(One Month Later...)

Kris sat on the wooden chair, pouting with his arms crossed, while Aunty Hong washed the dishes in the sink. Even with her back towards the man-child, she was sure he’s emitting the aura of a child not getting what he wants. And she couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

“This is ridiculous! What is wrong with me?” Kris burst out impatiently. As he sat leaning against the back of the chair, his lips were still childishly pulled into a pout.

He has been rejected three times since for the past one month. The first time, straight after the words escaped his mouth, he pulled it back before she replied, afraid that Xiao Shan wouldn’t take him seriously. And like a coward, he escaped and pretended he said nothing.

A week later, he returned. And he came with confidence. He did his homework, pestering Aunty Hong for details about Xiao Shan. Exasperated by his antics, his older nanny yielded and told him what he needed to know, with the exception of her pregnancy of course. The more he knows, the more Kris was convinced she’s perfect.

He had it all in his head, again. He brought roses and dressed nicely. When he asked, he was polite and gentle. But she said no.

And last, there was yesterday. As usual, Kris came after lunch with an excuse to see his favorite person in the world. He brought fresh white lilies that he bought from nearby florist. Xiao Shan answered the door and when she saw the flowers and the foolish smile on his face, she sighed and said a straight no to his face.

“I’m perfect!” Kris tried again. “All the girls would kill to date me. But why would she say no to me?”

“Well then, Xiao Shan is no ordinary girl,” Aunty Hong replied casually. She put the clean plates onto the drying rack and wiped her hands on her apron. “Stop wasting your time, Yi Fan.”

“I’m pretty smart and I’m rich,” Kris voiced out, ignoring the advice Aunty Hong just said. “I’m handsome. And I was the captain of my school basketball team. How can she reject such a perfect man?”

Aunty Hong let out an annoyed sigh. “You’re far from perfect, Wu Yi Fan. You’ve graduated high school years ago so you’re no longer team captain. You’re not rich, your dad is. I’m not so sure about smart if you’re quitting medical school. And as for the looks…”

She surveyed the young man from head to toe. He sat up straighter in his position. Nodding, she added appreciatively, “You certainly got your mom’s genes. But do you really want her dating you because you’re handsome? That’s superficial.”

“Where is Xiao Shan anyway?” Kris cut in sourly, choosing to change the topic because he’s losing the battle here. Turning to look out of the kitchen, he was half expecting to see her coming down the stairs.

“Xiao Shan is not feeling well today so she’s resting upstairs. Please don’t make it worse for her, Yi Fan,” said Aunty Hong as she resumed her duty. Giving him a dirty look, she moved away to put away the groceries that she bought in the morning.

Alarm went off inside Kris. Climbing to his feet, he asked, “Why is she sick? Has she seen a doctor?”

“She just needs to rest. She’s been like this for a while now. It’ll go away,” Aunty Hong replied with a dismiss bearing in mind that it was actually morning sickness that Xiao Shan was actually experiencing. But she didn’t tell Kris that.

Just when he opened his mouth to question more, the doorbell rang. They turned to see each other.

“Is someone coming?” Kris asked dumbly.

“We don’t have house guests. You’re the only person who comes every day to disturb the peace here,” Aunty Hong retorted huffily. “Go and see who it is.”

Like a good boy, he strode out of the kitchen to answer the door. He passed the living room and the staircase to the upper level, and couldn’t resist looking up, hoping to see Xiao Shan looking down. But it was dead silent upstairs. Sighing, he reached the front door and opened it.

“Hey, Kris, what’s up!?” Kris stopped dead at the door, his eyes widened and jaw dropped.

Right at the door, was his group of friends, all five of them. And they came crashing. Without waiting for his response, they had unceremoniously pushed past him to enter the place, all the while loudly applauding him for scoring the place.

“What are you guys doing here? And how did you find me?” Kris demanded quickly. He left the door open; already wishing they only came to deliver a message or something and would be leaving straight after. An annoyance crept from within.

“Nikki told us you’ve been coming here so we came to check it out,” one friend answered casually as another had plopped himself onto the pristine white leather couch in the living room. Together, they started to explore the place while making loud commentaries to each other.

A short hiss escaped Kris’s lips but it went unnoticed. He turned to glare at the only girl in the group, Nikki. The same friend said more, “This is a cool place for a hangout. You should have told us sooner to crash here.”

“This is not my place!” Kris snapped at his friend. “And don’t put your legs on the coffee table!” He quickly turned to Nikki. “Did you follow me?”

The girl, Nikki, shrugged carelessly. Today, she was dressed in simple baby blue tank top coupled with thin cardigan and dark faded jeans. Her hair was straight, jet-black but with several hot pink extension clips on.

Avoiding his seething stare, Nikki turned away to survey the place as well. “Your nanny seems to be working for a real rich person.”

Again, Kris opened his mouth to rebut but two interruptions came on the same time in the form of two people. – One was Aunty Hong, who came rushing from the kitchen, a frown on her face; and another was Xiao Shan, who had come down the stairs to check on the commotion.

“What’s this, Yi Fan?”

“What’s going on?”

A friend, who was sitting on the couch, jumped to his feet. “Whoa, Kris… You keep another chick here?”

Kris’s face turned crimson red. But this time, it was Nikki who snapped at the friend, “She’s not Kris’s girl.” She threw a disgusted look at Xiao Shan and turned to hook an arm around Kris’s arm. “She’s just some rich brat who lives here.”

“Awesome, Kris, you caught a rich heiress!” another guy hooted. He high-fived the friend beside him and they grinned at Kris.

“Kris, are these your friends?” Xiao Shan cut in softly. Kris’s head snapped to look at the girl who was still standing at the foot of the stairs.

Immediately, Kris felt embarrassed, guilty even, that he has these friends who had shown up here. Xiao Shan clearly was the type of person who enjoyed her privacy and peace. And judging from her pale face and weak voice, Kris was certain she had been interrupted from her rest. She looked like she’s really sick!

But Kris nodded mutely anyway.

Xiao Shan massaged her temples gently, willing her headache to subside even just a little. But the pounding was relentless and the noise was not making it easier for her. Finally, she said, “I need to rest so I’m sorry that you guys cannot stay. Kris, please leave.”

As if on cue, Aunty Hong rushed forward to help Xiao Shan back up to her room. The former walked past Kris and glared at both Kris and Nikki, who was still clinging onto Kris. She shook her head disapprovingly at him while guiding Xiao Shan up. And even though no words were exchanged between Kris and the woman who raised him, he knew.

This was the exact reason why Xiao Shan had rejected him thrice.

Anger bubbled inside Kris. His red face turned a darker shade. Gritting his teeth, he forcefully tore Nikki from his arm.

“Get out, all of you.” It wasn’t an order, rather, a rude request to his group of friends. He glared at the girl. His tall form seemed to tower frightfully over her. “And stop following me. Don’t bring the rest here anymore. This is not a home you can come and go as you please.”

“Oh come on, Kris. You’ve gone MIA for the past week and we’re just checking up on you. That girl’s been a about it. It’s not like we trashed this place,” the first friend said.

Kris spun around to throw another angry glare. His usually handsome stoic features were contorted in rage. Without saying furthermore, he grabbed Nikki by her upper arm and pulled her to the door. Once he deposited her, he returned to grab his two friends by the collars and did the same. His years playing basketball and height advantage made him a formidable enemy, and no one argued with him more as he threw them out one by one.

“Don’t you dare show your face here again or I swear you won’t see the end of it!” Kris yelled and slammed the door in their faces.

“That means you too, Kris,” Aunty Hong’s voice said from behind. He spun around to see the older woman at the bottom of the stairs, back from tending to Xiao Shan. She looked sorry as she added, “Xiao Shan said it’s best you go back for today. She’s tired.”

Kris swore out loud, earning another disapproving look from Aunty Hong. 

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I was really busy last week that I totally have forgotten to update. So I'll update a decent long one. Hehe... I realized that I should start replying to my readers so I'll be replying at comments section from now on. Thank you everyone who reads, subcribes, comments & upvotes. XD

On a different note, it's not really weird that Lu Han thinks about Xiao Shan, is it? It's not really love cause he loves Ann but Xiao Shan's important to him too...