BAD NEIGHBORS

STRANGE

When Shen Yue woke up the next morning, she found herself in her bed, still wearing her clothes from the night before... And suddenly she realized she fell asleep in Dylan's car on the way home.
"I hope I walked on my own legs and that I didn't do anything embarrassing" she muttered to herself.
She got out of bed and went straight to take a shower.
"Mmmh I'm starving!" she hummed, hopping towards the kitchen.
Only then she noticed that someone was sleeping on her sofa.
"Uhm?!"
She walked over to Dylan and leaned to get a better look at him.
His sleeping face was so innocent... Totally different from the bravado mask he wore during the day.
She assumed he had slept there so as not to leave her apartment door open...
Yue smiled and decided not to wake him up. After all, it was Sunday.
After the week of hard work he'd been through, the madman deserved some rest.

===

Wang He Di opened his eyes and he felt disoriented for a moment.
What was he doing on that tiny yellow sofa?
But he soon remembered what had happened the night before and he jumped up.
A delicious scent drew him to the kitchen, where Shen Yue was turned on her back and was drinking a glass of water.
Dylan took a second to admire those legs covered only by a pair of green shorts. He was obsessed, really.
"Good morning, sleeping beauty!" Yue exclaimed, turning to him with a smile.
Oddly, Dylan was left speechless... How was it possible that every time he saw her she looked more and more beautiful?
Especially at that moment, when her face was completely devoid of makeup and her hair was a little puffy.
"Are you ok?" Yue asked him, confused by that silence.
Dylan shook his head and put on his mocking grin.
"I'd be better off if I slept on your comfortable bed instead of on that damn tiny sofa... Next to you..."
Shen Yue took off a slipper and she threw it at him.
"Idiot! Anyway... Thanks for last night. Sorry, really. I'm sorry you had to sleep here... When I fall asleep like that, not even a cannon shot can wake me up."
Dylan took the slipper and walked over to Yue.
He knelt in front of her and made her wear it.
"Don't worry, cutie" he smiled at her.
The girl looked at him for a moment and then she burst out laughing.
"Your hair!"
"What?"
"Your hair!" Yue repeated, tears running happily down her cheeks.
Wang He Di didn't understand, so Yue leaned slightly towards him, who was still on his knees, and she ruffled his hair.
"You look like a lion!"
Sally's loose braids and Dylan's constant tossing and turning in sleep had made his hair a real disheveled mane.
Wang He Di stood up and looked at himself in his cell phone screen.
"Woah!" he exclaimed, amused.
Yue was still laughing.
"But look at me! I'm a handsome lion for a beautiful tiger! GRRR" he winked, waving his hands in front of him and baring his teeth.
Yue pinched his cheek and nose.
"You're just a fool! Come on, sit down. I've cooked lunch" she said.
"Lunch?"
"You woke up at noon, sleeping beauty!"
"Oh! Is it so late?!"
"Yep!"
"And... Did you cook for me?"
"Don't freak out. It's to thank you for last night! Come on, go freshen up and then come and eat."
Dylan gave her a little kiss on the head and then he ran to the bathroom.
Shen Yue turned around to hide the blush on her cheeks.
He had kissed her on the head the night before, too, while they were playing with Sally...
He was such a weird guy!

===

The two had lunch together, then they sat on the sofa to watch a movie.
Shen Yue had put a foot on Dylan's lap to paint her nails.
"Do you really have to do it now? I don't know if it's your foot or the nail polish, but something really stinks here!" Dylan complained.
"My feet don't stink!" Yue replied.
"Sure... So it's the nail polish that smells like cheese?" he grinned.
She started to take her foot off his legs, but Wang He Di held her back and laughed.
"I'm kidding, you fool."
There was a strange atmosphere on that lazy Sunday.
Without really realizing it, without even trying, the tiger and the lion were entering a forest born only for them.
The way they felt so comfortable with each other was special, but they still didn't know it.
"Don't you have a more cheerful color?" Dylan asked to Yue, pointing to the black nail polish she was applying.
"Like which one?"
"I don't know... Red? Yellow? Fuchsia?"
Yue laughed, bringing a smile to Dylan's lips.
"I'll buy them" she replied, amused.
Wang He Di went back to watching the movie, while Shen Yue's cold feet continued to cool his warm legs.
"Didi?"
"Mmh?"
"I have a date tonight..."
Dylan's eyes widened and he turned to Yue, who was blushing a little.
"Really?!"
"Yes... Jaqi wants to introduce me to a colleague of hers..."
"Your friend has a little obsession with your love life, doesn't she?" the boy chuckled.
"Yeah, I hate her" Yue snorted.
"Come on! What's that face? It'll be fun!"
"No! It will be embarrassing!"
"Why?"
"Because... I don't know, I don't know how to deal with men, okay? And... I'm embarrassed to talk to people I don't know."
"You didn't seem embarrassed when you brutally turned me down on the speed date" Dylan muttered.
"You got on my nerves... That's the reason" Yue replied, with a shrug.
"I'd like to be like you" she said then.
"What do you mean?" Wang He Di asked.
"I should just have fun! Don't go crazy looking for the love of my life and let go! Go with random people without worrying too much!"
Didi's killer look astonished Yue.
"What's up?"
"Tiger, couldn't you have these kind of thoughts before?! Did you seriously wait for us to get down to this to start thinking like a normal person?!" he snapped.
"To this?" she asked.
"To this! To two old people who spend Sunday afternoons on a sofa doing nothing instead of doing acrobatic moves in a bed!"
Shen Yue burst out laughing.
"Idiot! Isn't it much better this way?" she grinned at him, pointing to her feet and Dylan.
"Are you serious? Nothing is better than doing you know what" he snorted incredulously.
"I know at least a thousand things better than doing you know what" Shen Yue replied.
"Poor little thing... Was your ex THAT bad?!" Dylan exclaimed, pretending to be genuinely sorry.
"What...? HEY!"
Yue gave him a few slaps on the arm as he laughed heartily.
"I was kidding, I was kidding! Anyway... I already told you, you don't have to worry. Someone very wise said that you are the funniest, the prettiest, the smartest and the sweetest... You don't have to feel uncomfortable going out with someone! Just be yourself and the man of your life will fall at your feet in a second."
Shen Yue gave him a small smile and she looked down.
"Thanks" she whispered.
Dylan winked and pinched her foot affectionately.
He was feeling strange.

===

Shen Yue tried hard to follow Wang He Di's advice, but the night didn't go as she had hoped.
Jaqi's co-worker was a handsome man, but something about him made her want to go home as soon as possible. He was so... Serious!
She felt so uncomfortable that she eventually made up an excuse and left the fancy restaurant he'd taken her to.

===

Wang He Di watched the girl he had just spent a few hours together with leaving the apartment, then he closed the door behind him with a sigh.
That woman was physically perfect, she was witty and she had a lot of... Fantasy.
But something was wrong that night.
He quickly picked up his clothes from the floor and he threw them into the laundry basket, then he went to take a bath.
As he played with the foam, he lost himself in his thoughts.
Why hadn't he had any fun with that girl?
Why did he have a moment of hesitation as soon as he was in bed with her?
Why did he feel sad once their bodies slumped on the mattress, tired, out of breath?
His mind flew to Shen Yue.
He wondered if her night was going better than his... He hadn't heard her come back yet.
Just then, the ringtone on his cell phone brought him back to reality.
He quickly got out of the tub, put on his bathrobe and answered the call.
"Do you have a beer?" the voice on the other side of the line sounded exhausted.

===

And so, again, the little tiger and the Don Juan found themselves keeping company to each other.
The two were seated at Dylan's small kitchen table.
There was only one bottle of beer in the refrigerator, so the two shared it.
"So? Was your date disappointing?"
"A disaster" Yue sighed.
"Tell me about it".
"I don't want to. But why do you have that face?"
"Which face?"
"You look strange... Is something wrong?"
Dylan's eyes widened, surprised.
"I'm fine, cutie! I'm just tired... You know, all that jumping in bed and..."
"Ok, ok! Spare me the details!" Yue hurried to interrupt him, with a grimace.
Wang He Di laughed at her, then he turned serious and gently ruffled her hair.
"So? What can I do to cheer up my tiger?"
Shen Yue took another sip of beer.
Her big eyes fell on him and a smile lit up her face.
"Can I make you pigtails?"

Author's Corner
Ciao!
Here I am! 😁
I hope you enjoy this chapter and that you will let me know what you think ☺️
I have so many things in mind to write for this story 😁
Thank you for being here! 💜💛
A big hug,
Lucrezia