Huo Lin looked at the slender, pale hand extended toward him, his own hands still tucked in his overcoat pockets, making no move to take it.
He deliberately spoke in a cold tone, “You’ve grown bold, haven’t you? Learned to run away from home?”
Huo Kairan’s eyes instantly reddened not from fear, but from anger. Just as he was about to raise his voice in protest, a gust of cold wind suddenly swept through the corridor window, making him cough uncontrollably.
“Cough, cough, cough…”
The sound echoed clearly in the silent hallway.
The coughing seemed unstoppable, as if he were trying to cough up his very heart and lungs.
Huo Lin’s expression changed abruptly. No longer caring about anything else, he immediately pulled the boy into his arms, his dark overcoat opening to fully envelop the slender frame.
His rough hand instinctively patted Huo Kairan’s thin back with practiced ease.
Huo Kairan was abruptly pulled forward, his vision swimming for a moment.
As he slowly regained his composure in the firm embrace, he lifted his eyes, now reddened from the coughing, and said stubbornly, “I didn’t.”
Huo Lin watched him quietly for three seconds before surrendering. He entered the door code, pulling both the boy and his suitcase inside.
Leaning against the entryway, Huo Kairan sulked, “I waited for you for so long my phone even died and the first thing you do is interrogate me.”
“I didn’t even know your door code. I tried your birthday, but it didn’t work!”
His young master temper flared up, and in that instant, he forgot the original purpose of his visit, loudly venting his grievances.
Huo Lin’s tall frame suddenly seemed awkward and heavy. After a pause, he said, “I’ll give you a key tomorrow.”
Huo Kairan lifted his delicate, sharp chin, seemingly unsatisfied with the answer. “A key? What’s so secret about the code…”
Huo Lin gently guided him to sit on the sofa, draping a wool blanket over his legs.
Once settled, he plugged in the dead phone and turned to pour a glass of hot water, placing it in front of the boy before changing the subject. “How did you find this place?”
Huo Kairan, accustomed to being waited on, saw nothing unusual in this.
Cradling the hot water, he sank into the soft sofa and retorted as if checking up on him, “Am I not allowed to come?”
Huo Lin replied seriously, “You could have contacted me first or come to the office. If I hadn’t returned tonight, how long were you planning to wait?”
Huo Kairan said, “Oh, I forgot.”
He had clearly considered this possibility but was putting on a pitiful act, staging a grand performance for his rigid, almost wooden older brother.
Though the dead phone had been an unexpected twist.
Suddenly, Huo Kairan calmed down a little, finally remembering that he was here to cling to Huo Lin.
Adaptable as ever, he quickly motioned for Huo Lin to sit as well, pushing the glass of hot water he had sipped from toward him in a gesture of appeasement. Suppressing his own discomfort, he wrapped his arms around Huo Lin’s arm and said, “You never come home. I missed you. So I came to find you.”
Huo Lin glanced at the arm being held. “What kind of ‘missed’?”
Huo Kairan hadn’t expected a pop quiz. He brought his index finger and thumb together in front of his chest, then separated them to form a heart shape. “Missing you, only missing you, in the past and future, I only want to see you.”
Huo Lin didn’t understand the gesture, nor had he heard the song, assuming it was just some trend among the youth.
Unaccustomed to the sudden affection from his usually indifferent younger brother, he asked, “Why come looking for me all of a sudden? Did you get into trouble again?”
“In your eyes, am I just a troublemaker?” Huo Kairan was about to put his hands on his hips but caught himself, forcefully suppressing his rising temper. His expression shifted like a chameleon as he tried to put on an obedient face again.
“Brother,” he called out, still sounding awkward, pulling a stack of crumpled papers from a box. “I finished the ten-thousand-word self-reflection. I came for you to check it.”
Huo Lin stared at the messy handwriting, unsure how to react.
Although he often made Huo Kairan write self-reflections, the latter never took them seriously. This was the first time. he had actually written one.
Huo Lin flipped through the pages one by one. It wasn’t ghostwritten it was indeed his own work, because every word and sentence was filled with “defiance.”
Huo Lin didn’t actually think he was in the wrong. Making him write self-reflections was more about getting him to practice his handwriting.
But when he reached a certain part, his expression tightened. “You clashed with Zhang Zhen because you wanted to save the actress Qin Qin. Why didn’t you say that before?”
Huo Kairan snorted. “What’s there to say? You don’t care about the details anyway. In the end, it’s just me causing trouble for you again, right?”
Huo Lin, a legend in the business world who had once outwitted entire negotiation tables and secured countless deals, found himself speechless in the face of his younger brother’s retort.
“I do care. I know you’re not the type to stir up trouble for no reason. It’s just that you never tell me the whole story,” Huo Lin said seriously, then added, “And of course, I’m not afraid of you causing trouble. The Huo Group will always have your back.”
Huo Kairan froze.
Huo Lin had never said anything like that to him before.
He was always a man of action over words, quiet and reliable, handling everything flawlessly.
And the two of them had never sat down like this to have a proper conversation.
Huo Kairan had always thought that in Huo Lin’s eyes, he was just a burden, a troublemaker, or even. a rival for the inheritance?
Huo Lin cleaned up his messes out of duty, to avoid criticism from their parents, or perhaps.
Huo Kairan sometimes entertained darker thoughts that it was pity and indulgence, given because he knew he was sickly, disabled, and no threat.
He never expected that in this family, the one who trusted him the most was his most distant older brother.
People are always like this only when they’re about to lose something do they realize how precious it was.
Huo Kairan turned his head away, fighting back the moisture in his eyes, and snorted arrogantly. “But you’re exaggerating. I didn’t exactly ‘save’ her. I just stepped in when I saw injustice.”
“And she turned out to be a liar,” he muttered under his breath, still annoyed.
Huo Lin caught it immediately. “Who’s a liar?”
Huo Kairan didn’t want him to know about his history of being deceived ten times, and perhaps he also didn’t want Huo Lin to worry about Qin Qin and the others having ill intentions toward him. He cut in loudly, “Alright, alright! Are you done checking?”
Huo Lin didn’t press further. He put away the self-reflection and glanced at the large suitcase beside them.
“You brought a suitcase just to have me check your self-reflection?”
“I’m staying with you for a while. Is that okay?” Huo Kairan looked around. The decor was as dull as Huo Lin himself, and everything was meant for one person, with no signs of a woman’s presence.
Huo Lin asked, “Why do you ask?”
Huo Kairan coughed. “Well, you’re not getting any younger.”
“And just giving me the key without telling me the password. Could it be that the password is… my sister-in-law’s birthday?” He winked at Huo Lin.
“No,” Huo Lin replied, looking him straight in the eyes and repeating earnestly, “No.”
“Oh, got it.” Huo Kairan hadn’t expected him to be so serious, which made his own teasing seem inappropriate. “So, can I stay?”
“You want to stay here?” Huo Lin rose from the sofa and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.
The night was heavy, and the reflection in the window showed a person with tightly knitted brows, forming a deep furrow.
He didn’t give an immediate answer, as if wavering between two choices. After a long pause, he finally turned around and said, “But I can’t have those ugly things of yours here.”
Huo Kairan was so shocked he nearly lost his composure. He stood up too, accidentally rising too quickly, and his head spun with dizziness. He was used to it and reached out to steady himself on the sofa armrest. But when his vision cleared, he realized he was holding onto Huo Lin’s arm.
When had he teleported over?
Huo Kairan’s head was still spinning, but his mouth kept going: “What’s so ugly about Xiao Bai? And Xiao Lü, Xiao Lan, Xiao Huang… They’re all beautiful!”
“Mm, not ugly,” Huo Lin said insincerely, trying to avoid upsetting him further.
But Huo Kairan could hear the sarcasm in his tone!
Pursing his lips, he looked up with a sense of humiliation: “Don’t worry, I’ve already entrusted them to Brother Shiwei. They won’t be an eyesore for you.”
Huo Lin withdrew his hand, his voice growing colder: “You call Song Shiwei so affectionately, always ‘brother’ this and ‘brother’ that.”
“Of course I haven’t forgotten you’re my. real brother,” Huo Kairan said, a bit guiltily.
But Huo Lin just looked at him, neither denying nor confirming it.
He only said, “I’ll give you one last chance. Are you sure you want to stay here?”
Under the light, the man’s gaze was inscrutable.
Huo Kairan nodded decisively: “Yes!”
Huo Lin averted his eyes: “As you wish.”
Although Huo Lin’s place was a temporary residence near the company, it was still spacious a 200-square-meter luxury apartment in the city center’s prime location, decorated with understated elegance. However, the furnishings were minimal, giving it a somewhat lifeless feel.
Huo Kairan chose the guest room next to the study, directly opposite Huo Lin’s bedroom.
The bedding, like that in the master bedroom, was a simple black, white, and gray set.
Huo Lin leaned against the doorway, watching Huo Kairan pick and choose with a look of disdain, when he suddenly remembered he should call Zhuang Jing back.
“He said he wants to stay with you?” Over the phone, Zhuang Jing’s voice was so cheerful it was clear she was grinning from ear to ear. “That’s great! It’s wonderful brothers should be close and affectionate!”
Huo Lin didn’t put the call on speaker, but in the quiet of the night, Huo Kairan could still hear Zhuang Jing’s hearty laughter.
He couldn’t help but grumble inwardly: Mom always tried to push him toward Huo Lin before.
Now that her real son was coming back, she probably couldn’t wait to get rid of him, the troublesome one.
Suddenly, Huo Kairan stomped to the doorway, glared at Huo Lin, and slammed the door right in his face: “I’m going to take a shower!”
Huo Lin stared at the closed door and rubbed the tip of his nose.
On the phone, his mother’s chatter continued. Huo Lin walked to the balcony, patiently listening until she finished, then asked, “Has he been acting unusual lately?”
Zhuang Jing thought for a moment. “Nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, Ranran has been more sensible these past few days since his birthday. He’s twenty-two now he’s really grown up. Just yesterday, he even insisted on helping the auntie wash the dishes, although… he accidentally broke all the bowls in the kitchen. But, he had the heart to help!”
Huo Lin couldn’t help but chuckle.
Mentioning Huo Kairan’s growth always came with a series of clattering mishaps.
Huo Lin knew Zhuang Jing was a doting mother, so he didn’t want to overly indulge her. Instead, he said, “If he’s so sensible, why did he run away from home?”
Zhuang Jing quickly explained, “No, no, we misunderstood him. Ranran left a note saying he was going to find you. It’s all your dad’s fault for clumsily dropping the note under the table. I was too worried and didn’t see it.”
Huo Lin paused slightly, lifting his gaze toward the direction of Huo Kairan’s room. A faint bitterness welled up in his heart.
He thought he knew him well enough, but in the end, the person he thought he understood wasn’t even a fraction of who he truly was.
Huo Lin listened quietly as Zhuang Jing chattered on, telling him what Huo Kairan had been doing these past few days, how he was feeling, and whether he had been taking his medicine on time. This had almost become an unspoken habit between mother and son.
Finally, Zhuang Jing couldn’t hold back her drowsiness any longer. Before hanging up, she reminded her two children to dress warmly and eat well:
“You have to take care of your younger brother, and take care of yourself too. I’m knitting two scarves. The next time you come back, you and your brother can wear them together. Anyone who sees will know you’re brothers.”
Younger brother.
His mother’s caring words continued in his ear, but it felt like a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head, finally calming him down.
Huo Lin lowered his gaze.
He should have sent him away the moment Zhuang Jing mentioned bringing him back. That would have been the right choice.
But he had kept him here, driven by that selfish and despicable part of himself.
One wrong step, and every step after was wrong.
But he had been walking down this wrong path for a long, long time.
He agreed to everything, and after hanging up, he forced himself to cut off the chaotic thoughts swirling in his mind.
When he came back to his senses, he had already smoked half a pack of cigarettes.
The sound of the flip-top lighter opening and closing was especially clear in the deep of the night.