Chapter 19: Hide Away (Part 2)

Chapter 19: Hidden (Part 2)

Not knowing where to find Li Shuo, Li Su could only walk along the street.

He passed by the breakfast shop on the way to school every day, passed the small store with lots of cool toys, and passed the small park where he often killed time.

Would Li Shuo be inside?

When Li Su was upset, he would run to the park.

Right now, he was feeling troubled, and unconsciously headed toward the park.

The small stream flowed quietly.

Li Su thought of the stone Li Shuo didn't swallow after losing the bet.

It was pitch black all around. Li Su wanted to pick up a stone from the ground, but since he couldn't see clearly, he could only fumble through the grass.

Suddenly a voice sounded from behind him.

"Are you looking for a stone?"

It was Li Shuo's voice!

Li Su spun around abruptly.

In the darkness, though he couldn't make out the person's features, Li Su was sure it was Li Shuo.

He stepped closer to Li Shuo, but Li Shuo moved back.

Li Su urgently wanted to know if Li Shuo had been hurt falling from such a height—or if there were internal injuries not visible from the outside.

In short, he was afraid Li Shuo was in pain.

"Let me see!"

Li Su tried to pull Li Shuo toward a place with streetlights, but Li Shuo repeatedly evaded his touch.

In truth, ever since running away from home, Li Shuo had been lost in confusion.

Where could he go?

Since Li Su was here, could he really go far?

Falling from nearly three meters high was indeed very painful, but Li Shuo wished he could have hurt even more.

Life in the Li family held no happiness for him.

Dad Li and Mom Li only had eyes for Li Su; they often beat and scolded him and mostly ignored him.

Li Shuo began to hate the caregiver who had given him the name Xia Man back then. "Family harmony, happiness in abundance"—this was clearly a curse!

He had spent a long time accepting the fact that he was unloved, just getting by. It was Li Su who determinedly pulled him out of his lonely shell and made him start to believe in "love" again.

Dad Li and Mom Li doted solely on Li Su. Li Su loved Li Shuo, but not exclusively.

Li Su's love was too immense—anyone could get a piece of it.

Li Shuo never wanted this kind of love; it was Li Su who forced it on him!

There was no denying that Li Shuo was petty and jealous by nature. Every moment with Li Su was a struggle, torn between maddening jealousy and the painful necessity of compromise.

Since compromise only made the pain worse, he might as well follow his instincts.

Li Su should be his alone.

Hide him.

Hide him in a world that held only the two of them.

To live together, relying on each other.

"Brother, let's go home."

Li Shuo's attitude suddenly shifted; his smile looked eerie in the cold moonlight.

Li Su was focused only on making up with Li Shuo. Hearing that Li Shuo was willing to go home, he broke into a smile and reached out to take Li Shuo's hand.

"I didn't say I didn't want you. I was just angry. You can't hold that against me."

"Yeah, I know."

"You know? Then what about you? When you said you didn't want my cheap love—was that in anger?"

Li Shuo didn't answer.

Seeing Li Shuo stay silent, Li Su grew irritated: "You meant it?"

Li Shuo: "Brother, that was both a heartfelt and a hypocritical thing to say."

Li Su was straightforward; he couldn't understand roundabout talk.

"I don't care whether you meant it or not. You have no choice but to accept it. We're brothers, and you were born to be loved by me. Even if you hate it, you have to accept it!"

Hearing this, Li Shuo's smile turned cold, tinged with bitterness.

You see,

Love always comes with conditions.

Li Su's love was conditional on their blood relation.

Li Su was immersed in the joy of reconciliation, walking with his head down, following Li Shuo.

When he finally noticed that the path under his feet wasn't the road home, he looked up, and the scene before him was nothing like the way home.

"Where are we?"

Li Su was completely unsuspecting, with no doubt about the place Li Shuo had brought him to.

This was also a park, but an abandoned one.

Li Su had been here once, but after being chased off by surveyors because the place was to be redeveloped, he never came again.

Now he didn't remember it at all; seeing it again felt brand-new to him.

Li Shuo didn't answer Li Su's question. Instead, he held Li Su's hand and continued deeper into the park.

It was probably close to eleven o'clock by now.

"Huole, stop messing around. It's so late and you're still not home yet. Mom's going to be mad if she finds out we're both not home."

Li Shuo still ignored him.

Li Su felt something was wrong and tried to pull his hand free from Li Shuo's grip, but Li Shuo's grip was too strong—Li Su couldn't resist at all.

"Where exactly are you taking me? We should head home. Don't you know how late it is?"

Li Shuo continued to pretend not to hear him.

Only then did Li Su realize that Li Shuo hadn't reconciled with him at all—instead, he was using a cold, distant way to get back at him.

Li Su got really angry. He grabbed Li Shuo's arm and bit it.

Even after being bitten, Li Shuo only stopped walking, waiting for Li Su to let go by himself.

"What do you want from me? Do I seriously have to apologize?"

Li Su's hand was still tightly held by Li Shuo. He started crying helplessly, feeling like Li Shuo had turned into a stranger who terrified him.

Li Shuo watched the tears fall and said in a heavy voice: "I want big brother's promise, but I feel like big brother isn't the kind of person who keeps his word."

Li Su sobbed: "What promise have I broken that I said I'd keep?"

To Li Shuo, Li Su was already labeled unreliable. All his past kept promises now counted for nothing.

Li Shuo grabbed Li Su and tried to pull him away.

Li Su resisted, trying to shake off Li Shuo's grip.

Li Shuo seemed to have reached his limit. He simply walked around...

Until they reached the side of an elephant slide.

Li Shuo opened the rusty hidden door on the side and pushed Li Su inside. Before Li Su could get up after falling, he quickly slammed the door shut.

Inside the hidden door was a prop room left behind by the survey crew. There was a keyhole on the outside of the door. Li Shuo picked up a steel bar and inserted it into the keyhole.

By the time Li Su reacted and tried to push the door open, it was already jammed shut with the steel bar.

Li Su shouted in the dark and cramped space.

"Li Shuo! Li Shuo, let me out of here!"

Li Su was afraid of the dark.

Especially in a completely unfamiliar, enclosed space—it reminded him of the train car rolling with corpses.

"Brother, I'll trust you this one more time. As long as you swear you won't be friends or brothers with Song Wuyi—stay away from him, have no more contact with him—I'll let you out."

Li Shuo's voice came through the crack, cramming Li Su's ears with cold, crystal-clear words.

Li Su couldn't understand why Li Shuo had so much hatred towards Song Wuyi.

But he had already made a promise to Song Wuyi—to be family with him, to be his brother. That was an oath he couldn't break.

He couldn't make another promise that contradicted it.

"Li Shuo, knock it off! Let me out now! I'm really getting angry! If you keep this up, I'll just give up on you!"

Li Shuo pressed his hand against the rusty door, feeling the vibrations from Li Su's pounding.

"Big brother, you'd rather give me up than give up Song Wuyi?"

"Why am I so easy for you to throw away?"

"Big brother, the truth is, you don't really love me. You're only nice to me because Mom is mean to me and you feel bad about it. If I weren't your brother, if I didn't live in the Li family, you probably wouldn't even look at me."

Li Shuo's voice was almost a whisper, not reaching Li Su's ears.

Li Su's voice interrupted his: "Why can't I have other friends? You're my younger brother, but that's all you are—just my younger brother. Who are you to restrict my freedom and forbid me from making friends? You're the one who keeps to yourself—do I have to be like that too?"

Li Shuo froze.

"I only told you not to hang out with Song Wuyi."

Li Shuo had endured for a long time. He could tolerate all the various companions who appeared around Li Su—but he couldn't tolerate another Song Wuyi.

Song Wuyi's appearance symbolized plunder and crisis.

He easily took the position Li Shuo had painstakingly built.

Because of his unique experiences, he held a special place in Li Su's heart, sharing a bond beyond ordinary friends.

That was something Li Shuo didn't have.

What Li Shuo had was only the fake blood running through the same veins.

Deceiving Li Su's ignorance and trust.

Sooner or later, Li Su would find out—they were nothing more than fake brothers. When that day came, would Li Su still treat him well?

When they were real brothers, Li Su insisted on siding with Song Wuyi.

When they weren't real brothers anymore, Li Su would abandon him without a second thought.