The Woods Brothers

Chp 19 - Understanding

Both of them turned around to face the bush, Jeff gave Liu a small shove and pushed him behind him.

What seemed to be was a wild cat had raced up the tree.

The two looked at each other, shock covered across their faces.

Liu couldn't help but feel slightly good that Jeff had tried to protect him instead of throwing him into the expected danger. Maybe he gave him less credit than he should had.

Liu let a small smile cross his face before slipping out a small laugh. "I was so scared." Liu said truthfully through small little laughs.

Jeff returned him with a chuckle. "We should go before something we may actually need to worry about pops up. Unless. You want to stay and stir something up?"

He raised a brow up at his brother. "That's a bad idea." He folded his arms and glared at his brother. "You know that."

Jeff chuckled yet again. "Boring." He teased before grabbing his brother's wrist. "Come on now." He said before lightly pulling him along.

Comparing to the first time he had grabbed his wrist it had been much less rough. This time Liu could tell he was ensuring that he was being careful. He liked it.

~

After lots of walking, the two had reached sight of a small town ahead. "Why are we here?" Liu questioned.

Jeff pointed at two kids who had their heads buried in their hands. The sound of their weeping was too loud to miss.

There was an older lady who stood beside the two, pulling both of them into a warm embrace. Stroking their hair.

It reminded him too much of his Aunt Mariam. He turned his head away from the scene, his head facing the ground.

Jeff obviously didn't notice his pain, he was too fixed on the situation ahead of him. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Liu looked up to his brother, confusion written across his face. "What?"

"This was why I was late to save you from that Jackass. Because I ran into some strangers." Jeff spoke.

Liu looked up at him, eyeballing him. "What did you do?" He said sternly.

Jeff grunted before the grip on Liu's wrist seemed to tighten. "You don't understand" He said through clenched teeth. "I did it for a reason."

Liu tensed his body up, his wrist was aching but he didn't dare speak up.

Jeff sighed, but he still continued to keep squeezing at his wrist. "I freed those kids, just like I freed us." He sighed. "They'll learn how to manage eventually."

Liu froze, struck by his words. He couldn't comprehend, what did he mean by 'freed'?

I don't like where this is going, Liu.

"Same." Liu muttered.

Liu lifted up his other hand and placed it onto his brother's hand, attempting to hint him into loosening his grip. "What do you mean?"

He dropped his hand and slammed it to Liu's side. At least it did sort of work."Godamnit Liu, do I need to spell it out to you?" He stared at him for a few seconds, awaiting for a response. Air escaped his lips as he sighed noticing that he wouldn't get the answer he wanted. "Liu. I killed their parents."

Liu fluttered his eyes for a while, failing to believe his brother's beliefs and morals at this moment. "How is that freeing them? You've just trapped them inside living hell." He said, half referring to himself more than the children.

"The hell was their parents. The boy just failed to realise that until it was too late. But the other boy knew already." Jeff replied, Liu was certain he was talking about the two of them now and not the kids.

"Why are you showing me this Jeffrey? Is this suppose to be some sort of sick reference to mum and dad's death?" Liu asked, suddenly losing his shyness.

"There has been a lingering awkwardness between you and me. I thought I needed to clear things up with you. I didn't want the constant suffering for you because I cared for you. Death at the time seemed much better than that horrible life we had before. That's why I tried to kill you." He looked down at his brother, a tinge of sadness written across his face. "I wanted you to live a happy life. Not a long one filled with pain."

Liu's eyes suddenly lit up, as if the sky had been cleared. Liu finally understood the twisted head of his brother, it was all so clear now. "I never thought of it like that." Liu spoke softly.

Jeff looked up at the kids yet again. "I'm not the bad guy Liu. None of us are. We just all have our own motives." Jeff smiled to himself, blood dripping from his strained cuts on the side of his cheeks. "This is who I am."

There was a moment of silence between the two before Jeff turned his body towards Liu. "Let's g-" Liu lurched forward and wrapped his limped arms around his brother. Jeff stumbled backwards, shocked by his sudden affection but didn't hesitate to return the hug.

"That's messed up in so many ways." Liu admitted, perking his head up on his brother's shoulder. "But I'm just glad to know you care, even if it is in your own twisted way."

Liu felt Jeff's grip around his body tightened as he returned the embrace, his hands gripping onto his jacket. "Thank you." He whispered into Liu's ear.

~~~~