Love, Not War (Book 2)

Chapter 131

"He was 12 you know" Mingi said. "At the age of 12, to give me a better life, Chris joined a gang and started selling drugs. Sometimes he'd come back bruised and battered but he'd still go out the next day and sell. As if he didn't feel any pain at all. Chris protected me from the harshness of this world by taking it all upon himself. How could I just sit back and watch him suffer while I enjoyed the warmth of the house and all the good food? It was impossible so I talked to the gang leader and asked him to give me a bigger job. Something that would reduce the burden on Chris but the man just laughed and ruffled my hair. He told me that my elder brother was working really hard to make sure I didn't suffer. To make sure I was healthy and happy. He was even saving some money to send me to school so I should just do what my brother wants and not let his efforts go to waste."

Mingi chuckled sadly. "Can you imagine? He already had my life planned out. At the expense of him slaving away his own to those gangsters. I was furious and planned to confront him but that night, he didn't come back. Everyone was worried and we all went out to find him. To my greatest dismay, I found Chris laying by a garbage bin not far from our house, bleeding profusely. He had been stabbed in the stomach with a knife and left there to die."

Felix gasped, a hand over his mouth as tears ran down his cheeks. Chan...

"I went back and told them that I found Chris. That they should take him to a hospital. They went back with me but when the leader touched Chris, he shook his head and told me Chris was going to die. He said his pulse was very weak and he didn't have much time left. He'd just be wasting money if they went to a hospital. Can you believe it? After everything Chris had done. After how hard he worked for them, one touch and they said that's it. He wouldn't make it. I didn't know what to do Felix. I cried and begged them but they didn't listen to me. I begged passers-by. I pleaded and followed people on my knees, begging them to save my brother but they all ignored me."

'The world is cruel' Felix thought. A child was dying. The other was begging. But everyone turned a deaf ear.

"Just when I thought no one was going to help us, a little girl approached me and asked me why I was crying. I told her my brother was dying then she said she'll get her dad to help. That her dad was a superhero. I thought she was lying. I mean, superheroes didn't exist. The girl was living in a fairy tale but then, she really came back with her dad and her dad took Chris to a hospital."

Mingi smiled. It was sad as well as happy. Depicting the remembrance of a bittersweet memory.

"That little girl was Aera, your ex-girlfriend and her father was Min Yoongi. The man who adopted Chris. The man who became his father and my guardian. Our new family."

Felix groaned slightly, wincing in pain. There it was again. That pain in his head. Another memory flashed in his mind. It was also blurry and the voices were distorted but he could make out Min Yoongi. He couldn't hear what was being said but he could understand that Mr Yoongi was enraged.

"Felix, are you okay?" Mingi asked, noticing that Felix was uncomfortable.

The pain slowly ebbed and so did the memory.

A light sheen of sweat covered Felix's forehead. "I'm fine." He breathed. He poured himself a cup of cold fruit juice and downed it in one gulp. "I'm just a bit overwhelmed by everything. Please, continue."

Mingi nodded. "Mr Yoongi paid for everything. Chris and I didn't have to worry about anything. He took care of us and made sure we were okay. Aera and her mum also visited whenever they had the chance. They were so wonderful, warm, and friendly. Her mother used to make us tasty snacks. She also brought us warm food and clean clothes. To be honest, I felt like never leaving the hospital. Aera liked to play with us a lot and she called us her older brothers. It was nice you know. Having a little sister. It was then I understood what Chris felt when he took me as his younger brother. That feeling of wanting to protect someone even at the cost of your life. I felt it whenever I looked at her. She was so tiny and cute that I wanted to protect her forever."

Felix recalled the picture of Aera he had once seen. One couldn't deny that she was a beauty. "How did Chan get adopted by Mr Yoongi then?"

"Well, it took a while. After Chris recovered, he asked us where we lived and why no one had come looking for us and we told him everything. From the way Chris's parents passed away to the time he was stabbed and left for dead. Mr Yoongi decided to take us in and become our guardian until we were old enough to fend for ourselves. He never intended to adopt Chris at the beginning."

"He admitted us into good schools and made sure we lived well. Chris was really smart and obedient so Mr Yoongi took a liking to him. I was kinda a rebel so he didn't like me much but we always got along. That man saved us from the streets. He saved Chris from death and so, Chris and I are forever indebted to him. Well, Chris even more. Mr Yoongi is like God to him. There was nothing Mr Yoongi wanted that Chris would not do. He idolised the man and would do anything to please him. I don't blame him though. I mean, Chris suffered a lot. I will never know what he really went through so I can't say anything. No matter how many times I asked him, how many times I nagged or tried to provoke him into telling me, he never did. I guess he didn't want me to feel guilty but what Chris didn't know was that I only wanted to share his pain. Anyway, all those ended after we met Mr Yoongi."

Felix recalled the man with Jimin and he sighed. That was the man that saved Chan. The father of his ex-girlfriend and the man who had tried to kill him. His feelings were all tangled up. He was weirded out by Mr Yoongi's relationship with his brother. He was happy and grateful to him for saving Chan and he was confused as to how things would turn out in the future.

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