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"Brother, why are you here? This is not a place you're supposed to be at," Mo Hanlu said as soon as his eyes caught Mo Laotian walking inside the hotel. If only the older Alpha wasn't married and so deeply in love with his wife and children, he would have thought the man was cheating and meeting his mistress.
". . ." Seeing Hanlu with curious eyes, Laotian did not reply and instead looked at him with disdain before he continued to walk to his destination as if he already knew where to go for him not to go and visit the receptionist. But as soon as Hanlu saw his older brother's expression, Hanlu couldn't believe what he saw as if he knew exactly what that expression was trying to say.
"Hey!! That's not true, I am here for business. I will never cheat on my lovely wife and children ever again," Hanlu defended himself because he knew Laotian's earlier expression was somewhat judging him for being at the hotel instead of at work where he's been absent for weeks now since Ian Andrews entered his third trimester.
"I did not say anything, Hanlu," Laotian finally said and stepped inside the elevator where Hanlu also stepped in following him feeling wronged.
"Yeah, you didn't but your eyes kept judging me... anyway, I'm here to check on the movie production progress since I'm the largest investor. I have a valid reason to be here, as for you..." Hanlu explained as he defended before he looked at his older brother in curiosity. Hanlu used to be at different hotels before he married Ian but right now he has changed. He would never ever cheat again especially now that he's going to be a father again. As for Laotian, it's not that he didn't sleep with women before he met Daniel but he only does it once every couple of months when his Alpha instinct was at its peak.
". . ." Meanwhile, not replying to the obviously curious gaze, Laotian just kept his eyes ahead. After his talk with the secretary of defense yesterday, he felt like it was better to go and talk to Tian Zi. There was no particular reason but he just wanted to tell the news in person and maybe also a little curious about how his rebellious youngest brother would react to it.
"Ahh, I know. You're meeting Xiao Zi. They're staying at this hotel for the rest of the week for the movie," Hanlu guessed as he smiled knowing for sure that his older brother wasn't cheating because if he was, he would definitely get his nephews and make them live with him.
"Oh but it's rare for you to just visit like this," Hanlu mentioned again because knowing Laotian, he's someone who's even too lazy to talk much more going in person to talk to someone even if they're family.
"Well, he asked for MY help," Laotian replied, emphasizing the word "MY", knowing that Hanlu would be jealous of him if he found out that their youngest brother, who never asked for help, came to him and asked instead of Hanlu. Laotian briefly shifted his gaze towards the younger Alpha and as expected, Hanlu could not believe it. First of all, what kind of problem does their baby brother have to have him ask for help for the first time ever, and secondly, why did he not know this? Why did Tian Zi only ask Laotian's help? Is he not reliable at all?
". . ." It was Hanlu's turn to become silent as he just didn't know what to say until the elevator finally stopped and door opening.
"Then, if you will just excuse me," Laotian teased and went ahead and took a step out, trailing the way to Tian Zi's room but it wasn't that long for Hanlu to recover and continued to follow him while bombarding him with questions.
"What kind of help did he ask from you?!... Wait, in the first place, why did he ask you? I'm way closer to him than you! Are you even sure he asked for help and not a car? I mean, he's changed now but he's still the little Xiao Zi that we know. I can give him cars too," Hanlu chattered nonstop that he almost exploded Laotian's ears.
"Stop!" Laotian said as he halted his walk. He could no longer listen to Hanlu anymore.
"If you want to know then you go ask him yourself," Laotian said in a monotone as he halted his walk. When Hanlu heard him, he frowned as if saying what he just said was obvious.
"Of course, I'll go and ask him. Just what kind of trouble did he get himself into for him to really ask for your help? I do not believe it is something serious or something I cannot handle," Hanlu scoffed as he crossed his arms. He absolutely did not like that he didn't know something like this was happening. Of course, he failed to realize that the reason why Tian Zi didn't pick him was because he knew the Alpha had been stressing over his wife's pregnancy ever since he found out to that point that he's been slacking off from work compared to Laotian who's always so composed.
Meanwhile, hearing Hanlu's complaints, Laotian just silently sighed before he massaged his temples, already regretting the fact that he didn't just call Tian Zi instead. If he did, he wouldn't have to meet the talkative Hanlu even though he did plan to make the younger Alpha get jealous of him.
"No offense but really? You? I'm much closer to him! I'm the one who's always by his side, I cared so much for him that I even took it upon myself to find ways for him to get closer to Fyre," Hanlu added and it just made Laotian's headache worsened . He wanted to counter the younger Alpha's words and say that although he was calling it caring, it was actually the reason why Tian Zi finds him annoying since Laotian knew that their youngest brother and him, had similarities in terms of personalities and so he knew that Hanlu being such a busy body was completely unnecessary.
"Let's just go ahead and meet them," Laotian said after a frustrated sigh and began to walk again. Briefly after that, they finally arrived at Tian Zi's room door.
"Is this Xiao Zi's room?" Hanlu asked, to which Laotian simply replied with a nod as he pressed the doorbell but as Hanlu expected, no one answered the door.
"He's not inside there. We should be looking for Fyre's room instead," Hanlu said, knowing full well what lovers do in a hotel since that's what he usually did before. And knowing Tian Zi who's all over his Omega, he'd probably be in the same room as his lover. He knew because that's what he would do if he was in the same position as him.
Considering Hanlu's words, Laotian nodded because if it was him with Daniel, he'd also probably insist on staying in the same room as his beloved. Why would he stay in a different room and suffer being lonely when he can just wrap his arms around Daniel and spend the whole night making love?
"I believe the next door is his," Laotian mentioned, facing the next room. And as soon as Hanlu heard, he quickly walked towards it and rang the door. For the first few seconds there was no answer at all but after another ring, the door finally opened with Fyre Long smiling awkwardly before Tian Zi was walking towards the doorway.
"Uhh, what brings you here?" Tian Zi asked in confusion. He would have understood if it was only Laotian but Hanlu was there as well as if something urgent had happened but then again if there indeed was something like that, a call would have been much more convenient.
"What brings us here? I should be the one questioning you! Am I not your brother as well? Why is it that you only asked our Eldest brother for help and not me? Am I not enough to help you? And what kind of trouble did you put yourself into that I didn't know? I've constantly monitored you two and you still manage to keep this from me," Hanlu immediately bombarded, clearly displeased at the fact that he was left alone. On the other hand, listening to his older brother, Tian Zi frowned as if the older Alpha had grown another set of heads, meanwhile, Laotian just massaged his head as he walked inside without waiting for the host to invite them inside.
"Tch. Why aren't you answering? You thought I wouldn't find out, didn't you? Well, you're wrong and I am very upset," Hanlu ended as he crossed his arms while pouting.
"Ignore him. I came here to tell you that I've talked to the secretary. Of course, he was not happy about it but he had promised that he would no longer pursue the culprit," Laotian said, finding himself a chair to sit on as he crossed his legs. At the same time, listening to it, Hanlu's eyes narrowed before it widened as if he knew what was happening when in fact he didn't.
"Hello, I'm here. Care to explain some things to me?" Hanlu said still upset but ignoring him, Tian Zi faced Laotian.
"Really? That went better than I had expected," Tian Zi said with a sigh of relief as well as Fyre that even though he was still upset with Tian Zi, he did not reject it when the Alpha pulled him into a hug. Instead, he hugged him back even though they weren't alone in the room.
"Ehemm? Am I invisible to you all? Why is it that no one is answering me?? Is this discrimination I fell or you all just bullying me?" Hanlu interrupted as he once again complained. And hearing his complaints, Tian Zi finally sighed as he pulled away from Fyre.
"Well, I just thought that because you'll be so busy taking care of your wife, I asked Eldest brother instead. And besides, it doesn't matter now. Everything is fixed," Tian Zi said but instead of getting happy, Hanlu frowned even more, feeling further displeased.
"Tch. Am I the only husband here who has a pregnant wife? Eldest brother had one too, why chose him over me? I care about you more than him..." Hanlu countered, making Tian Zi frown this time.
"Why are you mad? I was only just concerned about you and did not want to burden you any further!" Tian Zi exclaimed to which earned a surprise expression from the Alpha as his words quickly pacified him. "Anyway, why are you acting so jealous!? Like you said this isn't something big and you saw how Eldest brother solved it immediately," he added, suddenly feeling embarrassed at his outburst when in truth, a part of him didn't want to tell Hanlu was because the Alpha tend to do the extreme while Laotian would just do the job directly. Obviously, it wasn't much of a thinker to choose between the two.
"Hmp! Fine. I'll forgive you this time but I expect this not to happen again—" Hanlu said as he crossed his arms, clearly looking satisfied but his words were quickly interrupted when phone calls suddenly rang simultaneously between Laotian's, Hanlu's, and Fyre's mobile phones. At first they thought it was some coincidence but as Laotian received the call that was obviously from his wife, he abruptly stood up in urgency.
"Please calm down. What did you say had happened?" Laotian asked in worry, hearing Daniel crying from the other line. Seeing this, both Hanlu and Fyre decided to accept the call as well.
"What!? What do you mean, Mom?" Hanlu answered to Laura Mo who was his caller.
"Quinn? What's the matter?"
"Mave… Maverick has been kidnapped and we've lost all our options to find him," Joaquinn replied dejectedly from the other line, making Fyre's eyes turn wide as he looked at Tian Zi.
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To be Continued. . .