BIKER WITH BENEFITS

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BONJOUR PAPA

Xiao Zhan P.O.V

When the car entered the cottage house in Beijing, my dad's new residence, I opened my eyes to see a white two story building coming into view. Looks like he made a good life for himself too. This house in Beijing looks quite quaint. Perhaps going with my dad's taste. He had always liked a house of his own. Now that he has it, it's even decorated in a beautiful way. At a corner of the garden was a simple bush of Yellow Daffodils. I was probably looking a bit too long, even after the car stopped I was too distracted to get out. ZhuoChang tapped on my shoulder.

"That bush is what I planted."

Oh! I thought it would be dad. Well can't be. He probably doesn't even remember Yellow Daffodils are mom's favourite flower. He maybe even have no time to spend in this garden. He's a cardiac surgeon and he spends most of his time in his hospital.

"Hm." I give ZhuoChang a small smile while getting out of the car taking my backpack with me. My shoulder pillow is strapped with my backpack like I always tie it while I'm on a flight. One, because it's convenient and two, because mama taught me so. You see I'm a big mama's boy. And everyone in my school and college knew it. Though I'm lucky I wasn't bullied in school.

The driver took my two luggage trolley with him and entered the little homely looking house. And I too entered the house following ZhuoChang, my footsteps tired and slow. Entering the house I saw a middle aged lady sitting on the sofa at the living room with a book in her hand. This must be Mrs. Jing WanYue. I heard she's a writer now. Used to be a teacher in a primary school before but later got her book published and became famous. I gave now to her and politely addressed her.

"Madam Xiao."

And making me totally startled this lady spoke in clear and mannerly English. "Welcome home, son. I see you're tired. Go check your room and freshen up. We'll talk over dinner." And then gave me a dazzling smile, with genuinity and all. I gave her another bow and follow a elderly maid that has come and stood here while madam Xiao was talking. But the said lady stopped me midway. "You don't have to call me madam Xiao, you can call me aunty."

Well I don't want to call you aunty. Done deal. But I still smile and make my way to a standard size room with pretty decorations. The maid put a glass of water on the nightstand by the side of the bed.

"Master, please take a shower. There are towels in the bathroom and the old master bought some clothes for you. They're in the closet. I will come back to call you for dinner." She gestures at the attached bathroom at the side of the room. I give her a smile.

"Aunty. Please call me Zhan."

"Ok, master Zhan."

"No, only Zhan."

Hearing this she looked dumbfounded. Oh, I forgot here in China there's this unsaid rule of not calling your master's family by name only. Ok. Forget it. I guess I'll have to get used to it then. Looks like I have a lot to get used to. I finally nodded at her dejected. Realising she won't listen even if I tell her a thousand times to call me Zhan. So be it. After she left I took good look at the room I'm standing in.

This room is quite comfy and cozy. There's a window at the side of the room. The window has a sitting space by it. And right by the side of the window was the fluffy looking bed. The nightstand held a night lamp on top of it and in the drawers below were some medical magazines and a first aid kit. At the corner there was a standing mirror. The overall getup of the room is homely and warm, like it's welcoming its dweller. I opened the closet to find some monochrome outfits mostly jeans and t-shirts and a few formal outfits. Looks like Mr. Xiao put quite an effort to welcome me. I took out a comfortable jumper and pants from my backpack and my shower gel I always use.

The bathroom is not so big but not so small either. There are toiletries already on the racks. An assortment of shower gels and shampoos and more than enough showers items for two-three months. I put my lavender scented candle at the glass rack at the side of the wash basin. I always use lavender scented candle to shower after a flight. Because it calms me down. It has been my habit from the very childhood. In this aspect I'm exactly similar to my mom. She always uses a forest scented candle to calm herself down. And unknowingly I picked up this habit.

After I was done showering I got out of the bathroom putting my clothes on. Well I might be quite a naughty boy as my mom says but there's one thing I can never do. I can't go shirtless at any cost. I feel vulnerable and exposed whenever I do that. There's a reason I like give tho. I have quite a nasty scar I got at my freshman year of highschool, on the left side of my chest. I used to be in the drama club in school and I was playing Eugene Fitzherbart from Rupanzel that year. A prop that was unbelievably fake struck me straight at the left side of my chest right on the stage, sending me to hospital and a three days long coma as a result. To say the least I gave a huge fright to mama. And it gave a huge insecurity to go shirtless.

But that aside right now I'm trying to unpack a few of my necessary things when there was a knock on the door. I thought it was aunty calling me for dinner, so I responded.

"I'll be there in a few minutes."

But I got a response back instead. "It's me, gege."

I stood up from what I was doing and opened the door to find ZhuoChang standing outside the door with his hand behind him. Maybe my face showed something it shouldn't and ZhuoChang looked quite startled. "Gege, did I disturb you?"

I changed my face almost immediately to show a smile to him. "Come in." And right then and there it sounded like I was marking the boundary. No one was allowed to enter my room without my permission. He hesitantly entered taking in the appearance of the room, and finding all the things scattered he looked at me. Getting his hands from behind his back he produced a dreamcatcher, as if proposing a treaty.

Seeing the item I frowned. What is he even trying to do?

"I wanted to give gege this for quite some time. I never had a sibling. I asked ma for a sibling and she said I have a sibling. So I made this by myself after learning from school at fifth grade. I finally can give you this." He gave a smile to me. His smile looks exactly like his mother. But his eyes are exactly like his father, my father.

And unknowingly I imagined a fifth grader kid making a dreamcatcher for his gege who he didn't even know. I took it and put it on the side of the window.

"Lets go have dinner." I asked him, half to get out of this topic and half to think about it more. He has spread his hand to be more friendly with him, to be a big brother to him. It's time for me to think about if I was capable of being that. After all I never thought of him, his mom and his dad as my family, and now he expects me to be a family. It's a lot to take in for just one day.

When we got to the dining area, there was madam Xiao sitting at the table helping aunty with the food. Seeing me and ZhuoChang coming down together a trace of smile graced her pretty face but vanished immediately. And at the head of the table sat the man who I didn't see for fifteen years. The man who had the power to call me here even after fifteen years. My father, Mr. Xiao FanYu. And I just had to greet him. A smirk in my face I greet him.

"Bonjour papa."

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Here's the second chapter... And I hope you guys enjoy... I'm not gonna make this long... Just to be sure, I'm not aware of how things work in Canada or in China... I wrote this based on the little knowledge I acquired from internet... So please forgive me if you find any mistake...

Also please give me your feedback in the comments..

All the love
C 💕

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