CHAPTER 168: WISH LIST ( LYCH’S POV )

"Get him back for me!"

"Don’t act like a child, Lych! The situation is as bad as it could get without your tantrums!"

"Wah, wah, you won’t be the president! Let’s all cry in unison for you!"

The burning tingle of my bruised skin felt familiar. Tymoth’s hand shivered as it distanced itself from the cheek he bruised.

I pushed my tongue against the flesh of my cheek in an attempt to stop the bloody taste. I wasn’t shocked by the act of violence anymore.

Tymoth looked at his hand as if it had a mind of its own and he disapproved of it. It was quite a comical view. Yet, today I didn’t feel amused at all.

"Get him, T. Or I’ll get him myself."

"Don’t you dare getting close to Emiliano! You barely got away alive! What were you thinking hanging around Luther Wilkers? You’ve always been up to no good, but this is a reach even for you, Lych!"

"I had no idea who he was, dude! It just kind of happened."

"Sure."

Tymoth slurped another sip of his overpriced scotch. The aroma spread into the air, filling and conquering it, making me nauseous.

I could never understand why Tymoth insisted on keeping up this mask of what he deemed proper and classy. It was pitiful to see my brother bend over backwards just to please some senseless stereotypes of the rich b-stards he was always trying to impress.

But that was the least of my worries.

The last thing I remember was packing Luther’s few things and making sure the car was in a good enough condition for the trip the next day.

When the rain started to drip.

I remember the pain. The sensation of my flesh being torn when the water hit my skin. It was unbearable.

The screams gurgled from my insides, sticking themselves painfully into my throat. I could feel my nails digging into my neck, mindlessly trying to open it to make a hole wide enough for pure air to come in.

Maybe I would have finished that gruesome action and dropped dead if I wouldn’t have seen the flicker of the kitchen light.

Luther.

I had to go back in and let Luther know.

I promised I would cook him dinner tonight. What would he do without my skills? He’ll burn down the house before he will ever know that the rain outside is deadly.

Such an utterly nonsensical thought. Yet effective.

My feet ached as my steps led me towards the house. The small distance between the car and Luther felt like a marathon for my weakened body.

My vision was already so blurred out, the doorknob was barely visible. I was gripping on air.

The pain of my wet clothes clinging onto my skin made me wish I could just crawl out of my own body.

"Wait a bit, Ly. We’ll figure it out, baby brother!"

Tymoth’s voice pulled me back from my unfocused state.

He was never an affectionate man so this empty promise was truly the apogee of his loving side. I know I should maybe recognize the effort he makes to lie to comfort me, but—

He is a politician. It’s in his blood.

"No."

"You’re gonna die."

"I was homeless for a year, T. I know how to bite for what I want."

"Ly... you always had a home to come to."

"Yeah right. I actually had two: a house of the man who didn’t bother to use a rubber on my mother and the house of the son of the other b-stard that drove my mom to death. So grateful for my choices!"

"Lych!"

Tymoth’s chest rose as his breath hitched. The glass of scotch he was holding was nearly to the point of cracking. I couldn’t help but scoff.

"Look, T., I have never stepped out of my spot. I made myself invisible as the unlawful son of the great Mark Begniffelo and as the step-brother of the presidential candidate Tymoth Alpin. But now I want what I want and I want Luther Wilkers!"

The words came pouring, suffocating me in their cutthroat truth. Tymoth flinched. His eyes darkened into an unreadable expression.

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why do you want Luther?"

"I—"

I swallowed my breath, searching for an answer.

"Hah, you can’t even answer a question, but you want to risk your life for it! This is not a play, Lych! That man is able to erase both me and you from the face of the Earth as if we never existed in the first place!"

"Why do I have to have a reason for my wish?

"

"Don’t be ridiculous! You can’t just let yourself throw a tantrum over a guy you might not even like anymore in a week!"

"Why not?"

"What?"

"Why not? For f-cks sake, Tymoth, why should I care about the political web my crush is wrapped in? I can fall in love. I can fall out of love. Who cares? You are all acting like Luther is such an object of desire—"

"He is. Look around! Emiliano Sanchez, Killian Akna, the new Prime Minister Claus Sant and Tom Hexlay are all wrapped around his finger! Even if he had the right to choose—"

"He wouldn’t choose a b-stard child like me, huh?"

"Ly..."

I smiled as I always did when the words stirred all I had left of my pride. I could feel the corners of my mouth trembling as the mask of my sore indifference started to crack.

Of course I was aware that I couldn’t compete against an underload, the face of the pharmaceutical industry, a Prime Minister and the most successful lawyer of our country.

So what?

Luther ran away from these guys, leaving the spot next to him free for me to fill. And I gave him something no other one of these jerks could: a mundane and uneventful life.

Security and safety.

"I don’t care what you think, Tymoth. I will pursue Luther and I will only stop if he rejects me. Or if I lose interest. Either way, you have no right to stop me!"

"Is that really worth losing your life over?"

"What life, T? I have no name, no documents attesting my existence, nothing. My life is the only thing I can risk."

"F-ck. Guess that places us on the opposite sides of the war, baby brother..."

"What?"

Tymoth threw the empty glass on the floor watching it shatter loudly. His eyes were drained of any light, making the blue of his iris feel like an ocean before a tsunami.

His voice echoed hollowly against the walls. Or maybe my ears clogged themselves in a self-preservation act as I was abandoned yet again by the only family I had left.

"I work with Hexlay in my campaign. I need him to get what I want. If you don’t drop your tantrum, I will be on the opposite side praying for your failure, Ly."

Oh.

Oh.

"I see."

I shouldn’t have been surprised by my step-brother’s strategy. After all, he worked years to reach the point he was in right now.

Nobody would trash that progress. Except for family.

This was my proof of what me and Tymoth really were. Strangers.

My eyes started to ache. I could feel the sting of tears threaten to fill them up.

How pathetic.

"Ok. Well, I suppose I should go now."

"After I became the president, I—"

"No need, T. It’s fine."

Tymoth turned his back on me. Not only metaphorically.

He might have concealed his own tears. After all, I was all the family he had as well, but maybe that is wishful thinking on my part.

I finally let my shoulders fall as the pressure of the conversation finally seemed to dissipate. I walked myself to the door, leaving my hand waver on the doorknob just for a moment more.

I shook my head and stepped on my pride once more. Another foolish act of the affection I carried for the only family member that noticed my existence. Even if they never truly acknowledged me.

"Hope you win, bro. It would kick ass to have my big brother as the f-cking president!"

I could slightly hear Tymoth chuckle. Dry, yet amused. Sincere, yet slightly sad. Just like his personality.

"You can bet on it. I’ll see you after I win, Ly!"

"Maybe"

I left Tymoth’s office without looking back.

It was time to find Luther. Who knows? Maybe he was searching for me too.

But even if I found him, how could I get myself into Emiliano’s house without being killed? Where was his house anyway?

I could go to Lucrezia and play myself as a card into her hands, yet that strategy felt pointless.

But there was someone under Lucrezia’s influence in the same situation as me and dumb enough for me to play.

After all, who even remembered who Claus Sant was these days as hell unleashed on Earth?

Watch out, Prime Minister! I’ll come to steal your man! And you’ll be handing him to me yourself!