$ t h i r t y $
Iva returned to her fiancé's house in the afternoon empty handed. He had been talking to one of the servants until she walked in and he immediately dismissed her. The servant scurried off into another part of the house and he looked up from where he sat on the couch. With a smile on his face, he happily greeted her, voice dripping with curiosity. "How was dress shopping, baobei? Find anything you liked?"
She immediately responded by jutting out her bottom lip and shaking her head rather frantically to highlight how her day had gone. "Jian, I tried on a million dresses and none of them looked good on me. You know I have wide hips and those dresses were made for petite Chinese women." She complained in a whiny voice--over dramatizing the situation by a long shot. The two mostly communicated in either Mandarin or English, since she had learned various languages growing up. He didn't speak an ounce of Russian and would have been unable to communicate with her otherwise.
He opened his arms wide for her, inviting her into his embrace and she happily accepted. She stomped over like a child and propped herself down on his lap as he enveloped her in his arms. "You promised you would do this for me." He reminded her, his arms finding a comfortable position around her waist..
Iva nodded her head. "Yeah, but I just think I'd look better in a traditional Russian dress."
"You said you would please me." He said again, trying to convince her to do things his way.
The blue eyed young woman heaved a tired sigh. "I know, lyublyu." She had the habit of giving him nicknames in Russian. Her preferred one for him was lyublyu, which meant love. "I'll try again tomorrow. I just get so frustrated trying on those dresses because they don't look cute on me."
He gently kissed the corner of her mouth, saying to her, "You look beautiful in anything."
She grinned at that.
"You'd better think so." She teased, sticking her tongue out at him.
"I always do." He assured her. Remembering something, he gasped before casually informing her, "I hired someone to drive you around town so you don't have to worry about getting lost."
"Hm." She nodded, semi interested since it would be someone else driving her around. As she spoke, she began subconsciously playing with his hair after making herself comfortable on his lap. "Why can't you drive me around?" She asked, and by her tone of voice he instantly knew that she was joking.
"Because you're picky as hell." He told her, earning a fake gasp from her lips.
Entering the room, one of the servants informed him, " Sir, there is someone here to see you."
"That must be the new driver." Jian nodded. "Send him in."
The servant nodded and left the room momentarily, returning with Tao right behind her. Iva coughed awkwardly and shifted to move off Jian's lap. She didn't recognize him, since she had been in the dressing room the entire time that he was in the bridal shop. He was just a stranger to her, while he knew everything about her. He had studied her life and her every move up to the current moment.
"So Kris thought you would be the best person for this job?" Jian questioned, raising an eyebrow at the young man that he saw before him. He soon voiced his objection. "You look a bit young."
Iva interjected on his behalf. "He's just going to be driving me around Beijing. I don't think that takes much experience."
She was ignored by Jian, but Tao nodded in agreement with her. "Duizhang trusts me."
It took a moment, but Jian finally agreed with a sigh. "I guess if Kris sent you, then you must know what you're doing."
Tao only nodded.
-
"Luma..." Baekhyun started with a sigh as the two of them got ready for bed one night. They had both changed into their sleeping clothes and had fought over the rights to the bathroom before getting to their bed. She had been fluffing up her pillow and she looked up when he called her name. Only when he had her attention, he continued. "Are you happy here with us? You don't have to lie for our sake. Its just us here, and I won't tell anyone." He asked her. It was a serious question--he wasn't smiling the way he did when he teased her.
She quickly nodded her head in response. "Of course I am. What makes you think I'm not?"
"I hear you crying at night, when you think I'm asleep." He confessed to her, his face scrunching up into a frown. He momentarily looked away, his eyes falling onto the sheets because he was afraid of her answer now.
Would it change because she knew that he had heard her crying?
He didn't want to think about it. But at the same time he wanted to know. She had grown on him and the last thing he wanted was to keep her by his side against her will. But she was always so happy around him and their son. It was only at night that he listened in on her laments that came in the form of tears.
Miran swallowed hard. "I am happy here, Light."
"Then what makes you so sad?" He wondered, a hint of relief in his voice. He had detected truth in her answer.
"I know they abandoned me." She started, her hands gripping onto the sheets for something to fidget with. "But I still miss them, you know. They're my family, after all."
"We are your only family now." He told her, possessiveness dripping off every word. He knew that she considered herself a part of the pack now, and he knew that she saw them as her family. But he couldn't help but feel jealousy because she still cared about her previous family. So much that she cried for them on a daily basis when she thought no one was listening.
There was a small part of him that wanted to go to them and get rid of them, so that all of her attention would be for only him. After they gave Miran to the pack, they never returned to collect their debt--only out of consideration for their new sister. Now Baekhyun wanted to pay them a little visit. But he knew it was selfish to think that way and forced the thoughts out of his mind. They came easy because of his way of life. He was used to getting rid of whatever or whoever was in his way.
She smiled up at him warmly. "I know, Light."
He bit down on his lip, biting back the words he wanted to tell her. Instead he turned off the lights in the room and climbed in bed. She quietly did the same.
"I love you, Light." She called to him in the darkness. "Just because I miss them doesn't mean I'll go away, and it doesn't mean I love you and the others any less."
"I know." He sighed. "And...we love you too."
-
a sort of fluffy angsty chapter for you all. my first week of school has been successfully finished bc i only sttend three days. i think everything went well, so im very happy.
thank you all loads for reading and supporting this story.
i thought we needed some more baek/miran in our lives since they haven't appeared in a couple of chapters. in the next one i will try to feature lu and his wife, as well as our new alpha and his jagi.
have a wonderful week!
-clary xx
