After leaving the restaurant, Narin immediately returned to the college campus to pick up his motorcycle before heading home. When he arrived, he found the house completely empty, with no one there at all.
A short while later, Narin received a message from his Papi. Apparently, Papi had gone to visit a friend who had been in an accident, while Papa was still at the office. This time, Narin was lucky to escape Papi's interrogation, since Papi was usually home.
Narin quickly went into his room and cleaned himself up. He took some ice and pressed it against the bruises on his face to ease the pain and help the marks fade faster.
Not long afterward, both his brothers arrived and went straight to his room to check on him.
"That bastard Sky has gone way too far!" Aran was furious after hearing Narin's story.
"I'm really proud of you this time, Narin. Don't let Sky bully you anymore. But if you can, fight back. He needs to be taught a lesson once in a while," Nawin said excitedly, praising his twin for standing up for himself.
"But because I fought back, he hit me so hard that I ended up bruised like this." Narin lowered his head.
"Nar, what you did was already great. You were brave enough to insult him back. But if you can, fight him, Nar. We're men—you can hit him. If necessary, beat him up even worse than he beat you!" Nawin encouraged his twin. He knew his twin had been timid ever since that night. Narin was afraid of causing trouble or doing anything dangerous that might hurt the people he loved.
"I agree with Nawin. Don't let anyone push you around. You know I really wanted to hit Sky back then, if you hadn't stopped me." Aran still looked annoyed.
"I'm sorry, Big Bro Aran, Nawin. I'll be braver next time," Narin said softly.
"Stop calling me Big Bro. We're the same age." Aran pretended to pout. He really didn't like being called the older brother because, in his opinion, they were the same age, even though he had been born first.
"But you are my older brother," Narin teased with a quiet laugh.
"But then I'll look older than both of you, even though we're the same age." Aran chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah, Aran. We're sorry," Nawin teased, laughing loudly as the others joined in.
"But don't tell Papa and Papi, okay?" Narin pleaded. "I'm afraid they'll worry. Papa will beat Sky up later."
"I'd actually love it if Papa beat that annoying Sky's face in!" Nawin exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Nawin, don't say that. I don't want Papa getting into trouble because of me. I don't want to burden him any more than I already have. I'm so grateful that Papa and Papi were willing to take us in and welcome us into this house." Narin hung his head sadly.
"Don't talk like that. If Papa hears you, he'll be sad. And even if you did tell Papa, I promise he wouldn't feel burdened. He'd actually be very happy that you trusted him, Narin," Aran said gently.
"I'm sorry. I just don't want to burden Papa. And I'm sorry that Nawin and I made Papa and Papi divide their love between us," Narin said, quietly crying.
Nawin immediately pulled his brother into a hug. "I'm sorry too, Big Bro Aran."
"You two are such naughty kids. I've never felt that Papa and Papi's love was divided unequally or that they favored one of us. Papa and Papi are very fair, and I'm happy to have you both here." Aran hugged them tightly as well. "Don't worry. I'll help distract Papi and Papa so they won't focus on you, Narin, and I won't tell them about this."
"Thank you, Aran," Narin said through his sobs. Then he looked at Nawin and wiped away his tears. "You look awful crying, Win. You're much better when you're being loud and annoying."
"This is all your fault. You made me cry, you jerk." Nawin roughly wiped away his tears. Then the three of them laughed together.
After that, they returned to their respective rooms, and Narin rested.
That evening, when Papi called Narin downstairs for dinner, Aran had already said that Narin was exhausted and couldn't join them. Nawin quickly came up with another excuse so his brother wouldn't have to eat dinner with them this time.
"Yeah, Papi. Narin's really exhausted today because there were so many activities on campus, and he had a ton of assignments earlier. I'll bring dinner to his room later." Nawin immediately began preparing food for Narin.
"Really?" Papi asked, sounding doubtful.
"Yeah, Papi. Trust me," Nawin said. This time, his plan worked because Papi didn't ask any more questions. "Papi, Papa, and Aran go ahead and eat first. I'll join you later."
He went straight to Narin's room, leaving everyone else behind. Nawin knocked softly on the door and saw that Narin was still asleep.
"Nar, wake up." Nawin gently shook his brother until Narin blinked and looked at his twin. "Eat first. I brought you dinner. Then go back to sleep, and don't let Papa and Papi find out."
Narin sat up and began eating slowly. "Thanks, Nawin. Have you eaten yet?"
"I'll eat later. Do your bruises still hurt?" Nawin asked with concern.
"They hurt, but not as much as they did this afternoon. And please don't tell Papa or Papi." Nawin nodded in understanding.
"Get some rest after this. Don't think about anything, and get well soon, okay?"