Wooing my Bodyguard Wife

His brother's not-date was at a ridiculously fancy restaurant. Jingwei saw the way the waiter's eyebrow barely twitched as he pulled up an extra chair for him, as the reservation was changed last minute. Jingwei shot his brother a look, for someone who claimed that this outing with Lian Xingzi wasn't a date, the restaurant certainly gave the impression of one, since most of its customers were couples on dates.

There was a lighted candle in the middle of the table to set the ambience and his brother was dressed in a suit with one of the most boring grey ties Tianwei had ever seen.

Jingwei sighed. When was his date going to arrive?

"Ge, are you sure you didn't get stood up? Did you actually ask her out, or did you yell a date and time and leave before hearing her reply?" Jingwei asked cautiously, watching the muscle in his brother's jaw twitch in irritation with each passing minute.

His brother had even made them arrive 15 minutes before, and now it was 10 minutes past the allocated waiting time. Jingwei had to shower and then borrow one of Tianwei's dress shirts and pants to even be allowed in this restaurant. Thankfully, he had grown tall and broad enough for them to fit him well. He didn't want to look like a child playing dress-up.

Now he was getting hungry. Could they order first, or would his Ge find that too rude?

"She said that -"

"Sorry I'm late, I was still deciding whether or not I should come." A woman's voice interrupted Jingwei's thoughts. Jingwei turned around to see a pretty girl in a black dress. She had light makeup on and her lips were tinted with red lipstick. They curled into a smile as she saw him.

"And who is this? Sun Tianwei, are you introducing me to your boyfriend?" Lian Xingzi asked. "Well, I am happy and will always support you - "

Tianwei sighed. Jingwei had a feeling he did this pretty often when around Xingzi-jie. "This is my younger brother. You should know. You have seen him before."

"Oh?" Xingzi leaned and took a closer look. "Ah, now that you say it, I do see the resemblance. But you can't fault me for not realising it! I haven't seen him in three years. Jingwei, you've grown a lot taller and more handsome since I last saw you!"

"Thanks! Xingzi-jie, you've also grown a lot prettier too," Jingwei replied, smiling cheekily, playing up the boyish charm he knew he contained in spades. "You look very pretty in your dress! Ge might not say it, but he thinks so too."

Jingwei felt a foot kick his calf sharply, courtesy of his brother, but he kept his smile firmly pasted on his face. He gave his brother a quick look, hinting that he should say something to follow up. Tianwei definitely thought she looked nice, since he practically sprung to attention when he saw that she had arrived, his eyes never leaving her figure or face.

Of course, Tianwei exceeded all of Jingwei's expectations when he opened his mouth.

"I see that you've stopped dressing like a homeless person," Tianwei said, eyeing her outfit, and Jingwei wanted to slap his brother's mouth. How could someone be so hopeless? Clearly what his brother wanted to say was that she looked nice, but then what came out of his mouth turned out to be offensive.

"Ah? Sorry, I'll change into my trash bag if that pleases you, why did you pick such a high-end place?" Lian Xingzi asked sarcastically, sitting down on her own. Jingwei gave his brother another exasperated look - he wasn't even going to pull out her chair for her? No wonder he still couldn't get a proper date with her.

It was up to him to salvage this mess.

"Hi Xingzi-jie," Jingwei smiled winningly, "don't take my brother's words to heart - you know him, he's emotionally constipated."

"I know," Xingzi-jie said, leaning forward conspiratorially. "He's what people would call a tsundere."

"I'm not a tsundere," Tianwei protested, but he was duly ignored.

"You on the other hand, are an utter darling," Xingzi said, laughing as she looked over Jingwei. "You're going to be a lady killer in future, if you aren't already. I can tell."

Jingwei laughed awkwardly, partly because his brother was stewing in jealousy, and partly because he didn't want to think about killing ladies, especially thanks to Shang Jing's videos.

"Stop hitting on my brother," came Tianwei's terse reply. "He's underage."

"Ha!" Xingzi smirked. "I'm not hitting on him, I'm conversing with a dinner partner that's actually paying some form of attention to me and not glaring at the tablecloth as though it personally offended him."

Jingwei winced. Hard to deny that.

"Also, since when did the high and mighty Sun Tianwei need his baby brother to talk for him? But you are very sweet Jingwei. Such a good kid." She praised Jingwei as though he was her grandson, nevermind that Jingwei was a teenager and she was only a university student too.

"You -" Tianwei wanted to argue, but he could not find a way to make it sound like he wasn't a petty jealous man, so he dropped the point.

No wonder his brother wanted him to come along. Jingwei hoped that one day, when he found someone he liked, he wouldn't behave that pathetically bad at wooing them.

"Let's order!" Jingwei said loudly, trying to salvage the situation. Several patrons turned around to stare at him accusingly. He quickly sank into his seat.

"What do you guys want to eat?" He asked more softly this time.

"Rich people." Lian Xingzi said cheerfully without hesitation.

There was a pause. Jingwei let out a chuckle, internally sweat-dropping at his brother's taste in women. Wow, his brother had a crush on a woman who hated their family's wealth.Jingwei couldn't understand the appeal - sure, Xingzi-jie was very pretty when she was dolled up, and she was witty, but what made her so different from all the other women that flocked around his brother?

On the other hand, if Jingwei wanted to find someone to fall in love with, he would pick a girl of the same social standing. She would be beautiful and well-mannered and polite, have the face of an angel but the body of a temptress. She would support his hobbies and love him and his money, and wouldn't arrive 15 minutes late to a date!

Meanwhile, Tianwei sighed, feeling a headache form between his temples.