Sweet Pain

Prologue

Life never seemed to be fair with xiao. He also never complained abt it. Not until he got the two sunshine balls in his life. Known as Xiao Shizui and Xiao Yuan.

His parents may have brought him to the world but they never cared afterwards. Overtime he got used to those kicks, those shouts and words, those cold, lonely days and nights. But when his siblings came in his life his heart ached at the thought of them going through his reality. But what position was he at to keep them safe at all times. At one point he really felt helpless and useless. Seeing his 7 year old brother, Shizui take in the ugly stares from their 'parents' and his 5year old brother, Yuan spent time asking for the attention from their 'parents', it all brought those kept in tears. He would always come up to them with a smile and distract them from seeing the reality. And when he was alone, he would curse and cry for being the useless being. He knew he was an exception but his siblings weren't. They needed the innocence of life.

With time it got hard. They were going bankrupt. His parents would burden him with the responsibility of running the family. He gave in because he knew if he didn't they would turn to his boys. They had become his sons rather than brothers. He gave them the love and affection the parents give. And at some point his brothers also started to see him as a dad. But when he would be out for job the brothers won't be safe.

They already faced the reality that Zhan kept them away from. But thank god not the whole of it. They would also fake the infamous smile that Zhan gave them. Telling that it was all alright. And Zhan believed them. Until he saw it. His yuan crying, and Shizui calming him. He had a bad feeling from the start of the day so he came early.

He didn't know whether to cry or keep calm for their sake. But the most emotion he felt was anger.

"Sorry gege." Shizui choked out with lower gaze.

Zhan could read them both like an open book so he knew what he was sorry for.

"Silly. You did a great job. You're really strong you know? And yuan baby don't cry. Gege doesn't like to see his didi cry." And yuan instantly started to calm down.
He took them and ran away. But as always, life was never fair to him. His supposedly dad chased them.

"Ge! Hurts!!" Yuan's cries echoed in the rain. Poor soul had fallen while running and badly hurt his knee.

"Baby don't worry. Ge will make it better can you hold it in for me?" The rain was a perfect cover up for his tears. His heart had never ached so much seeing the vulnerable sight of his brothers, he never wanted to see.
"Come here you bastards!!"
"Come on, yuan! Do it for Zhan ge." Shizui himself was crying. Their red nosed and eyes was a slow poison for Zhan.

Zhan took yuan in his arms and took Shizui's hand and ran. With that demon in their tail he could never risk them getting caught. The worst was that the man had a gun.

The desperation at the time was...high.

He was picking up speed planning to trick the monster. But gods were against his will. He thought what did he ever did in his life or afterlife that he had to face such fate. Things had suddenly gotten into slow motion. The rain seems to have gotten more cold and the night had turned more darker. A pain shot through his body. There was too much to comprehend. And one moment he was carrying yuan and was running and the next he was in the ground with yuan in his front, kneeling. Shizui was shaking him while shouting but they seemed to turn faint by each second.

"Gege!! Wake up!! Don't leave us alone! Let's go home! We'll never worry you just wake up."

'shizui.'

"Gege stand up! Don't sleep. You'll get a fever. My knee hurts gege!"

'yuan.'

He wanted so much to get up and wipe those tears. He knew he wasn't strong. He wanted to scream. But he was paralyzed. He had a radiating heat in his body helping the pain to spread. He was done for. Do he silently prayed to gods for a bit of strength. He couldn't ask for a miracle. They didn't exist in his world. He asked for a lil strength so that he could take his siblings till protection. Silent tears and sobs escaped. And just through his side view he could see a faint figure running towards them. He couldn't make out anything else except that it was a man. A slim and tall man.

Panic arose within his very almost lifeless body. His babies! Danger! Protect!

The only things that were in his mind. He started to struggle to move. His brothers both screaming and crying for him to wake up.

Just before he closed his eyes he heard a faint voice. And soon after he felt warmth around his waist and felt as if he was in air. His contact with the rigid ground long gone. And then he was knocked out cold.