Honestly, 22 chapters ready? I can't believe this. Maybe quarantine has really knock some efforts in me.
Thank you for your support!
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"Gege gege gege gege hurry up gege, let's go for a run, gege, come quick!!!"
Shao Long had never met someone more pushy. Or clingy. Shao Jun had literally took less than 5 minutes to go back to his room, change his clothes and went to his brother's room. Shao Long wasn't sure who opened the door for him, but just as he was about to get changed, the door opened, revealing this overexcited puppy.
Why did he love this dork again?
Oh yeah, they're twins.........
"You promised me!!!" Shao Jun began whining.
"I'm trying to change, you clingy prick, and for the love of god, get off the table! Go get Xueyang!" Shao Long groaned in frustration.
"He doesn't want to! He's too lazy to jog!"
"You're really bad at lying. That guy can literally do 100 push ups a day and you're saying he's lazy. Just say that you don't want him to come!"
"He'll never allow me to run!"
"I'm seriously thinking of agreeing with him!"
"YoU PrOMiseD gEGe"
"Alright alright, geez" Shao Long continued to change to dark tracksuit. Shao Jun had worn a similar one. He didn't really need one before though. He didn't even go out much. This pair of matching tracksuit was newly bought right after Shao Jun was cured. He had badly wanted to run, so Shao Long had Xueyang buy them a pair.
"We'll do slow jog at first like we usually do at home. Then you can start running at the bus stop. I'll wait there while you finish a lap" he said as he tied his sport shoes.
"How long is one lap?"
"About one kilometer and a half. With you running, that'll be a piece of cake" Shao Long had no doubts in his words. This kid he call his twin had the energy of a bullet. What would be too much for him?
"I have no idea how far that is on foot, but it sounds long enough. Am I gonna be okay? It's only been a few months since the surgery" Shao Jun asked with a smile, a little nervous about the idea.
"Well if you're that worried, then don't run too fast and stop if you can't continue. Just remember to not stop too suddenly, don't sit or squat, calm your breathing as fast as you can. You should be fine. If your heart is acting up, bring your medicine with you" Shao Long instructed as always.
"I have them right here!"
So that evening, the two slipped away from Xueyang who was oblivious of their plan and went to the track. Not the field, but the tar track around the academy for cars, which rarely come and go.
They started by jogging slowly after warming up. If you think slow jogging is easy, then you're wrong. Stamina and endurance is really important. The steps are shorter and it's going to drive you crazy one way or another. Even if you're a weightlifting champion, if you don't have endurance, you can't survive slow jogging for a long duration. Shao Long and Shao Jun are both well trained in slow jog. It's because Shao Jun needs regular exercise, and he would usually drag Shao Long with him. Even if Shao Long would prefer to stride, he never left his brother behind.
Since it was a slow jog, they completed the lap in 15 minutes. Once they reached their starting point, which is the bus stop, Shao Long did some cooling down while Shao Jun looked more excited than ever. He even run on the same place with high spirit as if the jog didn't tire him at all.
"You're gonna fall" Shao Long rolled his eyes, but was ignored.
"What are you gonna do while I'm running?" Shao Jun asked instead.
"Some of the business affair is saved in my phone. I'll attend to that" Shao Long waved his phone as he sat on the bench of the bus stop.
"When have you ever not bring that thing with you? Aren't you bored? Can't someone else do it for you?" Shao Jun glanced at his brother with an unnoticeable frown.
"I don't trust anyone other than the two of you. So no. Xueyang also has ration of work, you have yours. Mine is mine. Relax, I'm fine" Shao Long grinned.
"............We are all bad liars in the end after all" Shao Jun rolled his eyes.
"Excuse me?"
"Yeah, you're lying. As always. You think I didn't notice that you're tired? These days you keep annoying me".
"Well sorry for being annoying" Shao Jun laughed. Consider it as payback. Shao Jun also annoyed him sometimes. Why can't he?
"I'm serious, you idiot" Shao Jun stopped his movement and turned to Shao Long "Don't do it again".
"I'll try my best to please my little twin brother" Shao Long once again smiled.
"Ugh, you'll be the death of me" Shao Jun groaned before getting back to the tar track. With a sharp inhale, he ran at full speed, leaving Shao Long alone at the bus stop. He was so fast. Pent up energy of 16 years of life, huh?
"And you of mine, brother. And you of mine" Shao Long mumbled quietly to himself, his smile never leaving him as his brother's figure disappeared from his sight.
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"Yeah right. Work this work that. When will he start thinking about himself? Pshh, maybe never" Shao Jun mumbled as he ran and ran without a care in the world. The other students who was jogging there could only drop their jaws by his speed. They didn't know whether it was Shao Long or Shao Jun. They knew Shao Long was athletic, but not even he would run in such a high speed for nothing.
Shao Jun didn't mind all the staring. He was releasing his stress. His frustration, and the heavy feeling off his chest. Shao Long had been on his mind for a long time. He never actually left. Shao Long was confusing. One second he was smiling and in another, you can see him break down. In some way he was lovely, and in the rest, he's annoyingly selfless.
He wanted to do something for him, but there wasn't much he could do. He was taught by Shao Long in business etiquette, so whatever it is that Shao Long didn't want him to know, he could.
He didn't know what to do at all.
Shao Jun decided not to think of it any more and continued to enjoy his run. It felt refreshing. Indeed he was tired, but his legs kept going on. He wanted to do this since he was little. Every time he saw the athletes on TV, he would try to immitate running like them. What a joke, he could run now, and he couldn't feel more free. No restrains, no boundaries.
If only he knew better.
Just as he thought about how great ot would be to be able to run everyday ( Yo Shao Jun, I can't relate cuz I don't run), Shao Long's prediction came true. He tripped. Over his own leg. In the most humiliating way possible. Cuz his footwork isn't nearly correct at all.......
You can say he's a clumsy runner. His strides are not even straight.
"What the- OWW!!!" Aaaand Shao Jun fell on the tar track. It was pretty bad actually, he couldn't fix his stance in time, and he was too distracted that his hands couldn't support himself from falling. Now, both his knees are scraped, left elbow too. Nasty scrathes on his right forearm and his left cheek. Pretty nasty.
"Ow ow ow ow ow ow this is worse than last time owwww" Shao Jun wanted to tear up as he remembered the last time he ran and fell. That was a month ago. Shao Long laughed as he bandaged his knees. Xueyang laughed the whole day.........
"Waaaaaa........" Shao Jun instantly teared up.......
"Shao Jun!!" a voice shouted from far behind him. Shao Jun sniffed as he turned to look. Who the heck could still make out whether he was Shao Jun or Shao Long anyway?
Looking up, he saw Livio and Gion running towards him, both with shocked and worried look on their faces.
"Oh, it's you guys.....*sniff*. What are you doing here?"
"We could ask you the same thing. What the hell happened to you?" Gion asked with a raised brow.
"Oh it's just that I suddenly missed the earth's embrace and decided to give it a hug" Shao Jun stared at them with a blank look, tears still at the edges of his slanted eyes.
"Haha very funny. What were you thinking running full speed distracted? There wasn't even a rock to trip upon. Your shoelace is perfectly tied too" Gion gave an unimpressed look as he helped the youth up.
Shao Jun winced as he got on his feet and couldn't stand straight without trembling and limping "Ow ow ow, this is worse than expected. Oh, come on, Gion. Running isn't my talent, but I still like it. How do you know it's me anyway?"
"I've seen Shao Long run before. He wouldn't trip over his own leg like you. Even of he did, he's capable of balancing himself before his knees could touch the ground" Gion scoffed.
"So now you're insulting me?!" Shao Jun pouted. Ahhhhh he regretted running today......
"Shao Jun, your injuries are quite bad. I'll bring you to the infirmary" Livio offered.
"No no, my brother's waiting for me. Xueyang can help with the wounds, thank you" Shao Jun immediately rejected him, looking uneasy.
"Well, where is your brother then?" Gion asked with another raised brow.
"At the bus stop" Shao Jun didn't think much of it.
"He didn't come with you? I thought you both were jogging together just now" Gion questioned.
Shao Jun flinched "Ah no no, he just got a little tired haha".
"That's odd. He usually would jog two to three laps before resting. How come he stopped after one lap?" Livio asked.
'PLEASE STOP ASKING' Shao Jun thought as he sweated nervously "Ahahaha, it's just that he hadn't exercised in a long time".
Gion wanted to say that Shao Long had claimed he never missed exercises before, but seeing how Shao Jun was uncomfortable with their questions, he just gestured Livio to stop asking. "Whatever. Can you walk to him or not?"
"That........" Shao Jun might succeed, but he couldn't gurraantee how long it would take, or how bad he will look limping when he ran like a wild bull just minutes ago.
Gion understood his hesitation and without wasting a second, he draped an arm over Shao Jun's torso to helo him stand.
"............Eh? What are you doing?" Shao Jun asked nervously, flinching at how close they were.
"Right. Asians aren't comfortable with physical contacts, right? Sorry, but you have no choice. If your brother or your assistant knows that I didn't help you, they'd probably kill me, then kill Livio too".
"Hey, what'd I do?" Livio sweatdropped.
"Okay okay, can we just get this over with and send me back to my brother?" Shao Jun sweated profusely, not even near comfortable in this position. They started walking back to the bus stop.
He could feel his heart beating fast, whether it was from the run or something else. He glanced at Gion. This brunet prince is taller than Shao Long, so he wasn't used to the height difference. He was really short compared to Gion.
Unknowingly, his cheeks had turned slight pink.....
"Are you okay?" Gion suddenly asked.
"Huh? Y-Yeah, I'm great! Feeling good!"
"Your brother is right when he said you're not the least bit convincing" Gion rolled his eyes.
"Hey hey, I'm pretty good at lying, y'know. There had been thousands of times where Shao Long and I seitched roles and pretended to be each other, and let me tell you, the outcome is flawless. Not even Xueyang can tell us apart. The longest span of our role switching is a week before......." Shao Jun was about to say 'before their father decided to take action' but realized that it's a taboo.
His gaze darkened at the memory..
Flashback#
"You can't tell us apart!" Shao Long and Shao Jun said in unison, looking determined that this shall be the last time they tolerate their father. They were 10 at that time, and compared to other kids, they weren't the most innocent ones.
"Oh, and nothing I do will make the real Shao Long come out?" their father gave them an amused look. The twins flinched at the smirk. They were slightly worried their plan might have a flaw, but so far, their acting was superb. Their father, who spent lesser time with them than Xueyang did should not be able to tell the difference.
"And what makes you think so? You think you can fool me?"
The twins replied in unison "We don't think so. We know so".
Their father scoffed "What courage. Then let's see if I can tell you two apart" he stood up and took something from his drawer. The twin saw that it was actually a knife.
They tensed up.
A/N: WARNING WARNING ABUSE AHEAD. IF YOU FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE, PLEASE SKIP THE WHOLE FLASHBACK!!!!!
"I'd cut both of you........just to bring out the older one" their father smirked. With a flick of his finger, guards appeared behind them and held them firm in place. Shao Jun panicked, but did everything he could to copy Shao Long, who still stood calm. They didn't struggle. It's useless anyway.
"You'd cut Shao Jun? I thought you cared for him?" Shao Jun snickered, acting as Shao Long. Pshh, only Shao Long would say this. His acting is superb! Their father wouldn't dare!
"Oh I do, but good parents punish their children sometimes" their father placed the knife close to Shao Jun's cheek. Just a little pressure, and blood trickled down his chin. Shao Nun whimpered slightly, but enough to let their father hear him. Shao Jun held back the tears welding up in his eyes and withstood the pain.
Suddenly, the man took away the knife from his cheek and turned to Shao Long who flinched.
"Your turn" he said before doing the exact same thing to Shao Long. Shao Long was smart. Even though he could withstand this pain easily, he still pretended to be hurt like Shao Jun did. Their father could see that they were still so stubborn, and smirked.
PANG!!
He slapped Shao Long. Shao Jun widened his eyes in terror, shivers running down his spine. He wanted to yell, to shout, to help Shao Long, but he couldn't move.
Shao Long was on the floor, cupping his red cheek that was slapped just a few seconds ago. He did not make any sound.
Their father smirked "This one is Shao Long. I'm sure of it".
"H-How'd you know that?!! You monster, get away from him!! Don't you dare touch him!!" Shao Jun finally lost his patience and struggled against the guards. But no matter how hard he tried, he was only a weak sickly boy.
Their father smiled "Bring Shao Jun to his room and don't let him out".
"Yes, sir" the guards responsed.
Shao Long stayed silent on the floor.
"Listen here, you two" their father said "You can never lie to me. Shao Jun, no matter how good your acting skills are, you had never experienced what your brother experienced, therefore you wouldn't know how he would respond to my slap. Unlike you, this little cur wouldn't whine. But that's okay, Shao Jun. Papa loves you. You don't have to talk to this trash of a human. You're all Papa needs!"
"No.......please......."
End of Flashback#
And that's how they were abused.... Jeng jeng jeng!!!!!!!!
Whoa this is super long y'all. 2693 words! Usually there had only been 1500 or something.