Chapter 4

　　LYRON

　　Six Months Later

　　My life as an agent was hectic given how Amil behaved but he seemed different over the months that had passed, like he was beginning to acknowledge me. I guess, I was doing my job to the best of my ability and maybe even beyond.

　　"Is it really alright to live here, onii-chan?" Leilani, my little sister asked with cute big eyes.

　　"Of course it is. I wouldn't bring you guys here if it wasn't," I patted her head as we walked into our new apartment. It was a fully furnished two bedroom apartment located in a highrise building.

　　Of course there was no way I could afford such a place so it was all done by Amil, the very person who I thought hated me with all passion. Well, he did do it for his own convenience since he preferred if we lived closer to each other. I think he made the decision after I picked him up late when he had a commercial to shoot. I couldn't bring myself to tell him that I was beaten up by loan sharks so I lied about falling down the stairs.

　　I felt a tug on my pants - it was Lance. He was my younger brother and older twin of Leilani.

　　"Yes?"

　　"Don't we have loans to pay? So why are you spending so much on an apartment, nii-chan?" His words stabbed me in the chest like arrows. He was way too blunt.

　　"Do you really not trust your big brother enough to ask that?" I felt like crying just thinking of how he didn't trust me enough to understand our financial situation. This is all that bastard's fault, if he hadn't left us with his loans, I would have been able to give the twins a better life.

　　"It's not that I don't trust you, nii-chan. How do I put it? We're too broke to be living luxury lives," he needed to tone down on his honestly because this felt like a direct assault to me. "Wouldn't leaving our old house put you in a difficult situation? What if the loan sharks come looking and you're not there? They could easily assume that you ran off with their money."

　　How old was this kid again? Wasn't he supposed to be nine so where's the insight coming from?

　　"If your boss gave you the apartment and you accepted because you want to I and Leilani better lives, then you should probably reject the offer," he stared blankly into nothing as he spoke. "I and Leilani wouldn't care where we live as long as you're alright. I don't want you doing risky things," he looked at me with worried eyes.

　　My gaze softened and so did my smile.

　　"You're so adorable, what am I going to do with you?" I ruffled his hair.

　　"Stop it," he hit my hand as his face turned red from embarrassment. He hates when I treat him like a child.

　　"Don't think too much about it, I know how much you and Leilani worry about me so I won't do anything reckless or risky," I patted his head with a proud smile on my face. "Stop being so mature, you're going to miss the entire essence of childhood at this rate," I nagged.

　　"But I want to be," he was definitely a stubborn one.

　　"Am I late to the party?" Ryan popped up from nowhere.

　　"Where did you come from?"

　　"It's Dumb Ryan," Lance didn't hide how unexcited he was to see him.

　　"You can at least pretend to be happy to see me," Ryan sighed. "And why do you keep calling me that. I'm just as old as your brother," he chose to bicker with a child.

　　"It's because you're dumb and all you think about is women and living recklessly," Lance squinted his eyes.

　　"I can't believe he just said that to my face. Who does he take after because you certainly don't have similar personalities?" He turned to look at me. Why was he bringing me into their argument?

　　"I obviously take after my brother, baaka," Lance insulted. He just called Ryan stupid.

　　"Your brother is like an angel and you?? You're like a little devil I wanna teach a lesson," Ryan laughed hysterically while I and Lance simply stared at him. Was he trying to intimidate Lance? Because it wasn't working.

　　"Nii-chan, I'm going to look around. I'll leave the both of you to talk," he excused himself and headed towards the house hallway leading to the bedrooms.

　　"Cat's got your tongue? You feel intimidated now, don't you?" Ryan laughed in self-acclaimed triumph.

　　"What are you talking about? I feel like I'm going to reduce my IQ if I keep talking to you," Lance was always quick with a comeback. Before Ryan could say anything else, Lance walked off.

　　"Why didn't you say anything? You were really finding this amusing, weren't you?" Ryan directed his frustration at me instead.

　　"As much as I'd like to lie to soothe your ego, I can't so yeah, it was amusing," I answered while replying to a text from Zara. She had explained that wouldn't be able to come for my housewarming but she'll definitely come see me soon.

　　"Now I really think he took after you," he sighed.

　　"This is what you get for bickering with a child. You've been bickering with him since the time we first got to know each other," I pointed fingers. It was totally his fault.

　　"I brought snacks and drinks by the way. I really can't believe your boss did something like that for you," he leaned closer.

　　"There's nothing gossip worthy about this. Amil simply did it for his convenience," I sighed. "He's not the type to care about others so stop letting your mind stray," I stated firmly.

　　To be honest, when Amil begun warming up to me, I nearly confused it for interest and somehow ended up catching feelings.

　　"What am I doing right now?" I banged my head against the dining table to calm my heart and to stop myself from falling deeper than I already have.

　　"Yo! You're smoking hot right now, I mean, literally," Ryan was confused by my sudden reaction. "Are you alright?"

　　"Yes, I am. Just give me a moment," I indicated with my hand without raising my head to look at him. If I did, he might see through me and guess that I like Amil.

　　"Who the fuck is that?" My fragile heart skipped at an overlay familiar voice that approached me. I raised my head and looked towards the direction of the voice, it was Amil and he came in with plastic bags.

　　"W-what are you doing here, sir?" I stuttered. My temperature shot up and so did the colour of my face.