In Between the Lines | Completed

Chapter Twenty-Three | Expecting the Expected

Du Shin-Il

"Thank you so much for a lovely dinner," Xiao Mei Cheng laughs. My brothers are watching her with rapt attention as though she had hung the stars in the sky for them personally.

The evening had not gone how I had been expecting.

When he left the house with a smile on his face, claiming he saw a friend running to the park, I had expected one of his high school classmates or former teammates. I was hoping he was starting to recover from the depression he had been experiencing since the accident, maybe make a new friend, find a girlfriend, or all of the above.

Seeing him with her was a little more than unexpected.

Du Jii inviting her to dinner, also unexpected.

Seeing the reaction I had to Xiao Mei Cheng dressed in my old clothes? Probably the most unexpected component of the evening.

She was sitting at our dining table, wearing a pair of sweats that had shrunk in the wash, one of my t-shirts, and laughing at the herd of men in front of her trying to do anything to make her smile.

As the oldest of 6 rowdy boys, I had seen every fight, squabble, disagreement, and scuffle we had had over the course of my life. Seeing them fight over a girl's attention? That was expected.

"Five brothers, huh?" Xiao Mei Cheng turns her eyes over to me, her cheeks pink from laughing at their antics.

I shrug, grabbing the empty plates from the table and taking them to the kitchen, prepping to wash them clean while they keep her entertained.

And keep my blushing face away from her. If they mention one more story about me during high school or growing up I'll—

"Bear hasn't mentioned us?" Du Jii asks, a pout forming.

"Bear?" She asks, causing me to wince.

"Because he's mean like a bear—" Du Min offers and I mentally take a note to get him a bag of sweets the next time I'm out since he was lying through his teeth for my sake.

"Uh no, cause he's cuddly like one, duh—" Du Jii grins and I shoot him a glare, telling him to shut it and quickly. He continues, no fear for his safety, "He's big on cuddling. Has been since we were young."

"Interesting."

"We always said that if he ever brought a girl home, we'd have to make sure she's okay with having a human space heater in her bed for the rest of her days," Du Ho adds and I shoot him a glare.

"But then again, his very unsuccessful dating life hasn't given us much hope that he wouldn't become a eunuch." Du Jii adds.

Lord, take me now.

"Remember when we was going to confess to—"

"Du Ho!" I snap.

"Ooo, this sounds like my kind of story," Xiao Mei Cheng throws out with an evil laugh.

As though God was interceding on my behalf, my phone rings and I let out a sigh of relief as I grab it and throw it on speaker phone, my hands starting to get sudsy.

"Young-min, I can't—"

"Miss Jones was in a fight outside my apartment."

"WHAT?!" Xiao Mei Cheng screams. She swears in Mandarin and launches at me, trying to grab the phone, "What happened?! Is she okay?"

Her accent is thick, and Lee Young-min keeps talking, ignoring the cluster of noise coming from my end of the call. Xiao Mei Cheng pushes against me, trying to make a grab for the phone, but I hold her back, wrapping my arms around her arms to restrict her movements.