"Where is Mr. Kin?" The first question that came out of Kiryu's mouth when a maid walked past was to look for the person whose whereabouts were unknown. He had sent a message to him but did not receive a reply. As for the food, it was placed on the dining table until it started to get cold. She paused and hesitated to answer a little because she had only walked past this way to collect the plates.
"The young master is probably in his room, sir."
"In that case…" Kiryu, who intended to ask her to go up and get his master, had to stop himself and change his mind. He revealed his own style of smile, making her feel less worried. He knew better than anyone that everyone here was afraid of Kin.
"I'll go get him myself."
"Yes, Mr. Kiryu." She nodded and bowed slightly and walked away. As for him, it was time to stop waiting in the kitchen.
Kiryu had never been to Kin's room, but he thought it was not too difficult to find. At least, besides Phupha's room, the office, the library, the bathroom, and the kitchen, he knew which rooms he had never been to. The beautifully carved wooden door. He knocked with the back of his hand two or three times, as was the courtesy he was taught before entering someone else's room. It didn't take long for the resident of the room to open the door and welcome him without wondering who had come to visit.
"Is there anyt- Oh, when did you get here?" Kin's face seemed a little surprised when he saw Kiryu. The smaller man slowly changed his expression. The tightly knitted brows relaxed a bit, leaving only an indifferent expression. Kiryu sensed that immediately.
"Mr. Kin, I sent a message a while ago. Did you not see it?" Kiryu said in a soft, calm, and gentle voice because he did not want the person in front of him to feel that he was being scolded or reprimanded. His heart dropped all the way to his toes as if what happened yesterday wasn't real. A small worry arose that the other person might return to being the frightening Kin once more.
"I didn't check…" Instead of being yelled at or cursed at, as he had imagined, Kin only sighed and confessed about the phone that was placed face down and he didn't even think to pick it up and look at it. Kin had just completely forgotten that Kiryu said he would come, even though they had just talked through chat not long ago.
"If you are not available today, should I go back?"
"…Uh… No, I…"
"You told me you were busy from the start, but I was stubborn and came anyway." Kiryu added a reason why he should go back. But when he saw a face like a sad puppy, how could Kin let him go so easily? It took a lot of traveling to get here, so if he agreed to that suggestion, it would mean he had wasted Kiryu's time for nothing.
"That's true, but let's go eat. You went to the trouble of buying it, didn't you?" Kin revealed a small smile on his face before walking past the young man, with a strange scent lingering at the tip of his nose. Kiryu frowned, unsure of what he was smelling. He hoped it wasn't what he thought.
"What did you buy?" As soon as he stepped into the kitchen, he saw the food boxes that hadn't been arranged. They were still in opaque boxes. So he started looking for the plates and bowls in another room nearby.
"I don't know what you like, so I ordered some safe dishes like fried fish, fried chicken, fried pork, and fried shrimp." The way the other person ordered food was so funny that he couldn't help but laugh. Kin admitted that until just a moment ago, he was still in a bad mood because of Phupha.
"I like fried food. Oh… I like fish too. Thank you."
"…O..okay." Kiryu froze at the thank you that was attached to the end of the sentence. He raised his hand to touch his ear and his mind went blank for a while, as if what he had heard wasn't real, while he watched Kin walk past into another room that they usually didn't go into.
"Wait, what are you getting?" Kiryu grabbed the other person's arm before the door to the nearby room was opened. Kin turned back and replied in a clear voice with confidence.
"Plates. How can we eat without plates?"
"That, let the maids…"
"It's just plates. Get it yourself. You shouldn't be so lazy."
Instead of Kin agreeing, it turned out that Kiryu was scolded for being lazy. When he regained his senses, he followed him inside and stood watching Kin pick up the plates and spoons and forks, all in the number he needed, amidst the astonishment of the two or three servants who were there but still didn't dare to say anything.
"You know how to unwrap and pour it onto the plate, right?" Kiryu quickly nodded and helped, picking up the food boxes, opening them, and pouring them onto the clean white plates. The sound of the plates and spoons hitting the glass tabletop echoed as we were preparing food for ourselves.
"I'll go warm it up for you." Kiryu reached for the rice plate that he was holding. Even though it was cold, Kin thought he could eat it. But before he could stop him, the other person had already disappeared from the dining room.
The fragrant smell of rice, ready to be eaten with a total of four fried food menus, was beautifully arranged on the dining table. They started to sit down and began to eat the meal that Kiryu had bought together. Even though it was a bit cold, it still maintained its good taste very well.
"I heard that you are going to divorce Phupha…" Kiryu, who had been sitting and staring at his face for a while, finally decided to speak up about what had happened.
"I already told you yesterday."
"Were you not kidding?"
Kin laughed as soon as he heard the other person finish speaking. The eating was therefore paused for a moment.
"I wasn't kidding." Kin didn't know if he was being too naive about it. In his head, he just wanted a divorce. Both he and Phupha did not love each other. Besides, according to the storyline, Phupha would have to fall in love with Pinyin anyway. So if he cut the problem and ended everything here, it would probably be easier. The sooner the better.
The meal between him and Kiryu went better than he had expected. Even though they didn't talk much, they were comfortable enough not to make the taste of the food bland. He didn't know if the other person felt the same way. But now he thought that after this matter was over, it would be good to have another meal together.
The plates of food were left empty. It was the first meal he had eaten so fully that his stomach felt this tight. When he saw the other person stand up,.
"I'll take my leave now."
"I'm sorry that you had to go through the trouble of coming all the way here just to eat." He also stood up and walked over to him.
"It's alright."
"We can still stay in touch, right?"
"Of course." When he agreed, the other person smiled just like yesterday. What a man who doesn't think to hide his emotions at all.
They parted ways. He walked to see the other person off at the motorbike he had ridden, and then he returned inside the house and went to look for a familiar maid who was walking right in the middle of the house.
"Auntie." Kin called out to the other person before walking past her.
"Yes?"
"I want to go back home to see my parents."
"…Huh? You want to go back to see Master?" The auntie's eyes widened even more. Her face showed such shock that he wondered if there was something wrong. Or was he not allowed to meet his family or something like that?
"Yes. Can't I?"
"You can, but in that case, you would have to call and ask for the master's free time first." Kin frowned. He had never encountered a situation before where a child wanting to see their parents had to ask for an appointment first. What is this? A school or something? Or is Kin actually an employee at the company who wants to meet the executive? Is he not a real son or something?
"Oh… I understand. In that case, can I ask you to do it for me?"
"Yes, young master." She agreed readily before she excused herself to continue with her own errands.
Kin still stood thinking about Kin's family. He couldn't guess what it was like, but if they indulged their child so much that they could force Pupha to marry him, it might not be that difficult. Then why did the auntie look so shocked like that?
Kin shook off his doubts and went back to his own life while waiting for the appointment with his family. He opened and scrolled through his mobile phone to see what was there but didn't find much. There was a one-sided chat with Pupha that was nothing more than checking up on him. There were no chats with his parents or siblings. Another thing was a work chat with his secretary. As for the latest chat, it was him and Kiryu talking about today's dinner. Until now, he realized that Kin was terribly friendless.
When he opened the gallery, he didn't find anything more than pictures of general things. There were almost no pictures of his own face, even though he was so beautiful. His social media accounts could be said to have almost no posts. They were empty and only had posts on important occasions, like the wedding.
He looked at a picture of two men in white suits. One person smiled with a feeling of great happiness. And the other person next to him had a sullen face, making it obvious that in this wedding, only one person felt their wish had been fulfilled. He kept scrolling through other pictures aimlessly before a knock on the door drew his attention away from him who was sitting and staring blankly at the pictures.
"Young master, your father said that he is free next Wednesday, but you must go to see him before 1 p.m." As soon as he opened the door, the person on the other side of the door immediately opened her mouth and told him about the matter he had asked about just a moment ago.
"Thank you, auntie." She made a strange face again when he said thank you. Everyone he said thank you to made that face, so he didn't want to waste his brain thinking about it. Saying thank you is such a good thing. Why do they have to be so shocked?
Wednesday morning? He is the president of the company, so not going in for a day would probably not be a problem. He can go in after the talk is finished or just tell Nutcha to take on the work first. Kin eagerly awaited the day he would get to meet his family, with curiosity about what it would be like.
In the meantime, he worked so hard that his head spun. He raised his hand to hold his temples with a brain that seemed like it was about to burst with the new work that had nothing to do with the work he had done in his other life at all. Kin's company had created product brands for several subsidiary companies. And yes, he knew nothing about management at all. I can tell you right now that if he didn't have Nutcha, he would probably die for real. Finally, the day he had been waiting for arrived.
Kin woke up early to get himself ready. He chose the clothes he thought would make him look the best and styled his hair politely. He didn't know why, but he just thought that a person like Kin probably wouldn't want his parents to see him in a bad condition, that's all.
Parents, huh? What will it be like?
On the way there, he just sat quietly with excitement. In his head, he only thought about what he should say first. Would they misunderstand because he had never met his father or mother before in his life? What kind of words should he use, how polite should he be, or can he be casual because after all, they are family?
"We've arrived, young master." Kin flinched a little when he was pulled out of his trance. He nodded and got out of the car before looking up at the big house that wasn't that different from the one he was staying in. A servant walked out to meet him as soon as she saw him. The other person bowed and gestured toward the house, along with walking to lead the way for him.
The master is waiting in the reception room. He followed her without knowing anything. Everything here was so new that he couldn't help but secretly glance this way and that until his eyes met with a man who was walking quickly down the stairs.
"Kin?"
"Yes?" He watched the other person who was walking straight towards him, so he had to stop his footsteps and stop walking behind the female servant who also stopped walking. The other person had a face similar to his but looked much more handsome and sharp. He didn't have a collar and was taller, so he had to look up. Both his hair and eye color were exactly the same.
"What are you doing here?"
"…Uh, to talk to dad."
"What else do you want?" The voice he used was not very pleasant to listen to. Kin realized immediately that this man probably didn't like him very much. Combined with the expression and eyes as if he wasn't a family member, Kin didn't want to argue and waste time.
"I just came to talk to dad." He just replied that and continued to walk without caring what the other person would say. Luckily, the elder brother didn't say anything to be offensive to the ear, so he didn't have to turn around and seriously curse him. The maid led him to the reception room and found an elderly man sitting and reading some documents.
Kin looked at the old man with a full head of white hair but still looked good. He was wearing a white shirt with a well-fitting dark blue vest over it. The other person looked up at him, and before he could even greet him or do anything, he sighed.
"I already make you marry Phupha, what else is there?"
"…" Kin was silent at the first sentence that came out of his father's mouth. Whether it's his brother or his father, why is it that only people say things like this to him? Is this kid disliked even by his own family? He calmed himself down for a moment before saying what he wanted so as not to waste both of their time.
"Dad, I want a divorce."
The other person stared at his face silently as if he was trying to suppress his own emotions.
"Why do you always like to do things like this?" The other person put down the documents and raised a hand to massage his own temple. Kin then knew that he had made a mistake.
"If you want a divorce, what about the business that has already been agreed upon?"
"Is there no way, dad, that we won't lose the…"
"No!" Kin flinched when his father shouted loudly across the room. His body shook uncontrollably with the fear that was consuming his mind.
"I told you to think about how much I've done for you! Not to come here to find a way to divorce Phupha!" If it were him now, he would be able to answer with a full mouth that he didn't know what had happened before. It wasn't even written in the novel, so how could he know? But he was too afraid of this man to argue. Kin moved back and lowered his head, and could only tremble. He didn't even dare to open his lips to make a sound. His mind was blank and he gave up easily.
"I won't let you divorce!" Father shouted loudly across the room.
"What are you, crazy?! At first you begged me to death. You wanted to marry this person and wouldn't listen to anything. And now you come to ask for a divorce? What is wrong with you? Who is going to indulge you for your entire life?!"
"When I give it to you, you don't stop your selfish habits. Where will it stop? I won't let you divorce!" He accidentally closed his eyes and tried to stop himself from raising his hands to cover his ears from the sound that was getting louder from his father's rising anger, before everything went silent with the sound of a door opening and a new person walking in.
"Father."