Pride Online

32  Stepsiblings Part IV

“A letter?” Wisana repeated as he opened the white envelope, reading the letter inside it quickly.

…..

Dear beloved son,

I’m sorry that I have to explain everything to you in the letter, instead of talking …I’m afraid of you being pissed at me, so it’s easier to write.

So, let’s get back to the topic, it’s because Nam just moved back from the US to study here in Bangkok, so, I think she should stay with you until she graduates since it’s more comfortable to travel from your condo. Also, Nittaya and I have been so busy lately, so I ask you to take care of her for us as well.

Oh, and don’t you worry about your mom. I already talked to Wimon, and she said she was okay with Nam staying with you. With one condition that you have to not do anything weird to her.

Ps. This is our deal, Wisana. I help you, you help me, remember?

Ps 2. Nam can’t eat spicy food. Be careful with this, too.

Ps 3. Don’t do anything weird.

Ps 4. Her stuff will be there by tomorrow afternoon.

Ps 5. Don’t slam me with judo.

Love,

Your handsome dad

…..

“That old snake!” Wisana cursed at his birth father aloud. The tall one was shaking as the anger raged on, the way it never did for many years. He crumbled the piece of paper in his hand, before he threw it in the trash can accurately. He panted as Waree let out a laugh.

It took him quite a while to get it together as he glanced at the other who was already staring at him, too. He took a deep breath to calm down.

“Okay, I got it now. You can stay here,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Thank you very much.” The pretty face appeared with a smile immediately. In fact, she already knew that there was no problem for her to stay. Because their dad had already told her to give him the letter, and no matter how Wisana would be acting up, he would eventually agree to this.

“You can have that guest room." The man sighed as he was pointing at a room by the corner. “There’re a bed and the ac, make yourself at home. Your stuff will be here tomorrow in the afternoon, so you can manage it then,” he said as he was getting down on the floor, defeated.

So, this was the simple favor, huh?! That evil dad!

He was very fine on his own, then suddenly he got a roommate. Plus, the roommate was that woman’s daughter!

“You look so upset about having me here,” Waree said when she saw the room owner’s reaction. The pair of green eyes was sparkling with amusement, and that made Wisana frown. He glanced at her.

“Well, am I that obvious?”

The low voice asked so sarcastically that the listener chuckled.

“You’re upset because I share your condo, or because I'm Nittaya’s daughter, mister Wisana?” The straightforward question got the taller one silenced. The pair of amber eyes clearly caught the girl in front of him. As soon as he saw that annoying smile of hers, Wisana felt pissed immediately, but he still managed to smile widely like he was in a good mood.

“What do you think, Waree?” He probed on purpose.

“Do you really hate my mother that much?” After she finished, he gave her a mocking smirk.

“Okay, imagine.” He continued. “If your birth father was still alive, then there was another woman who got in between your parents, making your father run off to get a new marriage with her. Now, let me ask you a question, would you still be able to like that woman?”

Waree was quiet for a moment before she turned her face away, looking upset, too. It was true that her father had passed away before this guy’s father chose her mother over miss Wimon, his mother. But why did he have to bring up her passed-away father like this?!

“You’re right. I'd probably hate the woman, too,” the small voice answered coldly. “But don’t act like you know everything about us when you don’t even know half of it.”

“Maybe so. I don’t know anything. I didn’t even care to attend the wedding,” Wisana retorted with a stiff voice before he looked away. “All I know is that the day he left our home was the worst day of my life.”

He did not care much about the details! The girl’s mother was the one that ruined his family anyway. Not to mention that she even got married to his dad!

“I think we should stop talking about this, Waree. The thing between my parents was over a long time ago, anyway.” He brushed it off. “This would be endless to discuss. It's such a waste of time. You should go rest.” He got up and walked away to end the conversation.

But after he took a few steps away, he stopped when the other did not follow him. He turned to look at her and saw that she was sitting still on the sofa.

...And the most important thing was that she was keeping her head down low, letting out heavy breaths as she was,

Sh*t! She was crying.

Wisana was in real trouble!

“H... hey, you.”

Wisana was freaked out more when the other started sobbing. What? She was still annoyingly smiling just a while ago, being smarty-pants, even. Why did she now become so weepy so suddenly? Did it not look like he was bullying her?

“What’s up with you? You were fine a while ago. Why are you crying?” he said as he moved in closer to her. His eyes looked around awkwardly, not knowing what to do. He was about to give her a pat on the shoulder, but the weeping girl threw herself at him in a hug, almost making him fall.

“Wait, hold on. Calm down.” The harsh tone from a few moments ago got a bit softer as his brain was running so fast to find a way to comfort a crying woman.

“Well, you... you.” Waree could not stop sobbing, yet. “You look so loathed by me. I... I had always been looking forward to meeting you in person. I was so glad to have a brother, but it turned out that... you hate me for the drama between the adults like this!”

The hurtful words came from her in a combo as she was continuously pounding her fist on his chest, making the other one, who still did not know how to comfort her, feel awkward.

“Wait, calm down. I never said I hated you.”

Wisana held her fist before it actually got his chest bruised.

“You’re the worst! I was so glad that we could spend some time together.” Waree yelled before she let out a shaking sob. “If you hate me this much, then fine! I’ll stay somewhere else!”

She tried to shake Wisana’s hand off, but he did not let go.

“Calm down and listen to me.” The hoarse voice said firmly. “I don’t mind you staying here, Waree. It’s just that I’m not really used to it and a bit surprised, because I've been by myself for quite a while.”

“Even though you don’t mind me here, you still hate my mom!” Waree shouted. Her pretty face was stained with tears.

“Alright, I have to admit that I don’t really like your mother. ...But to give her some respect is still quite hard for me to do, though I started to get over it.”

“A... and why did you...” As his eyes caught her big drop of tear, Wisana sighed again softly, gently wiping it away. Then he gave her the warmest smile for the first time since they had met.

“Look, I don’t hate you, or your mother. I understand that it’s an adult thing. And I believe that my dad is a reasonable enough person to not do anything recklessly. My parents divorced because they didn’t get along so well in the end. I know. I understand this, too.”

“Mister Wisana,” she said his name softly, trembling a little from crying.

Wisana felt funny when he was reminded of when their parents broke up, the one who was weeping about it so much was his sister, just exactly like how Waree was right now. This weirdly familiar feeling he got from the girl who was technically his sister, too, made Wisana smile.

It was weird that he often comforted his little sister, and now that he had to comfort his stepsister, too.

“Now, stop crying. I’m kinda weak for girls' tears,” the hoarse voice said, feeling amused as he was rubbing his hand on her hair, making her calm down. “Let’s just say that I have one more sister, too. So, I don’t really have a hard feeling toward you, got that?”

Wisana said, smiling broadly at her. A trace of happiness appeared on her face after that, before she realized that she was supposed to be acting sulky, so she turned her face away.

“So, stay here with me, because Dad will kill me if you leave.”

His comforting words kept the girl silent for a while before she glanced at him. Then she smiled, nodded in agreement.

“Okay.”

The answer made Wisana blow a sigh of relief. Damn, that was long. He saw that she was just smiling a minute ago. Who would have thought that she was actually a cry baby? And Wisana really did not know what to do when girls cried. It was lucky that he could calm her down before she cried back to his dad’s house. He did not want to think about what would happen to him after that. Besides, his dad and he had a promise that he really needed him to keep. However, it was safe for now. He thought, feeling such relief.

“Are you hungry?” Wisana asked.

“A little bit.”

“Good. Stay here. I'll cook you something. Dad said that you didn’t like spicy food, right? That’s not gonna be a problem. Give me a sec,” he said then he walked to the kitchen, leaving the girl with eyebrows raised.

After he left the room, she then sat down on the sofa, her pair of green eyes glanced after her stepbrother, amused. And when she looked back down at something in her hand, she could not hold the laugh anymore.

“Why is he so serious?” Waree said, face creasing a smile. Then she hurried to put a small bottle back in her bag before she got caught. Because on the round bottle, there was a label written by had that said, ‘artificial tears.’

“He’s so easy to be tricked.”

She said as she laughed with herself. Waree remembered her mother telling her that this guy was nice, but a bit too serious. That she never imagined him to be this serious. He got awkward just by seeing a girl cry.

But he was really nice. It was true. She had to admit that. And he also had a weak spot for girls' tears.

It seemed like there were a lot of fun things to do here.

Plus, her stepbrother was kind of cute.