There was a long, long silence after Jun filled in Nian with the truth that was a tight knit secret between him, Ai, Jin and Jinhai up to this point.
Nian simply stared at his brother with an unreadable expression, which only made Jun shiver more and more.
What is it gonna be? A slap? A punch?
Wait, I am a patient right now so…so he will be a little merciful, right?
Jun was thinking of all sorts of reactions in his mind which Nian might 'bless' him with.
But the more time passed in silence, the more he started to sweat hard.
Is he planning to kill me with just one blow!?
Jun thought about Ai.
This is my second chance and I want to live a happy life with my wife. I should just drop to his feet and beg for forgiveness…
Jun gathered his courage and looked at him. He almost bent his back when he heard Nian mumble, "...Makes a lot of sense now."
He wanted to speak, but he kept his mouth shut.
Nian broke out of his daze and glanced at him. He frowned. "Why are you bending like that?"
He stiffened and straightened up. "...Figured that I should grovel at your feet for forgiveness."
Nian smiled. "Do you think a mere forgiveness will give you a clean chit?"
"Definitely not."
"So don't bother."
Jun promptly nodded.
Nian released a long sigh and ruffled his hair. "So something like this happened and Jian and I didn't even know about it. Hey, that's unfair. You told Dad but not us. What is this bias?" He twisted his ear.
"That hurts!" Jun yelped in pain.
He harrumphed. "It should. I thought we siblings were closer. Don't we used to hold all those secret meetings just among the five of us when anybody was in trouble?"
Anybody means only you twins who fell into trouble all the time. The rest of us were pretty much civilized…
Was what Jun wanted to retort but he held back his tongue.
Jun peeked at him and asked, "You really believe me?"
Nian tilted his head. "What is there not to believe? If it is you talking, then it cannot be a joke. You are not Jian and me."
His brow twitched.
Dad had said the same…
Nian let go of his ear and folded his arms. "Besides, I was thinking of all the events that happened after your rebirth so it started making sense to me. Your sudden breakup with Shui, Jin's odd behavior and hostility, the fact that you even fell for another woman…" he rubbed his chin, "everything wouldn't have taken place unless something drastic had happened to you because you were dead set on Shui since childhood."
Jun coughed. "Th-that's in the past now…"
Nian cursed himself. "Now I feel stupid for not recognizing the signs. It should have been so damn obvious that you were hiding something."
He narrowed his eyes at Jun, and he immediately made some distance between them. "I take my words back. Guess you are good at acting indeed…"
Jun could feel the saltiness in his voice. "I am sorry Bro."
He saw Nian raise his hand and he shut his eyes, steering himself ready to take his slap. Instead, the hand softly patted his head and pulled him into his hug.
"You were strong, Jun. Jin too."
Jun blinked.
"You lived through so much pain in your past life and guilt in this one. But you kept yourself moving forward. As your elder brother, I feel extremely proud of you."
Damn it…
Jun didn't want to, but he felt his eyes stinging with tears.
"Aw, is my little brother crying? Should I sing you a lullaby?" Nian chuckled.
"Sh-shut up! This is just some dust that went into my eyes…"
Nian rolled his eyes. "So cliche."
"Can you let me go now? You hugging me feels creepy."
"Hooo is that so?" Nian cocked his brow. Instead of loosening up, he strangled and smothered Jun in his embrace even harder.
"Ca…cannot…breathe…" Jun struggled.
"Hahaha this is your elder brother's super hugging attack!"
He ruffled Jun's head and made his hair into a complete mess.
"Bro!" He somehow freed himself and frowned as he combed through his hair. Jun could finally breathe now.
Nian stared at Jun mumbling curses at him and gently smiled. "I am glad fate gave you a second chance, Jun."
Jun paused. He curled his fist and slowly nodded. "Me too, Bro. I am glad I can live my life with you all this time once again…" his voice slightly choked.
Nian patted his head again. His smile then slowly disappeared.
"Now that I know almost everything that is going on, let's get down to business," he said while cracking his knuckles as if getting ready for a bloody fight. "Who the fuck is this person who hurt you, Ai, Jin, Xing Bi and caused chaos in our lives that badly? Who even has the guts to mess with the Liu family?"
"Zhan Yahui."
"Who?"
Jun said with a grim expression, "Before I collapsed, I was on a call with Chyou. I figured Zhan Yahui was behind everything so I asked her to find everything about her."
"What did she find?"
He slowly replied. "Do you remember the time in our childhood…when I was kidnapped once?"
Nian stared at him.
"Do you remember Ouyang Haitao? He lived with Zhan Yahui's mother Zhan Kai-Ming. He had gotten himself into debt."
Nian said nothing.
"She is that same Zhan Kai-Ming's daughter."
Nian said nothing.
"When I saw her childhood picture, I realized why she must have become my enemy," Jun clenched his fist. "Because I killed Ouyang Haitao."
"Say what?"
"Bro I never…told you or Dad before, but Ouyang Haitao died because of me. It was an accident but it ended his life," he bit his lip hard, "when I came to know of his death later, I couldn't bring myself to tell everyone. I was a kid myself, but I had killed a person. I was terrified of your disappointment. Zhan Yahui is taking revenge because I destroyed her family."
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