? only god knows 「 khunbam 」

Then there was that uncomfortable pursuit of silence, and their gazes turned towards the woman of powder blue, who placed the thermos she drank from on the side table with the same tension. She tucked a strand of hair on her ear before shifting herself to the same regal posture she wore back then when she calmly declared her desire to renounce her Khun lineage.

“Are you willing to listen to my request now, Aguero Agnis?”

At least that was one of the fewest moments where his admiration for her was justified. “Well, I know for sure that this is one request I cannot refuse.” The man gestured for Shibisu to stand by, averting his full, albeit not obvious, attention to Maschenny. “What do you want me to do for you, Maschenny?”

“Before anything else, I wanted to ask you something.” Aguero raised his brow at the introduction. “Why did you do that? Since when did you think paying off random peopleʼs debts was a good idea? Why are you approaching and digging over my nephewʼs records? Heck, how did you even know him? Are you perhaps planning to use him when the time comes?”

“You wound me, sister dearest. Is that how low you think of me?” the older Khun taunted with spite, throwing an expression of mocking hurt. “What if I just decided to prevent the hospice I am dying on from shutting down on a whim? What if I helped your fiancé out of the goodness of my heart? What if I just enjoyed Bamʼs company enough to want to know his personal affairs?”

“Aguero!”

“Is that so fucking hard to believe, Maschenny?!”

“Yes!” The bluenette exhaled sharply, running her hand through her messy locks in sheer exasperation. “You are not supposed to be like this! You are a cold, cunning, heartless, and manipulative bastard, and you actually doing things out of good intentions is not something one could take in stride!”

“Wow, says someone who chose to leave her so-called family for freedom while abandoning her brothers to rot in that shithole!” Aguero exclaimed in sarcasm before he could realize he was releasing things he had long decided to bottle up in the depths of his subconscious.

Once upon a time, he was reborn. Once upon a time, the self-loathing he decided to completely blame on a person who was just much of the systemʼs victim as he is was clouded with uncertainty. Once upon a time, there was Aguero, Maschenny, and Ran— spawns from a person who thrived from evil and decided to make a bond out of these strange circumstances. Once upon a time, he could pretend. Pretend that they were a family. Pretend that everything was fine and their mothers werenʼt forcing them to go forth and make history. Pretend that he wasnʼt an immortal, Ran wasnʼt a shitty younger brother, and Maschenny actually turned out to be a decent middle child. Then once upon a time, Maschenny took them to a last trip before declaring her departure and never return. And the flames of hatred he thought had already died out burned brighter than the north star.

“It was not my intention to make you feel like I abandoned you! I wanted to live, but I didnʼt want you to always keep cleaning after my mess any longer, so I chose to leave! I figured that you would get it together because you were the eldest!” Maschenny slammed her hands on the table out of frustration. “It worked, didnʼt it? You didnʼt have another kid to watch over, and now you broke free from them!”

“Ran was nine and devastated! I almost lost him to depression because some shitty biological sister just strutted out from his life like a last season trend! And now heʼs going to lose the one who stayed when you didnʼt in an indefinite time— literally! So yeah, call me whatever but I am going to do what I want and meddle with things!” The bluenet heaved out a heavy sigh. “So, in exchange for actually watching out for him in the US, tell me what you want me to do and let us get this over with.”

The tense atmosphere soon finally calmed down, and the cesspool of emotions lurking at the pit of his stomach had fallen into a ceasefire. Maschenny rummaged through her shoulder bag until she got hold of an ultramarine colored envelope, handing it towards Aguero with a small sigh of relief.

“I found out that they have been secretly buying out shares from the board members during V and Arleneʼs time, and theyʼve been transferring Bamʼs allowance to a spare bank account. Furthermore, there is a kid there who seems to have been emotionally manipulating and harassing Bam since childhood. Yuri told him once to drop her back when he almost died, but the little shit managed to worm her way back into his life.”

“You mean,” the man in cobalt blue speculated, scanning the documents in an almost inhumane speed. “Rachel Light?”

“You know about this one too?”

Aguero would have responded with an immediate, “Of course.” without any second thought. After all, it wouldnʼt take a genius to figure out how his system worked, so Bamʼs deep connection with the blonde would prevail. Though, it was still a cheap thrill that sends jots of electricity to his feet, because the last time he saw her, she was a B-list actress dragged under the rug by a drug controversy. However, he would not want to invite complicated and perplexing questions, so he opted towards the safest route.

“A process of elimination. Their families were once tight-knit and now, her family and his relatives joined hands in having his foster aunt hand over his custody.”

“I see.” The bluenette cleared her throat, looking away from his gaze. “If he couldnʼt listen to his friends and Yuri, then he most likely would not listen to me either. You, on the other hand, managed to keep him grounded and put him up with whatever this tutoring you two have going on, so maybe you are the only person he will be willing to listen to.”

The older pretended to thread carefully, but in truth, his mind had already began formulating every possible course of action to deal with those opportunists in the most painful way possible. “So, to what extent am I supposed to act and when should I start?”

“Let me handle Yuriʼs medical expenses. Iʼll pay the ones you have already shouldered by the next week with a 150% interest rate. In exchange, Iʼll make sure to convince Dr. Hansung to allow you to go to Yuriʼs wing and see the situation for yourself.” Also that reminds him, he never had gotten to settle the score with Rachel, no? They dare use a child who had no time to grieve his loved onesʼ death for their filthy desires? Heʼll make every single one of them motherfuckers pay, tenfold. “Donʼt tell Yuri I pushed my plan through. And, please help Bam live the way he and his parents would have wanted to. It is about time my future child stopped being other peopleʼs stabilizer.”

Aguero tapped on the metal that barred his bed, then stated, “Keep the money. Just think of all of this as my wedding gift, so you better not run away during the time that she needs you most like the cowardly bitch we think you are.”

“I am not a coward,” she hissed, and he countered.

“Then what made you decide to leave?”

“Because I was terrified of you. Frightened of what you would become. Afraid that youʼll end up like our father and mothers.”

The manʼs jaw clenched for a moment and Shibisu almost intervened, but was stopped with a gesture to stay in his place and a calm demeanor. Like a rebooted electronic and a refreshed state of mind. He let out a deep breath he hadnʼt realized he had been holding back. “Iʼll take care of the nuisances, but itʼs up to the child if he wants to cut Rachel Light off his life. If he wonʼt, Iʼll make sure she knows her place enough to not cause him harm. Otherwise, Iʼll silence her like I plan to do with the rest of the people involved with this scheme the moment I lose the little patience I have left.”

“Why do you care so much for a child you barely know?”

The siblings stared at each other with intensity. “Well, thatʼs simply because I like him. I plan to make him my successor.” Among other things. “Shibisu here wants to build his own agency, and the others will surely follow him like the flies they are. Ran is too untamed. I wonder where he got that from.”

“And you shouldnʼt have been worried about me turning out to be like those people.” Aguero sneered, eyeing Maschenny bitterly.

“Unlike them, Iʼll be dead.”