"Hi...", Zhang Xiaoling answered the greeting while covering her face with her palm.
"Damn! Why on Earth is he here?!", she asked herself, trying her best to calm down but the sudden encounter really caught her off guard that she couldn't help but lose her cool.
Zhang Xiaoling continued scolding herself in her mind, totally pissed with her self and the situation at hand. "It's all your fault you stupid brainless fool! Of all the people on Earth you could have grabbed back then, why did you happen to pick him? It could have been anybody else! Why him?! Now, I don't even have the guts to look straight at him!"
While Zhang Xiaoling was busy berating herself in her mind, Dylan was enjoying his sweet time watching how she was close to having a breakdown. "Tsk! You were all gutsy when you did the deed but now you can't even look me in the eyes.", he thought to himself.
"Um... You guys know each other?", Zhou Yuexi asked the two of them.
"Yeah...", Dylan answered while Zhang Xiaoling just nodded lightly.
Zhou Yuexi was a little surprised that her cousin actually knew her sister in law.
She was quite amazed with how small their world was. First, she met her sister-in-law in an unconventional way. And now, her cousin knew of her sister-in-law before she did. Talk about coincidences.
However, there was more to their story that would surprise her.
Dylan looked back to Zhang Xiaoling with a wide smile. "The last time we met, she claimed that we were in a relationship. So that makes me her boyfriend I guess. Right love?", he teasingly asked.
His continuation left Zhou Yuexi's mouth hanging. She thought she was the one to shock her cousin, which really did earlier, but she didn't expect him to have something to shock her in return.
She never saw her cousin cast interest on anybody ever since he started college and he never mentioned liking someone to her before. She was close to putting up blind dates for Dylan because it has been years since he last mentioned liking a girl from Med School.
Zhang Xiaoling, on the other hand, who was praying that Dylan wouldn't expose her secret got her hopes crushed with his statement. She wanted to melt right at that moment. She would love it if the ground broke and eat her so she can escape from the embarrassment.
She herself was regretting why she ever resorted to that choice and now her brother's look on her was adding up to her frustration. It was the kind of look he would always give her whenever she messed up and she needed to explain herself, the kind of look she hated the most. He always knew how to add insult to her wounds without even uttering a word.
However, on Zhang Xiaoling's defense, it's wasn't like she really wanted things to happen this way. It was just a spur of the moment decision she had to make in order to save her pride.
On the day of her flight back to China, Zhang Xiaoling bumped into her ex boyfriend and his new girlfriend, who happens to be one of her old friends, at the airport in Boston. It was obvious how they were explicitly trying to make her envious of their relationship, and she didn't like that. They even asked if she was dating someone, making it seem like she was still bitter and still haven't moved on from their past relationship. She didn't want to lose face in front of them so she got a little impulsive. She didn't want him to think that she couldn't replace him so she decided to pretend she was currently in a relationship then pulled a familiar face from the crowd, which was Dylan, and introduced him as her boyfriend.
At that moment she was thankful that it was Dylan who she picked since he sure was a lot more handsome than her ex boyfriend. But now, she was more than regretting that decision.
Seeing that her sister-in-law was reluctant to answer Dylan's question, Zhou Yuexi decided to lead them inside to ease the awkwardness building in the air. "Let's all go inside, it's a little uncomfortable standing here."
"You go inside first darling, I'll just talk with Xiaoling for a bit. We'll follow when we're done.", Zhang Yixing said then kissed Zhou Yuexi's forehead before opening the door for her and Dylan.
Dylan wanted to give a violent reaction to the kiss but he remembered that he was now in the same predicament, his girlfriend was Zhang Yixing's sister, his twin at that. He could only grin and bear it even if he didn't like the sight of it. Besides, he couldn't really do anything about either, they're married for crying out loud.
When the cousin pair got inside, Zhou Yuexi started her interrogation. She wasn't about to let the issue go, Dylan needs to answer all her questions just like how she did when he was the one questioning.
"What's this thing all about? What girlfriend? The last I check you were close to marrying Med School and now you've got a girlfriend? Mind explaining?", Zhou Yuexi interrogated with arched brows and her hands on her waist while Dylan was just leaning back on the sofa widely grinning from ear to ear.
"I wasn't expecting to have a girlfriend either. I was at the airport waiting for the boarding of my flight when she suddenly grabbed me and introduced me as her boyfriend to a couple. The guy seemed like her ex, and she looked like she really needed help so I played along. Who knew I'd meet her here?", Dylan answered with a chuckle.
His explanation earned him scrutinizing look from Zhou Yuexi. "You played along? You actually agreed to that kind of arrangement? You're asking me to believe that? Really now?", she consecutively asked while still giving her cousin an unbelieving look.
It's not that she thought her cousin was lying or making up a story, she just couldn't believe that it was that simple. She had that brooding feeling that there was something more into it that Dylan was not telling her.
She knew her cousin well as they were best friends and she understood that as Dylan didn't like wasting his time he wasn't into any unserious relationships. Also, he once told Zhou Yuexi that he wanted his first girlfriend to be his last. He didn't want to go into a lot of relationships before settling down as it was a waste of time for him. As a doctor, every minute was important as a patient's life as at hand so maximizing the use of his time was his utmost concern. He also believed that if the right girl comes he would definitely know that she was the one he would marry.
Given these information, Zhou Yuexi found it hard to understand why he suddenly agreed to such relationship. Not that she didn't approve of Zhang Xiaoling, it was just so unlike Dylan's personality.
Dylan just shook his head with his cousin's sharpness. He just couldn't hide anything from her. He was more convinced know that she was more suited in the business world than him.
But just because she's sharp doesn't mean he was dull. Even though she practically saw through his barricade, he wasn't about to tell her directly. "Since you're so keen my dear cousin, why don't you guess my reason why?", he suggested.
"What am I, a mind reader?", Zhou Yuexi rolled her eyes at Dylan.
Dylan just shrugged his shoulders and then shut his eyes while laying back comfortably on the sofa, no intention of telling her the real deal nor giving her any clue. Whether she'll know his reason or not all depended now on her thinking skills.
Sorry to him, Zhou Yuexi doesn't like being kept in the dark and always finds her way into the light. "You're dead if I uncover this, I'll rat you out to Ling Jie. And don't think I won't tell Auntie and Uncle because I sure will. Prepare your sorry ass bro, it's about to get seriously kicked.", she threatened.
However, her words didn't seem to affect Dylan as he was still laying in the sofa, chuckling. He knew Zhou Yuexi well and understood that all she said were all empty threats, she wasn't really going to do it. She has always been like this since they were kids. Whenever he makes fun of her or make her do things she didn't really need to do, she would always say threats matched with her unfamous death glare. So seeing that his cousin was just at it again, he didn't put much care into it.
As soon as Zhou Yuexi stopped with her threats, she immediately went on her analyst mode. She recollected memories regarding her cousins love life up to 8 years ago and started deducing all possible reasons.
A few minutes of silence later, Zhou Yuexi suddenly exclaimed as she thought of the most plausible reason. "Ah! Bro really?", she incredulously asked Dylan with wide shocked eyes.
Dylan knew with that statement that his cousin guess right, like she always does. But still, he wanted to hear if she really hit the bull's eye.
"Really what?", he said, acting as if he didn't know what was going inside Zhou Yuexi's head even though he already had a gist of her thoughts.
"Ha! She's that same girl you took a liking on 8 years ago when you started university, the reason you changed your course choice from Business Administration to Pre Med. It's the same girl from back then and you still like her that's why you agreed immediately when she announced you as her boyfriend on such short notice. Who are you disagree anyways, it's her who came up to you willingly.", Zhou Yuexi stated her conclusion convincingly before smirking at Dylan. "I got it right once again, didn't I?"
Dylan clapped his hands and gave her two thumbs up as approval. "Yep, you're right except for one thing."
"What?"
"Stella really is part of the reason why I took Pre Med but the real reason why I didn't take Business Ad was you. If I went to Business School then I would be more eligible for taking over our grandparents company and wealth. If you pursued the business track then you would be the eligible heiress. I decline that position because I want our grandparents to see your value and make them handover the company to you whether they like it or not. You can say that I'm getting back at them for you.", he explained which touched Zhou Yuexi's heart.
Her cousin really loves her so much that he puts her first before anything.