A Threat

That day, after the girls fell asleep. 

Christopher sat on top of Marcos and hummed. He glanced at the bed, noting that his Mei seemed to be asleep.

"Goodnight sweetheart, though, you aren't hearing it now."

"Ugh… How, how come she's your sweetheart now?"

Marco was groaning with pain under him while trying to catch his breath. The pain he felt was dizzying, he could not even speak without stuttering.

He was beaten black and blue, his whole body was bloody and full of bruises. Especially his hand, it was one of the worst. His hand was bleeding, naturally, it had a hole in it due to the gunshot from Alice.

'Fucking bitch.'

He kept cursing whenever he looked at it. Not that he dared to voice it out again after noticing how his brother went feral everytime he tried. 

He did not understand, though. What was wrong with this current situation? He had loved and dumped many actresses and idols already. Some even needed to go on hiatus because of the pain he caused them, per their words. 

Then, why did Christopher only act up now? 

Christopher answered the question in his head lightly without any unnecessary words, "She was mine for years ago. She just didn't know it."

"Huh…?"

Marcos flinched and glanced at Christopher's face, immediately shivering upon meeting his crazed gaze. 

"You know, Marc? I was always so lenient with you, don't you think?"

Despite feeling the danger looming over his head, Marcos was unable to move or do anything. He felt helpless, just like a pig waiting to be slaughtered. 

"I, I see. Can you uh, let me go then…? I apologize for everything I did, please just let me go. I won't do this ever again." Although it was humiliating, he didn't hesitate to begin. 

His life mattered more. He was already so beaten up, no need for more. 

But Christopher never intended to let him go so easily. 

He gripped Marcos' throat and whispered softly, his lips curling up. 

"You see, I don't like sharing at all. I thought Mei would always be waiting for me. Sadly, the world was too unfair."

Shrugging his shoulders, he added. 

"After all of these years, I realized the girl I've been chasing was just right in front of me. But with another man…"

His grip tightened, making Marcos whimper. 

"Ah, my hands are itchy. My dear brother, as the person who helped you to cover up your shits for years… Don't I have the right to kill you without saying much?"

Hearing that made Marcos almost jump from his spot, but he was pressed so hard against the floor. He could only yelp in pain, "No- cough! Ah-, Christopher-!"

'Heh. A coward.'

Snarling internally, Christopher delicately caressed Marcos' jugular vein with his nail, "Don't call my name with that filthy mouth of yours, little bro. I'm almost killing you."

As if a bucket of cold water was thrown on his head, Marcos froze. If Christopher wanted, he would have killed him on the spot. 

Fortunately, he calmed down and slowly released him. Making Marcos crawl away toward the door. He had not even noticed it before, but Christopher almost broke his legs. 

There was a soft cracking noise with every movement of his. He seriously needed to go to a hospital to fix this. But one moment later, he froze. 

Why was the world so calm? 

Christopher did not attack him or try to hurt him, what was that matter? Marcos turned slowly and saw his brother sitting on the bed and turning the TV on. 

"You see, she was always so pretty and interesting."

'Who is he talking about…? Alice?'

"It was my fortune to meet her. But my misfortune to lose her, even if only temporary."

Christopher switched the channel and stopped when the channel showed Alice in the audition for her last drama series. 

"I can't understand how you find her to be boring, the woman you chose was mid-tier at best as well."

"Ah… Yes, I'm sorry."

Alice in the TV stumbled and apologetically smiled, she dusted off her outfit and extended her hand towards the camera. 

"It was my fault for not looking at the street heh. Thank you for your kind treatment though."

The other actor grabbed her hand, and the viewpoint changed from being first person to be a third person viewpoint. 

The two young people laughed together, then Alice softly asked, "Then, how about you treat me to a nice meal? Hehe, sorry if I sounded like I'm taking advantage of you."

She laughed sheepishly and patted her stomach. 

"I just was unable to take a proper rest and my stomach is just so empty. I need food, and I'd be glad to not spend money and have someone accompanying me."

"Sure! You don't need to worry!"

The actor smiled naively, his whole face flushed red as he accompanied Alice away. 

Christopher sighed. 

"When I realized who she was, I wished that everything between the two of you was nothing but an act. Just like this."

Although he was saying that, which indicated he should be sad, his face was smiling. He turned to Marcos, making him crawl farther away. 

"But it wasn't. And I'm not angry about it as much as I'm so happy that I have a very valid reason to deal with you," Grabbing his gun again, he threatened, "Your life depends on whether my finger moves or not. The trigger is beautiful, no?"

Marcos who was desperately searching for a way out felt his head spinning. His heart beat so fast while he tried to carefully stand up. 

He either dies or lives. No 'in betweens' was allowed in this situation. His only choice, despite sounding extremely impossible, was to make a deal with Christopher. 

He forced himself to calm down and leaned on the wall. He did not know Christopher that much, but he knew one thing about him that could not be denied. 

'He's a sicko.'

So, he needed to play on that. 

"Let's, umm, you know…. Make a deal?"

"Hoh."

Christopher stood up and approached him slowly, he ignored how miserable Marcos looked and only smirked, "Let's hear you out."