Chapter 119 - 116
"So, you did that because you saw Mark giving me a cup of coffee?" Justin said and chuckled.
The two are currently inside Tristan's car, talking about what happened earlier today. Justin wanted to know what made Tristan do that when they just talked about not telling people about them just before they got to the company.
Tristan looked away with a guilty expression on his face as he avoided Justin's eyes.
"Why are you looking that way? Look at me," Justin said as he held Tristan's face and turned it to face him.
"Am I not allowed to be jealous?" Tristan frowned. Justin couldn't help but laugh from seeing his alpha's facial expression. "Hey, I never said that," he said as he laughed.
"Why are you laughing? What's so funny?" Tristan frowned even more. Justin's lips touched Tristan's cheek and the corner of the alpha's lips started shaking as he tried to stop himself from smiling..
"It's okay for you to act like that sometimes, but you shouldn't have decided that on a whim," Justin said as he smiled at him. "Why are you smiling? Aren't you mad at me?" Tristan asked as he looked down like a sad puppy.
"I'm not mad. I told you earlier at work, didn't I?" Justin said, still smiling at him. "I'm just really worried for you, you know?" he said as smiled and held Tristan's hand.
"You don't have to worry about me, darling. There's nothing for you to worry about. I'm actually regretting doing that earlier because it might have a negative effect on you. Who knows what kind of rumor is spreading right now," Tristan sighed.
"My emotions got the best of me. I know I shouldn't have done that, but..." Justin cut Tristan off by speaking over him. "You don't have to explain anything. It's fine. Really. In fact, what you have done made people see you in a new light," the omega said.
"What do you mean?" Tristan asked, confused.
'How did that make them think differently of me? It's not like I did anything, in particular, to make them think that,' Tristan thought.
"You do know people call you a demon, right?" Justin chuckled. "Yeah, I do. What about it?" Tristan asked as he tilted his head a bit.
"Now, tell me. What kind of demon smiles so sweetly and looks at someone with eyes filled with adoration?" Justin asked as he smiled at him. Tristan didn't really know what to say because he, himself, doesn't realize that he's acting so differently when it comes to Justin. It was only then when he realized that what Justin said was true.
"That's what made their opinion of you change. They see you as a cold and scary person, but now that they've seen you act so gentle and sweet, the way they think of you has changed drastically. If I were to judge it, I'd say it's a positive thing since I didn't like it when people talked badly about you," Justin continued.
"You are one of the kindest and most gentle people I know, Tristan. You deserve to be treated with kindness, so you should do the same to them too. Don't be too harsh on the people around you. But most importantly, don't be too harsh on yourself. You apologized for feeling jealous even though you can't control what you're feeling. It's okay for you to feel that way, so don't apologize," Justin said as he held his hand even tighter.
"This is a bit out of context but... I'm kind of happy now that you're telling me what you're actually feeling. Before... Before we broke up, you were trying to handle things on your own and you never came for me for help or comfort. It makes me happy that you're finally able to tell me about things that bother you," Justin said as his thumb softly caressed Tristan's hand.
"Darling..." Tristan felt like his heart was being squeezed from seeing Justin like this.
Until now, he didn't know that what he did before has affected Justin this much. He didn't think that up until now, Justin still hasn't forgotten what happened before.
When Tristan looked back on what happened before, he began understanding what Justin must have felt before.
It was late, but he knew that he had to apologize and explain what happened before.
"Would you like to know why I was acting like that back then?" Tristan asked, lowering his head as his eyes trembled in fear, realizing that the same thing might happen again this time.
"Of course," Justin replied.
"It was because of my father. He almost never approves of anything I do. He didn't even like the fact that I spent my 20's painting and not doing what he wants. And... he also didn't like the fact that I was dating you," Tristan started and swallowed hard.
"Those times when I get home very late without telling you anything, I spent hours begging on my knees, pleading him to just let us be. At the time, begging is the only thing I could do because I didn't have the power to rebel against him," he continued.
Justin remained quiet as he listened to what Tristan was saying.
"People might think that it's stupid for me to do that because I can just talk to him about it, but I know that my father isn't that simple. He's not someone who'd give up his ideals just so his son would be happy. He wanted me to be his successor and marry an omega from an affluent family, but I didn't want that. I loved painting but most importantly, I love you so much that I couldn't give you up. Of course, because I love you, I thought the best option was to hide it from you because I figured you'd get hurt if you found out that my father didn't approve of our relationship," Tristan explained as his facial expression turned sad.
"But now, things are different. I'm not the same person as before. In the process of how I became who I am today, I've lost a lot along the way. I lost my hobby. I lost my passion. But the worst of all is... I lost you, my love," he said as he cupped Justin's cheek.
Justin didn't know what to say. He didn't know that Tristan's father was like that and that Tristan had gone through something like that.
At the time, he thought he was the only one trying to keep the relationship going and that Tristan didn't care much about their relationship, but now, he finally knew that Tristan was trying to do things in his own way.
Justin put his hand over Tristan's hand that was on his cheek and said, "I'm here now... You don't have to do things on your own now."
As they were having a moment, Justin's phone suddenly rang. It was an incoming call from Jamie.
"Oh, it's Jamie. I'm sorry for that," Justin said as he pursed his lips, feeling kind of awkward that his phone rang at a moment like this. "It's okay, you take the call. It's probably about the twins," Tristan smiled at him.
Justin answered the call, thinking that it might be something important regarding the twins.
"Hello, Jamie? What's up?" Justin said as soon as he answered the call. "J... Justin, there are some people here. A man is claiming that he's the twins' relative," Jamie said as she whispered to the phone.
"What? Did you ask what his name is? Maybe that's my brother," Justin responded.
'Judging by the date today, it might really be Dani. The twins' birthday is coming up soon, so maybe he went to our house to surprise them,' Justin thought, finding it plausible that it might be his older brother and the twins' uncle, Daniel.
"I think he's too old to be your brother," Jamie said. Before she could continue speaking, Justin spoke again. "Then, my father? What's his name?" Justin asked as he glanced at Tristan who was facing straight and waiting for Justin to finish talking over the phone.
"He said his name is Lee Young Ho. Is it true that he's your relative?" Jamie said over the phone.
[Korean names start with their surname and then their given name.]
"That doesn't ring a bell to me... What's his name again? Lee Young Ho?" Justin repeated, trying to remember if he recognizes that name.
As soon as Tristan heard that name, his ears perked and his heart thumped loudly.
'Did I hear it right?' he thought as he glanced at Justin who was still on the phone.
"Really? I'm going to ask him to leave, then. He might be someone who wants to harm the children. We can never be too careful," Jamie said and sighed. "Please do that. Contact me again if that person is still persistent," Justin said.
The phone call finally ended and as soon as Justin saw Tristan's facial expression, he felt confused. "What's wrong, hmm?" he asked as he tilted his head a bit.
"Lee Young Ho... was it?" Tristan asked as he swallowed hard. Justin nodded and said, "Uh-huh. Why? Do you recognize that name?"
"Lee Young Ho is my father."
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