"Jun?" Nana quickly hugged him and kissed him. "You woke up so suddenly…" she whispered as Jin and Nuo were sleeping on Jun's either side. The four shared the bed tonight.
"Did you have a bad dream?"
Jun tried to smile, but Nana already understood his state. She kissed his forehead as her eyes ached. "You don't have to be afraid of any nightmare, okay? You are safe now. Everybody is here with you."
Jun looked at Nana's worried creases on her forehead and slowly nodded. His heart was still pounding in his chest, but he also didn't wish to make her anymore anxious.
"Yes, Mom. I won't think about the bad things anymore."
Jun then tried to sleep a lot, but sleep failed to greet him. He shuddered every time he felt the girl's voices thundering loudly in his mind.
He suddenly opened his eyes with a thought.
I forgot to ask Bro about the girl.
What happened to her? She was also rescued from that man right? Where is she now…
Jun slowly pulled off the duvet from over him and got out of bed. He looked back at Nana who was dozing off too, completely mentally exhausted after today's incident.
He stepped out and headed out towards the twins' room but didn't find them sleeping there. He blinked, confused.
Where are the twins? Are they sleeping with Dad?
So he walked towards Jinhai and Nana's bedroom and slowed down his pace as he heard some murmurs coming out of his room.
Jun ever so slightly bulged the door just lightly ajar and saw the twins standing before Jinhai with a frigid countenance.
A sharp shudder passed down his spine. He had never seen the twins so serious and alarming before.
Jinhai himself had a grim expression as he thoughtfully stared hard at his sons.
"So Ouyang Haitao died?"
Jun froze.
"Yes," it was Jian who calmly answered.
Nian silently nodded.
Jun began to tremble at his spot. The drops of sweat trickled from his temple down to his neck as he was beginning to take shallow gasps.
That man d-died…?
He clearly remembered how he pushed Ouyang Haitao and how he tripped and collapsed. How his blood dyed the floor red and how hard the girl cried for him later.
He stared down at his little palms and felt as if he could see them stained in crimson. That illusion frightened him.
I killed him…B-But Bro said that he was f-fine…
I didn't want to kill him…I k-killed a person…
His gasps grew heavier and suffocating.
"Who is outside?" A sharp, demanding voice echoed.
The twins rushed to open the door and saw Jun standing frightened and paled as his body shook.
"Jun!"
Jinhai widened his eyes and swiftly walked up to his side. He pulled him inside and closed the door. Kneeling down to his level, he held his shoulders and gently asked, "What are you doing so late at night here?"
Jun parted his lips but his voice failed to come out.
The twins grabbed him from either side and chirped. "Haha is our little brother unable to sleep without his favorite twins? We knew it! You love us so much hoho!"
But their attempt to ease the atmosphere failed to stop his trembling. Instead he asked in a stuttered voice, "Th-that man…that man is d-dead?"
A sharp silence descended in the quiet night.
Jun looked up at his father as tears rolled down his cheeks. "D-Dad, did I really kill him? He-he is d-dead because I pu-pushed him hard…Then he fell a-and-"
"Jun," Jinhai cupped his face and smiled. "What are you talking about? You didn't kill anybody. Stop having such thoughts."
"B-But Bro Nian said that he was fine! And now I heard that he is already dead!" The weight of someone's death made more tears well in his eyes. "That's b-because I…I…"
"You didn't kill him, Jun," there was a certain unshakeable determination in Jinhai's voice.
He watched his father's eyes very carefully and the more he peered deeper into them, the more he understood what was going on. "You should not defend me because I am your son! Y-you…" he was trembling harder, "Why aren't you scolding me? Why aren't you p-punishing me? I ki-killed somebody…That's bad…The girl was crying too. She was so angry too…She loved that man right? B-But I…took him away from her," all his color and vitality drained from his face. "I did something bad s-so how can you still not scold me?"
There was another bout of silence from Jinhai in which the sound of only Jun's tears were heard in the room. He picked Jun in his arms and sat on the bed.
Bringing a glass of water near his lips, he said, "Drink some water and try to calm down please."
Jun took a few sips, but they didn't help. He felt a tightness in his chest that he never felt before.
The twins came up to him and pinched his two cheeks. They smiled at him affectionately and said, "You look better when you are annoyed, not when you are crying, little brother."
"B-But I-"
"You didn't kill him," Jian cut him off.
"He was simply unconscious because of the fall. He wasn't dead," Nian added. "Indeed he is no more in this world but that isn't because of you. It happened later."
Jun refused to believe them. Jinhai, Jian and Nian - he could feel that all three were trying to cover up his crime solely due to the love they held for him.
"Jun," Jinhai lifted his head and looked into his eyes. He emanated a sense of calm and tranquility as he spoke, "The last thing your mother would allow me to do is to defend our children if they did something wrong. So, no. I am not covering up for you."
Jun bit his lip hard.
"There is no reason to because Ouyang Haitao didn't die because of you," he firmly held his hands and narrowed his eyes, "My son's hands are not stained with anybody's blood."
Tears pooled in his eyes.
"The skirmish with the guards happened later. That's what I was asking the twins. He kidnapped my son and threatened to harm you. Naturally, I won't let him go free, right? He was very well alive even after the accident with you."
Jun said nothing.
"And in the event he really would have died because of the fall, it still wouldn't have been your fault anyway because that was self-defense. There is a difference between self-defense and cold-blooded murder. You are still young to understand it, but I don't want you to brood over something which never happened because of you in the first place."
"Th-then the girl…"
"She is in the hospital and in shock. The doctors are currently treating her. I will handle everything related to her and her mother, so you don't have to worry about them. Jun, everything will be fine. You were always a victim in this mess, not a culprit so never think that you harmed Ouyang Haitao because you didn't."
*Flashback ends*
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