Remember who you belong to (Between a rock and a hard place 1)

Chapter 1

Jiang Cheng was clutching Wei Ying's wrist in his own. He knew he was doing so hard enough for it to bruise later, and it was no mistake, that was actually his intention. He had not been pleased with his intrusion into their family and even less with the fact that his puppies had to be taken away. That pest who he had to now call his brother had to pay for that. Jiang Cheng would not let him steal his family away.

He had seen how his father doted on the boy and defended him against his mother. Jiang Cheng sided with her, he did not want this child as his brother any more that his mother wanted him as her son.

But there was something about the crying Wei Ying. He liked it when the boy started trembling when he had been screaming at him to not come to his room. And when he had mentioned sending dogs after him? He had run away in tears!

He had only come back in the morning, all snotty-nosed and with his eyes rimmed red and puffy. And he had the audacity to knock on the door of his room again! It was just too much. Still, Jiang Cheng realized that despite how cold and cruel he had been to Wei Ying the previous evening, the boy still called him his brother and smiled at him.

It had infuriated Jiang Cheng to no end. He knew he had to make so that he would wipe that annoying smile off of his face. He hated it. Although he did not hate the fact that his so called brother was still looking at him with hope in his eyes. That was good, he would get to destroy that hope until there would be nothing left. His mother would praise him for that, and perhaps his father would just get rid of the child if he would start to act up, or would not look for him again if Wei Ying decided to run away even.

A plan took shape in Jiang Cheng's head. He would make Wei Ying run away of his own free will. And he had just the perfect idea how to do that. That was why he was now dragging the boy behind him under the guise of wanting to show him something exciting.

When Jiang Cheng had told the other that he wanted to take him somewhere, the boy beamed at him and thanked him. It made something inside Jiang Cheng roar, but this time, it was not anger which took hold of him, it was another feeling entirely. One that Jiang Cheng could not name. He only knew that he wanted to see Wei Ying cry again and then come back to him and pretend they were the best brothers there was.

"Jiang Cheng, where are you taking me?" wanted to know Wei Ying. His voice was excited and Jiang Cheng just knew his eyes were sparkling and way too lively. He wanted to erase that spark from them, he did not want the boy to look at anything else but him.

"You will see, we are close now," he grumbled not actually giving any details. Still, Wei Ying seemed to have cheered up even more. He was very visibly looking forward to whatever Jiang Cheng wanted to show him. What a trusting fool! Jiang Cheng really wanted him to trust him even more, only him, no one else, not ever again.

Did he actually just thought that he wanted to keep Wei Ying around? That was not sitting well with his previous plan, now was it. What should he do? He wanted Wei Ying to disappear from his life, to leave his family alone, but at the same time, he also wanted to keep him close and see him crumble until he would have to depend only on him. He wanted to keep him, just as he had wanted to keep his puppies. He wanted to have someone who would play with him when he would feel like it and who would listen to his every word.

That was it, his young mind decided. If he could not have his puppies, he would just have to have Wei Ying.

He knew where his puppies had been held in after he had had to let them go. They were still in the Lotus Pier compound, and he and Wei Ying were just approaching that particular courtyard.

The boy stilled at once and asked, suddenly afraid and refusing to follow Jiang Cheng's lead: "Was that a dog's barking?"

Jiang Cheng turned around and looked him directly into his eyes, willing his tone to sound reassuring and kind: "Nonsense, there are no dogs here. You are just imagining things. And even if there were, I would protect you."

"Thank you, Little Brother!"

And there it was again, that boundless trust and the beaming smile. Jiang Cheng had to really keep himself back before he turned around, only then did he smile in turn, very much more dark and calculating. Something that looked very misplaced on a face of a child of his age.

He tucked at Wei Ying's hand and the other started following him again, with a little bounce to his steps, betraying his excitement once again.

Jiang Cheng was glad that the puppies were quiet when they approached the closed-off courtyard. He let go of Wei Ying's hand and gestured towards the door.

"The secret, it is behind the door. You can go in first, I do not want to ruin the surprise for you." Jiang Cheng prompted the boy with pretended gentleness. And the boy apparently did not see anything coming as he opened the door impatiently and strode right inside.

Following events were just as Jiang Cheng had imagined. The puppies immediately went running towards the person who came inside in an attempt to greet him and Wei Ying screamed his lungs out and immediately turned on his heel, crushing head first into Jiang Cheng in his hurry.

It was the moment Jiang Cheng had been waiting for. He wrapped his arms protectively around Wei Ying's trembling and sobbing body and ushered them both out of the courtyard, closing the door behind them so the puppies could not follow them. He sat down on the ground, his arms still around the boy's shoulders and started apologising without actually meaning his words. Not that the distressed Wei Ying would have been able to tell his true intentions anyway.

"Wei Ying, Big Brother, are you alright? I am sorry they gave you such a scare. Do not worry, I will always protect you against dogs, I have promised you."

It took a few seconds for the boy to find his voice and whisper, his voice trembling just as his body was: "Jiang Cheng, you said there were no dogs here..."

It was a simple enough statement but to Jiang Cheng's ears it sounded like an accusation. If he really wanted to have Wei Ying run away from Lotus Pier, now would be the perfect time to tell him that he had actually led him to the courtyard on purpose.

For a fraction of a second, Jiang Cheng mused about this option. But he realized that he liked Wei Ying trusting him and coming to him for help better than to have his puppies. They could have so much fun together once Wei Ying would start depending on him. He wanted that more.

And so he continued stroking the other's back and tried to sound apologetic instead of possessive: "I know, and I have thought that true. I had no idea my puppies were kept in this courtyard. I just wanted to show you the beautiful lotus pond which is in the middle of it. Perhaps we could go there to see it after someone takes the dogs away?"

An eternity later, way longer than Jiang Cheng liked but he held himself back for now, Wei Ying nodded slightly and whispered into his shoulder: "Alright, Little Brother."