"Am I Asahin?"
The question was out of the blue but the child looked genuinely curious. Dr. Kai turned to look at Li Tian's face who was similarly surprised, but the young heir's expression showed a little more understanding of the question. The two peoples' eyes met and he could see that the heir didn't mind him answering.
"This is quite the random question, little one," the doctor chuckled. "Do I look Asahin to you?"
Seeing Big Brother Tian not stopping him, Rai mustered a little more courage to speak, "Y-your name... it's an Asahin name, right?"
"My name? Ah yes... My name is Asahin, isn't it," the doctor continued to chuckle as if he had never realized such a thing. With a hand caressing his chin, he explained, "Although, you are actually not entirely correct. I am indeed Asahin, but only half. My full name is Kairyuu Sveen. I am also part Vestren."
Rai's eyes turned wide in surprise. In fact, it seemed like he was happier than finding out the doctor was just Asahin.
"I-I, I'm also half Asahin," he stuttered a little excitedly. The little twinkle in his eye one could slightly see from under his bangs was adorable and extremely endearing.
It made Li Tian a little jealous.
Dr. Kai himself also felt a little warm inside seeing the child like that. He smiled and humored him, "Half Asahin and Huaxian?"
"Yes. My mother was Asahin," Rai answered honestly.
๐๐ข๐ด?
Both the older men instantly understood.
Li Tian wouldn't know what to say in such a situation but Dr. Kai kept a smile on and took it in strides.
"I'm sure she was a wonderful woman. And if you got your looks from her, she must have been quite beautiful as well."
To anyone else's ears, these were merely empty praises for someone they never knew. But to a ten-year-old child who never heard anything good spoken about his own mother, it made his heart tremble with happiness.
In all honesty, to people in high society like the two from the Li Clan, what did race really matter?
One was an heir to a clan not bound to the hate of their ancestors nor the borders of their country, while the other was not even descended from the nation they were currently in. To make things worse, he was even partially from the nation that supposedly had old bad blood with them.
And here the two were in the same room, working in the same place.
In this day and age, who cared so much about such things? They knew so many mixed!
But Rai was still a child who wanted to feel connected to his mother, and they respected that innocence of his.
Maybe in the future, he would brush off such titles but for now, it was a heritage he cherished.
"W-What does your name mean, Dr. Kai?" Rai asked eagerly. With the universal language in place, not much emphasis was put into teaching previous languages, making it harder for him to learn it, especially not even living in Asahi. Even knowing a few new words made him happy.
"Hahahahaha! And here I thought you were a quiet kid. You're actually quite talkative when your mind is set on something, eh?" Dr. Kai teased him causing the kid to blush.
Rai fidgeted in his seat embarrassed and glanced at Big Brother Tian beside him. Surprisingly, the young man actually had a smile on his face as well. It was tinged with a little annoyance that was directed to the doctor, but there was no mistaking the joy he had.
"You'd be surprised at the meaning of my name, little Leixue. I think it suits me pretty well," the doctor hyped himself.
"Oh please, Dr. Kai," Li Tian rolled his eyes. "What part of your name suits you? Enlighten me."
The doctor ignored the snide teen and chuckled, "Hehehe. The word Kai means ocean or sea. While Ryuu means dragon. Together they became Sea Dragon! What do you think? Doesn't it suit me very well?"
"It could also mean Sea Cucumber. I'm sure that suits you way better," the Li heir joked as he burst out in laughter.
"Y-You..." the doctor frowned at the horror of referring to himself as a squishy invertebrate. It was the complete opposite of a mighty dragon!
Rai looked at the doctor's face of detestation, then at the big brother who was laughing at the ridiculousness of it and calmed down. It was a comical situation, but somehow he suddenly felt at ease.
"Hehehe... It's such a cool name. I think it suits you very much," he smiled at the two of them adorably, with not a hint of pain or annoyance.
Straight away, the two felt an unforeseen sense of realization in their hearts. It was supposed to be a beautiful scene, but seeing this kid smile so innocently with lots of bruises actually hidden underneath just made them feel sorrow. The urge to protect him at all cost boiled even more within the Li heir.
Another thing they realized was how good looking he actually was. Li Tian was already publicly acknowledged as one of the most handsome men out there at just seventeen, but this child...
His face alone made him destined to become a homme fatale!
Just as the older two were about to start bickering again, the sound of a tummy's rumbling interrupted them.
Grrrooooowwwwlll...
They looked at the red-faced boy's tummy.
"I-I'm sorry!"
"Hahahahaha!" The two of them laughed at the same time.
"Go get the boy some lunch, Young Master Tian. His tummy is starting to rebel," Dr. Kai ushered them out. "The nurse will give you your meds in the other room. Be sure to properly use them, little Leixue. Also, NO excessive strains on your body."
"Okay. Thank you, Dr. Kai," Rai bowed his head and thanked him earnestly.
"Take good care of the boy, Young Master Tian. I quite like him."
"He's under me now. I was always planning to take care of him," Li Tian puffed and took the little boy's hand. "Let's go, Leixue."
"O-Okay," Rai looked at the hand over his, then at the face of its owner. What he saw was an expression of determination.
.....
Seeing the delicious plate of food in front of him and smelling the amazing aroma that permeated out of it, Rai's tummy couldn't help but growl even louder.
The ironic thing was, wasn't what was being served exactly what his siblings mentioned as their favorite food?
A plate of piping hot Northern Grilled Lobster Almas Cavier and a side of steaming edible birds nest soup.
Was this intentional?
Grrrrumbble...
"Eat before it gets cold, Leixue," Li Tian ate unaffectedly.
It was the push he needed before Rai began devouring the food as fast as he could. As every bite entered his mouth, he could feel exactly how people described them. There was sweet, sour and savoriness in every inch he swallowed, with a tinge of luxury. Not only that, but he could also feel his strength slowly coming back, making think him naively.
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ช๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ๐บ!
Soon, he also began to silently wish for something else.
๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ช๐จ ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ...
His determination grew for the future.
"What are you thinking about?"
He had almost forgotten the presence of the other older brother sitting opposite him.
"N-Nothing," he denied and took another bite of food to appear busy.
Li Tian furrowed his eyebrows and complained, "I know you're not actually a shy kid, Leixue. Just be yourself already. I won't get angry."
Rai looked up at the young man with crazy yet charming chocolate locks and uttered, "But you're my employer..."
The words made the young man roll his eyes. This was not what he had originally intended at all. "Instead of my attendant, how about I call you my apprentice or disciple instead?"
"Apprentice? You mean like... a student?"
"Yeah, sure. Since you will be by my side, you will automatically learn a few things anyway. I can teach you anything you don't know," Li Tian prided himself in being quite the genius. He just didn't appear like one.
"...Really..."
"Why do you sound so skeptical?"
"Ah. No. I'm sorry," Rai quickly changed his tone but it was true he could hardly believe the Li heir's words. Even if this Li older brother was amazing in many ways, his lack of deep thinking gave off the impression of not being that smart. "Please take good care of me."
"No problem. I'll be a good teacher," Li Tian gave him a winning smile.
๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ... Rai had mixed feelings about the declaration. Does this mean he has two teachers now? Big Brother Lang and Big Brother Tian... Both were completely different types of people. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต?
Li Tian wanted nothing more than to declare this child as his little brother. He had already told his uncle, his cousin manager, and the family doctor of the boy's status. Yet somehow he knew he couldn't tell the boy himself.
His pride wouldn't allow it!
Rai is Li Xiaolang's little brother! How could he also be Li Tian's when they were supposed to be two different people!
No. He would never share him! Even if it's with his original self. Let his alter ego have him for now.
He would make do with this.
Suddenly, a woman walked in on the two.
"Tian, you don't have work today. What do you plan on doing?" she asked in a professional tone. She raised an eyebrow and eyed both the food and the youngest heir.
Her message was clear. No work, no free expenses.
Li Tian scrunched his face and quickly ate everything he could. No way was he going to let the opportunity to eat free food go to waste. He spoke to her in between mouthfuls, "I plan on taking him home."
"Home?" Li Meilin raised a sharp eyebrow.
She glanced at the boy who was peeking at the two of them curiously behind his hair. She pursed her lips and said, "Come see me privately after you're done eating."
"Mmm," the teen grunted and continued to eat heartily.
Meilin shook her head defeatedly and left the two to their lunch.
"Is there something wrong, Big Brother Tian?" Rai asked.
"Ignore her."
"..... Okay," he went back to stuffing his face.
.....
"A few warnings you must keep in mind," Li Tian spoke seriously. He had already finished his private talk with his cousin manager and was currently with Rai in a different car from before, ready to drive back to his Northern home.
"Yes, sir," the boy responded automatically.
"Big Brother Tian."
"Ah. I mean yes, Big Brother Tian?"
The Li heir chuckled lightly, the serious air gone, and reached out to grab two caps from the back seats. He put one on himself and the other on the kid beside him. "Looks good."
Rai looked up in surprise, seeing the older brother beside him wearing a matching cap with a big smile on.
"I don't have work today, but since you're now my apprentice, you will be with me regardless of whether I have work or not," the young man started.
"Okay...?"
"But because I am not working, I can't be seen out much due to some circumstances. So we have to be partially disguised whenever we go out," Li Tian explained and took out a pair of sunglasses from the front compartment.
"Oh..." Rai nodded in understanding, but then furrowed his eyebrows not too long after. He watched as the celebrity fixed his cap in the mirror and thought to himself, ๐๐ด ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐จ๐ฏ๐ช๐ป๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ?
He was sure he would recognize the celebrity a mile away even in that getup. Surely he could do better.
"Also, my home is a little bit special," Li Tian continued.
"Hmm?"
"No one knows I live there so you have to keep it an absolute secret. There's underground parking so we have some cover and the security have signed a confidentiality agreement but the problem is the elevator. I have to keep my head down at all times so no one recognizes me," he continued to explain and think. "Hmmm... should I wear a mask... Sounds easier."
The more Rai listened, the more confused he became. Why was Li Tian, an heir of the almighty Li Clan, living in a place where he had to be cautious of people finding out who he was? Why doesn't he just live in the Li Clan Estate up North?
The curiosity was too much that he just had to ask, "Why don't you live in the Clan?"
"Why?" the question startled the Li heir. He had yet to think of an excuse for that. "Uh... I... want to be free...?"
It was utter bullshit. He'd rather not have to go through so much hassle, not to mention doing chores AND being on a budget. But it was the best excuse he could come up with on such short notice. Why hadn't he thought about explaining why before this?
Well... because no one was ever supposed to know Li Tian was living as a commoner now.
The look of respect in the child's eyes made him feel even more guilty.
"A-Anyway, people will start recognizing you in the near future so you should start being more aware," Li Tian started the car engine and went into gear. This time they were using a less conspicuous car than before. It at least had a roof this time. "It's fine when I head out to work but off times like now we lay low, okay?"
"Okay!" Rai complied and buckled his seat belt.
They had a few conversations along the way when the boy noticed a familiar scenery.
๐๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด...
"Bellrose. This is where I live," the Li heir said as a matter of fact.
"Really??" Rai couldn't help but exclaim. They lived so near each other! "When did you move in? Did you explore the street market already? How-"
The boy suddenly shut himself up. He was asking too many questions and shortly realized how stupid some of them were. Explore the street market? This was Li Tian he was talking about! He must spit on such food!
"I moved in a few days ago. I haven't been able to explore around because of my identity," the supposedly pompous heir answered with a smile. "I would like to if I could though."
Rai's eyes widened in surprise. His own siblings would never even take a second glance at something like a market. But an heir of high standing was showing so much interest. He felt absolutely elated. "I-If you can't go out... I can bring some to you if you want."
The offer made Li Tian's heart melt. This little brother of his was absolutely adorable!
He reached out to rub the kid's head. Fortunately, Rai had the cap on this time so his hair wasn't immediately messed up. "Thanks, Leixue! That'd make me really happy."
Seeing the stunning smile on one of the most handsome faces in Huaxia made little Rai blush. "Mm... no problem..."
Soon, they reached the penthouse apartment parking lot and sneakily went to go up the elevator. Thankfully, there was no one around during that time of day. They were either out to work or in school, something both Li Tian and Rai didn't have at the moment.
As the elevator doors finally opened and the floor owner looked across the hallway, Li Tian noticed something that nearly made his heart drop.
It was the nameplate by the door.
It clearly stated Li Xiaolang.
๐-๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
.....