บท 36: I Had Fun

Tristan woke up with a pounding head. He got off the bed, once on his feet, the room swayed almost causing him to lose balance. For support, he reached out for the wall, going to his bathroom.

Once inside, he turned on the faucet, splashing cold water on his face just to feel something refreshing. He wished he could also wash away the aching in his skull.

His head felt fit to crack open. The burning thirst in his throat stayed, feeling dehydrated. His stomach lurched and gurgled.

He remembered that he had been drinking heavily last night. He cursed himself inwardly. The hangover was killing him. Perhaps, a pain killer could help.

His memories of last night after he got drunk was quite blurry. He didn't remember everything but he could somehow recall a portion of his memory. He knew that his twin cousins were the ones who dropped him by his condo.

'D@mn, they saw Matthew. Did they realize that I lied to them? Did the twins see Zhen-Zhen?'

Tristan shook his head. "Hmm, I don't think so. If I could remember correctly they left immediately and didn't enter. I didn't see Zhen-Zhen at the front door."

Tristan felt relieved from that thought. He didn't want his family to see Zhen-Zhen yet.

His lips curled up then suddenly mumbled her name, "Zhen-Zhen… why do I keep calling her that? Well… I found it cute, I guess. But Lillie… it suits her too."

After a while, his eyes widened as his memory of kissing her came flashing into his mind. He covered his mouth using his hand.

"Did she just respond to my kiss last night? Or I am just imagining it. Arrgh! Why I can't remember the feelings."

After washing up, Tristan came out of his room to see if Zhen-Zhen was already awake. When he was out, he could hear a faint noise coming from the kitchen. It seemed that someone was cooking.

The moment he reached the kitchen, he saw two figures standing by the gas stove. Matthew was cooking while Zhen-Zhen was beside him, watching him with her fascinating blue eyes.

It looked like the two were having fun that they failed to notice Tristan's presence. For an unknown reason, Tristan's lips formed a thin line while looking at Matthew and Zhen-Zhen who were both engrossed with what they were doing, smiling to each other from time to time.

"Is my Condo become their playhouse now? Why Matthew is still here?" Tristan mumbled while frowning.

When he couldn't stand watching them together, Tristan immediately traced his steps towards them. He intentionally moved in the middle of Zhen-Zhen and Matthew to separate the two, pretending that he was checking the food.

"Oh, what's our breakfast for today!" Tristan promptly said.

Matthew almost dropped the large frying spoon because of the sudden appearance of Tristan who emerged from their backs.

"Tristan!" Zhen-Zhen's face brightened up the moment she saw him.

"You're finally awake, good morning!" She greeted him with too much enthusiasm.

The moment Tristan saw her bright charming smile, his unhappiness a while ago vanished into thin air in an instant.

"Good morning, my Lilie." Tristan greeted her back, patting her head.

Matthew just rolled his eyes and continued cooking.

"You can eat the hangover soup Matthew had cooked for you," Zhen-Zhen said, pulling Tristan towards the dining table.

Tristan's smile widened more when Zhen-Zhen's attention was now focused on him. He began to eat the hangover soup happily while Zhen-Zhen was watching him intently.

"How do you feel now?" she asked him.

"My head really hurts. I feel like it is about to explode." Tristan said to her exaggeratingly while giving her a pitiful look.

"You deserve it. Who told you to get drunk?" Matthew butted in, putting the fried rice on the dining table.

"You were totally wasted and spouting nonsense last night." Matthew began to reprimand his best friend who was also his boss.

Zhen-Zhen nodded her head and said, "Matthew took care of you."

Tristan felt like the two were joining forces against him.

"Well… I couldn't help it. It was a family dinner… a party… and there's a lot of alcoholic drinks. Hehe," Tristan said as he smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"Thanks, Matt. I love you, big bro," Tristan said with his puppy-eyes look.

Zhen-Zhen giggled while Matthew tried his best suppressing his laughter.

"Alright, I forgive you. Let's have breakfast." Matthew said, placing the two cups of coffee on the table.

He gave one cup to Matthew. Zhen-Zhen, on the other hand, was drinking hot choco. The three of them began to eat their breakfast.

"Tristan, did you enjoy your family dinner last night?" Zhen-Zhen blurted out randomly.

Tristan paused for a moment after hearing that question.

'No, I don't. I met my two evil cousins. I saw my first love kissing my half brother. It sucks.' he thought to himself as he remembered what transpired after the dinner.

"Just fine," he said nonchalantly.

But Matthew noticed the dark expression of Tristan upon mentioning the family dinner. He thought something did not go well, that's why Tristan went home very drunk.

Matthew made a mental note to ask Tristan about it later.

"How about you, Lillie? How do you find your first night here?" Tristan also asked her.

"I had fun last night!" Zhen-Zhen promptly said.

Then she continued telling him the reason why with so much eagerness and cheerfulness in her voice. Tristan and Matthew just listened to her attentively while having their breakfast.

"Matthew and I watched a lot of movies. I like movies with lots of animals. They're so cute, the rabbits, the cats, and the dogs… I love them all. I want them to make my pet." she said, her eyes shining brightly and brimming with joy and excitement.

Her radiant smile was contagious in which Tristan and Matthew couldn't help but curl their lips upward.

"Matthew also showed me your family pictures. Tristan, I already familiarized every member of your family." Zhen-Zhen proudly said to him, anticipating praise coming from Tristan.

Tristan never failed her as he gave her thumbs up and said, "Very good, Lillie!"

"I learned a lot from Matthew!"

Afterward, the smile on Tristan's face was slowly fading, replaced by a frown, 'Hey! Hey! Why she is always mentioning Matthew.'

Tristan was about to lose his appetite when Zhen-Zhen spoke another word.

"I also learned from you, Tristan, even though you were drunk. You taught me how to kiss. I really like it. Can you teach me more?"

Cough! Cough!

Matthew choked on his food after hearing the last statements of Zhen-Zhen.

Meanwhile, Tristan was just looking at her amusingly with mouth gape.

'Oh my… this girl. She's so adorable by saying that with her innocent eyes- no green-minded thoughts nor any sexual connotation at all. How can someone be so pure like her?' Tristan thought to himself.

When he turned to his side, he saw Matthew staring at him with his glaring accusing eyes as if he was saying- 'Seriously, Tristan? You did that in your drunken state? Are you taking advantage of her and teaching her your womanizing techniques?'