Despite what Amber said, and despite her attempt to be reasonable with him, and even despite her threat to break up, it was the word “guilty” that finally convinced Ian.
“Alright.”
And after that, he would always take some time to check on his brother once in a while.
Of course, Amber didn’t know that Ian’s method of giving attention to his family members was also very strange. this instance, he called Daren and merely asked, “Are you free?”
After Daren said that he was, Ian sent someone to pick him up and drive him over to his place. There, the two brothers sat there and stared at each other for a few minutes. After Daren inevitably became uncomfortable and started sweating nervously, Ian finally asked, “Do you still want her?”
Daren nodded shyly. Even though he was afraid of Ian, he was also very clear on what he had to say in front of his brother.
The truth. Nothing more, and nothing less.
Ian didn’t get mad. He just cooly replied, “Oh,” and then didn’t speak another word.
With that, he sent Daren back, leaving him very confused.
That night, Ian told Amber, “It didn’t work.”
How could Amber have extrapolated what had happened from those few words? So, all she said in reply was, “It’s fine. As long as his feelings haven’t intensified, that’s good enough. Just let my brother try talking to him a little more.” And then she instructed, “Keep checking up on him too.”
And so, whenever Ian wasn’t too busy, he’d call someone to bring Daren over and sit down with him for a few minutes. It would always last until Daren … wanted to die. However, he was stubborn enough to never relent in front of Ian.
At the same time, after Ruby and Daren “got to know each other,” they started to become “close friends” in real life even though the former thought that the latter stayed at home too much and went out too little.
In fact, Ruby even said, “Given what you do in real life, how many females have you actually met? It’s because you’ve seen too little of the real world that you grew so attached to an online relationship, you know?”
So, whenever Ruby had the time, he would drag Daren out to a nightclub. Of course, they started with something mild, like just inviting a few drinking buddies along and having fun.
Daren was soft, delicate, and liked to blush, so all the girls treated him like a younger brother, and they particularly enjoyed teasing him. Every time this happened, Daren would hide behind Ruby, and Ruby would pretend to scold everyone. “Hey, that’s my brother! You’re not allowed to tease him like that!” In Daren’s eyes, his “sweetheart’s” brother was a larger-than life personality.
And perhaps because Daren’s personality gave him more courage, or perhaps it was because he’d grown used to Ian’s aura after meeting him so often over these past days, but one day, right when Ian was about to send him away, he asked, “Brother, do you really like her?”
Ian nodded without a trace of hesitation. “Yes.”
“Do you like her to the point where she’s the only person in the world for you, where she’s the only person you’d ever be willing to marry?”
Ian seriously considered his question for a little, and then calmly responded, “I don’t know. But I know that I’ve never loved anybody else as much as her before.”
Honestly, this really wasn’t a deep confession or anything for Ian; these were just his heartfelt thoughts. For this fellow who loathed troublesome affairs, finding a girlfriend was troublesome enough that he greatly desired to tightly bind Amber to himself.
Otherwise, he’d have to start over from the beginning, make a new plan, pick out more presents, and look at trashy books and ridiculous “action flicks;” the energy that he’d have to spend to find a new girlfriend was just too much, ok?!
But Daren was really shocked by his brother’s words-as Ian’s brother, even if they weren’t very close, he was still very familiar with what kind of person Ian was.
For someone who didn’t even care about his family that much to care so much about Amber was … incredible. Daren felt his heart ache, ache with tremendous pain.
Daren looked at his brother in a daze. “Brother, what does liking someone feel like?” He clutched at his chest and wanted to ask him if it really felt like what the books described, where your heart raced, your soul felt like it was departing, and for her to fill your heart and eyes. However, his heart was aching too much for him to say anything.
“It feels terrible.”
“???”
Daren looked at his brother with a stupid expression.
And then, he heard his brother, who seemed to never partake in worldly affairs, say, “It feels terrible. Whenever I see her, I really want to have sex with her. However, I still have to restrain myself.”
Daren was speechless.
Ian asked him with a severe expression, “Do you want to have sex with her whenever you see her?”
Daren’s face caught on fire with a “Ping!” He blushed a deep red, and quickly responded by shaking his head and waving his hands in refusal.
“Oh, so you don’t really love her then.” He looked at the silly little brother sitting in front of him and aloofly lectured, “If you still insist on saying that you love her even if you feel this way, then wouldn’t that just be silly?”
Daren: ! ! ! ( o ) ! ! !