“You have to take him,” a woman ordered.

“I gave you enough money to survive, don’t come asking for more,” a man replied.

“He’s your child!” she yelled.

The cry of an awakened baby resonated in the office room. It was desperate, unpleasant and ear-splitting.

The man cursed the day he had let that woman walk into his life. Not only had she destroyed the relationship with his then faithful gullible wife, but she had also managed to get herself pregnant. And she had coaxed him into accepting that the loud thing on the stroller was his bastard son.

“And?” he asked annoyed.

“You know my future husband doesn’t want him in the house. I might be abandoning him, but I’m not that heartless. He’ll have it good at your place, I don’t want him to end up in a miserable orphanage,” she said.

The bothersome cries were making him anxious. “I don’t give a damn about that, take that bastard away from me!” he demanded.

The woman grinned. “Do you really think I would give up this easy?” she asked. “I heard your little brother’s wife gave birth, it was a boy, wasn’t it?” She laughed. “You must be ashamed of yourself. The youngest son in the family, the first one to graduate, the first one to get married, the first one to have a male heir. No wonder your father has not chosen you as the successor yet,” the woman mocked him.

“Get the hell out of my office before I call security.”

“I’m sure a conservative old man like your father would be thrilled to know of your illegitimate son. It’ll probably help him choose,” she provoked.

The baby kept crying, screaming desperately.

“He wouldn’t believe a like you,” the man said with disdain.

“But you signed the documents. He’s your son.”

“Documents that could easily be invalided.” He smirked.

She wasn’t going to give in. There was still an ace up her sleeve. “Aren’t you forgetting that I know of you and your wife’s secrecy. And… I’m sure that child she’s expecting-”

The man took her wrists. “You wouldn’t dare,” he said.

“Try me.”

Oh, how he cursed the day he had met that woman, he thought as the car approached the mansion.

Only four hours left until the plane would take off. Joonmyeon and Yixing had rapidly packed everything they needed the night before. Nobody knew of their impromptu plan, it was for the best. They knew their friends would oppose. But they were still determined to leave.

The cab’s horn could be heard outside. Yixing and Joonmyeon were standing in the hall, suitcases and everything prepared to go.

“Ready?” Joonmyeon asked as he held Yixing’s hand.

Yixing nodded, “As I’ll ever be.”

However, a few steps before arriving at the entrance the doors opened. And Joonmyeon’s father was standing in place. He walked towards the boys, looking at them harshly.

“Joonmyeon!” the old man shouted.

Yixing was scared. He didn’t know what they would do. Despite being taller than Joonmyeon, he hid behind the other, still holding his hand.

Joonmyeon felt the same fear, but he knew he was bound to confront his father sooner or later. Fate had chosen it to be sooner. And he wasn’t going to give in to his father’s will anymore. “Father, step aside. We are leaving.”

The man looked dumbfounded. “What did you say?”

“You heard me, we are leaving,” Joonmyeon affirmed.

“And why the hell do you think you’re doing that?”

It was now or never. “Because we love each other, and we’re going to be together forever,” Joonmyeon said firmly. He wasn’t going to let anything or anyone separate them.

Joonmyeon’s father’s face went from shock to disgust. It was as if he felt repelled by the words Joonmyeon had uttered. “Stop it, go back to your room,” he said.

Yixing listened to the father and son confrontation quietly. He didn’t know what to say. Mr. Kim had been his and Shuang’s boss, who kindly let him live there when no other kids were allowed. And now he was repaying the favor by running away with his son.

"No! I love him,” Joonmyeon replied.

The old man scoffed, “Joonmyeon you have to stop this nonsense.”

Joonmyeon kept his gaze firm and his tone stable. “This isn’t nonsense father, it’s the truth. Yixing and I,” he held his hand tighter, “have been in love for years. We want to be happy, we deserve to be happy, and that’s why we’re moving to China.”

Listening to his son talk like that repulsed Mr. Kim. “Joonmyeon I can’t believe your words! Not only are you in a relationship,” he said and pointed at Yixing, “But you’re on it with your brother!”

Yixing and Joonmyeon’s eyes widened. But Joonmyeon knew his father might have tricks to lure them. So, he didn’t let go of Yixing’s hand, not yet. “You’re lying, you just want me to marry Hye for your stupid company profit,” he said.

The old man laughed. “Oh no, it’s very true. You,” once again he pointed at Yixing, “Are my and my mistress’ son. Your mother left you with me.”

Yixing’s heart beat rapidly. It couldn’t be true. It wasn’t true. “No, Shuang said my parents died. We-we visited their graves,” he spoke.

“I gave you to Shuang. I said to her that you were the son of an old friend of mine from China. Since I didn’t want you to end up in an orphanage, she accepted to take care of you as her son,” Mr. Kim explained.

It was incredible how his father could fabricate such lies to separate them, Joonmyeon thought. Was he so greedy that he didn’t care if it made his own son miserable? He had had enough of it. “Stop lying! We’re leaving, whether you want it or not,” Joonmyeon said.

“Fine, as you like,” his father gave up, “But before you two degenerates leave, follow me,” the old man ordered.

Joonmyeon and Yixing looked at each other. They didn’t know what the man was going to do, but they still went, hands intertwined. They followed him to his study room. Once inside Joonmyeon’s father told them to stand in front of the marble desk while he unlocked his strongbox. He went through some folders until he finally picked one. On the desk, he placed all the documents that were inside the binder.

“Birth certificate, blood test, adoption papers, everything is on here,” Mr. Kim said.

As Yixing and Joonmyeon scrolled trough the documents, still holding hands, they saw the documents were legitimate. The papers seemed so old, they couldn’t have been printed out recently. And the thing that Yixing the most was that on the adoption papers was Shuang’s distinctive signature.

It was true. Yixing and Joonmyeon were half-brothers. Suddenly, their lives changed.

Yixing let go of Joonmyeon’s hand.

Everything was too much to take for Yixing. Shuang had lied, his parents were alive, and he had a brother. A brother whom he had a relationship with. Of all the mistakes Yixing had committed in his life, this was the worst. It sickened him to the core to know he had kissed, held, embraced and loved his little brother. He hyperventilated and felt a warm rotten sensation rising in his throat. The fault was his, he had permitted things to take their course. If only he had been more strong-minded, he would have prevented this fatal outcome. Tears formed at the corner of his eyes. Fate hadn’t been going against them, fate was protecting them from committing this abominable sin. It was all his fault. It was all his fault. It was all his fault. And he despised himself for it. He had tainted Joonmyeon. And the worst part was that he still felt love towards the boy, despite it being an indecorous, depraved affection. What the have I done, Yixing asked himself.

Slowly Yixing started to back away, looking at his father and brother, shocked, anxious and disgusted at the same time. Being in the same room with them was suffocating him. “I’m sorry… Joonmyeon I’m so sorry,” Yixing said between sobs before bursting out from the study-room.

As Joonmyeon saw Yixing running away his world crumbled. He wanted to go with him, pretend nothing had ever been said and live happily ever after. He still loved him. But it was all so utterly wrong, that Joonmyeon just stayed frozen in place.

Author's Note

So, I think the half-brother’s thing can make some of you uncomfortable, but don’t worry I won’t dig any deeper than that. The upcoming chapters would kinda be how they cope with it and well, tie up the few loose ends. I hope you guys bear with this fic a little longer ^^