"Hey, buddy!" Gabriel waited for Storm to hurl himself out of the water.

Yifei took a step back, gaping at the humongous beast. She had never seen a dog that huge before. "W-what—what the heck is that?!" ​​

"No need to be so rude—ah! Storm, stop! You're drenching me!" Storm shook the excess water off him, soaking his mistress' brother in the process.

Yifei burst into a fit of giggles. "That's a good look on you, Gabby!"

"Shut up..." Gabriel grumbled bashfully and glared at the clueless wolf. "Thanks for cooling me, Storm."

Storm does not understand sarcasm as he licked Gabriel's face as an apology.

"I got tired of waiting, so I thought that you wouldn't mind me coming here instead." Gabriel and Yifei made themselves comfortable on the chaise lounge beside Lillie, snacking on some chilled watermelon slices. "Who knew this girl had the same idea as I..."

"I resent that." Yifei stick her tongue out. "Just admit that you're following me."

"Huh!" Gabriel snorted. "Are you talking about yourself?"

"Dream on, sissy!"

"Watch your mouth, tomboy, or else I'll feed you to Storm!"

"I resent that too!" Yifei sneak a cautious glance at the horrifyingly large black wolf sitting beside Gabriel. She's not afraid of dogs, but this one is not your usual canine.

"What does he even eat to be this huge? The ones they keep at the zoo doesn't range up to his size..."

"Big-mouthed girls like you."

Yifei spit a watermelon seed on his face.

"Ah! Gross!"

Yifei ignored his wails and turned to her sister-in-law. "He never ate a human before, right?" She anxiously inquired.

"Storm just recently came back to me. He's been living with a friend of mine for years so..." Lillie chooses her words carefully, "not that I'm aware of..."

Yeah, carefully...

Yifei turned white.

That's not reassuring! Not reassuring at all!

Gabriel gave her a smug look that says, "Watch your step".

Yifei fired another round of watermelon seeds at his direction.

"Stop scaring her, Gab." Lillie scolded her brother who frantically shield himself from the seeds.

"Don't worry, Storm doesn't attack anyone casually." She reassured.

He doesn't attack anyone casually...so he still attacks people?! And probably eat them too?!

"Ethan is at the company if you're here to see him." Lillie mentioned, watching her little brother play with Storm by the poolside.

"Ah, yeah, I know...he's not the reason I came here for, hehe..." Yifei admitted cheekily. "I heard from dad that he's neglecting his work again. I feel sorry for Secretary Yu for having a troublesome boss like dàgē [1]."

Lillie coughed, feeling embarrassed. She knows the exact reason for Ethan's 'negligence'.

"Is...that so..." Lillie slowly said. "Secretary Yu should take a break sometimes."

"Hm? Yeah, I believe so too." Yifei suspiciously stared at her sister-in-law. She doesn't know why she suddenly had the urge to tease her. "Does...sister-in-law know the reason?"

"I'm afraid not." Lillie answered, avoiding Yifei's scrutinizing eyes.

"Hmm...? Is that so?" Yifei repeated Lillie's words with a sly smirk. "Already busy turning me into an aunt, I see."

"Oh! How about filling Secretary Yu's position for awhile so she can take a break?" Yifei wiggled her eyebrows. "Then you and elder brother can have more time for you know what~"

If Lillie had been drinking her iced tea, she would've spluttered at Yifei's...peculiar suggestions.

"Come on, sis, no need to act so bashful!" Yifei laughed, enjoying teasing her idol. "I'll be your sister-in-law soon. Talking about my future nieces or nephews is not strange."

Yifei surprise herself by keeping up a conversation with the person she never would've expected to even exchange a single word with without acting like a fool.

"So, so? How many do you two plan on having?"

"Marriage comes first, Yifei..." Lillie fondly poked Yifei's forehead, a gesture she used to do on Gabriel when he was acting like a mischievous brat. "...then we'll talk about it."

"Awww, no fair." Yifei rubbed her forehead, pouting.

"What's not fair?" Gabriel repeated the last part of their conversation as he went back to the shade, the heat already hurting his skin. "Argh, the sun is really uncomfortable today. Wish I brought extra clothes to swim."

"Ah, you're right. I want to swim too..." Yifei swallowed her words as she eyed the large furry beast swimming happily on the pool.

This guy is frightening!

Is the water good? Is it cool? You make me jealous, ah!

"Why not take a soak? I could lend you some of Ethan's clothes." Lillie then turned to Yifei and offered, "You can borrow mine."

"No, no, thank you. I'm satisfied with the refreshme—aahhhhhh!"

Yifei failed to continue her sentence when she was suddenly snatched away from the comfort of her seat, and tossed towards the pool.

"Aahhhhh! Gabriel—!"

Lillie shook her head and send her brother a disapproving frown.

"What? She said she wanted to swim..." Gabriel shrugged. "Besides, Storm doesn't seem to mind a new playmate."

Sigh. That's not how "sweep a girl off her feet" works, little brother.