Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

“Jun…?”

Jun heard the soft cries of a familiar person and felt a familiar sensation on his forehead. He groggily remembered the time when he was young and had fallen sick.

Nana would always lay beside him, changing the wet clothes on his head and singing him a beautiful melody. She would make all sorts of favorite dishes for him to cheer him up. Nana never left his side until he would be all healthy again.

Just like that time, Jun watched his mother slowly beaming with happiness, seeing him wake up.

“Mom…” his voice was hardly audible.

“Yes, yes, I am here.”

Nana sniffled and held his hand. “How are you feeling now, Jun? Does it still hurt?”

Her soft, concerned voice made him weakly smile. He stared at her for several long seconds before his eyes turned misty. “I always trouble you so much, don’t I?”

Nana blinked. “Of course not. How can my son trouble me?”

“I do…I always make you worry so much. I always make you sad even though…you have been the best Mom in the world. I am a pathetic son.”

She gasped, dumbfounded. “Why are you such sad things! Just because you fell sick doesn’t mean that you are not a good son anymore!”

He wryly smiled. “Will you say this even if you might have to die because of me? What if…I hurt you so much that you couldn’t bear it?”

Nana pursed her lips. “You are saying strange things, Jun. A mother can never hate her child. Even if you make mistakes about which I am disappointed, it will be only just that. I will never hate you, nor you have to think that you will be a bad son.”

He squeezed her hand and said, “I am sorry, Mom. I am sorry for hurting you so much…I have been so foolish that I kept pushing you away…”

Jun’s death in his past life had made Jinhai and Nana miserable without a doubt but it crushed his heart that despite being in so much sorrow, they cared about the fact that he was happy in his last moments. More than their own grief, his happiness mattered to them the most.

And I selfishly hurt my parents all along who only thought about me until the end…

The weight of Nana’s death felt heavier more so than ever.

The loneliness which Jinhai had to suffer crushed him.

The hospital scene and the time at the funeral only intensified his guilt.

Nana felt his hands trembling and parted her lips, stunned.

“Did anybody say anything to you, Jun?” She flared her nostrils. “Tell me who made you think such sorrowful things. I will scold them a lot! How dare they bully my son?”

It was the first time that Jun burst into a chuckle. He slowly tried to get up, making Nana widen her eyes. “Get down, dear. You need to rest a lot!”

He smiled and leaned in to hug her. He buried his face in her shoulder and let out the tears that he was holding back. “I will recover quicker if I hug you…”

Feeling his warm tears on her skin, Nana couldn’t help but cry too. “You are a sweet talker just like your father.”

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“Mom, I love you.”

“I love you too, Jun.”

Nana patted his head and beamed. “Good, good.”

She wiped the tears off his face and pouted. “I like all my children smiling. Tears don’t suit your handsome face.”

“Mom, are you sure that being in Dad’s company for so long has not made YOU a smooth talker?”

She coughed. “Of course not…Now no more crying or how will you meet Ai and Jin?”

He blinked. “Ai and Jin?”

“Yes…”

She hesitated for a moment.

Jun caught her worried expression and asked, “Did something happen to them?”

“They are fine-“

“Mom! Are Jin and Ai…” he slightly paled. “Tell me what’s wrong! Are they okay?”

Nana glared at him and scolded him. “First of all calm down or I won’t speak a word to you. You are a patient yourself so you cannot take stress.”

Jun pulled back albeit with protest.

She harrumphed. “Good. Now listen carefully because everybody is fine so you don’t have to panic.”

“Okay.”

Nana told him about Ai’s collapse followed by Jin’s accident too which involved Nian and Xing Bi too. She felt her eyes ache again. “It was so frightening to hear the news of all of you being hurt at the same time…But thankfully, everybody is doing fine now. I just heard that Ai and Xing Bi are already awake. Jin is still unconscious but he is out of danger.”

Jun almost sprang to his feet if not Nana had stopped him. “And what did I just say to you, young man?”

“Mom, how can I-“

“You have to remain calm. They are all fine. You cannot just rush out of here or how will you recover?” She was displeased.

She pushed him back on the bed and sternly said, “This is your mother’s order. Stay back until the doctors say otherwise.”

Jun couldn’t sit still. “Mom, I have to meet them. Ai…I know she is okay, but I have to see her…”

For Jin and Ai to have these accidents at the same time as I did…it has to be related to the past. They must have seen some memories too just like me…

He knew how painful that journey was to visit the past and learn things that had happened after your death. It would be anything but sweet.

Ai…

Jin…

Nana smiled and patted his head. “Close your eyes and sleep. You need good rest.”

Even though Jun was deathly worried over the situation, he couldn’t help but feel drowsy by his mother’s loving pats. His eyelids felt heavy, and he slowly went to sleep.

The door opened a few minutes later, and Jinhai quietly stepped in. He stared at his son and softly asked, “How is he now?”

Nana nodded. “Physically much better.”

He blinked. “Physically?”

She turned to look at her husband and narrowed her eyes. “Yes, because it seems that mentally, my son seems to be struggling with a lot of things and it also seems that…his father knows something that I don’t.”

His brow ever so faintly twitched.

“Which feels like a whole lot related to Jin too though I cannot be so sure about Ai.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes. So, Mr. Liu Jinhai, I will ask you some questions and you must answer them faithfully.”

“I am just as clueless as you-“

“You better be honest with me or I will throw you out of the house,” she squinted her eyes.

“…”