The Rise of the White Lotus Chapter 57 – What's wrong with me?

Ethan stayed with that position for god knows how long until he unconsciously slept. When he woke up, Ethan glanced at the wall clock and to his surprise, he slept for an hour and a half. His body must have been tired as he just recovered from the hit he inflicted several days ago.

Scanning his fancy yet foreboding place, Ethan reached for his phone to check if Lexi texted. However, seeing that among the ton of unread messages on his phone, not a single message was there from Lexi.

He didn’t know why but after checking numerous times, he frowned upon clarifying that Lexi didn’t update him if he reached home or not.

“Tch, don’t she know what’s the use of her phone?” Ethan mumbled, dissatisfied with her. She should have at least let him know that she reached home to keep him from worrying.

Ethan grumpily tapped his finger on his latest smartphone and immediately searched for Lexi’s contact number.

[To: Ms. Lexi Yang

Did you reach home? Safe and sound? ]

When Ethan was about to tap send, his thumb stopped midway as his brows knitted. Instead of pressing the send button, Ethan deleted his message and threw his phone on the side.

Why would he text her? He never replied to any of the girls he dated and he never concerned himself about them. Hence, why was he annoyed that Lexi didn’t update him?

Is it because they were friends? He’s the big brother after all, right? Brainwashing himself with those kinds of thoughts, Ethan was convinced that he was just doing the duty of a friend. Furthermore, her parents entrust her to him.

Reaching for his phone again, Ethan composed his earlier message, alas, his thumb halted midway as he was about to send his message.

“Urrgh–! This is frustrating!” Ethan grumbled as he exasperatedly ran his fingers through his unruly silky hair. He just needed to text her right? Why was he hesitating to tap that send button?

“Forget it!” After repeating the cycle countless times, Ethan decided not to ask her status. He slumped his arms with his phone still in his hands in frustration. Unbeknownst to him, he accidentally tapped the button that he cod harly press. In a fraction of millisecond, it showed a sent sign indicating that his message was delivered.

“Damn, what’s wrong with me?” Ethan sighed heavily as he stared at the well-designed ceiling. Recalling the scene earlier, Ethan felt Morris Liu’s displeasure by the sight of Lexi. What’s more, he also sensed that Morris Liu was about to do something that Lexi and Ethan don’t want to happen.

Hence, he abruptly stopped his friend’s hand before it could reach Lexi. For a second, Ethan felt an unknown level of rage that he never experience before; especially towards his best buddy. Then, when Lexi nearly tripped and was caught by him, part of him was dissatisfied when she glanced at Morris’s direction.

He had never gone through this kind of unwelcomed emotion and Lexi’s impact on him. They were just friends, but, why was he overly sensitive when it comes to her?

‘It’s probably the concussion… Right, that explains it.” Ethan Lu found a rational explanation of the alien feelings that he recently discovered. He repeated his words so he could fully convince himself that it was the real reason — nothing more nothing less.

Just as Ethan was peesuaded of the reason behind his ‘understandable’ actions, he heard his phone produce a ‘ting’ sound indicating a new message. Raising his hands to see who it was, his eyes dilated seeing Lexi’s name on the screen.

What shocked him even more was his message from earlier was delivered and Lexi replied! Ethan gasped in disbelief as he skimmed through Lexi’s short reply, it says;

[ From: Ms. Lexi Yang

Yes, thank you. ]

“What? That’s all? Shouldn’t you at least ask me what I’m doing? Or if I made it alive after our encounter with Morris? Ha! Lexi –” Upon seeing her short yet precise reply, Ethan heedlessly spoke his mind in a displeased tone. Alas, just as he prattle about his complains, he realized his very childish reaction; it is as if he was splashed with a bucketful of cold water as he could not believe his own words.

“Did– did I just said that?” Ethan ruffled his hair once again in annoyance. This person’s talking wasn’t him, he’s not that one of those annoying crazy girls that harassed him after break up!

“That’s it! I’m gonna party. This woman is driving me crazy — jeez!” With that said note, Ethan jumped out from his couch and prepared to waste his night away. He needed to forget whatever he needed to forget. He was afraid that if he stayed alone any longer, he might die from disappointment.

Indeed, he believed that if he goes to have fun like before, he’ll be back to his usual self.

No big brother’s duty or anything of the sort and be himself — the easy-going him! However, little did Ethan know that his expectations would grabely disappoint him.