Wooing my Bodyguard Wife

“Got it Ge! Have a good time! Do bring Xingzi-jie home sometime!” Jingwei said cheekily, dodging Tianwei’s hand as he tried to cuff him for his cheek. He shot his brother a knowing wink at his words as he dialled their family’s chauffeur.

Tianwei was half-cuddling Xingzi-jie while he settled the bill. How cute. If Jingwei wasn’t tormented by the spectre of Wu Shang Jing’s crimes, he would have cooed and made obnoxious kissing noises in the background.

Maybe, when all this was over and Tianwei married Xingzi-jie, Jingwei would mention all these cute embarrassing moments in his best man’s speech.

The chauffeur arrived promptly and the three of them clambered into the back seat with various levels of drunkenness. Jingwei was proud to note that he wasn’t the most pissed-drunk one for a change, that dubious honour was given to the woman in his brother’s arms.

“Send her home first, then send Jingwei back.” Tianwei instructed the driver, giving him the address while Xingzi ran an appreciative hand on the leather seat, making happy noises. Before the driver actually started driving, Tianwei actually helped her put on a seatbelt, pulling down the hem of her dress to make sure she didn’t inadvertently flash anyone.

Jingwei saw this and decided to hum the wedding march as obnoxiously as possible. His brother was so whipped – a pity Xingzi-jie was so drunk, she would not remember this.

Come to think of it, maybe his brother was so nice to her because she wouldn’t remember it. If so, that was just sad.

“What?” Tianwei asked, after he caught Jingwei staring at him with pitiful eyes. “Don’t tell me you don’t know how to put on a seatbelt. You’re 16 already! Do it yourself!”

“Ge, you’re so biased.” Jingwei whined, shaking his head but he did as Tianwei asked. Only Tianwei would be anal-retentive enough to actually get people to put on seatbelts when they were seating at the back of a car seat. Jingwei hadn’t done it in years.

The car drove smoothly, and Xingzi’s head dropped on Tianwei’s shoulder. Jingwei peered over and snickered at the way his brother seemed to have frozen, torn between pushing her off or letting her sleep.

“So cute,” Jingwei murmured and Tianwei gave him a dark look.

“She’s five years older than you. And a lot smarter. Way out of your league.” He hissed quietly. Jingwei noticed how he was still trying not to move, so as to not wake her.

He snickered even louder. Hah. His brother thought he was talking about her and not about them together! Maybe he can have some fun with this. He hadn’t felt this happy in a while.

“That’s not true,” Jingwei said, because he hadn’t been a little shit in a long while to his brother. He can’t have his brother forget about him.

More importantly, it was so funny to watch his brother pretend to be unfazed and unbothered by Lian Xingzi when he was clearly a lame human disaster whenever she was in his general vicinity. An evening alone with the two of them already made that very clear to Jingwei.

“Didn’t you hear what she said at dinner?” Jingwei continued smugly. “She thinks I’m sweet. An utter delight. Tall and handsome.”

“She thinks you’re a good kid,” Tianwei retorted, with heavy emphasis on the last word. He ignored the familiar surge of jealousy that appeared whenever someone liked Xingzi. This was Jingwei, for goodness sake. He wasn’t going to be baited by his younger brother.

“So? I’m very charming! And I won’t be a kid in two years.” He added, watching his brother’s eyebrow twitch with great amusement. “Maybe she’ll like me more than you by then, since all you do is argue with her.”

“I do not just argue with her,” Tianwei protested. “This is called debating. And what do you know about women? Have you gone on any dates? No right, thought so.”

“Booo Ge, you don’t even pull the chair out for her during your date. That’s like the most basic etiquette.”

“I -“

“You even brought me along! And Xingzi-jie thought that I’m your new boyfriend! What kind of impression are you giving her? Does she think you’re gay?” Jingwei continued.

Tianwei sighed and shot a glare at the top of Xingzi’s head. She always did like causing chaos for him. He could feel a spot of drool forming on his shirt.

“She knows I like women. Keep talking, and I’ll never treat you to dinner again,” Tianwei threatened.

“Fine, fine,” Jingwei said, reluctantly letting it go for now for the sake of free food. He was a growing teenage boy, and he wasn’t going to lose a potential meal ticket, especially one as rich as his brother. But still, he had one more thing to say.

“When are you bringing her to our home for dinner though? I like her, I think she should become my new sister-in-law. Or maybe I’ll be her second husband.”

“Second husband?” Tianwei asked testily, not liking the shit-eating grin on his brother’s face.

“Yeah, when she divorces you for being a lameass and marries me instead – ouch ouch ouch Ge let go of my ear!”

“Keep your voice down, she is still resting,” Tianwei scolded as he gave Jingwei’s ear one last painful twist. Xingzi let out a drunken mumble, and both of them froze. Thankfully, she seemed to remain asleep, slumped on Tianwei’s shoulder with her hair covering her face.

Tianwei gently brushed the hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear, and Jingwei had to turn away at the tender look on his brother’s face. He was intruding on something  strangely intimate – he didn’t even know his brother could look so soft at someone.

Jingwei stared at the passing streetlights instead, thinking about his own life, and the advice Xingzi-jie gave him. She might have been drunk, but Jingwei thought she made more sense than his brother and Father when they were both sober.

Wu Shang Jing had to be stopped, for everyone’s sake including his own. After all the love and support he gave Jingwei, how could Jingwei let him commit more atrocities and turn into a criminal?

He already gave Shang Jing multiple chances to come clean or turn back, and Shang Jing had refused all of them with a derisive snort, claiming Jingwei was a softhearted fool that knew nothing of the world.

Well. It was time to show Shang Jing that he meant business!

However, he would soon learn that Shang Jing did not see things his way.