Glimpses

The Little Drunkard

AN: Dr-Cokebottles gave me this prompt quite some time ago, so I wrote it for the #meteorgardenfanficfestival happening right now on Instagram  @everyoutfitonmeteorgarden2018. Do click that hashtag on IG to check out more amazing stories!
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Daoming Si heard the clink of wine glasses as he approached the dining room. He paused before entering, but the two women seated at the dining table did not see or hear him, too engrossed in their conversation. He was still seething from his encounter with Huaze Lei earlier in the day. He had spat the "You are no longer my friend and brother" card into Lei's face, not caring about the obvious pain in his best friend's eyes, and caring even less about Meizuo's pleas not to break up their friendship. It was Lei's fault. Not his.

Worse than his seething rage, he was hurt and betrayed. By his best friend and the girl he loved. And now she was sitting right there, talking to his Jie in a drunken stupor. He probably should have warned his sister, that stupid girl can't hold her liquor! He thought that she had already left, after he had pinned her to the wall and told her in no uncertain terms that he was over her. So why was she still around?

His sharp ears caught Shancai talking about him. What was she saying? She was actually admitting that she had done a terrible thing! And she didn't want to see him hurt and upset! Was he hearing her correctly? Or was she putting on a facade in front of his Jie? But what was it that people said? Infants and drunkards don't lie? His eyes softened as he looked at her. Stupid girl, did she really mean all that she said? She gradually passed out, falling asleep on the dining table, her head resting on her arms.

He walked into the dining room and sat down. Zhuang looked at him and asked, "Is this your girlfriend?" Si scowled at her. Trust his sister to be that blunt. "She's just a schoolmate!" he shot back at her. "Anyway, how is her hand?"

"Oh, so now you're concerned?" Zhuang smirked at him. "She's passed out. Carry her to the guest room."

"Hey! Why me?" he frowned at her.

"Well, do you expect me to carry her?" she glared at him as she turned away, her high heels clicking as she left the room.

Si gave a resigned sigh. Stupid girl, he said again under his breath. He didn't know why he kept putting himself out for her, when she hated him so much anyway, so much that she would rather canoodle up to Huaze Lei. He lifted her in his arms with little effort as she was so slight. She buried her face in his shoulder and her arms wound instinctively around his neck. He slowly walked and carried her out of the dining room, careful not to drop his precious cargo.

Her closeness was unnerving him. He was supposed to be angry with her, for goodness sake! But her small arms wrapped around him, her warm breath (albeit with the whiff of alcohol), and her tiny sighs were becoming too much for him to bear. If he had a choice, he would have shaken her from any ideas of being with Lei and kissed the sense back into her, or kissed her senseless, was more like it. He shook his head, trying to get his thoughts back on track. He internally verbalised his usual insults in order to stay angry. She's as heavy as a pig. What a pain! How can she fall asleep at a time like this?!

When he reached the guest room, he gently put her down on the bed. She looked so beautiful he almost couldn't breathe. He tucked a stray hair behind her ear and bent to slowly caress her cheek. He couldn't be mad at her for long, he loved her so much! But he was determined to stay that angry for as long as he could. Those two were not going to get off so easily! He resisted the urge to climb onto the bed and embrace her in his arms, so he quickly turned to walk away, but then he felt a soft tug on his hand.

"Daoming Si, please don't go," Shancai was now awake, and she looked up at him beseechingly as she sat up. He wrinkled his brows in a frown. "Don't tell me you were awake all this time and you made me carry you all the way here?" Shancai looked down nervously. "You mean you did??" Si looked at her incredulously. "I must really be stupid."

Shancai sighed as she looked at him. "Daoming Si, I'm the one who's stupid. I'm the world's biggest idiot. For thinking that I was in love with Huaze Lei. Now I know that I'm not. I'm..I'm in love with you. You know what they say, drunk people don't lie. And as things have it, I would say I'm still a tiny bit drunk."

Si was stunned as he looked at her. Was this a dream and he was asleep? He pinched himself. No, he was very much awake. He blinked at her . "You're in love with me??" "I am," she told him. "I just never knew how to express my feelings  or I didn't want to admit it. I didn't want to admit it to myself, much less to you. I think I loved you from the time I wanted you to believe that nothing happened with Thomas. I asked myself why it was so important then, that you believed me even if nobody else would. All those times we bickered, it was our love language. And then..I did that terrible thing with Lei. I fully understand if you hate me and never want to see me again," Shancai looked down at her feet, her voice faltering, tears pooling in her eyes.

Si looked at her and any anger which he still felt completely melted away. Shancai had never ever been this open and honest with him before. He walked towards her and cupped her face with both his hands. "You are not the world's biggest idiot. I am the world's biggest idiot. For loving an idiot like you." He smiled at her as he wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes with his thumbs. She looked up and smiled back at him, her eyes still glistening. "Can I kiss you?" he asked her shyly. She said nothing but lifted up her face, and he slowly leaned in to capture her lips in a sweet, lingering kiss.

Zhuang peeped through the crack in the door and smiled knowingly to herself before silently tip-toeing away, leaving the lovebirds to themselves. Asking her brother to carry little drunk Shancai was not such a bad idea after all.