged his shoulders saying, "Well, I can think of one."

"Really? What is it?" inquired Xiu, curiously blinking her eyes at him.

"She... didn't tell you?" asked Darren and Xiu shook her head in response. "Then what did you guys talked about for so long? It's not possible that she didn't say anything about me."

Xiu smiled at her reaction and said, "She did talk about you." She took a brief pause before adding, "She said when you first came to their home with Dylan, she found you really cute. She also said how she actually thought you're like an angel with two white wings on your back especially when you compliment on how good the dinner was." Suddenly, Xiu's eyes drooped and while she played around with the noodles in her bowl, she quoted Zhao Wei's words, "She also said, 'Regan was such a good boy with such good manners that I was in awe. But it took me a while to realize that he was too good for his age.'"  

He stayed quiet for a moment before he chuckled on his own saying, "Aiyo, she really thinks about everything. Don't take her words too seriously."

Even though he tried to laugh it off, Xiu didn't find it funny at all. Even she could understand that Zhao Wei indirectly meant that he didn't act his age. He grew up before he was supposed to and became considerate of everyone's feelings around him except for his own. That's why Zhao Wei insisted that Xiu should make him think about himself as well. 

"Regan, don't you think you're way too attentive? I mean don't you get tired of being attentive to other's needs or feelings?" said Xiu in a slightly desolate tone.

He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, "Not really. If me being attentive can make people around me happy then why would it be a burden to me?"

"But..." Xiu placed her hand on his, "What about your happiness?"

He looked at her hand on his before he placed his other hand over hers and replied, "I don't know why people assume that I'm not happy? The people I love and care about are my source of happiness. Just like this hand of yours in mine is enough to make me smile like an idiot for the rest of the day."

Xiu scoffed, "Idiot! You're a weird one. No, weirdest one!"