Forced by fate – Destined to be his Wife

“You should listen to her, she bites, and she isn’t inoculated. It would be messy and probably lethal.” ZhengLi chuckled, patted Linlin on the top of her head and shooed away the other woman with a gesture. Smiling as she took the hint, tutting and storming off to show her anger while he kept Linlin restrained against him.

He leaned down to kiss her on the cheek from behind to cool her jets and say farewell and then patted her ass before walking around her, with a backwards handwave over his head as he left to go. If he was going to hook up with any girl tonight, it wouldn’t be anyone else but his three foot demon and he shook his head at how much her bad temper floated his boat. She was never dull and definitely not too nice a girl.

“I’ll call you, Linnabelle. Laters.” He didn’t look back and strutted off smiling to himself, merry at seeing her hackles rise and that show of possessiveness when faced with competition. ZhengLi liked Linlin, but the girl was hard to handle, had zero interest in being a one-man woman and was a little too bossy and stroppy for the likes of him. He had his own ego to contend with.

He was pulled to a halt by his trouser waistline being tugged from the back, and his small terror strutted around him, forcing a flat palm on his chest to keep him in place with a warning look of ‘Don’t take another step’. Glaring at him with fury and he couldn’t help but relax back into a casual posture and smile at her.

“I didn’t say goodbye.” She pouted, letting go of him to reach up and catch the open collar of his shirt with both hands and yanking his face down to her so she could reach. He was surprised by the show of force, the impressive tug that hauled him to her level but closed his eyes as her mouth met his and allowed her to kiss him passionately. Sinking into her as he progressed it to a proper make out with tongues and heavy panting, catching her head in his hands to angle her for a better fit before she released him. A look of victory in her eye and a hint of color high on her cheeks because she had raised both of their temperatures and sparked crazy sexual urges. “Laters.” She smirked, letting him go to stumble to right himself and swallow hard. A little breathless at her assault. She toddled off without another glance his way in the direction she came from with a sway of her sexy ass while ZhengLi stood for a moment to admire it and cool his own jets. Crazy turned on, feeling the heat between them sizzling all over and seriously reconsidered leaving her here.

He knew if he wanted her as a long-term playmate, he would have to bend her to his will a little and find the compromise if this friends with benefits thing was to pan out. He had met headstrong in the past, but he always had the upper hand. Linlin was different and she played as many mind games as he did, always looking to be the boss and the one to call the shots. It was thrilling, and fun and he was enjoying the fact he put her nose out of joint by abandoning her tonight. He knew he would have to grovel for the next date because she would surely make him suffer and he looked forward to the challenge. He was starting to think he was some sort of masochist when it came to her.

YuZhi let himself into ZhengLi’s apartment and dumped the crate of beers on the kitchen counter. Sighing and throwing his jacket off onto the grey leather corner couch as he paced to the windows that covered the whole wall of the sitting room and stared out over the Shanghai skyline. It was late, almost midnight, and yet YuZhi was wired and strung out and had a head full of chaos that signaled no sleep tonight.

He kissed TangShi and it made him feel like shit. So many conflicting thoughts and feelings and somehow like a psychic connection, right about when he pulled into the drive to drop TangShi at home, Rhea started calling him. It drove it home more that he was an epic jerk, and he couldn’t fathom how to fix this situation. She pushed his guilt to a new level and when he answered her on the way back, he couldn’t bring himself to say much. Rhea made small talk, clear her mood was over now and she was looking to play nice again. No mention of the night she hit TangShi.

“Yo, bro, you here?” ZhengLi kicked his front door open while balancing a couple of crates of beer in his arms he decided to pick up on the way and noticed all his lights had been turned on. Catching sight of YuZhi standing at the window and grinned at him. “Something is definitely up. What’s with the dramatic brooding silhouette as you stare pensively at the city?” he joked, mocking his friend and dumped the boxes beside the one YuZhi brought in, wasting no time in ripping them open to fill the refrigerator and then popping the caps off two for them to drink. He walked over to YuZhi and handed him a bottle, before matching his pose. Mirroring him against the window and gazed out at the sea of night lights and flickering signs at the view below them. This was a penthouse apartment and had one of the highest vantage points in the surrounding buildings. A bachelor pad with minimal décor and modern comforts.

“I fucked up.” YuZhi lifted his beer and swigged it, taking a long slow drink and exhaling heavily before pulling it back down and wiping his mouth on his sleeve. ZhengLi copied, his eyes on YuZhi while he drank and knew he wasn’t done talking. “I kissed TangShi.” YuZhi admitted and somehow saying it out loud made it feel worse as he shook his head, heaved his shoulders, and exhaled another long breath. A weight over the top of him that was like sitting under a suffocating heavy black cloud.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“And?” ZhengLi shrugged, tapping his bottle against YuZhi’s and grinning at him with a kind of proud look.

“And? I shouldn’t have. It’s messing with my head and now I can’t even look her in the eye.” YuZhi knocked his bottle away and shoved his friend’s shoulder with his two fingers in playful pushiness. Aggravated that ZhengLi of course would not see the problem in this.

“Did you like it?” ZhengLi cocked a brow at the despair in his tone and went straight into the interrogation. Wanting details rather than guilt confessions. YuZhi had always been an overthinker and on the pessimist side of life, while ZhengLi was more of a ‘you only live once, have fun and go out in a blaze of glory’ type.

“The point is, that Rhea is going to freak out and tonight I told TangShi about moving to the apartment…. before I kissed her. I don’t know what to do now.” He felt hopeless and couldn’t think straight. The apartment idea seemed stupid now.

“Don’t tell Rhea, for a start. Not yet. Give it another nineteen months or so when you get to the stage of rebuilding your relationship. In the meantime, it will only make her worse and cause drama. She doesn’t need to know until you’re ready to wipe the slate clean and date again.” ZhengLi hoped that day would never come and was counting on nineteen months of his best friend’s life being the changing point in his future. He had nothing against Rhea as a person, but he didn’t think Rhea was YuZhi’s person.

“I know you’re right. She’s already jealous and insecure and suspects TangShi is trying to seduce me behind her back, but I shouldn’t lie.”

“It’s not a lie, it’s merely non-disclosure of all the facts. It’s better for Rhea that way and healthier for you. Less chance of losing genitals or your life.” ZhengLi smirked, seeing the funny side in the dilemma. It was not a big deal the way YuZhi was imagining it was.

“I feel like I cheated, and I can’t shake it out of my head. And then there’s Tang. I can’t face her after what I did, and what do I do about moving to my apartment? Do I leave her at the house?” YuZhi really was in over his head with this and had no way to navigate it. The kiss hadn’t felt bad, or wrong and that in itself had been clawing at his brain as much as his guilt was. Messing up all his carefully laid plans.

“Are you a ten year old? You kissed a girl so now you can’t look at her and fear being in her company in case you have the restraint of a starved pig when tossed scraps? Come on, buddy? Be a man. It’s not like she’s your first kiss.” ZhengLi poked fun at him and pushed his beer bottle into YuZhi’s shoulder, laughing at his fragile emotional state and not seeing the problem. It was just a kiss. TangShi was probably more embarrassed about it than he was, given YuZhi used to kiss girls a lot as a teen. His smooch count was easily in double figures from his wild Romeo days. This was no big deal but YuZhi was obviously missing the point as to why it was a big deal to him.

“It’s not what I mean. TangShi and me…. we’re close now. It feels like I made this into something else and I felt like I upset her. I don’t want her to get the wrong idea about us. Give her hope and then hurt her.” YuZhi really was in turmoil. Denying the fact she had made his heart race and his body respond and still put it down to lack of intimacy since ending things with Rhea months ago. He didn’t want to admit, that kiss had made him regret losing her in the past all over again.

“You have given her boundaries enough times that I’m sure she knows that you don’t want this marriage to be real. As for moving…. You already share a bed and a room. The apartment will separate you to your own at least, it still makes sense. More so if you really want to avoid a repeat of…” ZhengLi made kissy kissy noises and moved at YuZhi in a mock pout to get his cheek.

“Get off, you weirdo.” YuZhi batted his face away and shoved him back to separate him, dodging his affectionate assault. “I guess you’re right, but I need to sleep on it and try and find the nerve to face her. Put us back to platonic.” He downed another long swig of his ale and went back to staring off into the manmade stars of Shanghai.

“Being in a relationship for the last three years has turned you into a wuss. I’m so disappointed in you.” ZhengLi smiled at his friend before leaning forward and rubbing him on top of his hair, messing it up, but it was done with genuine affection this time. A normal mannerism between them when they were being serious. “I know you’re going to give her the cold shoulder and put distance back between you. It’s what you do when people get too close or stray over the lines you set. Just remember, TangShi is a sweet girl, and you should go easy on her. She’ll be around for a long while yet and you have to live with the consequences.” ZhengLi felt like he needed to remind his friend because he could already predict YuZhi’s knee jerk reaction in the coming days. Until he got his head around this nothing kiss, he would try and freeze TangShi out to drive it home it would never happen again. He knew his friend could be cold and cruel even if it wasn’t his intention. He was emotionally stunted for such a smart guy.

ZhengLi knew though that it wasn’t because TangShi turned him off, it was because deep down he knew YuZhi wouldn’t trust himself not to do it again now he had done it once. The history of eight years ago was still lingering between them even if YuZhi denied it was a factor anymore. ZhengLi saw how he was with TangShi these past weeks, and he knew it was completely different to the boyfriend he had been for Rhea these past years. He was attentive, considerate of her, and fiercely protective.

TangShi brought out a softness in him, a boyish fun side that only ZhengLi got to see normally. He let his guard down and he seemed to relax around her as though being by her side was as natural as breathing. They had something between them and ZhengLi had seen it beginning to grow. The last time ZhengLi had seen him that way was a long time ago, before the loss of his family had closed his heart and ripped the light from his eyes. He had waited years to find something to help heal his brother’s pain and now all his money was riding on the sunshine girl who was thrust into his dark life.