About two minutes later when he had just finished with more than half of the food in front of him, he heard his weak little door being kicked in, looking up to see the two young men he had seen at the table with a striking resemblance to his uncle.
{You're about to get beaten…I hope the food was worth it}
{It is, if you get to feel the pain too}
"You dare!" The older-looking one yelled in Devin's face going as far as to step closer kicking some of the plates to the side even as Devin hurried to protect the ones he could, grabbing them and getting back on his feet.
"Brother Hurn, Father only told us to warn him," The younger one sighed from behind with a pitiful expression on his face even though the twinkle in his eyes told a different story.
Devin's attention was completely on the food in his hand which he continued to eat even though his gaze was fixed in them.
'Are they playing good cop, bad cop right now?'
"Younger brother Gin, stop being so gentle and kind. Remember how this beast almost pushed you down the well after you offered to help him fetch water? Your kindness will one day be the end of you," Brother Hurn yelled staring at Devin with an expression full of hate one that only seemed to get worse when Devin simply looked from one to the other, before revealing a bright smile even as he continued to eat.
'A little yandere' his gaze stopped on Gin, the younger one before moving back to the older one who looked so much dumber. So much so that one would assume that he had exchanged his brain for more muscles.
"You ran inside our house and stole food without Mother's permission after she had given you your share and now she's inside bawling her eyes out wondering what she did wrong for you to treat us in such a way,"
'Now… that's a sight I'd like to see any day,' Devin sighed to himself, crunching on a piece of meat that was harder than the others which gave him no pace to respond and only seemed to annoy Hurn the more, who assumed Devin was simply making fun of him.
"Brother Jin…this wasn't how you were before. You were calm and gentle and got along well with all of us," Gin the younger one suddenly spoke from behind, right before his brother was about to explode again in anger, and spew out all the hateful words at the edge of his lips.
'Yeah…which is why he's also very dead,'
"If you're dissatisfied with something you can just talk to us about it. Moreover, you've always been done with everything but today you've suddenly become a completely different person from the one we know,"
Hearing Gin, the younger one speak had a worse reaction on Devin who surprisingly found his gentle tone to be even more annoying than the elder brother's scream.
"I apologize elder brother…younger brother…" Devin began going as far as to bow his head with the two plates in his hand in a way that none of them would be able to see the cold and mocking expression on his face, even as he did his best to make his voice sound as apologetic as he could.
"I…I was just extremely hungry and…"
"What the hell do you mean? Mother always gives you a robust share, aren't you the one that always tossed it away saying that it's not good enough,"
Devin wasn't even surprised when he was suddenly interrupted and not allowed to finish what he had been about to say. It quickly became obvious that regardless of what he said, they would support and believe in their mother and he would simply be the outsider.
He wasn't sure if Hurn the older one was also pretending not to know or actually didn't know but at that moment he really didn't care as he continued to listen to him speak.
"...mother even goes as far as to personally bring your food to this nasty shed and you're still talking about being hungry…"
'How else would she ensure that I'm slowly eating away if she doesn't deliver it herself,'
"STOP EATING AND LISTEN TO ME!" Raising his tone even higher and going ahead to take one step toward Devin.
"This kind of behavior isn't allowed. If you continue like this then we'll have no choice but to send you out,"
Devin heard his words and instantly smiled within himself already thinking of how to leave and what to leave with, but Hurn and Gin seeing Devin suddenly stop munching his food with his head slightly lowered, mistook his behavior for reflection and repentance.
"Brother Jin…We'll leave for now," Gin quickly spoke up, beating Hurn to it, going as far as to gently pull on his elder brother's clothes.
"Fine…" Hurn grunted showing his unwillingness to back off on his face, as he opened his mouth to say a final word.
"Just make sure you go to apologize to Mother and Father for your nasty behavior," was the last thing he said right before he turned around and walked out.
"Brother Jin…" Gin called out in a low tone, one that resembled comfort and a look of unwillingness to leave before he also turned around to catch up with his elder brother.
The very next second, Devin moved a few more pieces of meat into his mouth, feeling exceptionally happy at his gains, not at all caring about the two people that had just left. He even went ahead to grab the plates on the ground to finish them.
{is this how a former CEO behaves? Are you not worried about what they're going to do to you}
"Former…moreover, I need a lot of strength for whatever I'm going to do, don't I?" Devin sighed, as he finally stopped eating leaving the rest of the food on the plate without giving it another glance.
{ You're full now but what about tomorrow? What about next tomorrow? You have no money and have nothing to live on but their goodwill}
"That's funny…you call this goodwill?" Devin asked pointing at the already battered door that had no hope of being repaired and the cold floor he sat on.
"Staying here is like begging for a slow death. I'll have better chances surviving by working and earning money for myself,"
{So you're leaving?}
"I'll leave tomorrow morning," Devin responded leaning against the wall, waiting for the huge amount of food his stomach wasn't used to, to digest.
A few minutes later he had fallen asleep and the next moment he woke up, he was shaking like a fish in freshwater.
"What the…"
Looking out to see the darkened environment, with huge grey clouds and a heavy wind that was a precursor to something he felt was extremely bad.
As quickly as he could, he got to his feet and tried to call the door shut, but he had barely pulled it in, when the door handle was wretched out of his hands, and the spinny little door was smashed backward, breaking into irreparable pieces.
{We have bigger problems}
But the voice in his head had barely spoken when the sound of rain we ended heavily on the roof of the shed and around him, blowing through the entrance where the door was supposed to be with a vengeance.
"What could be bigger than a missing door at the…" he began to speak only to feel heavy drops of rain slowly land on his head, sliding down his face to drench the clothes he had on.
Looking up, he instantly recalled the heavy holes he had previously seen in the shed during the daytime.
He wasn't entirely aware of when his mouth slowly opened in shock to see the roof of the shed he was in, slowly become a drive as rainwater streamed in on every corner, especially from the direction of the open entrance that could not be fixed.
The wind raged on all sides and in seconds, Devin wasn't spared as he quickly became soaked to the bone.
Without thinking much about it, he added out of the shed and made his way to the main entrance.
{Are you serious? Do you actually think they'll let you in?}
"What? They'll actually leave me out in the rain?" Devin asked already prepared to put up an act they couldn't resist, since he was already aware of the kind of people he was dealing with.
He got to the entrance of the door and instantly knocked not seeing any reason to waste any time.
"Ko…ko…"
"KO…kO…KO," he knocked the second time ensuring that the sounds of his knocking were much louder than that of the rain, so they had no excuse to pretend like he wasn't heard.
"Who is it?" Waina's loud voice came from inside and she had just spoken when Devin opened his mouth to cough, loud and sickly almost like he was about to die.
"Aunty…uncle,,, the door of my shed is broken I'm drenched to the bone. Also, I think I'm sick…Kurgh…Kurgg," He spoke leaning close enough to the door in a way that would ensure that every sound he made could be heard.
"Really? When exactly did that happen? The door looked pretty strong when I came to give you food in the afternoon. Moreover, the rain doesn't look that heavy, go back and lie down and you'll fall asleep in seconds," was the instant reply he got from the woman, and at that point, it was all he could do not to lash out back and instead continue to act the role he was already in.
"Kurgh… kurgh…mother…" he began going to heights he never would have thought he would need to.
"I really am soaked to the bone and the holes in the roof are even bigger than before. Also, I already…," but he hadn't gotten halfway when he was interrupted in a louder and more cruel tone.
"Look the rain will stop soon so stop complaining…!" she snapped and almost on cue, the sky lighted up, as a tightening streak flew past, a second later a thunderous sound rumbled across the skies as the rain intensified, smashing against Devin's already soaked body from where he stood with even more urgency than before.
{he…he}
"Stop knocking and go to sleep…the warm food you are is bound to keep you warm," she said making sure to whisper the latter part of her words in a way that even Devin barely managed to make out her words.
Devin was beyond pissed as he gritted his teeth together and matched angrily back to the shed without even bothering to wipe the rainwater that half-blinded him and dripped down his face.
He got back and wasn't surprised to see that almost every part of the shed was wet all except a corner, one that was on the right side of the entrance where the rest of his clothes were folded in the ground, surprisingly dry.
Drenched from head to toe, Devin squeezed himself into the corner, annoyed to feel the drops of water still splashing in him regardless of how small he folded his already skinny stature into the corner.
{...at least you get to look on the bright side…}
"Which is?"Devin asked with a huge frown on his face that matched his greatly depressed mood as he realized how truly low he had fallen.
{You got the bath you wanted}
Devin's clenched his fists together, his face wrenching into an angry mass then made it seem like he was seconds away from flying into a rage.
Yet, he merely sat there, closed his eyes, and listened to the heavy trimming of the rain against the roof of his shed.