The teenage boy was sitting at the foot of a birch tree, his back and his head resting against it. The silvery shadow of the leaves gently swayed on his face as if it was dancing. His lips were slightly parted, and his slender hands were loosely holding a book on his l.a.p.s. His eyes were closed, his glasses still on his nose; he seemed to have fallen asleep while reading.

It was a very serene sight, yet in Masha's eyes, Gabriel didn't seem peaceful but exhausted, making her hesitate a second before she ultimately decided to wake him up. She would let him rest after their discussion.

Putting down her backpack, she crouched in front of the teenage boy and gently shook his shoulder. Gabriel instantly opened his eyes, staring at her with a straight face, which startled Masha a little - she thought she would have to struggle to wake up this Sleeping Beauty. Luckily, he was only resting his eyes and hadn't fallen into a deep slumber.

After seeing him wide awake, Masha heaved a sigh of relief. It was lunchtime, and they had an exam in less than an hour. Hence, they didn't have a lot of time to talk, and wasting a few minutes to wake him up was quite inconvenient as well as a little bit infuriating. Thus, she was pleased to see him fully alert in less than two seconds.

They had postponed their discussion a few times already, and frankly, she couldn't wait any longer. After all, Gabriel wanted to talk about her cute little brother, which made her unreasonably anxious. Every time she bumped into him in the school corridors, all she wanted to do was to corner him and question him until she felt satisfied.

Masha knew the teenager fairly well, and she could tell that something was off. Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked to talk in private. Gabriel was observant, more than her, and he had babysat Misha for the entire day when they went to the amus.e.m.e.nt park. It led her to wonder if he had noticed something about her brother that she hadn't.

Even though Masha was also aware that there was something wrong with the boy, she could only tell that he seemed to have something on his mind. At first, she thought it was due to his nightmare, but that was already a few days ago, and his brother was still looking at her with deep sorrow when he thought she wasn't paying attention.

Then, on Monday, when she went to his bed to verify his fever, his face was suddenly filled with panic. His breathing even stopped for a second. However, he rapidly hid his fear and smiled brightly at her, making her unable to ask what was he so afraid of.

This boy had his pride, and she didn't want to probe too much and anger him. Sulking was his strongest weapon, and Masha felt like dying every time he pouted for days, so she preferred to avoid twisting the knife as much as possible. If Misha didn't want to confide in, then she wouldn't force him. All she could do was to ask the expert his opinion, although this expert had a wicked tongue and a bad personality.

"The pest is not here today?" said Gabriel with a cold voice, stretching his neck to look over Masha's shoulder, making sure that Camille wasn't merely lagging behind. Only after seeing there was no one, only the empty track field and the school in the background, did Gabriel lower his head, satisfied.

Rolling her eyes, Masha sat next to the teenage boy as she said, "No, she is with her friends today. I'm not the only person in her life, you know?"

"Sometimes, I wonder," Gabriel sneered.

The teenage girl tactically decided to ignore Gabriel's mocking words and switched to the topic that interested her. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Gabriel glanced at her, silent for a second before opening his mouth, "Well, first off, did you notice that your brother doesn't like me? I would even say that he hates me from the bottom of his heart."

"What? No way! He seems to like you quite a lot."

"Trust me, your brother is a terrible actor. He kept up the pretense in front of you most of the time, but the moment you were out of his sight, his façade tended to crumble. You know, his death glare is pretty obvious." 'And a bit chilling, I admit.'

Masha blinked, incredulous, and Gabriel shrugged. He was telling the truth. Although Misha thought his acting was good – he had even been quite proud of it –, the reality was that it was pitiful enough to make the teenager want to cry. In the end, the boy was still an open book for anyone who had a keen eye. Many times, the teenager sensed his killing intent, and the child's smile always seemed a bit too stiff, and his words, clumsy.

If Gabriel didn't expose the boy right away, it was mostly because it wouldn't do him any good. For now, he preferred to wait and observe him, and thus he played along, pretending not to notice his hatred and false courtesy.

"Also, he asked if I like you, and then if I love you."

"Oh? And what did you answer?" smiled Masha. Her voice carried a bit of naughtiness, adding an alluring touch to her overall demeanor.

"Of course I say yes both times!" grinned Gabriel before tilting his head and adding, "although your brother didn't seem satisfied with my answer. On the contrary, it seemed to anger him to no end. I even thought he would jump on me and bit me to death." Gabriel shook his head as he remembered Misha's expression at that time. There was only dissatisfaction and animosity left on his doll face. " Your brother's possessiveness is indeed like a bottomless pit, and winning him over will be a real pain in the neck."

Following these words, Masha's clear laugh resonated throughout the empty track field. In truth, she had been surprised when Misha showed goodwill toward the teenage boy. She had thought he would immediately b.a.r.e his teeth the moment he saw him, pouting and throwing tantrums.

Now, she knew what was going on, having a pretty accurate idea of what he planned to do. Her brother played the good child only to backstab Gabriel at the first opportunity, which explained why he seemed to ponder over something all day long. He was probably searching a way to get rid of the boyfriend the same way he tried to push away the childhood friend. That boy wanted to keep his sister all to himself.

"But that's not what I wanted to talk about," Gabriel's tone grew solemn, and before Masha could say anything, he related what happened when he tried to verify his temperature at the amus.e.m.e.nt park. The fear hidden in his blue eyes and his stiff body were still crystal clear in his memories. "His reaction was similar to my grandmother, and you know how she suffered from domestic violence and the sequels that it had left."

Clenching her fists, Masha stared at the teenage boy, narrowing her eyes. Her voice low, she asked, "Are you sure?"

"I would never mistake those kinds of signs, and I would rather be mistaken. Find the time to discuss this with your brother, or verify if anything happened at school, or…" He didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was clear.

Masha responded by a nod. She didn't question his words. In her mind, the teenage girl knew Gabriel would never lie to her unless it were for her benefit. She had absolute faith in him.

Anger welled up in her c.h.e.s.t at the thought that someone hurt her precious little brother. Around her, the temperature seemed to drop by several degrees.

Gabriel adverted his eyes, gazing over the empty track field, and didn't say anything more. Even though there was something else that bothered him, he decided to keep his suspicions for himself.

Before bringing the teenage boy home, Masha had explained a few things about her family situation so he wouldn't make a blunder. The crucial point was her brother, who suffered from slight development disabilities. It wasn't excessive, and in the long term, his maturity would balance itself. It was only problematic while he was still young.

As a child, as well as a teenager, Misha's mental development was too slow. Because of this, he encountered many difficulties at school since his real mental age wasn't at the same level as the other children. His social interactions were limited, often awkward, and the teachers' explanations, as well as the school manuals, were often obscure to him. It took him twice the effort to keep up in class, tiring him out.

At first, Mrs. Brown wanted to send him to a special school, but her husband refused to admit that his boy was mentally disabled, even if it was only a small problem that could be easily treated. Thus, Misha was enrolled in a regular school, and his sister and mother took time every evening to tutor him and help him with his homework.

Luckily, a development delay of two-three years wouldn't become a handicap once he reached a.d.u.l.thood, but in the meantime, it was still a cause for concern. Hence, Masha had told Gabriel to be careful when he interacts with her brother. Similarly, she made sure Gabriel would never raise the issue in front of her father. It was taboo.

At the time, she also took the opportunity to share some of her worries about her brother's future. She and her mother still hadn't told Misha that he was mentally disabled. They were afraid it would hurt him and affect his self-esteem. Moreover, they weren't sure he could fully understand what it means and only remember that he wasn't like the other children, which would erect another barrier between him and the other kids of his age.

To top it all, Misha was also smaller and thinner than others; this was already a cause of mockery that troubled the child deeply. Thus, they thought of waiting for a few years before explaining his conditions – but in the end, they never had the chance to do so in their past life, which was why Misha wasn't aware of his peculiarity. He still hadn't realized that his acting was full of holes that drew Gabriel's attention.

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Author's note

MC: ... Is my acting really that bad? QAQ

ML: Yes.

MC: Well, who cares if my acting is bad?

Author: I care! You're a pain in the a.s.s and there are so many things I can't write because it doesn't match up with your capabilities. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

MC: Shut up! It's your fault, you're the one who created me! Take your responsibilities! (╬⁽⁽ ⁰ ⁾⁾ Д ⁽⁽ ⁰ ⁾⁾)

Author: Do you really want to argue with the one who holds your fate!?

MC: I hate you!

Author: Good! You will hate me even more later on!

ML: ...