Chapter One #2
Aches crawled up and down his spine, his stomach tumbled with the air turbulence, and his butt flattened like stone against the seat of a sixteen-hour flight.
He stumbled off the plane, his legs numb, but a smile continued beaming as the air of Hong Kong’s airport hit his nose.
Amongst the crowd waiting, Hui Ye’s head towered above others with his stylized pitch-black hair that reminded Aiden of CEOs modeled on magazines.
His tailored jackets and one-of-a-kind specially designed sunglasses from whichever rare designer Aiden wouldn’t know glistened underneath the airport’s lights.
Smile stretching wider, Aiden waved his whole body.
The two ran up to each other, arms stretched, but stopped right when they could reach each other.
His brother grabbed his suitcase to take to the car waiting outside.
“Wang Xing, this is my little brother, Lang. Lang, this is Wang Xing. My life is in his hands every day once you see how bad the streets can be.” Hui Ye settled in the back.
The chauffeur looked back with a polite smile, highlighting the wrinkles on his forehead and his receding hairline. “Good to meet you, Lang.”
“Nice to meet you!” Aiden fell back against the impeccably clean black leather seats with a sigh, rotating the ache of his shoulders away.
“How was the flight? Exhausting?”
“More than you know.”
“Well, you don’t need to worry about anything. I’ll plan our schedules every day. I’m taking you to the best restaurants, and if any distractions come my way, I’ll just silence my phone. You like museums, and trust me, we’ve got great museums here.”
The sweet song of a Chinese singer blended with his brother’s droning voice in perfect harmony, despite how high pitched she sang and how low pitched he spoke.
His brother’s straight shoulders, forward eyes, and relaxed smile, lulled Aiden to the wheels churning beneath his body.
It’s fine now. Hui Ye’s here. He’ll take care of everything for me. Aiden fell asleep in the car.
For two weeks, he lived and slept in bliss.
Then, the weather abruptly changed on his last day. A flash of lightning splitting the gray sky reminded Aiden of the headlights from a black van pulling around the corner. Men in sunglasses, despite the darkness of the night, stepped out and pointed their guns toward the window of a house.
“Aiden, are you listening?”
Jumping, he looked away from the gloomy world outside and back at his older brother. Hui Ye tipped his head. “Clearly not. I guess you’ve gotten bored of me already.”
“That’s not true—I was just distracted by the storm.” Aiden straightened against the seat. “What’d you say?”
“I’m asking if you wanted to go anywhere else before your flight. And while we’re on that topic, we should buy you some snacks before you head back to the States.”
“I don’t need to go anywhere else. Snacks would be nice.” Aiden’s lips quivered. The clap of thunder and sudden downpour of rain sounded like bullets pelting against the glass. His hands continued to shake. He jammed them under his legs and prayed his brother didn't notice.
He glanced over to ask about the restaurant they were heading to, but his brother focused beyond the car window. An empty road stretched before them, and the car glided against the rain.
Hui Ye reached for Wang Xing. “Hey, I told you that I like busy roads.”
“The weather is bad today, Hui Ye. Not many people are out on the roads.”
“This is Hong Kong. There are always people out on the roads, no matter the weather. Find one.” He settled back against the leather seat with a slight jitter in his leg.
He reached into his jacket, revealing the handle of a weapon, and ran his thumb over the cold steel gun.
Aiden tensed at the sight, but Hui Ye just turned toward him with a bright smile.
“I’m sorry, Aiden. I know you’re probably annoyed that I keep taking us into traffic. ”
“It’s fine. It’s business…” He glanced down. “You still don’t have…business today, do you?”
“Everyone’s aware today is your last day with me. If they have any respect for me, they'll let me spend every last second with my younger brother.”
The car turned sharply onto a larger road and slowed upon approaching a long line of cars.
Hui Ye’s hand loosened from around the gun and pulled out his phone instead.
“I don’t really have anything planned after lunch.
I wanted to go to the park today, but we can’t with this weather. Why don’t we catch a movie instead?”
The tight coils relaxed around Aiden’s chest. He smiled. “Yeah, I’m down for anything. What do you want to watch?”
He leaned over to look at his brother’s phone, but angry honks blasted from behind.
Both of them jumped at the fury cutting through the tinted glass.
Wang Xing stuck his head out into the rain, releasing a string of profanities at the driver behind them, and ducked back inside the car, grumbling with a dripping head.
The two brothers watched the drama unfold with wide eyes. Aiden pursed his lips, but upon seeing Hui Ye’s own cheeks ballooning like a puffer fish, they both gave into their laughter. “Oh man, if only they knew who they were honking at.” Aiden snorted.
“I’d be tempted to reveal our identities if it didn’t mean getting myself, the family, and the group in trouble all at once.” Hui Ye wiped his eyes. “Head of the Famous Hui Reveals Entire Existence Due to Hong Kong Local Because He Got Honked At. That’s a good headline.”
“Yeah, right. That headline would never exist.”
“It definitely can. In a fantasy perhaps.”
Aiden’s smile faltered slightly. He eyed the gun against his brother’s jacket.
“Stop thinking so hard. I can see the rabbit hole of questions written all over your face.” His brother pushed him back. “Are you here to visit me or are you here to stress about my life?”
“Visit,” Aiden answered resolutely.
“Then don’t think about my life at all.” His brother leaned forward to Wang Xing. From behind, Aiden could see Wang Xing’s lips twitch in annoyance at the snail-paced traffic. His brother patted Wang Xing on the shoulder with a disarming smile.
The chauffeur relaxed but rolled his eyes. “You don’t pay me enough,” he grumbled.
“For today, Wang Xing, I will give you a raise.”
· · ·
“Xiao long bao.” The waitress lifted the bamboo top from the container. A mist of steam floated into the air, and the scent of soup dumplings permeated the room. Aiden’s eyes glowed as the food rolled in—pork buns, shumai, and rice noodle rolls.
He clicked his chopsticks. The second the waitress left, he reached over, picked the dumpling up, and placed it in dipping sauce.
“Careful, it’s hot,” his brother said, but Aiden had already bitten a hole through the dumpling and carefully drank the soup.
Warm and salty flavors of pork that smoothed over like water burst upon his tongue. Aiden sighed longingly, savoring the bite. “I’m never going to get food as good as this back in the States,” he lamented. “Every restaurant makes the long flight worth it.”
“Right?” His brother grabbed sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf.
Aiden could not stop grinning. He reached for a shrimp dumpling to devour when Hui Ye spoke first with a question. “Are you excited to go back?”
He froze in place, chopsticks nearly crushing the shrimp dumpling he picked up. “Yeah, sure. I am. It’ll be fine. Everything will be fine. She’ll stop nagging me about it eventually.” He shoved the dumpling into his mouth and chewed slowly.
His brother leaned back with his eyebrow raised. “I was asking about whether you were excited to start college.”
“Oh.” He stared down at his plate. “You think I’ll make friends there?”
Hui Ye blinked. “Of course. Making friends is easy.”
“Well, if it’s anything like the academy, no, it’s not. It’s all just a game of survival,” Aiden scoffed. He stabbed another shrimp dumpling and dropped it on his plate.
“Use what I taught you. You’ll make friends in no time.”
He swirled the soy sauce with his chopstick. “You mean those lessons about reading people?”
“Yes. They’re not just skills to protect your life.”
What if it doesn’t work that way? Aiden thought, swirling the soy sauce harder.
Observe their behavior. Look at their eyes.
Eyes don’t hide emotions the way body language can.
Listen to the inflections in their voice.
Do they lean forward? If they do, they like to lead.
Do they lean backward? If they do, they like to insinuate.
Like an instruction manual, he repeated the lessons back.
“I’m just scared I’m going to go there, and everything that Yin Mei says is going to come true.
That I don’t belong. That I can’t be normal like everyone else.
That my place is with Infinite and with the family.
” He pulled the shrimp dumpling into pieces with his chopsticks.
“Because what am I going to do if she’s right? ”
The waitress suddenly entered, and both brothers stopped their conversation and smiled pleasantly. Aiden feigned his gasps at the last three dishes placed on the table and observed the food aloud until she left them alone.
His smile dropped from his face. His hands shook underneath the table. Finally, he looked up into his brother’s eyes. “What if I don’t find my place?”
Hui Ye sighed. He leaned over and squeezed Aiden’s shoulder. “This is going to be your first year. Relax.”
“But—”
“And for the record, you will find other people to belong to.” Hui Ye dropped a shumai, a pork bun, and the last soup dumpling onto his plate. “Have I ever lied to you?”
Aiden shook his head, staring at the food.
“So, believe me when I say you’re okay. Attend those organization fairs. You’ll find a club, and you’ll make a bunch of friends there. I have no doubt about it.”
Aiden slowly nodded. He brought the soup dumpling to his mouth and gently sucked out the soup before eating the dumpling whole. Smooth warmth filled his body.
He looked at his brother’s empty plate. Always thinking of me first. He dropped a rice noodle onto his brother’s plate.
Hui Ye smiled, and the silence wrapped around them like a cozy blanket. The two gorged on the food before them.
· · ·
Aiden stumbled into his brother’s apartment, holding his stomach and gasping for air.
With a groan, Hui Ye tossed his keys on the table. “Did you really have to laugh the entire ride back? Wang Xing was getting annoyed.”
“Wang Xing was two seconds away from getting fired for insubordination,” Aiden wheezed, wiping the tears from his eyes. “Should I be concerned that you screamed at every jump scare?”
“I just had my guard down.” Aiden watched Hui Ye’s face.
Hui Ye rolled his eyes dramatically, but his embarrassment for not only screaming, but screaming so loudly that Aiden had to plug his ears with his own fingers to drown out the noise, still announced itself to the world through red-tipped ears.
“If people start demanding answers, or if you’re trying to tell a lie, go cold.
Act like you don’t care, act like you’ve been through this, and act like everything’s a joke,” Aiden repeated his brother’s lessons verbatim with a grin.
“Exactly like how you’re acting right now.
Since I’m not demanding anything of you, that means you’re lying.
” He followed his grumbly brother into the bedroom.
A shimmer of sparkles reflected in Aiden’s eyes, and he stepped back in surprise.
He stared at a lime green dress with a V-neck plunge laid out on his brother’s bed, decked in beads with fringes decorating the ends of the short skirt.
Like everything Hui Ye owned, Aiden wouldn’t be surprised if it was custom made.
A custom-made dress for a woman.
He stared at the dress a few seconds longer.
A woman was in his room.
Heart racing, Aiden dashed over to Hui Ye, who was washing his face in the in-suite bathroom, when the doorbell rang.
Aiden froze, and his brother’s hands dropped from his face. The two glanced at each other. He immediately moved inward into the bathroom, while Hui Ye moved outward to the intercom. The intercom beeped.
I don’t want to know what he deals with. I can’t know what he deals with. Aiden huddled alone.
Footsteps sounded from the front door. He peeked out into the entryway.
Four individuals in expensive suits and shiny shoes stood before Hui Ye.
His brother mumbled something and sat down on the edge of the sofa.
His shoulders relaxed, but his eyes remained focused enough to aim to kill.
They caught sight of Aiden and softened.
“Aiden, go down to the lobby. I’ll catch up with you there, and we can figure out what we want for dinner.” The stillness of Hui Ye’s voice scared Aiden more than pelting rain.
He snatched a jacket, slipped into his shoes, and escaped into the elevator. The opera music sang in a haunting rhythm in the closed space. He fiddled with his fingers.
He couldn’t read the strangers who entered his brother’s place uninvited. Their faces were set in stone. What does that mean again? He searched through his brothers’ lessons.
The elevator door dinged open. He stepped out, still picking at the quicks of his fingernails. How long should I wait for him? He sat down in a chair, foot immediately tapping away at the marble floor. What if something goes wrong? He looked around. Is there anyone I can call? Just in case?
“Here you go, sir.” One of the employees of the apartment handed him a glass of water with lime.
Aiden took it with a slight smile. He brought the glass to his lips. A sweet scent, unlike the lime that hung on the edge, curled up his nose.
He froze. Heart racing, he sniffed the lime, and its distinct sour slammed into him. Aiden threw the lime out and smelled the water again.
The scent of roses continued to rise like smoke.
His stomach jumped to his throat. He slammed the glass water onto the table.
Look at their faces.
He whipped around, inspecting the individuals roaming around him. Their casual clothes, business clothes, and fancy clothes befitting the super-rich living in this complex passed around him with little care.
Read their behavior.
His eyes searched every passing face, who squinted back at him in confusion or looked away with noses scrunched.
Look at their eyes.
“Sir, you dropped this.” The quiet employee who handed him the water said behind him.
Aiden pivoted on his feet with his arms raised, ready to throw a punch, but a sharp pain jabbed into his neck.
“Are you okay? Let me take you somewhere to sit down.”
His vision blurred. He stopped feeling his body.