14 years old Young Callum was sitting at the couch outside the principal's office.
He had a fight with a group of seniors and "accidentally" broke their leader's nose.
Due to his special circumstances as the beloved fostered son of the prestigious Du Family, the headmaster had to settle this quickly.
He personally talked to the parents of the boys.
After showing them the video feed where it was clear that their sons threw the first punch, they agreed to settle this quietly.
After all, nothing good ever comes from messing with the top family in Imperial City.
Young Callum watched as an obviously annoyed DX walked into the office and stopped right outside the principal's room.
The moment their eyes met, Young Callum glanced away.
He knew that a lecture would be coming shortly and he would rather not deal with him.
Irritated by his lack of respect, DX roughly grabbed his chin and made him looked up into his eyes. He snarled,
"You fought someone without my permission?"
Young Callum swatted DX's hand away and turned away from him, "If you want to kick me out of the house, please feel free to do so."
DX glared at him.
He blamed his father for pushing the responsibility of raising a child to him.
Instead of hanging out with his friends, he was stuck with babysitting duties.
It was fine when the kid was still adorable but not so much when he was in the angsty teenage phase!
As he placed his hand on the door knob, DX threatened him, "You better be here when I come out of the office."
Glancing up at the clock behind DX, Young Callum ignored him.
The moment he heard the door closed, he stood up, stretched and strode out of the room.
The most that DX would do to him was a more intensive martial arts training session.
As the man often said, "Be glad that you are still a minor and I cannot legally whack your ass."
Callum shivered slightly at the thought of turning 18. Would he received a violent birthday present from his brother?
Wandering around the mostly empty hall, he wondered what Old Mo would be making for dinner.
As he wandered blindly, Young Callum heard the soft melody of a piano and intrigued by it, he followed the direction of the sound.
The music, Nocturne 27, led him to an abandoned room that was rumored to be haunted.
When he peeked in through the windows, there was no one inside.
"Could it be a ghost?" Young Callum thought as he slowly opened the door. He was sure that the music came from inside.
Shivered, he debated whether he should go in. He might not be afraid of humans, but the idea of bumping into a ghost terrified him.
When the music stopped abruptly in the middle of the piece, he thought that it might had been his imagination and turned to leave.
However, when he heard the next piece, he was stunned.
He had never heard this song before.
The tune was heavily tinged with sorrow and it made him felt uncomfortable.
As if the pianist was trying to convey his emotions through the music, Young Callum felt the desperation and yearning behind the music.
It reminded him of his own loneliness living at the Du Mansion.
The Du Family had been kind to him and DX treated him like a younger brother but... Young Callum lifted his hand to his chest as he felt the ache.
They were not his. No matter how kind they were to him, they would never be his.
Ever since his father's passing, Young Callum had always wanted someone that belonged solely to him, and the music made him felt as if the pianist and him were the same.
Just two person longing for someone of their own.
Slowly, he stepped inside the room.
Focusing on the direction of the music, he realized that the sound actually came from the attic and it actually came from the pipes.
Young Callum wanted to know who it was that can play such a haunting melody.
Running out of the room, he quickly rushed up the stairs leading to the attic and when he pushed open the door, he heard someone calling out his name.
"Callum!"
The annoyed voice sounded familiar but he was about to see the pianist and thus, he chose to ignore the voice.
The next thing he knew was someone pushing him down.
....
Callum blinked as he stared up at the perpetrator.
When he felt the pain from falling down, he groaned.
Glaring at DX, he snapped, "What the he-..."
When he saw the annoyed look in DX's face, he changed his word to, "...heck!"
"Stop your investigation. Han Ye is onto it and I don't want you to get in his way."
Callum growled as he stood up, "I'm not that careless!"
"And you and your entire team of hackers are not as careful as Han Ye. If you left a trace, or if someone from your team were bought over, then my Kara might be placed in danger!"
"Wait..." said Callum as he digested his words, "You knew who orchestrated it?"
DX stared at the photos on the corkboard and replied, "I am onto it."
He turned and stared at Callum before saying curtly, "I'm serious. Stop your investigation on Kara. She is my woman."
...
Back in his room, once he made sure that Kai Xin was still comfortably asleep, he sat on the couch opposite her.
He took out his phone and looked at a series of photos that was sent by Han Ye earlier. The photos clearly showed a grey haired man drunkenly stumbled into AVENGE.
DX did not reached the pinnacle of the business world by being careless. Callum was young and impatient and he missed out a vital point in his investigation.
He focused too much on investigating the wrong person.
As for DX, he had ordered for investigations to be done to the grey haired man that 'bumped' into him. This man just happened to bump into Shangguan Xing and Kai Xin?
He stared at the photos in his phone and thought, "Is this really a coincidence?"
Ever since he found out that Kai Xin frequented AVENGE, he had donated a huge sum of money to place surveillance cameras all around the area.
Someone often hacked into the surveillance cameras that were focusing on AVENGE.
Han Ye was detailed enough to go through all the videos taken by the surveillance cameras that were focusing on the roads that were going in and out of the direction AVENGE.
This grey-haired man was often driving towards the bar and he would leave in the morning.
Odd thing was, in the photos that were taken before and after DX's birthday party, the man actually sported a brightly dyed hair.
Most importantly, everytime he appeared in one of the surveillance videos, someone would hacked into the surveillance cameras right outside AVENGE.
DX texted Han Ye,
[It cannot be a coincidence. Investigate further on the man as well as the owner of AVENGE. Go back to the beginning of the bar if you have to. ]
Within the span of few seconds, the reply came back.
[ Noted. ]
DX stared at the picture of the man. He knew the family of this man and it would be a hassle if the family was behind this.
As he glanced at Kai Xin, the questions in his mind were, "Was he spying on Kara or was he using her to get to me?"