Control the Chaos

Chapter 5

Tin's POV

"Professor, please!"

Tin straightened his back to disappear even further into the shadow of the column he had been hiding behind. He had snuck into the classroom building of the Sports Department to observe Can, just to find him arguing with a professor.

Again.

"The volleyball team plays against University X next week. You know this is their most important match of the season. It would look really bad for us if they lost, they need to practice. Can't you delay the deadline for them until after the match? Please?"

Tin rolled his eyes upon hearing this. He had been observing Can for days now.

Originally, he had planned to call his father's secretary and figure out a way to get Can's family evicted from their home – and he had also planned on calling his contacts at the police to make a profile of the guy... in short, he had planned to launch his first attack. But something had held him back.

In his mind, he had defended his decision as wanting to collect more information on his target before he did anything. After all, he originally hadn't had more than a name and a blurry picture he had quickly taken with his phone.

Since he had promised to crush him and give it his best shot, he needed a proper plan first.

That was it, for sure. There couldn't be any other reasons.

He quietly followed Can and the professor, who were still arguing about a deadline for the volleyball team. Tin had a hard time understanding Can's motivation and it began to seriously intrigue him.

Can wasn't part of the volleyball team, as far as Tin was aware. Most of the members of that team – who had whined about the deadline before the professor had come out of the classroom – had rather conveniently disappeared. The two volleyball players who were still around and who had complained the loudest before, were now trying to appease the professor like cowards. They hadn't just abandoned Can, they were actively betraying him – and Can still hadn't backed down.

"That's unfair, Professor. I never said I wanted to delay the deadline for myself. Just the volleyball team."

Tin could hardly believe his ears.

This was exactly what he didn't get about Can, the more he saw of him. He was arguing with the professor on behalf of a group of people who had abandoned and betrayed him as soon as things got serious – and Can not only didn't seem to care, he was actually still trying to get what they wanted. With no benefit for himself.

Why?

Tin couldn't decide whether he was disgusted or impressed by this.

Can was the type of person who would run head-first into a fire to rescue someone else's pet – with no regards at all for his own safety. Even more importantly, he had already shown that he was fiercely loyal to his friends before, when he had challenged Tin.

The more clearly he saw him, the more Tin needed to exert all his self-control not to intervene and protect Can from himself.

He hadn't expected that. Tin had firmly believed that he had learnt his lesson well when his brother had betrayed him. He would never be swayed by another person again. Everyone was out there for themselves and it was and remained a dog eat dog world.

If he needed proof, not even Pete could truly touch him any deeper than the pity and protectiveness he felt for him.

But observing Can made his heart ache in a way he had never felt before.