The Enemy Beside Me + The Liar Beside Me (Book 1 and 2)

Chapter 12

'CAN I... help you?' Jaxon's hand is still on the doorknob; his hair is a mess; he is blinking slowly, and the corner of his mouth has dried spittle. Alasdair cringes inside. How could someone face a visitor without wiping their face and brushing their hair?

Eien pokes his head behind him and says, 'Hello, Mister Evans.'

'Oh, hey, kid. I didn't see you. Why were you hiding behind him?'

'I wanted to scare you,' Eien answers plainly. 'Boo.'

Scare Jaxon? With him? Does he, Alasdair Yamato, look terrifying? He certainly isn't ugly. The world regards his father as one of the most striking and influential men. His late mother had suitors even when she was already married.

He conceals his hurt ego by laughing casually. 'That's a good joke, Uchiyama-kun.'

'That was a joke?' Eien asks innocently.

An alarm rises in Jaxon's face and pulls Eien inside the unit. He then beckons him in. 'Are you hungry? Is anybody hungry? I'll make something! Please tell me you guys are hungry!'

Eien raises his hand. 'I would like something sweet, please.'

'Nothing for me,' he says, tired. He can't accept that Eien, whom he thought of as someone who wasn't superficial, has just labelled him hideous. Alasdair knows he should disregard it and move on. But this is the first time somebody has done it, so he doesn't know how to respond.

Jaxon makes a beeline to the kitchen, leaving him with the younger.

'Yamato-kun.' Eien tugs his arm, and he hates how it sends a buzz through his body. 'Please follow me to the study room.'

'Okay...'

The door to the study room is already open. The TV plays a programme about models and how they cope with modern life and technology. He glares at it, glares how they care so much about their gait and how they dress and how people see them. He knows it's their career, but his view against them won't ever change. Their job is a sham.

A mocking voice tuts him: you're just the same. That's wrong. Models remind him of his many stepmothers who had used their faces and bodies to allure his father. That, for him, is the lowest work anyone could have. It's repugnant, and anyone who disagrees with him is someone who's waiting for the opportunity to act like it.

Eien is already immersed in the book when he sits down. So engrossed, he doesn't seem to notice that Alasdair watches him with hurt and disappointment.

Once upon a time, Kaito had commented on how he hated his wife. 'You should stop neglecting your grace,' he'd said. But she didn't listen. She quit combing her hair, stopped applying makeup, and started gaining weight. It was, in her way, an act of resistance. She was no longer happy.

'You're too obsessed with how people perceive you. You've forgotten who you are. I doubt you'll still love me once I become undesirable.' And undesirable she'd become.

Kaito ignored her, never spoke to her, and never spoke about her. She was as good as obsolete. And when she died, she didn't even have a funeral. The next day, they'd buried her. He'd made it clear to all: defy him, and he'd stop treating you as a human being. You're gone. You don't exist. You're not important. You don't matter. Alasdair wanted to resent him for that, and he still does. But he hates how a big part of him agrees with his father.

The TV show host blares how a new pill will guarantee to make you slim without any side effects. 'Order now and get one free—' He doesn't find out what the freebie is as Eien turns off the TV. 'Too loud,' he mutters, going back to his reading.