Sweet Devil [BL]

Chapter 145. White Eyed-Wolf PART I

Tristan peeked inside his brother's bedroom. When his gaze landed on Jake, his eyes seemed to brighten and he dashed to the bed to pounce on Jake, knocking the air out of his lungs. The movement sandwiched his brother between his body and Stephan's, but Tristan didn't seem to notice. Or perhaps it'd be more accurate to say that he noticed but pretended not to have.

"I missed you!" Tristan cried out as he wrapped his arms around his brother's neck. "I missed you so much!"

The sudden show of affection left Jake at a loss. He dazedly looked at Gabriel as if to ask him what he should do, not knowing where to put his hands. It wasn't until Gabriel nodded that he mustered the courage to hug back the boy.

"I missed you too." Jake cleared his throat. "Does mom know you're here?"

To this, Tristan puffed out his cheeks and shook his head, his curly hair bouncing on each side of his face. "I escaped when she wasn't looking!"

"You what?!"

"She had to leave to take a phone call, so I took the opportunity to sneak out!" Tristan chortled before making a pout. "Say, do you know why she doesn't let me visit you? She's been saying that you were too sick to receive anyone and that we shouldn't bother you. But there are so many people in your room, so why can't I come?!"

Of course, Jake knew why his mother wasn't letting Tristan near his room; however, he couldn't very well tell his little brother the truth, not without hurting him. With this in mind, he tried to think of a lie that would comfort the boy, but before he could open his mouth, someone spoke up.

"It's true that he's been feeling under the weather," Stephan said, winking. "The medication is strong, and it makes him a little dizzy. See? He even needs my help to sit straight!"

Misha almost choked on his saliva, disbelief written all over his face. He looked at Stephan as if he were an idiot, and even Jake and Gabriel had difficulty keeping a straight face.

Did Stephan not know what shame meant?! Goodness, he was impossible!

Meanwhile, Tristan lifted his eyes to glare at Stephan. A pout stretched his lips into a flat line, a frown creasing his brow. He looked like a tiny beast ready to pounce on its prey and tear it to shreds. In the position that he was, only Stephan could see him.

Before, Stephan might have found this childish display of possessiveness cute, but now that he knew what kind of white-eyed wolf the kid had grown up into in his past lives.... Well, it wasn't as cute. Instead, it made him fear for his well-being. The boy wouldn't stab him in his sleep, would he?

A few hours ago, Stephan had taken the opportunity to coerce Jake into telling him what had happened between him and Tristan. But maybe he'd have been better off not knowing. Ignorance truly was bliss.

***

Gabriel was at work and Misha at school. Without these two to live up the room, it was plunged into silence, and only the sound of pages being flipped resounded. Jake was sitting in his bed cross-legged, dozens of reports scattered around him. It was a mess Stephan couldn't make any sense of.

After watching him work for days, Stephan had learned one thing about Jake: his working method was so disorderly that seeing it was enough to make his temples throb in pain. When Jake wasn't reading, the papers were flying everywhere as he scribbled things left and right. Though his handwriting was neat, the sentences and words were always cut in half. In addition, there were missing letters and abbreviations everywhere, making it near impossible to decipher the notes left on the reports. Thankfully, the diaries hadn't been written in this manner, or decoding them would have been headache-inducing.