Chapter 9

It was the day when Dun turned ten years old. His mother said that she had a big present to give him. And he wanted it might be an understatement. He wanted so much that he, with his sparkling eyes as a child, was anticipating it all the time.

"Son, introduce yourself. His name is Nobel Lin and he will be your little brother from now on."

A skinny boy whose hair is shoulder length seems dirty all over his clothes. Although the boy had chubby cheeks, dark spots were here and there on his face. His hands were also dirty with the colours. His friends were murmuring about how the boy's dirty appearance made them lose their appetite.

Dun was extremely embarrassed and wondered why his mother gave the boy as a present to him. Dun ran away from his birthday party and cried out loud by sitting on the grass. He repeatedly kept shouting, "I don't want him. Take him away."

What he learnt on the next day was that the boy who could not be fed and bathed was mentally ill. Dun called him, " a fool." He continuously whined to his parents about how he did not want to accept the fool as his brother. His father scolded him and his mother gave a lecture to stop calling the boy 'a fool'.

When the boy was not in his right mind, he threw things with his straight face. He neither cried when he got beaten nor was afraid when he got coaxed. Dun hated that kid to the bones. On the contrary, all of the people in this house loved the boy to death. They told jokes to the boy and their attempt was boomeranged on themselves.

It is said that the boy could not understand his own feelings, let alone the other person's feelings.

When the boy was about to take a bath, Dun also took part in catching the boy. Dun also got wet while he was helping the boy to bathe. He forgot to have meals when he had to feed the boy.

Nobel Lin was such a kind of boy. He never talked back when Dun bullied him nor knew how to feel pain. He never attended a school that normal people would go to. But, surprisingly, he was proficient in three languages. What a joke!

In the year Dun took the matriculation exam, he started to have a relationship. And he brought a girl home and left her with Nobel Lin. Suddenly , the boy's disease flared up and ran away from home and nobody knew the reason. When his mother saw him running out of the house, she also followed him and tripped. On that day, Dun had lost a chance to see his kin. No one noticed she was expecting and after they knew it, she has already had a miscarriage. His mother's health deteriorated day by day and had to stay on the bed with the thought that she had lost her baby. His parents' hope for getting the next child was cruelly shattered although they tried many ways as they had Dun, an only child. She who had problems with the uterus had finally got a baby after a long time, hadn't she?

Even after all of this happened, both of his parents didn't blame Nobel Lin. They even asked Dun to find the boy. But Dun didn't obey and spent his time at the liquor store. Soon, his mother passed away due to heartache. On the day she breathed her last, Nobel Lin came back home. Dun beat him up and kicked him. Then he strangled him inside the locked room. He thought his mother had gone because of the boy. Nobel Lin didn't shed a tear even when every part of his body swelled up. He didn't cry when the one who had been good to him was gone. His mental state was nowhere good.

Dun's father didn't blame the boy and talked with him more often. His father also followed his mother soon. His parents left the words for Dun to take care of the boy. Isn't it surprising? Shouldn't he hate the boy?

Nobel Lin went to the Netherlands. Even so, there are also people who want to see the boy's smile. Their love hasn't changed in the slightest in these years. Even the warmth that Dun didn't receive has been offered to the boy.

Although the story is over, dissatisfaction Dun felt has yet come to an end.

"Mee Mee, don't you think he is more hateful than you? Even he has people who love him. So why do you think there's no person who loves you? You deserve to live more than him. Don't you think so?"

Although it's not fair for Nobel Lin, this is a story anyway. We call it 'a story' because everything can be changed and retold. It's true that he doesn't want Nobel Lin dead. There's no better punishment to live as a person who has no feelings.

"Is he your acquaintance?"

"Yes, he is my younger brother."

"Then, you got him as a birthday present?"

"You can say so. Not every present is good, right?"

"He's a bad guy. I'll help you avenge him when I meet that boy."

"No need, sweetie. You have to take medicine first. And live longer than him. Then, it's fair that bad guys live a long life as well as good guys."

"Okay, I'm gonna take medicine."

"You're a good girl."

After taking medicine, it's time to sleep so he stayed beside her for a moment.

"Doctor, your brother is here. I have him wait in the lounge."

"Oh, sure! I'll be in a minute."

For what reason is Nobel Lin here? There was no time to think and Dun darted off to the lounge.

When Dun enters, the boy who was sitting quietly hands two boxes over to him.

"What is this?"

Looking around the room, the boy gives no response. And what caught his interest was the sound of ticking from the clock on the table.

"Nobel Lin, go home. Without staying at home, what are you doing here?"

When Dun forced the boy to turn around and asked, the boy only pointed at the boxes. Dun got angry at the boy as the situation brought back the past and furthermore, he just made up the story about the boy.

"Nobel Lin, this is not the place where you can casually come and go. You are a fool. Well, although you are mentally sick, I don't want any of your troubles so you should stay at home."

Being a doctor, Dun had to watch his words. But when it comes to Nobel Lin, his words had no brakes.

The boy didn't listen to Dun. He took the boxes and gave them to Dun again.

"Tsk! Don't do as you like without listening to my words. What are these? I fuking don't want this. Nobel Lin!"

Dun's voice got louder and threw away the boxes. Carefully decorated Korean rice rolls, fried egg rolls, and beef curry that was Dun's favourite were all scattered over the floor.

"A bad guy!"

As Dun was looking at the lunch boxes, he heard a girl's voice behind him.

"Bam!"

Along with the sound, Dun saw the boy who instantly bowed his head. Did the boy get hit? Turning around, he saw Shin Min Myat who was holding her crutch. He was not sure how much force the girl used but the blood dripped nonstop from the boy's head continually. The boy neither cried nor said that he was hurt. He was just gazing at the girl.

"Nobel Lin, sit down, first. I think you may have a fracture in your forehead. Nurse, go get the medicine."

"Yes, doctor."

"Sweety, listen to me. Go back to your room. Okay?"

"No, I won't. That bad guy is here. I won't go. I'm going to help you avenge him."

"Look, sweety. He came here to send me lunch boxes. You don't need to worry, sweety. I'm safe."

Dun calmed her down and at the same time he also gave her sedative to put her to sleep. He told the nurse to bring the girl back. Then, he turned to Nobel Lin. The nurse was taking care of the boy.

"You can leave. I'll take care of the rest."

Dun let out a sigh only when the nurse left. He went beside the boy, knelt down and applied ointment on Nobel Lin who was sitting down on the sofa. Though the wound was not that big, the blood was still oozing out.

"Sorry. She is out of control. Is it painful? Well, you have to cry at least if you hurt. Don't you know the basis? You are truly calm even in this state. I wonder sometimes if you were the Bodhisatta."

Dun was just humming and hawing because he was worried. The boy was looking only at the rice which was all over the place without listening to Dun.

"I'll have someone clean this place. Tell me who encouraged you to bring the lunch box for me? This won't happen if you should have answered me when I was asking you."

As soon as he said this, he was sad after he saw the mess. It seemed the boy himself made it. That's why he persistently put it in Dun's hands.

"Have you had lunch?"

The boy gave no response and his attention was fully on the lunch boxes. So Dun turned and cupped the boy's face with his two hands and locked eyes with the boy.

"You didn't have anything, right? Come on, let's go eat at the canteen."