| Fan Fiction |
by SilverDragon
Rainie had just emerged from the shower, drying her hair with a blow-dryer when she heard the faint sound of knocking at the door. Switching the blow-dryer off, she turned to glance at the door, wondering who it could be. Putting on her satin dressing gown, she went over to the door and opened it.
Jiro stood leaning against the doorway, his hand poised ready to knock once more. When he saw Rainie standing before him he stood up straight, abruptly averting his eyes elsewhere when he realised she was in her nightgown. Rainie pulled her dressing gown tighter around her when she suspected that he must be having impure thoughts about her.
“Is this… a bad time for you, Rainie?” he asked quietly, still keeping his eyes averted. He felt his cheeks redden when he suddenly had an image of her reclining seductively on the bed behind her, slowly taking off the satin dressing gown she was wearing. “Perhaps it’s a bad time for me.” He abruptly turned on the spot and was about to march off.
“Wait,” said Rainie as she took a step out of her room. Jiro stopped walking, refusing to turn around and face her. “If you have something to say, then say it.” She glared at his back, her earlier indignation at having him forcefully kiss and threaten her returning.
Slowly, Jiro turned back around. “I… I just… wanted to… apologise for this morning. I… I didn’t mean… to break my promise with you. Sorry.” He continued to stare at the ground, not feeling game enough to meet her gaze.
Rainie stood there, stunned into silence. This was the last thing she had ever expected him to do and she was touched. But she wasn’t going to let him off that easily. “Is that all you wanted to say to me?” she asked quietly, crossing her arms over her chest.
He chanced a glance up at Rainie, heaving a sigh of frustration at the angry look she still wore on her face. He had already put his pride out of the way just to apologise to her. But she was still upset at him. He had to admit that the feeling of guilt over what he had done to her in this morning had bothered him all day, the memory of that kiss lingering on the back of his mind as an unforgiving reminder. It was the first time he had ever felt so uncomfortable for doing something like that and he didn’t enjoy the feeling one bit.
“What else should I say, Rainie?” he asked tiredly. He just wanted to get this embarrassing moment over with.
Rainie took a step towards him, looking him up and down, the hint of a smile barely visible on her face. She was enjoying how agitated she was making him but decided maybe he had suffered long enough. “How about… asking me how my meeting with my brother went?”
Jiro peered up at her, surprised at the sudden change in topic. He then noticed her trying to hide the smile on her face and smiled. “You’re cruel, Rainie…” he said, taking a step towards her. He stood before her, reaching out a hand to cup her face. “You’ve already forgiven me for this morning, haven’t you?”
Rainie smiled back up at him briefly, slapping his hand away as she frowned. “I may have forgiven you for this morning’s blunder but that does not mean I have decided to become more than your ‘sister’.” She turned on the spot and began returning towards her room.
“How did your meeting with your brother go?” he suddenly asked, not wanting Rainie to return to her room so soon.
She paused before her door. “It was good. But he did ask me to pass this one message on to you.” She turned around to face him, a dangerous smile on her face. “If anything ever happens to me, he will see to it that the culprit will suffer far more than I did. Good night, Jiro.” With a slight nod of her head, she opened the door and disappeared back into her room.
A small smile curved Jiro’s lips as he remained standing in the same spot, staring at her door. “I’m sure he would.”
-
“Stop fidgeting so much already, Ella. You’re attracting the attention of the other patrons,” whispered Chun over the table as Ella sent him a glare.
“If you hadn’t forced me to wear this cursed dress then you wouldn’t have to be worrying about me fidgeting so much!” she whispered fiercely back, glancing around her as she tried to find the best position to hide the bare back her dress revealed. She had no idea how she had allowed Chun to talk her into wearing such a revealing dress. Snapping her head back at Chun angrily, she said quietly, “And why’d you have to bring to such an expensive restaurant?”
Chun chuckled quietly, taking a sip of champagne. He was enjoying the little tease he was putting her through. But it was all worth it, if he could only see her look beautiful just for this night. The moment she had stepped out of the change room in that dress he had been stunned by how elegant she looked, even though the way she stood like a man seemed to mar the image a little. In that instant, as Ella threw daggers at him with her eyes, he had ordered the sales woman to confiscate her suit and that Ella was to wear this dress. Ella was horrified at the order and had immediately tried to retrieve her clothes but to no avail. She was left with no alternative but to wear the black dress Chun had bought her.
After that, Chun had then taken her to a beauty salon where Ella reluctantly had her hair and makeup done. She didn’t concede without a fight however, but in the end Chun’s power had won and Ella was forced to follow through with his desires. But she didn’t spare him the string of curses he knew was coming for him. He had laughed at her little outburst, but more so at the disgusted glances the other patrons of the salon had thrown her.
He studied her now as she glanced around at her surroundings, truly uncomfortable. Maybe he was being a little too cruel with her, taking her out of her comfort zone so suddenly like this. But he had to admit, he had not felt so excited to be having dinner with another woman in a very long time.
Ella turned back to stare at Chun, frowning slightly when she noticed him smiling at her strangely. “What are you smiling at?” she snapped, leaning in over the table.
Chun, snapped out of his little reverie, softly put his glass back down. “Nothing in particular… Just admiring how I managed to turn a duckling into a swan.”
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” she asked, her frown deepening.
Chun nodded his head once with a smile. “Yes, it is.” He then stared deep into her eyes, his own eyes softening. “You really do look beautiful tonight.”
A blush crept onto Ella’s cheeks as she averted her eyes nervously. No guy has ever called her ‘beautiful’ before. Growing uncomfortable under Chun’s gaze, she was saved from having to say anything as their food arrived. The waiter gently placed her plate before her, before placing Chun’s before him. He then bowed, leaving the two to begin their meal.
Ella leaned forward to study her plate, wondering what it was. As they were at an Italian restaurant, she had had no idea what to order so she had let Chun order for her. Chun, noticing how lost she was, decided to explain to her what her dish was.
“That is chicken fettuccine alfredo. Basically, it’s a type of pasta dish that is very common.”
“I know what fettuccine is,” she snapped, picking up her fork to twirl a little of the pasta around it. In a quieter voice, she mumbled, “I’ve just never eaten it before.”
Chun just smiled as he began to eat his meal. They dined together in silence, with Ella trying to hide how much she was enjoying her pasta. After they had finished, they sat back, allowing the waiter to clear their table.
“Did you enjoy that meal, Ella?” asked Chun, sipping from his champagne glass as he turned to peer at the small orchestra located in a far corner.
Ella turned to peer at the same orchestra, glancing at Chun out of the corner of her eye. “It was okay,” she said simply, turning her eyes back onto the musicians. Truth was she had loved the meal.
Chun grinned. “Then I’ll take that to mean you are satisfied with it all.” He paused, listening to the music for a while before saying, “I’m glad I managed to help you relax tonight.”
Ella’s eyes suddenly fell from the orchestra as she peered down at her glass. Chun noticed this and turned to peer at her, waiting for her to speak. Finally, after a few minutes, Ella spoke. “I feel so tired, Chun. Danson… my partner… is keeping secrets about the ‘Dawn’ case from me. He’s never been this way before in our other cases. But… with this case… it’s been so difficult. Even after we managed to finally find some witnesses to one of the murders, they turned up no more useful pieces of information besides the assassin’s gender and the necklace she wore.” She paused, turning the champagne flute around in her fingers. “I feel so useless, now that Danson seems to want to work alone.”
The way she looked so forlorn seemed to fill Chun with pity and he suddenly waved the waiter over. “You shouldn’t stress too much over things you cannot solve, Ella. If your partner is keeping secrets from you, then either wait for him to reveal it himself or find out what they are yourself. I’m sure it’s not beyond your abilities.” He told the waiter to bring the bill before returning to look at Ella. “Let me take you somewhere else now, Ella.”
Ella peered back at him, confused. “Where?” she asked as the waiter returned with the bill.
“Somewhere just as interesting as you are,” Chun replied mysteriously as he pulled out his credit card to pay the bill.
-
Zhi Ping pulled the car up to a stop outside a small townhouse in the outskirts of Shilin, abruptly removing the key from the ignition and stepping out. Selina continued to stare out her window at the townhouse, refusing to step out of the car. Rolling his eyes in frustration, Zhi Ping came to open her door.
“What’s the point of staying in the car, Selina, when you’re finally here to visit the boy?” Seeing that Selina was still refusing to move, he went to undo her seatbelt and dragged her out of the car, which she stumbled out of reluctantly. A small smile crept onto Zhi Ping’s face as he smiled, shaking his head. “Who’d have thought you’d be so nervous to see the kid?”
“I am not nervous – I think it is foolish and dangerous to bring me to Jin,” snapped Selina, her gaze averted elsewhere.
He grinned in return before turning around to walk up to the metal gate, banging on it loudly. “Yi Ma! Yi Ma; it’s me, Zhi Ping!” he shouted.
After a few minutes, a short middle aged woman appeared to slightly open the gate, peering past the narrow opening to affirm that it was indeed her nephew knocking on the door. With a big smile, she threw the gate wide open and embraced Zhi Ping in a big hug. “Zhi Ping! So you finally decided to pay your old Yi Ma a visit!” squealed the old lady in delight.
Zhi Ping fought against the older woman’s embrace, pushing her away in embarrassment as he peered over at Selina. The small mocking smile on her face didn’t escape his notice. “Yi Ma! I only just came to visit you last week. And how many times do I have to tell you not to hug me like that!” he whined after he had turned back to face his aunt. “I’ve brought someone over to visit Ah Jin.”
Selina bowed in greeting when Zhi Ping’s aunt turned in her direction, noticing her presence for the first time that night. “Good evening, Aunty.”
“Yi Ma, this is Selina, a friend of mine. Selina, this is my Aunt, Tang Su Mei,” introduced Zhi Ping.
Su Mei smiled warmly at Selina as she took several steps forward to peer closely at her face. “My… you are far prettier than what both my nephew and Ah Jin have described you as being.” Selina stared back in surprise before turning to glare at Zhi Ping angrily. Zhi Ping shrugged in return with a small smile, slipping into the house. Su Mei suddenly came to stand behind Selina and began steering her by the shoulders into the house. “Well, it’s no use loitering outside in the dark here, Selina. Why don’t we go in? I’m sure Ah Jin would be really glad to see you again. He has been complaining that his heroic sister must have forgotten about him since you saved him.”
Selina peered back over her shoulder in surprise at the old aunt, her warm words catching her off-guard. She turned to look at the front door of the house when Jin suddenly appeared, grinning widely from ear to ear. He was about to rush forward to greet Selina when he remembered how fearsome she was and began to act calm and reserved.
“Good evening, Selina Jie. I never thought that you would come to visit me, seeing how busy you always seem to be according to what Zhi Ping tells us,” he said, trying to hide the note of excitement in his voice.
A warm smile spread across Selina’s face as she went to kneel before the boy. “I see you’re doing fine here, Jin,” she said kindly, patting the boy on the head. Leaning in close to his ear, she whispered. “And don’t listen to Zhi Ping too much. Tell me; what has he been saying about me behind my back?”
Jin grinned back at Selina, glancing at Su Mei as she walked past them and into the house. “He says a lot of things to his aunt. I overheard him the last time he came over telling his aunt how worried he was about you taking a holiday in Beitou. Did something happen over there?” he asked, peering worriedly into Selina’s face.
Selina glanced over Jin’s shoulders into the open doorway behind where she saw Zhi Ping being fussed over by Su Mei. A small smile lit her face as she then peered at the ground. “That idiot…” she mumbled. Looking back up at Jin, she ruffled his hair once more. “Nothing happened at Beitou. Zhi Ping was just being stupid.” She stood up and shoved his head playfully out of the way as she walked inside. “Come on, we’re gonna freeze to death if we hang out here any longer.”
As Selina made her way into the house, Su Mei found her and began ushering her towards the kitchen where she saw Zhi Ping sitting at a table enjoying a bowl of noodles. “Take a seat, Selina dear. I’ve made quite a bit of ramen today so just sit tightly until I fix you a bowl, dear.”
Selina was about to refuse but the old lady had already busily begun preparing the bowl. Zhi Ping looked up from behind his bowl, slurping up the long strands of noodles noisily. “She’s always like this. When I bring someone over she’ll immediately begin fussing over the person.” He turned to peer at his aunt with a warm look in his eyes.
“Is she the one who brought you up after your parents died?” asked Selina quietly.
Zhi Ping turned back to peer at her before focusing on eating the rest of his ramen. “Yeah…” He returned to slurping noisily and Selina was about to ask more when Su Mei came to place a bowl before her.
“Here you go, Selina. A steaming hot bowl of ramen for you,” she said kindly.
Selina bowed her head in thanks. “Sorry to trouble you, Mrs Tang Su Mei.”
Su Mei waved her hand to brush off the apology. “Nonsense, Selina. And just refer to me as Yi Ma like Zhi Ping does. After hearing the way my nephew talks about you, it’s the least I can do for his girl.” Zhi Ping literally choked on his noodles, spraying a little of the soup. Su Mei went to grab some tissues and handed them over to Zhi Ping.
“Yi Ma! How can you say something like that? Selina is not my – my – She’s just a co-worker of mine!” sighed Zhi Ping as he wiped his mouth.
Su Mei smiled in a knowing way, nodding her head slyly. “Right… I’ll play along with your game, Zhi Ping.” Turning to peer back at Selina, she gave the younger girl a wink which Selina responded to blankly. “You know, he always likes to complain to me about how rash you can be sometimes in the middle of a mission or how withdrawn you seem to be from everything. And now I think I know why he does.”
“Yi Ma!” shouted Zhi Ping in embarrassment. But Selina wasn’t paying any attention to his reaction.
“You know what I do?” she asked in a quiet, deadly tone. Her eyes narrowed slightly and the change in Selina’s mood seemed to unnerve Su Mei a little. Zhi Ping glanced at Selina, slightly worried.
Jin suddenly appeared at the door to the kitchen. “Of course we do, Selina Jie. Zhi Ping told us you help him bodyguard the leader of your gang. I didn’t really believe it at first but then I remembered the way you fought that night and realised it must be true. It’s such a cool job!”
Selina turned to peer at Zhi Ping, staring angrily into his eyes. He turned away, drinking water out of his cup. Jin suddenly came to hold something out before Selina, looking down at the ground nervously. “This is a picture I drew a couple days ago. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get the chance to give it to you, but… well, here you are.”
Selina took the picture from Jin, peering down at it carefully. It was a very realistic drawing of a cockatoo, drawn in pencil. She glanced back up at Jin in surprise.
“Don’t… don’t you like it, Selina? Aunt Su Mei told me that Zhi Ping had told her about you liking cockatoos,” said Jin, feeling sad that Selina didn’t seem to like his picture.
Quickly throwing an angry glance over at Zhi Ping, Selina then turned to peer at Jin with a smile. “It’s a great drawing, Ah Jin. I love it.” She suddenly pulled the boy in for a hug. “Thank you.”
Jin seemed surprised that Selina was hugging him but nevertheless returned her hug. She then drew away from him, turning to look back at the picture. “I never knew you could draw so well. It looks so real.”
Jin peered at the floor in embarrassment, scratching the back of his head shyly. “It’s… it’s always been a small talent of mine.” He then peered up at the roof, his eyes glowing slightly. “If… if I have the chance… I would like to study art. I want to be an artist.”
Selina smiled, suddenly feeling a little depressed. Jin already had a new goal in his life, a brighter future than before. She then found herself wondering what she would have done if fate had not sent her down this road. Reaching out a hand, she patted the boy on the head. “You’ll definitely become a great artist, Jin. And I will help you in anyway I can.”
Jin smiled back up at Selina before bowing deeply. “You really are a kind person, Selina Jie.”
“… Perhaps,” whispered Selina quietly as she pulled Jin in for another hug, peering back down at the drawing in her hand.
___________________________________________________________
A/N:
Hmm... I am taking forever to reach Selina and Danson's confrontation, aren't I? But don't worry - it'll be in the next chapter. Zhi Ping's affection for Selina does appear quite ambiguious at times, but you can just say he worries deeply for Selina. Jin will probably not appear again in this story, so yeah... ^_^
Next Chapter: The end of Chun-Ella's date and Selina finally goes to meet Danson.
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3rd February 2008
12:05PM GMT+09:00
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