|Weak Hero| Reincarnated as the Villain's Big Brother!

Chapter 5

"You should go out and make some friends," Devlin said during his day off.

"No thanks," Donald shook his head. "I'll just stay here and keep an eye on our supplies,"

"No, it was my mistake to tell you to stay put," Devlin shook his head. "A kid your age needs social interactions with other kids. Besides, no one has came by here anyway and it's been a few months since we moved in,"

"I'm really fine, Dev," Donald again tried to refuse.

"It's not good to just stay cooped up in here," Devlin reminded and grabbed his little brother's hand. "We're going to the park!"

When they arrived at the park, there were already a bunch of other kids hanging out and playing with their own groups of friends or with their families. Devlin nudged Donald towards them and then sat down on a nearby bench. 

"Dev, what am I supposed to do?" Donald asked.

"Go over there and talk to them," Devlin gave him a thumbs up sign. "Come on, you'll do great!"

But Donald refused. He didn't have any good memories of interacting with kids his age. At school, all of his classmates hated him and excluded him for being poor and getting high grades, the latter which put the other students' grades to shame. He had no faith that these other kids would be any different so he sat down next to his brother on the bench.

"Can't you at least try giving them a chance?" Devlin asked. 

"Um...excuse me," A young woman spoke up as she approached the two brothers. A little boy was by her side. "My son's a little shy and hasn't made a single friend yet. Would your brother like to be his friend?"

"Yes!" Devlin immediately answered. "Although we can't force a friendship if they really aren't compatible, they should definitely at least try talking to each other,"

"Fine," Donald reluctantly agreed and glared at the woman's son. "My name's Donald Na,"

"I'm Gray Yeon," The boy quietly introduced himself.

'Did he just say...Gray Yeon?' Devlin's eyes widened. 'Gray hair and pinkish-purple eyes...fuck, he really is Gray! Who would've thought the main protagonist and main antagonist of the series would meet this early on!? Is this a good thing!? Is this a bad thing!?'

"I read in a book that friends talk about similar interest and hobbies," Gray said. "I like to read books and study,"

Donald blinked in surprise. "Me too,"

Devlin's panic ceased to exist and a soft smile replaced it as Gray and Donald continued to chat. 'Looks like they're going to be great friends. I have no idea what this will do to the timeline, but I don't care. What matters is my brother's happiness. He finally has a friend,'

XXX

"Hey Don, catch," Devlin tossed a bright purple card to him. "That way you have something to do while I'm at work,"

Donald caught the card and stared at it. "A library card?"

"Go and read as many books as you want," Devlin smiled. "Just, uh, stay out of the mature section. Don't read those adult books. Do libraries have explicit adult novels? But just in case, stick to the kids and teens sections for now,"

"Really?" Donald smiled back at him. "Thanks, Dev! I can't wait to go to the library with Gray to read more books,"

'I want to keep that smile bright. I want him to have both a safe and a happy childhood,' Devlin thought. 'At least now he won't have to stay cooped up in here while I'm gone. The library's one of the safest place since they wouldn't ignore any fights or loud bullying,'

"I want you to keep some emergency money with you in case we somehow end up separated," Devlin shoved some won notes into Donald's backpack along with a few granola bars that wouldn't expire for a couple months. "I want you to be able to get food and water if we end up separated, okay?"

"I don't want to leave you and I don't want you to leave me," Donald hugged him tightly. 

"I won't willingly leave you," Devlin promised. "But we don't know what the future holds for us. Some assholes might chase after us and we could end up separated when I try to have them focus only on me so you could escape. Even if we do get separated, I promise you that I'll do my best to find you as quickly as possible,"

The two boy eventually fell asleep but Devlin stayed up a bit. He felt a bit guilty when he said he wouldn't willingly leave Donald. 'I have thought about abandoning him a few times. I have had thoughts about just surviving on my own and worrying about my own health and safety. I regret ever having those thoughts. I've grown to love Donald as my own little brother even though I'm not the real Devlin Na,'

'But sometimes...I wonder if I decided to take care of him out of brotherly love or for selfish reasons. I'm alone in this world so I have no real social relationships. Sometimes I wonder if deep down I only took care of him so I wouldn't be alone. If I had someone else in this world, if I had some sort of friend, would I have still cared for Donald? I do love Donald right now. He's my little brother. I'd do anything to protect him. But I can't help but feel guilty from my previous thoughts,'

Devlin shook his head. 'It's no use mulling over the past like this. I need to focus on the present. Winter is coming soon. It'll get extremely cold by then. Donny could go to the library where it'll be warm during the day but it's nighttime that'll be most worrying and most dangerous. If we don't stay sufficiently warm, we'll end up getting sick or getting frostbite or hypothermia,'

He scanned the objects that had been left in the abandoned warehouse and spotted an empty blue barrel and some empty wooden crates. He decided that he'd attempt to start a fire and keep it burning in the barrel when it got cold enough.

Word Count: 1010

Winter is almost here. I wonder what can go wrong?