BAD NEIGHBORS

LA REGOLA DELL'AMICO

Shen Yue had few friends, but they were truly the best in the world.
She considered Jaqi, Xiao Wen, Zi Wei, Caesar, Connor and Darren part of her family.
They had all grown up together in the same neighborhood in their tiny town, so she had known them all her life and regarded them as siblings.
That evening they were all gathered in her small living room to celebrate her move.
Yue's cheeks hurt from how much she laughed.
"Ok guys, it's cake time!" she announced, after the game Jenga they were playing had ended with her victory.
"CAKE TIIIIIME!" Connor exclaimed enthusiastically.
Everyone cheered.
Yue felt a wonderful feeling of warmth... She loved seeing them so happy every time she made a cake for them.
She went into the kitchen and returned to them with the long-awaited chocolate cake.
"Um... Two huge slices are missing!"  Zi Wei commented.
"Weren't you on a diet?"  Caesar teased Yue, who blushed.
"Hey! I didn't eat them! I gave them to the guy who lives in front of me" she explained.
"Uuuuh! The model!"  Jaqi grinned.
"Model?!"  Xiao Wen's eyes lit up.
"Our Yueyue is lucky! You should see him! He's HANDSOME! Tall, muscular, a look that sends you to the other world and very thick hair! He is super charming!"
Yue snorted and shook her head.
"It's none of that" she said.
"Don't be silly! If you watch him for more than ten seconds you risk getting pregnant!" Jaqi retorted, shocked by her friend's insensitivity.
"I'm sure you're exaggerating" Caesar muttered.
The boy had a crush on Jaqi since they were just kids, but he never had the courage to confess his feelings to her.
"Let's find out! I want to meet him!"  Zi Wei exclaimed.
"Let's go and invite him here for another piece of cake!" Xiao Wen proposed.
"Good idea!" Connor answered.
"Yes! I'm curious too!" Darren added.
"Guys, please!" Yue tried, with Caesar's help, to persuade them in every way... But it was useless.
Her friends rushed out of the apartment and ran to Wang He Di's door.
When the boy opened it, with only a towel covering his lower body, he instantly smiled at the three girls in front of him.
"Am I dreaming? Am I in heaven? Three angels at my door!" he exclaimed theatrically.
The girls burst into shrill giggles.
"Stop it, you idiot" Yue snorted, behind them.
"Oh! But here's my favorite angel!"  Dylan smiled at her.
"Awwww!" sighed Xiao Wen.
"Does this really work with girls?"  Darren asked Connor softly, puzzled.
"With that face and that body he could even communicate with burps and they would fall at his feet anyway" laughed the other, then leaning towards Wang He Di.
"Hey, bro! I'm Connor, nice to meet you! We're Yue's friends... We were wondering if you'd like to join us for a piece of cake."
Dylan's eyes widened, surprised.
"Oh! What a kind thought! Ehm... With pleasure! I'll join you in a moment!" he replied.
Yue caught a glimpse of a girl inside his apartment.
"I'm sure Dylan is already very busy! You'll get to know him better another time" she said, pushing her friends away from there.
"Not at all! Just give me five minutes!"  he replied enthusiastically.
"We'll wait for you!"  Zi Wei chirped.

===

Dylan really arrived after a few minutes at Yue's apartment, who resigned herself to his presence and made him sit down with the others in the living room.
She watched him for a while from a distance... Her friends seemed to like him a lot.
He was telling them some funny episodes she wasn't even listening to... The boys were laughing out loud and they asked him many questions, while the girls complimented him and sighed at his every glance.
Shen Yue rolled her eyes and went to wash the dishes in the kitchen.
"Didi is an interesting guy".
Darren had just appeared next to her.
Yue handed him a plate to dry and she smiled.
"Didi?"
"He told us we can call him that."
"Really?"
Yue was amazed.
"Yeah! You know, I think you should consider him..."
"Darren..."
"What?"
"I hardly know him! And then did you see what kind of guy he is? He's a womanizer. Do you want to push me into the arms of a womanizer?!"
Darren looked at her for a moment and then burst out laughing.
"Yueyue, relax! I'm just saying that now that you're not with Jasper anymore, you should try to have some fun..." he explained calmly.
"I already have fun!"
"You know what I mean, you fool."
"And you know what I'm looking for is a serious and stable relationship."
"Ok, ok! I think Zi Wei and Xiao Wen will steal him from you anyway... They're leaving a trail of drool in the living room."
Yue laughed heartily, and she gave him a little nudge.
She didn't notice that from the other room, Wang He Di could see them.
As soon as the night was over, everyone warmly hugged Yue and then said goodbye to Dylan.
"No hugs for me?" he asked, winking at the girls.
Both Zi Wei and Xiao Wen rushed into his arms, while Jaqi was held back with an excuse by Caesar.
"We need to see each other more often!" Zi Wei exclaimed.
"Sure! Can I invite you to dinner, beauty?"
"No, you can't!" Yue broke in, surrounding her friend's neck with her arm and holding her with a threatening look.
"Come on, let's go!" Connor laughed.
Once the guys left, Dylan re-entered Yue's apartment without asking permission and he began to collect the glasses left in the living room.
"Hey! What are you doing?!"  Yue exclaimed.
"I'm helping you" he replied simply.
"Oh... Don't... There's no need! Go rest!"
He gave her a smile, but he ignored her words and continued to tidy up.
Yue sighed and went to help him.
"Thanks" she said.
"You're welcome, cutie! I like your friends... You seem very close!"
"Yeah... They're crazy, but I love them."
Dylan noticed the sweetness in her tone of voice and for a moment he paused to admire how beautiful she was when she talked about who she loved.
"What about your friends? Are they like you?" Yue asked him suddenly.
"Uh? Um... Let's just say I'm short of friends at the moment" he replied.
Shen Yue turned to him with a surprised look.
"You?!" she exclaimed.
"Why so much amazement? Don't you often say that I'm unbearable?" the boy chuckled.
"You know I like to joke... I mean... No,  you're really unbearable. But someone willing to put up with you must exist!" Yue answered.
Dylan laughed at her and ruffled her hair with one hand.
"Thank you, you're kind! Anyway... Until a few years ago I had a group of friends like you do".
Yue watched him try to hide his bitterness behind a smile as he arranged the cushions on the sofa.
"And what happened then?" she asked him.
"One of them accused me of hitting on his girlfriend."
"And is it true?"
"I know what you think of me, tiger. But I would never, ever betray the trust of the people I care about. I'm not a bad person."
Shen Yue pinched his arm.
"Ouch! Why?!"
"I don't think you're a bad person!"
Dylan smiled at her fondly.
"Thanks" he whispered.
There was a moment when they both stood silent, motionless, looking into each other's eyes.
"Cutie, if you keep staring at me like that I'm gonna kiss you."
Yue snatched a pillow from his hands and she hit him hard enough to drop him on the sofa, then she sat down next to him.
"How idiot you are! Come on, tell me this story of your friends" she snorted.
"Damn! How can you be so strong?! Anyway... One night we were all together in a club and at one point she asked me to talk. She seemed agitated,  so I got worried and thought something had happened to my friend. As soon as he took me out of the club, she started talking to me a lot of nonsense and then she kissed me. Fate wanted my friend to go out just then, looking for her... And he saw everything. Instead of asking for an explanation, he simply assumed that I had seduced his girlfriend. I tried to explain the situation to him, but you know how it is... My reputation didn't play in my favor. The rest of the company believed him and they excluded me, pointed me out as the traitor. Those two are still together, you know? Funny. "
"What kind of friends are they?!"  Yue yelled, shocked.
"It doesn't matter... I'm fine this way."
"Don't try to look cool... We all need a friend."
"Well, I'm here without friends and I'm not dead yet... I guess I can survive, right?"
"Actually you are a little pale... I don't know how long you will be alive..."
"TIGER!"
Yue laughed and reached out to him.
"Okay, now you have a friend. Actually, you have seven new friends" she smiled.
Dylan looked at her small hand for a moment.
"The hell. I'm not your friend" he said then, refusing to hold it.
Yue's eyes widened.
"What?! Don't you want to be my friend?!" she exclaimed indignantly.
"Of course not! Being friends with a woman burns you any chance of doing anything with her! It's a universal law!" Dylan explained, as if it were a matter of course.
"What are you talking about?!"
"Tsk! Let's put it this way: would you ever go out to dinner with Darren, Connor or Caesar?"
"I often go to dinner with them!"
"Honey, I mean real dates!"
"Of course not!"
"And would you ever do something with them?"
"You mean..."
"I mean that"
"YUCK! No! They are like brothers to me!"
Dylan spread his arms out, trying to make her understand how reasonable his theory was.
"Wang He Di. You better accept me as a friend, because you will never have a date or anything else from me" Yue told him, reaching out to him again.
"I'm sorry, but we can't be friends" smiled Dylan.
"How stubborn! So? What are we?"  she complained.
"We're... Neighbors" he replied.
Yue glared at him.
"Ok. Neighbors. But this doesn't change the fact that you won't have anything from me."
Wang He Di leaned towards her and poked her nose with his finger.
"Never say never".
"Unbearable. Rather... What about the girl who was in your apartment?"
"Oh, did you see her? She was the fifth damsel on the speed date."
"And... is she waiting for you?"
"I don't take women hostage, you know? She's gone. When you arrived, we already had enough fun" laughed Dylan.
"Do you go out with a different one every night?!"
"Exactly. I have nineteen nights of pure happiness. I hope there will also be the twentieth."
"Keep dreaming" Yue replied, showing up a lovely middle finger.
"Awww my little tiger! GRRRRR!"
He shouldn't have to say that.
Yue started hitting him with pillows, forcing him to run all over the apartment.
When he finally arrived to the exit, he opened the door and closed it quickly behind him.
"Goodnight, neighbor!" he yelled from outside.
"Idiot!" he heard her answer from inside.
He laughed in amusement and went into his apartment.
Meanwhile, Shen Yue put down the pillow and went to sleep with a big smile on her face.

Author's Corner
Ciao!
How are you? ❤️
You know, here in Italy we have a song called: "La regola dell'amico" ("The friend's rule") which is a classic here and which talks exactly about what Dylan explained to Yue.
I leave you the lyrics here, because I find it funny 😄

THE FRIEND'S RULE
I don't know what kind of spell you put on them,
when you join our gang
all my friends vanish and they come to you.
They sit next to you,
next to your hairs that
have that scent...
It's the balm you use or it's you?
They all try to win you over.
They are waiting for a sign
and in the meantime they hope
that your friendship
will lead to something else,
but they forget
such a natural principle...
"The Friend's Rule" is never wrong:
if you are a woman's friend
you will never get what you want,
never.

"You don't want to
ruin such a good friendship!"

You talk and everyone listens to you,
You laugh and everyone laughs:
it's a challenge on who indulges you more.
While you,
you play and you tease them a bit
but you never exaggerate.
In the kick of it you go away
alone and you leave everyone
like that, wondering:

"Why did she play along with him
and she didn’t consider me:
but tomorrow I’ll offer her a drink and then
I'll be alone with her! ".

They can’t understand that
"The Friend's Rule" is never wrong:
if you are a woman's friend
you will never get what you want,
never!

"You don't want to
ruin such a good friendship ".

It's called "The Friend's Rule"
just because
if you are a woman's friend
you will never get what you want,
never.

"I could never see you
as my boyfriend! "

I see the flashes of hatred that
everyone is giving to you
while you're coming inside
hand in hand with him,
who doesn't have
the same loquacity as ours,
but I see that he knows where
to put his hands [on your body].
Everyone is dying with envy and criticizing

"What does he have to do with her?
She's stupid, I know
that he’ll make her suffer
while I would be
the right guy for her ".

They can’t understand that
"The Friend's Rule" is never wrong:
if you are a woman's friend
you will never get what you want,
never

"You don't want to
ruin such a good friendship "

It's called "The Friend's Rule" because
if you are a woman's friend
you will never get what you want,
never.

"I could never see you
as my boyfriend!"

See you soon guys! 😄
A big hug,
Lucrezia