Looking around, everybody appeared to be busy handling their luggage out of the compartment from the last car that arrived at the estate. And yet Jin was there being carried like a princess and having all reasons to be untroubled. But he chose to be stuck with the unanswered questions inside his head.
His grasp around Hiro's neck narrows as he spaces out in the air, his mind running in nauseating circles.
"They're here!"
A soft hiccup fled from his parted lips, surprising Hiro, who shifted his gaze down towards him, amused.
His amethyst pupils followed the voice after hearing the strong american accent somewhere, also piquing Hiro's curiosity.
They both turn their heads and peek synchronously over the entrance of the out-of-this-world-rest house as it flew open, revealing a boy about half as tall as him came sprinting in his clean white tennis shirt and shorts and sleek black oxford shoes paired with knee-length socks.
His hair and eyes were dark like Hiro's, except that he had a wide mesmerizing and contagious smile on his lips. The sunrays had touched his little figure delicately, and his eyes which he thought were slate black, turned to vivid brown.
"Young master!"
A butler and a maid who looked terribly exhausted came running in tow behind the child who went out apparently without permission.
"Aniki!" The boy hollered with the wind softly brushing through his hair, his high-pitched voice unconsciously startling Hiro's men behind.
Aniki? (Older brother?)
Jin shuts his mouth from gaping after overpraising the child internally and taking recognition of another good-looking rosebud that has yet to grow and capture or break hearts.
Their genes are no joke.
Hiro never mentioned he had a younger sibling. In fact, he thought he was the youngest. Mr. Harashi said too.
"Who's that?" whispers Jin, his inquisitiveness now at its destructive level.
Hiro already wore a distasteful expression on his face as he replied, "Someone from the family," casually.
Jin forces his eyes to look away when he mistakenly thought the boy's gaze seems to be directed at him. He looks at Hiro bathed in the sun, and he wasn't mistaken. Hiro's eyes were indeed midnight black, even after colliding with the light.
Feeling his harboring stares, Hiro concedes defeat with a sigh, "My brother's child."
Jin pinches his cheek at his choice of words. Why can't he just say he's his nephew? Does he have to be that formal, even towards his family?
"Young master, please, you shouldn't run!"
No matter how the unfortunate maid cried repulsively in horror, the young boy kept his ears close, ignoring her. He ran down the stairway faster than anyone and stopped right in front of Hiro and Jin.
A visible sweat rolled down his forehead, he was panting, and his pale cheeks were now flush in bright red.
In spite of the sun, he was squinting his big carob brown eyes in half as he looked up at them.
When Jin meets his warm gaze, the child tilted his head over to the other side, and his dashing smile grew.
Oh my. Isn't he just precious?
Now he wonders what would Hiro look like as a child.
"Why are you here?" Hiro sternly cuts off the boy's unspoken words when he was near opening his mouth.
Jin watches how Hiro's brows furrowed like nothing he's ever seen him do, and his eyes shut tightly close. It was as if he was holding himself back from something.
"Aniki."
The boy calls again.
And as Hiro didn't bother to answer, Jin takes sympathy and finally has the heart to look down. Why would he ignore such a lovely child who's calling out to him politely?
But as shortly as his curious purple eyes left Hiro's . . . he immediately mourns doing so.
With his guard low, he was abruptly pulled down by the arm, causing everyone to react disturbingly.
Jin yelped in fright when his arms around Hiro naturally slipped.
He closes his eyes, anticipating the gruesome impact to hit him, but luckily Hiro's reflexes were always quick enough to hold him by the waist.
A harsh breath escaped his lips. Why did he . . .
His heart was racing as two small arms slowly encircle around his neck and lead everyone to freeze in their place this time, their terrified eyes fully turning towards them.
"Young m-master!" The maid and butler stopped, and despite their hands covering their mouths in disbelief, their frightened expression was more evident than the rest.
Before the sudden turn of events had caused a further uproar, Jin felt something warm and wet land on his cheek.
Clinging to him with his feet tiptoed on the marble floor, "You're finally here," the boy whispers to him, and he can feel and smell his sweet breath like melted candy fanning against his skin.
Jin bats his eyes, his cheeks turning rose red, and he turns to look at Hiro, terrified of what's going on.
But as he faces Hiro, he appears to be twice as alarmed as him. His face was completely ashen, and his dark eyes were now lifeless. It looked like he's seen a ghost before his arms forcefully dragged him back up, holding him high enough for anyone's reach.
He squirmed uncomfortably when as soon as Hiro raised his body higher, his right hand was also purposely held back down and further placed him in a more awkward position.
He held onto Hiro's clothes to maintain his balance, exchanging glances from the upset child in front of him to Hiro's vivid irritancy on his side.
Why is this happening to him?
Hiro grits his teeth, his jaws pulsing.
"Hanashite." (Japanese: let go)
He says very coldly, and his ice-cold voice never carried an immense threat in his life until now.
Even if it wasn't directed at him, Jin felt a chill run down his back. The sun was up and warm at the moment, but he swore he felt a blizzard had suddenly passed through them for a second.
He takes a deep breath, unsettled.
W-What situation is this?
He darts his gaze down at the child whose pale hands are clutched tightly against him.
His little brows were stubbornly furrowed, and there was not an ounce of fear written on his face as he meets Hiro's livid eyes. "iie!" (no!)
His response, too, was solid.
Hiro took a massive step backward in an attempt to pull Jin away again, but the boy stood still and insisted to pull Jin's hand in return.
Worried that it will strain Jin's body, Hiro had no choice but to take a step forward furthermore, his patience boiling at the edge.
" . . ."
His piercing gaze continued to burn holes into the nuisance's head in front of him while cursing his brother to death.
The young boy's pupils wavered, and the way the moisture starts building up inside his eyes was a warning that he was about to cry.
Jin takes note of that, and somehow his heart buttered when he felt his small hands shivering against him.
He must have been scared of his uncle, huh?
Well, who wouldn't? He was intimidated too when he first met Hiro.
"Shini tai no?" (Do you wanna die?)
Hiro mutters heartlessly, frightening the leech in front of him, whom he expected to have awoken by his mistakes.
Jin's eyes bulge, "Yamero yo." (stop it) He hastily scolds Hiro. He thought he misheard it at first
His mother has Japanese origins, so it was not questionable who taught him Nihongo since he was little.
What sane person threatens a child that way? He glares at him, "Put me down."
Hiro's lips bitterly thinned to a straight line, stunned and confused by his rage directed at him rather than the brat in front of them.
Jin saw how he shakes his head childishly, declining to set him free.
He sighs heavily.
"Daijobu?" (you okay?)
He softly says to the little one under him, and his once dismayed chocolate eyes look up at him in surprise—too surprised.
"HARU!!!!!!"
A woman who looked too young in her mid-thirties came sauntering in speed out of the house.
There was a gravely upset expression written on her face.