Cai Lingyun, who was pacing back and forth in his room, felt startled and paused in his steps. He let out a breath, trying to calm himself.
He turned the knob and opened the door. As soon as it just moved slightly ajar, it banged open with its force throwing him back. He fell and then in a state of confusion staggered to get up.
He looked up and widened his eyes, seeing Nian whistling as he smiled at him. Behind him was Xing Bi, who was just as confused as Cai Lingyun.
"Liu Nian, what are you doing?"
"To punish the one who bullied my brother, right Mr. Cai?"
Cai Lingyun noisily breathed. "Punish? What are you talking about, Liu Nian? And what is this way of barging in my room like that!?"
"Well what do you expect after bashing my brother's head with a paint can?" He raised his brow.
"It was you, wasn't it?"
"Don't talk nonsense, Liu Nian! What do I have to do with Liu Jin's accident?"
Nian's pupils twinkled with malice. "Everything."
He took two steps, and Cai Lingyun's posture immediately and instinctively straightened up. It was involuntary. Nian placed his hand on his shoulder and smiled. Xing Bi got a really bad feeling about it. The expression he wore was the same as that of the Summit's night when he beat up the judges and when he punished Jin.
Nian patted his shoulder. "You know, Cai Lingyun? Jun and Jin are my dear little brothers. I am their elder brother, and I am very proud of the fact that I was born first. Since I am their elder brother, I do two things. First, I trouble them a lot and that's fine because I am their brother.
I have every right to make their life hell. The problem comes when somebody else tries to take that role away from me."
The quieter his voice became, the more fidgety his movements turned.
"Which you tried to do today by trying to harm my brother. I don't like that. And when somebody tries to hurt them, I do the second thing. That is to protect them. They are my cute little brothers, after all," his fingers slowly but agonizingly dug in the back of Cai Lingyun's shoulder, making him gasp in pain.
Nian chirped. "No matter how old they get, it will always be my responsibility to protect them. So, that wasn't really nice what you tried to pull off with Jin," he frowned. "Accordingly, I need to deliver your punishment."
Cai Lingyun tried to move, but Nian's grip was so iron tight that he couldn't even budge an inch. "Liu Nian. You cannot accuse me like that!"
Nian ignored him and continued. "I wonder who was your target? Jun, because you felt jealous of Ai being his girlfriend or Jin, because you wanted to take revenge from him for beating you up. It could be either one, but I bet on the first option."
Cai Lingyun tried to intervene, but Nian only almost dislocated his shoulder, which was a clear warning not to try and interrupt him.
"Now you will ask why. So apart from the whole jealousy thing, I have another good reason. I found something interesting on CCTV and that was you roaming in the corridor, passing across Ai's room."
Nian chuckled. "But I observed that your expression wasn't looking quite good after some time which I presume is because…you realized that Jun and Ai were sharing a room. You kind of didn't expect that, did you?"
"Now I don't need to tell you what they must be doing in a room together at night, right? I could tell you heard some not so innocent voices coming from their room."
Xing Bi cleared her throat.
Cai Lingyun clenched his fist.
"Is that why you got so agitated that you planned to hurt Jun? But Jin took the hit for him and regardless of how much he is being a pain in the ass right now, he is still my brother, and you put him to a hospital," he pouted and narrowed his eyes. "That won't work. We put people into hospitals, not the other way around."
Xing Bi was speechless.
Nian sighed. "So now…" he punched his nose so hard that the sound of bones cracking echoed in the air.
"Liu Nian!" Xing Bi pulled him back. "Stop it!"
He glanced at her. "But he put Jin in the hospital. So I want to see his blood. It's as simple as that." ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net
Cai Lingyun felt the room spinning in front of him. Dizziness set in, and blood trickled down his nostrils. "You are…you are crazy! You don't even have any evidence and," he gasped, "you hit me. That bastard of your little brother did the same last night-" he choked when a sudden and brutal kick landed on his stomach.
"Don't call Jin a bastard," his cheery expression froze just like how the temperature of the air suddenly dropped. "He is my brother. I don't like it when random bugs humiliate my siblings," he raised his foot and crashed it on his shoulder.
"Ahhh!" His brows tightened in pain.
"As for the evidence, isn't it right there on your shoulder that I almost broke just now? Or should I say your coat? When you pushed the ladder upon which the worker was working with his paint can, a drop of that paint fell on your coat when the can tilted. You were there, you pushed the ladder, the worker just slightly got off balance but enough for the can to slip from his hands."
Cai Lingyun's expression turned white with fear, and he immediately checked his shoulder. He did feel some paint mark upon it.
"Now…" Nian whispered, "How do you suggest I punish you?"
He felt his vision darkening but even through it, the danger Nian's voice instilled was unshakeable.
Xing Bi sighed in frustration and pulled his arm back, glaring at him. "Liu Nian, are you planning to beat him up like the judges and get yourself in police trouble again!? Because I won't let you do that. He deserves punishment for sure, but don't get into trouble because of him!"