Two Birds On A Wire

ch 33

"Why do you look like a drowned cat?" Ivan asked as Julian dusted the spot beside him to sit down. Julian shot him a glare. "Don't you dare utter another word, you slime mouthed sloth!"

Ivan raised a brow and chuckled. "Slime mouthed sloth!?"

Julian made a scowl and lifted himself to sit on the raised sideline of the school ground.

"Why do you act so rebellious all of a sudden?" He asked, nudging the other boy's shoulder.

"The class was boring"

"Duh" Julian scoffed.

Ivan heaved a heavy sigh. "Julian?"

"Hm?" Julian turned his head and his eyes locked on a streak of the other boy's hair that stood out, swaying in the morning breeze, glistening in light. He smiled at how silly it made him look.

"Have you tried reaching out to your brother?" Ivan asked and Julian shifted his gaze to see a look on his face he hadn't quite seen before. He took a deep breathe and looked up at the sky.

"Well, I did" a pause and he nodded to himself. "You see, if Alex wanted to be found, I would have found him already. I guess he is happy just how things are" he smiled.

When Ivan didn't say anything for too long, he punched his shoulder playfully and attempted to change their topic of conversation. "Ivan, ddidn't you tell me you have a little sister?"

"Yeah"

"Is she cute like her big ass brother?" Julian smirked.

"Dude, she is six" Ivan rolled his eyes. "Of course she is cute"

Julian blinked a few times for the words to sink in. "Six?"

"Hm"

"That's.... A huge age gap. She is not your half-sister or anything, is she?". Julian immediately bit his tongue after asking. What kind of a person says that!?.

Ivan pursed his lips. "No. She's not"

Julian nodded. He couldn't understand why anyone would want to have a baby after such a long time. Maybe they missed having a baby in the household. It felt weird nevertheless.

Julian's train of thought was interrupted when he felt a pat on his knee. "Jules, I'll let you in on a little secret" Ivan said and Julian's face grew curious.

"Mia was actually the product of a humble attempt at rebuilding my parent's relationship"

Julian narrowed his eyes at the strange sounding info."What? "

"Well,.. My parents used to fight a lot when I was a kid, and my father almost threw me out of the window one night because he thought it might hurt mom"

"He what!?" Julian gaped at Ivan, his fists balled on his lap.

"Yeah, yeah. I know" Ivan sucked in air through his teeth. "Crazy, right? A lotsa stuffs happened and they eventually made up. But now, dad barely even comes home claiming work got him busy. I wonder if Mia even knows how he looks like" he shrugged.

Julian coughed into his own hands. "Well,.." He started after clearing his throat. "Guess we both got our own mess to deal with"

"Yeah" Ivan let out a dry chuckle. "I guess so"