Leave Me Alone, Big Brothers! [BL]-Chapter 170: The Brother He Accepted

Alexander’s study.

Alexander sat on the sofa, his head resting in his hand. He looked frustrated. It had been a long, busy day, and just when he wanted to rest, he still had to deal with two people having a loud argument.

In front of him, Nathan and Lucas were sitting on the sofa, their voices raised just to answer his question: "Tell me the truth!"

"No! How can you lie like that!" Nathan shouted. His face was flushed with anger, and his hair was messy.

Lucas sat in the corner of the sofa, a mocking smirk on his face. "You need proof? I have eyes. I saw what I saw."

"What proof do you have? The photo? It was just a hug! No fucking, seriously! I would never do that! Not like you, you pervert!" Nathan yelled back. He was shaking with frustration.

"Really?" Lucas teased, leaning closer to Nathan. "I saw it. You two were practically inseparable. Don’t act so innocent."

"It’s a lie! You always lie! You’re a liar!" Nathan screamed.

He couldn’t take it anymore. Nathan lunged at Lucas, trying to grab his shoulders. Lucas dodged him, laughing. They began to scuffle in front of the coffee table.

"Stop it! Both of you!" Alexander’s voice cut through the room. It wasn’t loud, but the weight of it was enough to make both of them freeze.

Nathan and Lucas didn’t stop immediately. They both grabbed the decorative pillows on the sofa and began hitting each other. The soft cushions made thumping sounds as they struck their chests and heads.

"Liar!" Nathan yelled, swinging a pillow.

"You pervert!" Lucas retorted, blocking with another one.

"I’m not! You’re the pervert!"

"Both of you! Sit down! Now!" Alexander commanded.

The authority in his voice was final. Nathan and Lucas stopped mid-swing. Nathan let out a loud huff and sat on one end of the sofa, hugging the pillow to his chest. Lucas sat on the other end, still wearing a mischievous grin. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Alexander rubbed his forehead again. He looked at Lucas first. "Why did you bring him there in the first place, Lucas?"

Lucas shrugged. "I wanted him to have a life. He shouldn’t just spend all his time locked in his room. I was being a nice brother."

"Bullshit!" Nathan snapped.

"Ungrateful," Lucas muttered.

Alexander shifted his gaze to Nathan. Earlier, Lucas had pulled him aside and claimed he’d seen Nathan and Zane in a compromising position, naked and intimate.

The other day, Louis had told him the same thing about Nathan being half-naked in Zane’s room.

Alexander had a low tolerance for his underage brother doing inappropriate things. He stared at Nathan, his eyes filled with silent accusation.

Nathan felt the weight of Alexander’s stare. He knew exactly what Alexander was thinking.

"I really didn’t do anything with him! I only kissed him!" Nathan said, his voice loud and defensive.

The room fell silent. Alexander blinked, taken aback by Nathan’s bluntness. He hadn’t expected the boy to admit to the kissing so readily.

Huan, who was sitting at a desk in the corner of the room, looking through some files, looked up. He raised an eyebrow, watching the scene with silent interest.

"I don’t like liars, Nathan," Alexander said slowly. "One of you needs to tell the truth."

Lucas stayed silent, watching Nathan with amusement.

Nathan looked at Alexander, his jaw set. "I didn’t do things like what you do with Huan! We weren’t naked at all! Why is this a problem? We were just kissing! Lucas is lying!" Nathan shouted, pointing a finger at his older brother.

Alexander’s mouth opened slightly. He was stunned. He hadn’t expected Nathan to bring up his own private life with Huan as a comparison.

Huan, in the corner, began to cough violently. He covered his mouth with his hand, his ears turning red.

"Oh god..." he whispered to himself.

Alexander cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure. "I’m not forbidding you from having a boyfriend or a girlfriend, Nathan. But you need to graduate. You’ve missed a lot of lessons. You need to study harder to catch up with the others."

Nathan lifted his chin, looking proud. "I was number one in my class on the trial tests. I’m sure I can do it. Zane won’t change anything about my grades. You don’t need to worry about my education."

Alexander turned back to Lucas. His expression was stern. "Tell me the truth, Lucas. Did you actually see them having sex, or was this just one of your pranks?"

Lucas looked at Nathan. Nathan was glaring at him with a look that suggested he would try to kill him the moment they were alone. Lucas enjoyed teasing his younger brother, but he knew when to stop before Alexander became truly angry.

Lucas smiled, looking completely innocent. "I made it up. He challenged me, so I decided to have some fun."

Alexander was not impressed. He let out a long, tired breath.

Nathan immediately hit Lucas with the pillow again. "See? He’s a liar! I told you!"

Despite the hit, Nathan felt a wave of relief. He was glad Lucas had admitted it was a lie, even if the prank had caused him a lot of stress.

Later that night.

The mansion was quiet. Nathan walked through the corridor to Nael’s room. He stopped in front of the door and knocked softly.

"Come in!" a voice called from inside.

Nathan opened the door. Nael was sitting on his bed, surrounded by textbooks and a laptop, but he was still on his phone.

The room was clean, organized, and filled with the scent of fresh flowers. Nael looked up, surprised to see his twin.

"Oh, hey, Nath!" Nael said, sitting up straight.

Nathan walked into the room slowly. He felt a bit out of place. "Congrats on your first rank in the school," Nathan said.

Nael looked at him, confused for a second. "Ah, thank you. But that’s only the practice tests. It doesn’t mean anything for the final. I saw your rank too. It was good."

"Good? I was twenty-first in the whole school," Nathan said. "That isn’t good."

"It is good," Nael insisted. "You only joined this year, and you missed a lot of classes. Being twenty-first out of hundreds of students is a high achievement."

"Whatever," Nathan muttered. "I’ll try harder for the final test. I want to rank higher."

"You should," Nael agreed.

A heavy silence fell between them. Nathan hadn’t spent much time alone with Nael since he’d moved into the mansion. Usually, they were either arguing or surrounded by their older brothers. And he avoided it too.

And when it was just the two of them, it felt awkward.

Nathan looked around the room. On the nightstand, he saw a cell phone with a badly cracked screen.

He recognized it. It was the phone he had smashed months ago during his outburst.

"You still keep that phone?" Nathan asked.

He felt a sharp pang of guilt. Looking back, he realized his hatred for Nael had been fueled by his own anger and confusion. He had treated Nael like an enemy when Nael was just as much a victim of the family’s history as he was.

Nael looked at the broken device. "I won’t throw it away."

"Why? You have plenty of money. You could buy ten new ones," Nathan said.

"I have a phone," Nael said, gesturing to the one on his bed. "But that broken one is the first gift Alex ever gave me directly. He handed it to me himself."

Nathan frowned. "What are you talking about? You’ve lived with him your whole life. It makes no sense that he never gave you a gift before that."

"He always gave me things," Nael explained, looking at the broken phone with a soft expression. "But they were always sent by Huan or someone else. He never gave them to me in person."

Nael looked at Nathan. "Believe it or not, he never spoke to me before you came. He wouldn’t even look at my face."

Nathan felt a chill. "That’s weird."

"Yeah, it was. Anyway, it was the first time he looked at me and gave me something, so I’m keeping it," Nael said.

"Why not fix it, then? Replace the screen."

"No, it’s okay. I like it the way it is," Nael said.

Nathan looked at the shattered glass of the screen. He felt a lump in his throat.

Silence.

"I’m sorry..." Nathan said quietly.

Nael looked at Nathan and immediately broke into a wide, bright smile. "No, it’s okay! It’s not your fault. I did bad things to you too. We’re even now."

Nathan walked over and picked up the broken phone. "Why don’t you ask Alex to give you another one? I’m sure he’ll give it to you."

"Because I don’t really need a new phone right now," Nael replied.

"You’re really going to keep this broken thing?"

"Yes. It’s a memory. It’s a memory of Alex, and it’s a memory of you too," Nael said.

"You’re making me feel bad," Nathan muttered.

"Why? No. Think of it as art," Nael laughed. "I wouldn’t trade it for anything."

"You’re really weird," Nathan said, but there was no malice in his voice.

Nael sat on the edge of his bed. "Do you still hate me now?"

Nathan looked at him for a second. "Hate? No."

Nael let out a long sigh of relief.

Nathan’s eyes flicked to Nael’s active phone on the bed. A notification popped up. It was a picture from Hale. Nathan smirked. "Well, it looks like your boyfriend is sending you something."

Nael’s eyes went wide. He grabbed the phone and hid it behind his back. "He isn’t my boyfriend!"

Nathan chuckled. "I didn’t know you were interested in that weird boy."

"He isn’t weird!" Nael defended. "And we don’t have a relationship like that. Besides, he isn’t half as weird as Zane."

"Zane? Weird? Seriously?" Nathan asked, offended. "Zane is the nicest person in the world!"

"Maybe to you," Nael teased. "To everyone else, he’s still weird. He doesn’t talk to anyone."

"No, he isn’t. He’s cool. You just don’t understand him," Nathan argued.

They spent the next ten minutes playfully arguing about who was weirder—Zane or Hale.

"Move on!" Nathan finally laughed. "Hale is definitely weirder."

Nathan stopped laughing and looked at Nael. "Hey. Do you want to go get ice cream tomorrow?"

Nael looked stunned. He blinked at Nathan, his mouth falling open. "Ice cream? Together?"

"I’ll pay," Nathan said. "I’m really sorry about the phone."

Nael’s smile was the widest Nathan had ever seen. "Okay! I’d love that!"

Nathan nodded and walked toward the door. "Good. We’ll go around 11. I’ll ask Louis to drive us."

As Nathan walked back to his own room, he felt a strange sense of peace. He didn’t know if this feeling was brought on by the happiness he felt thanks to Zane.

But he was surprised that he no longer hated Nael. That boy was actually really cute.

He still had a lot of things to figure out with Alexander and the rest of his brothers, but for the first time, he felt like he had a brother in Nael.