At Her Worst

Because of her poor driving skill, Xiu was very vigilant, cautious and attentive throughout her drive to the apartment complex. As she drove the car in the underground parking lot, she had finally heaved a sigh of relief for reaching without any mishaps.

But apparently she had let her guard down too soon because...

Right as she was going to park the car, a cat jumped right in the middle of her way. Xiu was startled or more like spooked as she swerved across her path and with a bang, her car had hit into something. Her body yanked forward but because of the seatbelt, she managed to stay unharmed.

But with her head on the steering wheel, she felt like crying. Why? Why? Just why was this happening with her all the time? It's like the lady luck was really her nemesis as she always ended up in such situations.

Slapping her mouth, Xiu spoke, "Damn it! Why did you speak too soon? What rotten tongue do you have?!"

Unbuckling her seatbelt, Xiu alighted from the car and looked at the damage. Her eyes widened as she saw that she had banged into a white sports car, that looked super expensive. She wasn't well versed in cars or other vehicles but even an idiot could tell that that car was really expensive.

"Fuck! I'm screwed!" Xiu cursed out loud as she buried her face in her hands, lamenting over this situation.

Looking at that broken headlight and other damage to the sports car, Xiu was in despair. And while she was busy knitting her brows in tension, she heard a soft groan. Xiu immediately looked around but found no one, at least, not until she noticed that there was someone inside the car. Xiu looked closely and saw a figure with his head lowered on the passenger seat. This discovery made her freeze at her place.

Same day,

Earlier in the evening...

"Are you sure that you'd be okay at this place?" Dylan was asking Darren as he looked around at the moderate-sized apartment. It was enough for one person to live in but Dylan was still skeptical considering the status of Darren... This place seemed shabby to him.

However, his best friend's thinking wasn't aligned with his own. "It's perfect. From all other places, I really like this one." Darren replied with a look of satisfaction.

"Daz, I know you don't like big houses but this residential sector is not suitable for you." As Darren frowned at his words, Dylan continued, "I mean, yes, there are only wealthy people in this sector but still... They are not from our social circle." Dylan was really trying to stress on that fact. After all, there were different circles even in wealthy people.

Money tends to change one's living standards, social standards not so very much.

"Social circle?" Darren raised his brow and Dylan nodded vigorously. "But my social circle consists of only you. And you have no problem with me living here. Just say that you're worried about my security."

Dylan sighed out, "Why are you not worried? This place could really be dangerous."

Darren punched Dylan's arm saying, "The main reason for this choice is that it is the place people would least expect me to be at. It's not dangerous, it's rather very safe."

In the end, Dylan had to give in since the other person was Darren who never lost a negotiation in his life. And since the apartment was already selected, Darren had asked his people to start working on his new place.

Darren had just come and sat inside Dylan's sports car when his phone rang. His attention shifted to the number that flashed on his screen. That's when he felt a strong jerk. His body yanked forward and his head hit the dashboard.

Suddenly, his whole body trembled as his vision got blurry. With the help of his hand, he supported his head. All of a sudden, the vision before him changed. He felt like someone transported him back in time as he looked at the horrifying scene before him.

Flames... The car was combusted in flames. With a loud and ear-piercing boom, he saw the car's pieces flying everywhere. He felt the heat on his face, on his hands, on every single pore of his body. He heard someone screaming and someone wailing out his name. His heart felt constricted as his breathing got harsher.

But then as if someone pulled him out of that miserable scene. True enough, he saw a hand that was touching his shoulder. Beads of perspiration of the size of soybeans were dripping down his handsome face that was contorted in pain. There was no physical pain, there was only the remnant of that memory that he despised.

With a great effort, he turned his head and looked at a hand that resembled a white jade in its purest form. Slowly, his eyes trailed up and met with the warmest honey brown eyes he had come to know in his life.

In those eyes, he saw anxiousness, guilt, concern, and fear. But he found that look so familiar that he forgot to breathe. Xiu was anxiously asking him if he was okay but Darren's mind couldn't make sense of what she spoke. He saw her ruddy lips moving but he couldn't hear her voice.

At this time, Dylan's voice rang in his mind...

"When did you start taking interest in strangers?" Dylan had asked that day when he first met Xiu at that Mala Hotpot restaurant.

Darren's reply back then was, "She reminded me of someone. The contempt and disdain for herself in her eyes was scary and yet familiar. I saw her breaking down right before my eyes and it reminded me of how I couldn't stop something like that years ago. That stranger had so many similarities with the person in my memory that for a second, I really forgot who she was." Taking a pause, he added, "She seemed a very strong woman but she was trying to put herself down with her own self-deprecating words. I couldn't stop myself from talking to her."

Seeing that he was zoning out, Xiu held his shoulders and shook him violently as she screamed, "Are you alright? Say something! Don't scare me like this!"

Xiu's loud voice managed to break Darren's train of thoughts as he winced trying to close his ear. "Are you trying to make me deaf? Tone-down a bit."

Hearing his voice, Xiu stopped shaking him and leaned against the side of the car to inhale and exhale a long breath. Darren looked at her pale complexion as he alighted from the car. With a tissue, he wiped the sweat from his face.

"Were you worried about me?" Looking at her worried state, Darren forgot all about his earlier state of shock. The tremble in his body was gone and it even replaced with an itch to disturb this easily flustered girl.

Xiu clenched her fists and hit his shoulder in anger, "You! Idiot! Jerk! Bloody psycho! You almost gave me a heart attack with your look. I thought I killed someone." Xiu was really out of sorts because of him. When she had found that someone was inside the car, she was startled but seeing that Darren's eyes were rolling up, she was horrified.

She thought he'd die because of some panic or shock attack. Thinking about how he almost managed to send her to the hospital, she completely forgot that she was the one who hit into his car.

Darren's only fault was that he was always there when Xiu was at her worst.