My Neighbor Is A Freeloader

Chapter 17 [Boss, That Man Is Already Taken]

When Sana gets her phone back, she texts Yeeun to thank him as well as explain why she is not there to pick up the documents personally. However, there is no immediate response from him.

The braise chicken is delicious and Schrödinger and Sana squabble over who should have the last drumstick. In the end, Tzuyu gives the last piece to Sana as he is worried that Schrödinger may have eaten too much. After that, he becomes worried that Sana may have eaten too much too. In the end, he figures he can prepare some gastric pills for standby later, as well as bring her for a stroll to help digestion. He used to have the habit of an after-dinner stroll before Sana came into his life and today may be a good day to resume the habit.

So they went strolling and they meet a dog, or rather, Sana meets a dog. When Sana feels a ticklish sensation at her knee, she looks down and sees a big dog sniffing at her knee, wagging its tail.

A dog? Sana is okay with cute little puppy, but this one is a big big one which is almost as the same size as her.

She screams, hooks Tzuyu's neck and climbs quickly up his back. She wraps her legs around his waist tightly, scared to death that she will drop. Tzuyu is surprised by her sudden koala bear impersonation and can feel her legs locking tightly at his waist. Because they are so close, he can feel her breast pressing tightly to his back. As it is summer, he can feel their full contours through the thin layers that separate them.

As his brain registers the fact, the tingling feeling transforms into a fierce torrent within split seconds that hammers at his brain and freezes his body into immobility. To make matters worse, Sana tries to wiggle her body further up, as if to climb onto his shoulders, so even his arm has the tingling sensation now caused by her rubbing. Tzuyu’s face slowly turns a dull red as his brain cells are short-circuit into malfunctioning. Based on the limited number of working brain cells, he is unable to command his body to move or comprehend the reason for her acting this way until he register her high-pitch exclamation from a distant corner of his brain. “Tzuyu! There is a dog! Dog!”

You are the one who is a dog….ah, dog?

Tzuyu turns his head slowly and sees a golden-fur doggy next to him. The little doggy seems to like Sana as it wags its tail and tilts its head to look at her, as if waiting for her to come down. Tzuyu angles his face towards her and says gently. “Don’t be afraid.”

Sana is scared to death but with Tzuyu’s backing, she can feel a bit of her courage returning.

“Whose dog is this? Can the owner come and lead it away!”

The dog owner finally appears to lead his dog away and Tzuyu reminds her to get off his back. Sana is a bit embarrassed and assumes that Tzuyu dislikes the skinship because he is gay. Thinking about this from his angle, it is probably equivalent to getting molested so it is little wonder he is not happy.

But from another angle, skinship with him is probably safer had he been a normal. Lately, Sana has gotten used to Tzuyu who feels just like a best friend to her. Since he has never voiced any objections when she touches him, perhaps it is his silent consent or acceptance towards female friendship?

The two continue their stroll and Tzuyu keeps his head lowered as he walks behind her so that she does not see his flaming face. Only when he recovers his composure does he change to walk alongside Sana.

They pass by a unit that has some beautiful peonies growing at its balcony. Sana runs over excitedly to admire the flowers and even wants Tzuyu to help her take a picture with a stray bloom that has grown outside the gate because she does not have her phone with her. Looking at the picture on his phone, she sighs.

“This is so pretty. How I wish to steal a pot back!”

Of course, that is just wishful thinking.

When they reach their respective homes, Sana sees the following text message from Yeeun.

Boss Jung: Actually, you need not do this. Poor taste.

Has he misunderstood something? Sana suspects it may have to do with the accidental phone swap and thinks she need to explain matters. She calls his number and he answers with a cool “Hello?”

“Hi Boss, thank you for bringing over my documents today.”

He grunts an acknowledgement.

“Ay, I was waiting expectantly for your call only to find out that I have mistakenly swapped my phone with another person’s. I hope that this has not resulted in any misunderstanding?”

“And if I say it has, what will you do?”

“Oh my goodness, I am sorry! Can it be remedied?”

“Actually, it is not a big deal and you do not need to take it to heart. But do be more careful in future. You could have mistakenly swapped phone with your boyfriend today but who knows if it will be a customer’s phone that you will swap tomorrow?”

Sana coughs in embarrassment. “Thank you for your guidance and I will bear it in mind. However, he is not my boyfriend, heehee.”

“I see.” Yeeun laughs softly. “I thought you are chasing him.”

“Boss, how did you reach such a conclusion?”

“I just thought that he looks quite handsome; just the kind that you ladies would like.”

Sana feels a fissure of alarm. “Boss, please don’t tell me you are interested in him?”

Tzuyu being too handsome is really a problem. Now, he attracts everyone's attention wherever he goes. Suddenly, she feels pity for Jeongyeon who has a magnet alike lover like Tzuyu. He must be really jealous and he must have tons of rivals. If she were him, she would be jealous to death too.

The statement catches Yeeun off guard and he is momentary at a loss for answer.

“Sana, please don’t over think.”

Sana doesn’t like to over think too but it is still best to clear the air. Just in case. “Boss, that man is already taken.” So, you better not destroy my little sister's perfect relationship. You better find someone else. She thinks.

Hearing what he has been waiting for, Yeeun is satisfied.

XxxxxX

Over at the other apartment, Tzuyu is researching on “Shou Shou (Beast Beast)”. He read several research papers on biology and veterinary medicine which makes him feel really silly after reading. Given her standard, how can she have come up with the term along this track? Changing tactics, he switches to search on the web… and found a lot of lewd videos.

What is the world coming to? Tzuyu tries to refine his search but without much success. In the end, he hacks into Sana’s account and goes through everything but still cannot find anything that can give him a clue on the meaning of the word.

Face with such an unexpected challenge, Tzuyu decides to stop his search temporarily and forward Sana her pictures taken from his phone. Scrolling through the pictures, he bends his head to hide a gentle smile that lit up his face. He seems to recall something and he blushes again.

The next day, Sana appears at Tzuyu’s apartment after work. While he is busy cooking, she makes her way to a rug that she has noticed the other time to see if she has a chance to lie on it as it makes her feel like she is lying on a bed of money. When she reaches the rug, she notices that the door next to it is slightly open and that the wind is causing the cream-colored curtains to flutter softly.

That is strange, why draw the curtains when it is turning dark outside?

Walking over, she draws the curtain and sees a lovely sight – there on his big balcony are several pots of peonies. The white blooms are like jade, the red blooms are like fire, while the pink blooms are like smoke, and they enliven the balcony like colors on an artist’s palate under the warm evening sun.

XxxxxX

To be continued>>>