Chapter 9

Two days had passed since the incident, and as usual, the elder ignored the younger one, not giving him a second glance.

In the evening, after returning from school, the younger one couldn't find his eomma again. This repeated every day since coming to the mansion. He felt heavy-hearted; he was used to the warm welcome of his eomma since his kindergarten days. Even if she wasn't feeling well, she never missed welcoming Ederic home in the evening. However, since coming to this luxurious mansion, she always disappeared and only welcomed him in the evening. The suffocation caused by this luxurious life couldn't be erased by anything for this boxy smile boy.

While he was lost in his thoughts, someone walked into his room. He didn't notice the person as he drowned in his deep ocean of thoughts.

"Baby, what happened? You look down," Ederic's mom entered, holding a small box in her hand. As soon as he saw his mother, he ran towards her and hugged her tightly.

"Eomma, where did you go? Do you know how scared I was? Please don't leave me alone again," he burst into tears. It was suffocating for the younger one; everything was new for him, and he felt too weak to cope with it all.

She made him sit on the bed and wiped the tears from his cheeks. "I'm sorry, Baby. I went out to buy something for you," she explained, handing over the little box to him. Ederic hesitated to take it, but she gently placed it in his palm.

"Don't you want to open it, Ed? It's my first gift for you. Are you still angry at me? I'm sorry, baby," she caressed his cheeks and planted a gentle kiss on his forehead. Ederic, moved by the warm kiss from his eomma, started to open the little box. His eyes widened in happiness as he saw a cute bracelet, a gift from his mother.

"Eomma, it looks cute. I really like it," he wore the bracelet and shook his hand in happiness.

"It seems he really likes it. I'm sorry, Ed, it's my first and last gift for you. I had saved money to buy you something nice, but now I don't think I'll get the chance. My health is getting worse day by day. I hope this bracelet will stay with you till the end, just like your Momma's memories," a tear fell from her eyes before Ederic could notice, but she quickly wiped it away and looked at her kid who was giggling happily.

"Ed, baby, these two rings on the bracelet are like you and your Hyung Aaron. Even if he hates you, you should support him all the time, got it?" As she spoke, the younger one nodded without thinking, completely captivated by the gift from his mother.

Their conversation was overheard by someone standing outside, none other than Aaron.

"Eomma, look, it looks cute, right? I really like it. Thank you, Eomma," Ederic hugged his mother.

Aaron couldn't bear standing there any longer; he had been sent by his mother, Mrs. Alit, to call them for some snacks. Thanks to that, he had unintentionally overheard what he should have. He wasn't heartless enough to ignore those words; he, too, had cherished Ederic's mom's warm welcome in the evening. He had been a bit worried when he couldn't find her today, so he accepted the task of calling them.

"Damn... why is she so nice? Doesn't she know I'm always rude to her?" He walked away from there.

At dinner, Ederic was humming happily while eating. Mrs. Alit was drawn to his boxy smile. After all, He was such a cute kid.

"Looks like our Ed is so happy," Mrs. Alit broke the silence.

"Yes, who made you this happy, kid?" Mr. Alit chimed in. As they both spoke, Ederic was terrified and almost choked on his food. He took some time to answer their question.

"Eomma bought me a gift," he said without glancing at them.

Aaron's eyes were fixed on the bracelet; the two rings were entwined with each other. It seemed expensive, but that didn't matter to Aaron. What mattered was that it was special, and he thought so too.

"Is that the bracelet?" Mr. Alit pointed out the bracelet in Ederic's hand, and Ederic nodded, his head hanging down nervously. He tried to accept his new family, but he always failed in his attempts.

Ederic put down his chopsticks and ran away from there as He was nervous, but Aaron also got up from his chair. "I'm full."

"Aaron, why are you getting up? You didn't eat much," Mrs. Alit asked worrying about her son.

"I'm done with your family drama. I lost my appetite," before Mr. Alit could burst into anger, Aaron walked away. Ederic's mom was there, uttering nothing.

Her heart pained from Aaron's rude words, but what could she do? Nothing, she realized. Aaron didn't even look at his mother.

After the slap from his mother, he stopped talking to her as before, always staying in his room without talking to anyone. Everyone was worried about his sudden change. Having an IQ of 148 didn't help the pain in his heart. More than that, he didn't want to share anything with the boy or that woman, both of whom now belonged to the Alit family.

However, everything was slowly changing, and his heart was gradually accepting them as his family, but his ego prevented him from showing it.

He went upstairs, not to his room, but to Ederic's room. Ederic was happily rolling on his bed, giggling and nuzzling the pillow.

Aaron sighed and walked away from the room, heading to his own. He fell on his comfy bed, wondering why they were so easy to bully. He didn't like it when Ederic didn't fight back. "I want to bully him until he fights back. I think I'm becoming cruel day by day. I hate my current self," he cursed himself and hugged the pillow. After some time of unhealthy thoughts, he fell asleep.