Behind The Red Curtain | YiZhan ✓

56-The Fatherhood Of The Big Wolf

There was once a story untold, of a father wolf and its two sons. A little grey cub and a fluffy white sheep. 

The father taught his sons to love one another, to care for each other. And so they did. The little cub and the little sheep became inseparable, always together no matter the place. Let it be rivers, mountains or even oceans, yet they would never break apart from each other. 

That is until one day, their forest burnt down. To save themselves, the father wolf took his both sons and fled to the other side of the world. 

Yet the journey was excruciating. They could only get up to two hours of sleep because of outside threat, eat what they could find which was not much, and sometimes go on without drinking up to seven days a week. 

Due to the exhausting journey, the father wolf became ill until one day he closed his eyes to never open them again. But before passing away, he held his little cub by his chest and told him; "Son... i have taught you how to be a companion, a lover, a brother and a son. And i will now teach you how to be a survivor." Grieved by his father's poor health, the little cub held onto his fur and cried loudly. "Yes father!" 

So the father wolf smiled. "Good boy. Now if you ever get hungry, remember, your brother is a sheep. Life does not show you mercy in the times of weakness. But your brother is weak. So eat him to be strong, and i may rest in peace." 

The very next day, after his father died, the little cub went to his brother's tree, under where he slept and swallowed him in his tummy. Only after eating him did he realise how lonely he was now. Left with no one but himself. 

Yet he now knew that he was stronger than before, as no bond could cloud his judgement, and as no emotion could break him down. With that, he walked to the sunset, all fed and strong, to face another new day. 

The moral of the story was to be brave and cold, so no may ever have the power to harm you. Yet telling that story to a child at the age of five, was maybe not too wise. Thanks to that, Zhan's heart was now closed off behind doors. No matter how he tried to open them now, they had already been there for too long to have the strength to remove. 

So when his father came with the request of talking, Zhan made an exception of having Yibo by his side to prevent himself from loosing his mind. In return, Deming stated his own requirement, making it absolute that Yibo was not allowed to talk but his presence. 

They were now seated in Zhan's living room, the air filled with tension and regret. If it didn't cave in any moment, then he knew that he was about to collapse himself. 

He took a moment to glance at Yibo, who was standing by the windows, arms crossed. Once he made sure of him being there, he exhaled a deep sigh and spoke. "W-why did you-" 

"I want you to stop working at that company of yours. I have an empty spot arranged in another one. With your reputation, it will be easy to get accepted." The sudden statement made by Deming was enough to chill Zhan's bones, falling weak under his gaze. It reminded him of the past times when he couldn't speak a word back due to his overwhelming fear of him as a kid. "B-but i-" 

Deming sighed. "You have always been weak minded. Can't even state your mind to me now." Yibo frowned, ready to yell. "You really-" Yet after watching Deming glare, he paused. He did not want to make things harder for Zhan. He had to be patient as he was.