Smile Like The Sun

CHAPTER 15🍂

(Third Person's POV)

"Dad is comming by the end of this month." Nigan said, breaking the silence hovering over the table, during breakfast.

He sighed when Leon remained nonchalant as usual, seeming to pay no attention to his words.

"He is expecting you to go back with him once you graduates." He added calmly.

"He believes, it is time for you to take part in the business."

"You are doing it perfectly." Leon did not look up from his plate as he grumbled coldly. "Why do he need me?"

"You know you can't always run away from your responsibilities." Nigan looked at his younger brother and reprimanded.

"You are not a child anymore."

"Then fucking treat me like one!" Leon scoffed, his tone cold and derisive.

"You are all a bunch of fucking hypocrites."

"Leon." Jinhyuk warned, his tone dangerously calm. "Mind your language."

Leon clenched his fist. He hated the feeling, the control Nigan had over him. It made him feel so weak, so inferior.

So pathetic. He stood up, screeching his chair, and stormed away. Nigan stopped James who was about to follow him.

"Let him go." He said softly.

"That is the least independence I can give him."

TIME SKIPPED.

Sorin did not see Leon for the whole day at school, eventually she concluded that he did not come.

During the work, she felt both dull and anxious at the same time. It was funny how she missed the person who was never with her. But she did.

So when she saw his figure strolling through the street, she did not think twice before following him hastily and quite recklessly.

She was out of breath when she reached the small park, wildly searching for the lean figure among the shadows.

She saw him sitting on the long bench under the old Jasmine tree. She walked to him but paused, when she remembered that she had nothing to say to him.

She was contemplating if she should leave when she saw the lean shoulders shaking so slightly, the soft moonlight illuminating his frame. Her heart dropped. He was crying.

She was just standing there in the darkness when he abruptly stood up, aware of her presence and preparing to flee. She could understand what he would be feeling right now.

How could she not, when she knew that feeling so well.

"Crying does not mean you are weak."

Her voice was soft when she said, halting him before he could take a step.

"Tears speak when the words fail to express the pain the heart feels."

Leon scoffed lightly but dropped down on the bench, "That's what peole tell themselves when they cry, just to feel better."

"Maybe." She too sat down on the other end.

"I cry all the times. Though I get frustrated sometimes, I don't see any harm with that."

Leon remained silent as he kept his gaze fixed on the shadows before him. Sorin sighed, she did not know what urged her feelings but it just felt right.

She continued as she too stared ahead, searching for nothing in the void, telling him the things she had never told another soul.

But she trusted him, he would respect her secret.

"Mother left me when I was a child. Grandpa raised me up. He took care of me and showed me the happiness of life."

"He taught me many things and gave me the warmth that every child need. He was my only family."

She smiled a little, reminiscing the beautiful days.

"And your dad?" He asked quietly, still staring ahead.

"Never really knew him." She shrugged.

"But it didn't really matter because I was very happy."

She paused, before continuing softly. "Well, until grandpa was gone."

He studied her quietly, he felt that she was in pain, but did not know how to comfort her.

He just remained silent and stared at her instead of the shadows, as she looked ahead into the empty space with a sad smile tugging on her lips, her delicate features washed clean by the soft glow.

"It was hard after that. I started living with my uncle. He was my sole guardian after grandpa died."

"He put me in a boarding school and provided for me. But never really cared whether I live or die. I was so miserable at that time. I even attempted suicide."

She continued as she smile to herself, but Leon noticed the tears glistening in the moonlight.

An inexplicable feeling surged inside his chest, urging him to hide her in his arms, to protect her from the world.

"But I was saved." She smiled wider. "I met Naobi. And now I am trying to live."

She suddenly turned to him, catching him off guard. He abruptly turned away, pretending that he had been looking ahead.

She looked at him, unsure if she just saw the faint blush on his ears correctly or if it was just her imagination. She looked ahead again, unsure of what to say next.

Since she trusted him about her past, he felt that he ought to do the same. He took a deep breath, composing himself before he began in his nonchalant voice.

"Mom and dad divorced when I was six. Brother stayed with dad and I, with mom."

"Dad was in business and he was rich, while mom was a music teacher in a small town."

Sorin whipped her gaze to him, surprised. Although she told him about her life, she did not expect him to open up his past to her.

Did it mean that he also trust her?

"She was beautiful and kind and was overall an amazing mom. I enjoyed playing piano with her teaching me."

"She always told me that I was her little genius, that I would get famous one day. She would sing to me whenever I could not sleep and I would doze off instantly."

He smiled warmly as he recalled his childhood, forgetting his indifferent self for once.

Sorin could tell that the boy was really fond of his mother. She knew it was wrong of her, but she could not help but envy his mother, she also wanted to be the one for whom he would smile like that.

She stared at him fixedly, the silvery moonlight shone upon him, making him look so gentle and enticing. He was really ethereal.

"When I turned ten, dad won my custody and brought me here. I was forbidden from meeting mom."

His voice grew wistful and Sorin felt her heart ache. He did not say it but she could tell that he missed his mother, because he loved her dearly.

She wanted to console him, to help him ease the misery, but she did not know how.

"Show that you love her more than anything else. Make her proud of you."

She said, her voice so soft and coaxing that it soothed his injured soul.

"Will she come back then?" He asked her, his gaze unsure and anxious, not like the usual indifferent and stoic boy.

"Yes." She smiled, artless and earnest.

"She will come back. Because she love you."

He stared at her for a while, his expression unreadable, before turning away with a soft, almost inaudible,

"Thankyou."

Which made her heart swell with an inexplicable euphoria.