Antihero (Indefinite Hiatus D: )

Chapter Thirty-Eight

"It's quite rare of us to have guests here, you should know," Mira said to Li Wei, unhooking her arm from mine to move back next to him as he trailed behind me.

I slowed down and walked on the other side of him so that I could watch his reactions to Mira. If he looked at her like he did earlier – like she was dirt for being a DeMarlo – I would rip his eyes out, so he wouldn't have to see her anymore.

"Really?" he asked, looking genuinely surprised.

"Of course." She nodded enthusiastically, poking me. "Michaelson's breaking a lot of rules bringing you into the house," she whispered lowly at him.

"He is?" He glanced at me and I shrugged.

"You're not exactly cleared to visit the main house, but I made an exception," I explained, and he looked away without saying anything, his eyebrows furrowing.

We passed a few maids cleaning the windows that overlooked the pool and Li Wei looked shocked, an expression that had only been growing as we walked.

"You like it?" Mira asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"You've got an insane house," he agreed, looking awestruck as he tried to peek in rooms that we passed.

"Barely enough room for Michaelson!" she teased dramatically. "He takes up so much space."

"I can imagine," he said, sending me an oddly relaxed smirk as he teased me. I rolled my eyes but tried not to smile at them. Maybe Li Wei wasn't that bad after all.

"Alright, enough of that, we're going this way." I waved Li Wei in my direction and opened the door, moving outside to follow the stone pathway to the gym. "Christopher's this way."

"He's always at the gym," Mira explained to Li Wei. "Following Michey's training plan to a T. He's way  too intense about it," she said exasperatedly.

"I can imagine." Li Wei laughed loudly, a real laugh that came from his gut. "That sounds like Christopher, alright."

"So, how do you know Chris?" She looked excited, but I caught Li Wei looking at me briefly as though he wanted to know if he should say. I shrugged and nodded my head - I don't see why it was a secret.

"We're childhood friends," he said before pausing. "Or, we were."

"Oh, his memory thing?" she inquired, and he nodded, looking away.

There was an awkward silence for a moment as we approached the building, one that I didn't want to break. Loud music jamming out from the gym broke it instead – my playlist. A small smile broke out across my lips which both Li Wei and Mira caught.

"What's that grin for?" Li Wei asked defensively.

"Ooooh," Mira said as she heard the music. "He's got your playlist going again. Your music taste has rubbed off on him," she said with a genuine smile. She looked happy for me, but I wasn't really sure I understood why.

"This is the gym?" Li Wei sounded shocked and he looked at me like I was someone he couldn't figure out. "This is insane," he muttered under his breath. "Your gym is bigger than our restaurant and house put together!"

"Well..." I trailed off as I pushed the door open. "It gets used a lot, we need a big one."

Inside the music was louder and the air stuffier. I directed Li Wei towards Christopher, and Mira followed, obviously not here to do a work out. Christopher was in the corner, eyes focussed as he attacked the punching bag roughly. He was light on his feet, his hands were up, and his punches were hard and sharp. We stopped at the edge of the mats, watching him for a moment as he fought in his own little world.