Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

Late at night as Ai tossed in bed and turned towards Jun, she kept thinking of what transpired throughout the whole day. The first day of the Shanghai Fest had just come to an end, but she already met Guiying, Cai Lingyun, learned about Zhan Yahui’s half-sister relationship with Shi Huan, Cai Lingyun’s hidden feelings for herself and then the whole scene with Jin.

There were so many things to process. But what she felt the most striking was Jun and Jin’s relationship. When the whole thing happened during the meal time and then the conversation between Nian, Jun and Jin, she felt as if something was bugging her, but she couldn’t quite put her finger upon it. She wasn’t able to reach a realization she should have.

“What are you thinking so deeply?” Jun rested his head on his palm and watched her with interest. With his other hand, he tucked the lock of her hair behind her ear.

“Just about the day but particularly about you and Jin. Nian told me of the time when he and Jian had locked Jin into a room when he was four.”

“Ah that. I remember that clearly.”

“He also said that you are a softie always standing up for Jin.”

His mouth twitched. “Did he say that?”

She nodded.

“I am not a softie. Jin was just four at that time. I know he was being selfish when he asked Mom to cook for him despite her being sick, but I thought that locking him in a room was too much of a harsh punishment. He was just four. It would have been fine if they had just scolded him a bit. That’s why I secretly stayed with him without switching on the lights. Actually, I did. I brought a small toy with me that would light up when you switched it on. It ran on battery. It also didn’t shine too brightly that the twins would catch the light coming out of the room through the door slit.”

“You did that so that Jin wouldn’t be afraid of the dark?”

“Yeah. He was terrified of the dark. That fear faded away as he grew up but in childhood, darkness really scared the shit out of him. He would cry endlessly. That’s also why I thought that it was a very harsh punishment,” he grimaced.

Ai stared at him and smiled. “I see. Nian also said that they smashed your favorite video game because you helped him.”

Jun still felt the pain as he thought of the past and recalled how they ruthlessly broke his game into pieces. “Well, I had expected that. They had already warned me not to help Jin. Yet, I did. They are not very nice people when you go against them. Like when they are totally serious and angry.”

Ai coughed.

“You should know something about them,” Jun seriously remarked. “For most of the time, the twins are simply idiots.”

“…”

“But no matter how much they trouble us siblings, they know that they are the eldest brothers. They greatly value that age hierarchy. They feel proud that they are the eldest because being the eldest gives them the most authority. They really like authority and being in control. That’s something they learned from Dad. They could never go against him. Even when playing tricks and having fun, they were very careful around him. They respect him, but they also fear him. That’s the same feeling the twins want to invoke within others. You can be casual with them, but they always want to stay in charge.”

Ai remembered Nian threatening Jun the same way.

‘Follow the age hierarchy here.’

“And if you go against them…”

Jun cleared his throat. “Then be prepared for a few punches. If you are in the wrong, then they don’t like themselves to be challenged. When they seriously say that one is wrong, they should ideally just shut their mouths and apologize. Plain simple. Just apologize and get it over or if you force them to drag the issue, the consequences are very severe.

That’s why you see that I don’t bother with them most of the time, and they don’t mind if I ignore them or taunt them. But when shit gets serious, they are quick to show that they are the eldest brothers. Even in my past life after Shui’s rejection, they had hit me quite a few times because I remained stubborn.”

Ai felt saddened to hear the past. She knew Jun was wrong with his obsession, but still imagining him to be hurt pained her.

He sighed. “Trust me, their punches are no jokes.”

Ai said, “I can see that. For a moment, even I felt bad for Jin when he twisted his ear. It looked really painful, and Jin seemed genuinely terrified for the first time.”

Jun replied. “Well there’s the fact that they had locked him up once. So, he is always wary of them subconsciously since that day because he knows how dangerous they can get. Plus Jin is the youngest, so the age difference hits him the hardest. He does feel the five years age gap between them and with that, their authority too.”

Ai came closer to him and patted his head. “I feel bad for your video game.”

“Things could have been much worse actually,” he coughed.

“How?”

“Because I cooked for Jin what he wanted to eat. I went into the kitchen and tried my best. I did fail a few times because I wasn’t getting the exact taste right like how Mom used to make. It took a few tries, but I finally made it. Jin was very happy. I made it secretly for him. I even asked the maids not to leak out that I was cooking in the kitchen. If the twins had come to know that on top of staying beside Jin the whole time and consoling him, I also cooked what he wanted, they would have wrecked my room apart. They wouldn’t have stopped at breaking just ONE video game.”

Ai was completely speechless. “You…brought a lighting toy so that he won’t get scared of the dark, you stayed beside him the whole time and you cooked for him. Nian is right. You are totally a softie.”

“…”

“By the way, what was the dish you made for him? I mean, what was it that he was so excited to eat?” She curiously asked.

“Oh. It was chicken spaghetti with barbeque sauce. What I made for you today.”