Water and Fire (BL)

Chapter 48: The Childish Girl

Chapter 48: The Childish Girl

The semestral break was nearing its end, and school was about to start soon. David felt like he haven't enjoyed this break from school to its fullest. He wanted nothing more than to spend it with Eric.

Instead, what he's getting are these unwanted dates from Xiaoge, the feeling of guilt for not fighting for Eric, and his growing hatred towards his father.

One afternoon, he had the strong urge to go to Eric's house. But he sure as hell knew that Xiaoge would prevent him from being away from her for even thirty seconds. The girl's crazy!

Ever since she arrived in the country, she has been staying in the Zhou residence, with permission from David's parents, as well as her parents as well. Usually, this arrangement would be considered inappropriate in normal circumstances, but since Xiaoge's parents and David's parents were close to each other, and could consider each other as tight friends or even relatives, this type of arrangement could be normal.

Besides, David and Xiaoge were already betrothed to each other thanks to their filthy rich, business-savvy parents.

So since Xiaoge came to the Zhou residence, she has been occupying the guest room at the second floor, which was renovated to suit her tastes, mainly, the walls were painted pastel pink and her several things decorated every corner of the room—from her plush toys to her dolls, to all those luxurious designer bags which littered the floor like they were nothing.

And knowing her clinginess, David thought his mission to go to Eric's house would be almost futile.

Nevertheless, he decided he'd take a chance anyway.

David was sitting on the living room couch with Xiaoge while the television was showing a Chinese afternoon drama series. Xiaoge was taking a selfie and uploading it to a popular Chinese social media site, making all those funny faces that could only be seen in a social media-savvy millennial like her.

"Baobei, what do you think of my photo I posted just now?"

"Pretty," David said without much thought. He was fiddling with his phone mindlessly, thinking of ways to escape the house.

Xiaoge pouted like a little kid and crossed her arms. "You haven't even seen it yet!"

"I saw it, it was pretty!"

Xiaoge let out a childish sound of dissent and childishly hit David on the shoulder. "Liar! You didn't see it! You told me you love me, why didn't you see my photos? It means a lot to me, you know that, baobei!" She continued hitting him endlessly.

David reacted by shielding himself from Xiaoge's neverending slaps of fury.

David normally laughed when Xiaoge was being like this in the past, but now he couldn't feel anything but irritation. "Okay, okay! I didn't see it. Now, let me see, okay?"

David reached out to Xiaoge's phone but the girl put it away from her reach. "You don't have cellphone? Use your cellphone."

David sighed. He opened his social media account then glanced at Xiaoge's recently posted photo for 1.5 seconds, before putting it away and saying, "Pretty."

Xiaoge was observing him all this time. "Why so fast, baobei?!" She threw a tantrum, flailing her arms around the air like a fish out of water. "I thought you love me, why open your phone for 1 second and then turn it off? You don't love me?"

She quickly went towards David then straddled David on his lap while pulling David's shoulders like a kid. "You don't love me anymore, baobei?!"

When did I tell this girl that I loved her?! David couldn't remember.

"Okay, okay!" David opened his social account again then observed Xiaoge's picture, this time for a considerable amount of time. "See? I'm looking at it now..."

Xiaoge, still on his lap, smiled childishly. "So what do you think?"

"Pretty," David reiterated.

Xiaoge's smile widened then embraced David's firm pecs. "I love you, baobei!"

David normally would've felt special when Xiaoge hugged him like this back in China. But that was way before he met Eric. Now he only felt awkward.

Marilyn, vacuuming the floor, could only smile warmly at this wonderful sight full of love. It sure felt so good to be young and in love, she thought longingly.

After some time, Xiaoge stood up and went to the restroom. "I'm going pee-pee."

Make poo-poo as well, David thought. So I could have more time escaping this hellhole.

David's eyes followed her until she disappeared. David's urge to escape grew stronger. After thinking for several seconds, David finally stood up then went to the doorway.

"Sir David, where are you going?" It was Marilyn. "Your father told me not to let you leave the house except when you're with Xiaoge."

David gritted his teeth. "I'm going to buy something at a nearby store."

"Maybe you should wait for Xiaoge to finish her pee-pee so you two can go buy together."

"No need, I don't want her to suffer the heat outside. And besides, I'm gonna buy a lot so it's gonna be heavy. I don't want her to carry those things, for sure." David said this in his sweetest voice to convince this nosy cleaner of theirs to let him leave the house alone.

Marilyn who still remained unconvinced, right eyebrow raised, said, "What are you buying?"

"Oh, you know, those Chinese snacks that Xiaoge really like. She's been craving the squid kind since morning. And I'm a dutiful sweetheart, so I'm only doing what she likes."

"Aww! That's so sweet!"

David didn't know that Marilyn was this easily fooled.

"Well then, if your father asks me, I'll tell him you're doing your best to be a good future husband." Marilyn said this while theatrically clutching her heart, moved by David's love for Xiaoge.

David nodded firmly then set out into the world. His smile faltered into a deadpan face upon stepping into the lawn.

Likewise, Marilyn's happy face turned into that of utter wrath when David went out.