A small mistake
Viktor steadily followed the lady and went inside a small family restaurant near the elementary school where he used to study. It was small, cosy and a bit older than other family businesses near it.
It was her 2nd husband's family restaurant.
33 years ago when Flora was only a high school student, she fell in love with Ivon's father. She was only 17 when she got pregnant with her first child but still, she decided to have a family at that age. Both of their family accepted their decision and they got married at 18.
It was a wonderful family until an occurrence happened that took her husband's life. She was kicked out of her family because of that she was left with Ivon all alone on the road.
She failed to take care of him and left him in an orphanage where her childhood friend used to work. After that, she did as many part-time jobs as she could and donated them to the orphanage so that his son could get the highest treatment that they could give.
Not even a year after she maintained that position as a single woman, she met a man and again fell in love. Despite her pitiful life, she decided to move forward because life and time don't sit tight for anyone.
She again became pregnant with her second husband's child and she gave birth to a boy.
Ivon became 2 years older than his stepbrother unknowingly.
'It's really interesting that my father was a gangster and he was shot dead. No wonder he made my mom pregnant when she was only 17-_-. What a bad kid he was…'
Viktor took a sip of his tea and said, "Miss, I thought that Ivon was an orphan. But it's really hard to believe that he was actually thrown out. Did something happen during his young age?"
"Yes, you see. My 1st husband died when he was barely 11 months old. My family kicked me and my baby out and I was only 19 at that time. I had to buy baby food, pay rent for a small room, buy my food, pay for childcare and lots of other things. I was only a high school student so I wasn't educated enough to take care of a baby and all the financial matters alone. I had no choice but to leave him at the orphanage and hoped that he could have a better family. I hoped that he could get a family that suits him."
Viktor smiled a little to hear that and said, "It's okay, miss. You did your best. He must be happy now that his mother is living a good life."
"I am a failure as a good parent. When I got married to my second husband, I wanted to take Ivon again. Even my new husband agreed with that. But the orphanage was already under the influence of big politicians. They kept the talented kids until they found wealthy families. So we were unable to get Ivon back and then 5 years later, we heard that he was adopted by a rich wealthy family. At that time, my second son was already 6 years old."
"I see. So they didn't let you adopt him. Instead, they waited for a rich family to come so that they could earn tons of money."
'Looks like I'll be handling some charity work this month.'
Viktor suddenly looked at the entrance of the restaurant and saw a young man walking inside with a chihuahua. He looked somewhat alike as Flora so he took a glance at his record.
He was the stepbrother that Flora was talking about.
His name was Jion Kim.
"Mom? You're here. ..hu? Who's this?"
Flora smiled and welcomed him back. But when she started to introduce him, she realised that she'd never asked him for his name.
"I'm Viktor E. North. Ivon North was someone really close to me. We might not be the same age, but he treated me as a good friend. Please take care of me."
"Ah.. you don't need to stand up. But I'm really curious. Why do you and my brother have the same surname? Are you perhaps my brother's son? You don't look more than 15 years old."
Viktor laughed a little and said, "Haha..No You're wrong. I'm way older than you think."
"Please, take it as a joke..hahaha… I am Jion Kim. Ivon North's stepbrother. I used to follow him a lot back in middle school but I never had that courage to talk to him since he never knew of mine nor his real mother's existence."
Come to think of it, there was such a boy who used to follow me back in middle school when I was in 3rd year. He used to be glued to me as a shadow but for some reason, he never faced me.
So I didn't pay much attention to him but I'm sure there was such a person who used to give me chills sometimes. I guess it was him who used to follow me.
"I see. When he was in college, he was the best student of the year. But he used to drink a lot because of depression. His classmates used to stop him from messing things up and sent him to his home before 3 am.
But at the end of the day, he was all alone.
After he lost his job. He did some part-time jobs and finally became a shut-in and started writing as his new career. The day he finished his novel, he jumped out of the window and ended his life for good."
Flora started to cry and then she asked, "I read his novel. He was a great writer. But 2 months ago, it disappeared from the internet. I couldn't even finish it."
'That's because I deleted it. It contained some clues so I had to erase them. Moreover, I don't want Adonis to see his life's ending as a statue. He'd be really sad if I saw that he was a mere side character in my novel where he died pitifully. He'd feel insulted if he saw that-_-.'
"The editor must've deleted it since he was dead. I heard that Ivon wanted to erase everything so he must've said something to him. Anyway, do you regret your life decisions, miss?"
"I don't know, young man. I feel blessed to have a family now. But I also regret leaving my baby there. If I just could be a little patient, he wouldn't have to go through hell."
"It's okay, miss. You don't have to feel that way. I am sure Ivon is living a great life somewhere as a different person. I am sure he's alright."
Viktor finished his tea and then looked at Jion's face. He was staring at him so Viktor asked, "Is something wrong?"
"May I ask how old you are?"
"Oh… I'm 36 years old" Viktor replied.
At that moment, he frowned his eyebrows and said, "You said that your name was Viktor E. North from the North family. From my knowledge, I know the North family very well. The chairman of QH is from the North family and he got a younger brother called Viktor E. North who's a student of Elite High. He's not more than 19. The website doesn't contain a fake photo of you, does it?"
Jion showed him his photo on a public website from his phone and then said, "You shouldn't have any connection with my brother because you came here only a year ago and you're only 19. How can a kid like you have a connection with my 31-year-old brother? Something is really wrong here."
'Ah.. I should've read his full record and then tell lies. Now I have to erase her memories. I made a mistake…'
Viktor covered his right eye with the palm of his hand and quickly erased the age that he talked about and made himself Ivon's friend's younger brother in just a second. He then stood up and said, "Please excuse me. I guess I'll have a small chat with your son."
Flora smiled and said, "Yes, sure. Please take care of your hyung. I'll help my husband in the kitchen."
"Wait, mom! What are you talking about?"
Viktor dragged him out of the restaurant and then took him behind it to have a little chat. He then said "No wonder why you looked so familiar. You're that punk who spilt juice on my shirt when I was going inside my class back in the summer. You nearly cried because you thought I might hit you."
"H..how do you know?" The young man asked.
"I know quite a lot of things though. But I never thought that it was my little brother who really existed and had a big brother like me."
"What are you even talking about, you freak? Are you mad?"
"Nope. I'm just giving my lil brother a beating. Since I never got the chance to take responsibility as a big brother, I was thinking about taking some."
Viktor smiled and grabbed his shoulder firmly. "Let's go to another place, shall we?"
"Wh…"
Both of them vanished from where they were standing. Only the dog that Jion carried was left alone because Viktor hates that breed. He hates chihuahuas.