Daoming Si gasped raggedly as he sliced through the pool water like a torpedo, his frantic pace ineffective in his fruitless quest to outrun his thoughts.
It was useless. Try as he might, he couldn't rid himself of the tiny woman who had invaded his every waking moment - if he was completely honest, he didn't really want to. No matter where he was, what he was doing or who he was with, his thoughts were all trained with precision on one thing and one thing only; Dong Shancai, the girl who lived to drive him crazy. The one woman he was helplessly head over heels in love with. Dong Shancai was eating him alive but it was such a bewitchingly painful death. He was willing to let her chew him up and spit him out if it meant he could get just one step closer to winning her heart. No one had ever said love was easy - if it was, would it really be worth it?
It was as though his brain didn't even belong to him anymore - he blinked, he saw her. He inhaled, he smelt her. She was in the air all around him, she was carved into every cell in his body and he both adored and despised it simultaneously. He despised it because Shancai didn't seem to know he existed unless she was cutting him down with her scathing words and knocking his confidence; he loved it because this new, heady sensation was wondrous, she was scintillating and he had never felt like this before. Shancai was like a sugar rush, unbearably sweet, enticing but also potentially dangerous for his health - he couldn't possibly come crashing down from this high, but he knew he was alarmingly addicted to her. The besotted heir's thoughts were no longer his own and that was also true of his heart; the petite girl had irrevocably owned it for longer than he cared to admit. Ah Si couldn't decide whether or not Shancai was an angel sent to deliver him from his loneliness or a demoness sent to lead him into utter ruin. His world had tilted upside down since meeting her and his one peaceful life was disorderly and chaotic. For one, he had little to no control over his own emotions - it was utterly ridiculous! How could he have spent the majority of his formative years learning to bury his emotions, to erect impenetrable walls in his psyche only to have her break through as if they were the thinnest of glass? How was it possible that one tiny five foot two girl had effortlessly scaled those walls, breaching his boundaries and claiming his affection with little to no effort? Shancai made the ground beneath his feet shake, but she seemed reluctant to extend a hand and tug him back to safer ground.
It was almost laughable how deeply he felt for Shancai; no man should be so utterly entranced with a tantalising little spitfire who persisted on running from him as fast as possible. It was practically cliche how easily he had fallen for her, and Ah Si was loathe to be reduced to little more than a trope. This was his love story, his fairytale ending - it just so happened that it was his accursed Daoming luck that he should be one of the unfortunate souls who ended up warming the bench. The Daoming's were definitely unlucky in love - look what had happened to his poor sister! If Ah Si didn't regroup, if he didn't act now, he would end up as the Paris to her Juliet, the one who loved her beyond all reason and would yet forever remain in the wings. Well, that wasn't good enough! He was no supporting act! The youngest, most enigmatic Daoming would be her Romeo, he wouldn't be second best to anyone and certainly not to ignorant French men who didn't know how to keep their hands off what didn't belong to them!
The Daoming heir pushed himself harder, brutally testing the limits of his body the water whipped past him in rippling waves. His aching muscles were protesting and his lungs were burning as he desperately drove himself away from the edge of scalding anger. He didn't like being balanced on the edge of reason, the fall deadly and looming and seemingly inevitable. He just needed to get himself some air, he needed to sleep and recalibrate in order to face Shancai again. Her words had wounded him, and he was still smarting over her latest blow. I'm not dating you, why do you keep butting in? This infuriating girl knew exactly where to stab her knife in order to puncture his spirits, her bell like voice a painful blow to the gut. Ah Si kicked even faster, fleeing from her words, running from her ignorance of him. The water was churning just like his stomach as he laboured along, a perfect metaphor for the storm brewing inside - this was doing no favours for his blood pressure. Ah Si he didn't know how much longer he could continue on like this, a lovelorn fool chasing a girl who was so far out of reach - it was daunting to realise that he was the one to blame for her resistance. If only he hadn't acted like a compete jackass when they first met, she could be in his arms right now. Where she belonged. Ah Si just had to hold out hope that one day she would realise he was sincere, that his zeal was real - he would prove to her how strong his love was! But it didn't mean it wasn't difficult; for the first time in his life, there was no easy solution to his current predicament. Shancai was a puzzle he just could not solve, a conundrum that he loved to death. He needed help!
