Warning: Violence up ahead!
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"If my little brother were here, you guys would become instant best friends." Chase looked downcast, giving off a melancholy air as he said this sentence.
"Your little brother?" This was the first time Chase had ever mentioned to Rip that he had siblings.
"Who is he? What's he like? I'm an only child so I've always wondered what it's like to have a brother or sister to play with." Though I now have big brother Ian, so I guess I'm not lonely anymore.
Still, Rip was curious about the little brother of Chase. Do they look the same? Or do they look completely different?
"He was a kind child who smiled at everyone he met. He had orange and yellow hair like mine, and similar-looking red eyes. I was a mischievous and naughty kid growing up while he was quiet and demure." As he recalled the past, Chase showed a sad nostalgic smile that broke Rip's heart.
'Why did Chase speak of all these things in past tense?' Rip felt confused as an ominous feeling took hold of him.
Tears suddenly welled up to Rip's eyes unknowingly. As they dripped down, Chase was startled, "Why are you crying?!"
Rip hiccuped and sobbed as he tried to wipe away the falling tears to no avail, "I don't know. I just feel so sad. Waahh!"
The hot tears dropped to the ground and seemed to melt through the floor.
Chase stood at a loss beside Rip. He didn't have any experience comforting a crying child. Although he had a little brother, his little brother almost never cried, so Chase had no idea how to comfort Rip to make the other stop crying.
All of this was overheard by Ian.
During lunch, a spread of sumptuous and exquisite dishes Ian had never seen before was served to him.
When he had tasted it, he felt that the taste was familiar, like he had eaten something similar, cooked by the same person, in his last life.
Sure enough, he remembered that this was the taste of Chase's cooking.
The day's lunch had indeed been prepared by Chase and Ian was able to easily tell it was his cooking.
While enjoying the long lost taste of Chase's cooking and recalling that he hadn't visited the special training site to see Chase and Rip in a while, and he had been planning on it, Ian decided to take a little time out of his schedule to go see them in the evening.
He just happened to stumble upon the scene of Rip crying while Chase acted flustered not knowing what to do. Moreover, he had overheard their entire conversation.
Ian leaned against the wall.
The cool, smooth surface pressing against Ian's warm skin caused Ian to shiver involuntarily.
Ian knew Chase from a long time ago, though now, the other doesn't remember him.
A lifetime ago, they were two lonesome people who partnered up for the same goal.
Revenge.
Chase had no family to speak of. Both his parents had died in a car crash soon after his little brother was born. And at that time, he had only been 11 years old, too young to even have a proper part-time job let alone be able to raise his newborn infant brother by himself.
They were instantly sent to an orphanage but were never adopted by any of the couples who visited.
By the time Chase was able to hold a part-time job, his little brother wasn't even of elementary school age.
While he worked hard to save money for the day they leave the orphanage when he comes of age, his little brother had to be taken care of by the orphanage staff who were considered decent enough when compared to others among the various orphanage institutions. At least they didn't beat or starve them, though they didn't provide for the orphans more than the bare minimum. As for the rest, the children had to fight for it themselves.
Going through all this, Chase never once lost his spark. His bright and sunny personality stayed the same and remained consistent with his brilliant appearance. He was dead set on providing for his little brother a better life and he went about it energetically, full of hopes and dreams.
By the time Chase turned 18 and was old enough to take care of himself, Chase left the orphanage with his little brother.
However, misfortune soon struck them.
One day, Chase had forgotten his wallet at home, so his little brother, only 7 years old at the time, ran out to deliver the item to his workplace. He thought his big brother would need it and would be happy to see him bring it to him, so he happily went out of the house.
On the way, the little brother coincidentally bumped into some gangsters who saw the young and weak little brother holding a wallet. They dragged him into an alley and threatened to rob him of what little money he had.
Despite his young age, the little brother knew that his family was poor, even the shabby one-room apartment they rented was the cheapest they could find. There's no way he would let these bad guys take all the hard-earned money his brother worked hard day and night to make in order to support them.
At this time, the little brother regretted coming outside. He should've just stayed at home, and if his brother needed the wallet, he could've come back himself to get it. His big brother's workplace wasn't far from their current residence. He shouldn't have ventured out by himself when he could be seen as easy prey.
The original ten-minute walk now seemed endless.
Gritting his teeth, the young child stubbornly refused to hand over the wallet in his hands no matter how the tall, intimidating gangsters threatened him, cursed at him, and shoved him.
Eventually, the gangsters got tired of playing around with him and wasting their time, so they struck him.
That was the first time in his life he had been hit.
His big brother never once scolded or cursed at him, not to mention beating him, he wouldn't even let anyone bully him. His big brother always treated him gently and with a light tone of voice as though if he talked a little harsher, his little brother would be scared to tears.
He had always been a good, obedient child, and even when he occasionally makes some immature mistakes, his brother reminds him of it and he never does it again.
The little brother stood stunned on his spot from the burning pain that embedded itself on his cheek.
His tender skin quickly bruised into a mix of blue, purple, and green colors.
Even so, he clutched the wallet in his arms and refused to give it.
Unfortunately, his perseverance and courage earned him no admiration from his vicious and heartless attackers.
If he had just given it to them, they might have let him go. At least what happened after might not have happened.
His fair, baby skin that has yet to grow out of their baby fat was punched and kicked full of bruises as blood dripped out of his mouth and from his open wounds.
Many of his bones and ribs were broken from the unrelenting and ruthless blows that struck his body.
The wallet he desperately protected to his chest was stained with crimson blood as his eyes blurred and his sight blackened.
The screams and cries coming out of his throat weakened.
Cold, gleaming tears coated the icy stone floors of the alley.
Fortunately, the little brother's screams and cries were heard in time by Chase who was walking back home after realizing he forgot to take his wallet with him. Otherwise, the little child really might have been beaten to death.
Chase instantly recognized that it was the voice of his little brother and immediately headed into the alleyway the gangsters had pulled the little brother into.
Upon witnessing the scene of his bloody little brother bleeding out and laying on the ground being beaten heavy-handedly by a group of grown adults, Chase was set ablaze with an insurmountable fury.
His originally red eyes reddened until he could see nothing but a haze of red.
He instantly charged in and beat the horrified gangsters into bloody pulps. Until they begged and cried for mercy. Even then he did not stop until they were all unconscious with broken limbs and bloody faces.
However, the damage was done.
"Brother…" The little brother called out with the last of his strength as his hand reached out for his big brother who was heaving heavily from anger and physical exertion.
"Yes! What is it?!" Chase quickly grabbed ahold of his little brother's cold hand. Not knowing when, tears streamed down his face.
His shoulders trembling, he tried to maintain his strong facade and forced a bright and easygoing smile onto his face to reassure his little brother who must've been scared by what happened.
"Your…" wallet. The little brother didn't have the energy to finish as he stretched out his other hand that held the blood-stained wallet to his big brother.
Chase's hand trembled as he took the wallet.
Releasing a breath of relief, the little brother closed his eyes peacefully.
The spark in Chase's eyes disappeared.
An agonizing, sorrowful scream full of anger erupted inside the narrow alleyway, startling the passersby who quickly rushed away.
The little brother fell unconscious and he stayed that way for years.
A drunken Chase had blathered his entire life story to an uninterested Ian in his last life.
That was the day when Ian found out about the reason why Chase hated them so much as well.
Why he wanted revenge against them.
They destroyed Ian's family.
And killed Chase's little brother and only family in this world.
Yes, Chase's little brother had died in Ian's last life.
The gangsters Chase had beaten to a miserable sight that day happened to be a part of the wide variety of men recruited into that organization.
Nothing happened for years after the incident, however, for an unknown reason, the minions of that organization suddenly launched a large-scale attack on not only Chase and his comatose little brother, but also on anyone and everyone who held a grudge against them and who had suffered at some point in their hands.
As if they were cleaning out trash that might get in their way.
As for the actual reason, Chase and Ian never found out.
During that period of time, Ian had also been disturbed many times by men coming after him. But he easily disposed of them all.
Then one night, he met a bloodied and dirtied Chase. On a random whim, Ian decided to save the latter's life.
Chase had never once told Ian of the real reason why he was out to get that organization. Though Ian could probably guess since a murderous look always appeared on Chase's face while his red eyes darkened with hatred every time they were discussed.
It was not until the night that Chase drank too much and got intoxicated beyond help that he spilled his sad story to Ian.
During that period of manhunt, the organization had sadly gotten to his comatose little brother who had no ability to resist or call for help. By the time the hospital called to inform him, his little brother was completely and utterly cold. Nothing in this world could warm him up again.
"I'll kill them! Ha-ah, I'll…kill them all, ha, ha, uh, ah…" Cried Chase in his drunken stupor.
Ian had closed his eyes and coldly looked away. His heart throbbed in uncontrollable pain, thinking back on that tragic day.
It was the darkness in Chase that attracted him to Ian, who possessed an even more powerful and profound darkness within, and made him trust Ian and want to get closer to him—not just because of Ian's life-saving grace and Ian's similar deep hatred towards the organization. However, Ian at that time was in no mood to make friends or build close connections that could be destroyed again by them.
In his last life, Chase had occasionally smiled, but it was never from his heart. His smiles never reached his sparkless eyes.
It was no wonder that Ian didn't recognize Chase at first. The Chase that Ian knew looked older and no longer appeared bright and sunny like his lively orange and yellow hair. He had changed, he was dark, filled with hatred, and despondent.
If not for his desire for revenge holding him up, he might've been lost to the world long ago.
"So… is your little brother… gone?" Rip cried and asked hesitatingly, still feeling the remnant sadness in his chest.
Chase laughed and shook his head at how sensitive and cautious Rip was acting.
Chase smiled his bright and sunny smile as usual, the spark in his eyes burning brightly. He answered cheerily, "No, he's in a coma in a hospital. The doctors are hopeful that he might wake up some day. That's why I'm here, to earn hospital fees. This was the highest paying job I could find with my educational background."
"—I need a lot of money," Chase mumbled to himself.
At once, Rip brightened up. Knowing that Chase's little brother was alive and has a high chance of waking up, Rip was relieved and happy for his friend.
Rip did not hear what Chase mumbled to himself at the end, however, Rip understood the reality that staying in a hospital on a life-support machine must burn a lot of money.
Instantly, Rip said, "If you follow big br—I mean, young master Ian, I'm sure he'll help you pay for your brother's hospital fees and get the best doctors to treat him." Phew, he almost revealed his connection to big brother Ian. His father warned him in the beginning that he wasn't allowed to reveal the fact that he knew big brother Ian and was related to his father who was the butler.
'Now that I think about it, I might have already outed myself to Chase when I said I like big brother Ian and met him before.' Rip thought to himself sheepishly.
On the other hand, Rip really meant what he said about Ian possibly providing Chase's little brother's hospital expenses and fulfilling his treatment needs.
After all, Ian promised his father to protect his family, which was Rip and his mother, and to ensure he kept his promise, Ian even got them a great house that didn't look cheap for them to live in on his family's territory.
Rip knows that his big brother Ian treats his people very well and is kind to them.
All the intimidating and rough-around-the-edges uncles and brothers he talked to in the Everett Estate told him that big brother Ian was a kind and lovable person!
And he very much agreed.
"I heard he treats his own people very well," Rip added, trying to convince Chase.
Ian listening in secretly to their conversation felt like laughing when he heard Rip trying hard to persuade Chase to become his subordinate.
Chase, "I don't know. Most rumors aren't trustworthy—good or bad."
"It's not a rumor!" Feeling anxious, Rip quickly jumped out, refuting his claim was a rumor.
"How do you know?" Chase looked suspiciously at a suddenly guilty Rip.
"I-I, uh." Rip rolled his eyes as he quickly tried to think up of an excuse to get himself out of the situation without exposing his true identity. "That's right! My father, uh, he works at the Everett Mansion! I heard it from him. It's also the reason why I want to work for young master Ian!" By the way, with this, Rip also tried to fix and make up for his previous blunder.
Plus, not everything he said was a lie. His father did work for the Everett Mansion. As the butler.
"Is that so?" Chase said as he stared at Rip, unconvinced. Although Rip's explanation made sense, something told Chase that it wasn't the whole truth.
Rip looked nervously into Chase's questioning eyes.
"That's enough." Someone cut into their staring contest.