Chapter 49 - You Can Count On Your Big Sister

"Oh? Then, do you want to be lucky?" His eyelashes fluttered ever so slowly, watching her blink in confusion.

"I'm already lucky, my friend," Devon expressed, as this second life granted to her was already a lifetime of luck. She couldn't ask for more.

What did he expect from her? A part of him expected such a response.

'I just proposed to her and got a straight rejection,' Lewis grumbled internally, nodding as he said, "That's right, you're already lucky."

Devon gazed down with a smile on her face, thinking how she never thought considered herself lucky to be born as a princess. Nothing good happened in the palace, but now she could easily say how lucky she was.

"My friend." She gazed up and met Lewis' indifferent gaze. "I'm really lucky to have met you."

Her eyes softened as her smile grew subtle, feeling fortunate to be his friend. Devon didn't know what to do or wonder if it would be the same if she putting someone else to sleep.

'After rejecting my proposal… really.' Lewis let out a sigh as he waved nonchalantly. 'What a player.' 

He looked away and humored, "Just read now. You're making me shy."

"Alright, then." Devon giggled as she returned her focus to the laptop.

While she was busy getting shocked by more of the real Devon's notes, Lewis suddenly thought of contacting 'insignificant one'. He typed;

[ To: Insignificant One

What do you do when a curious cat doesn't understand you? ]

The second Lewis sent that message, he immediately saw the other person typing, and a replied appeared. 

[ From: Insignificant One

Big brother, please forgive me just this once. I swear I won't do it again, so please have mercy! I won't pry into your life again! T.T ]

Lewis frowned as his brother seemed to misunderstand him. But his reply still got his attention, so he texted back;

[ To: Insignificant One

What did you do? ]

There was a long silence in their message log as if the other person figured out Lewis hadn't found out yet. Lewis knew his little brother, so he messaged him again with, "Explain."

[ From: Insignificant One, so

Uhm… you see, big bro… I, well… argue with grandpa because of the blind dates he's planning to set you up with. I ended up telling him you… uhm… you already have someone to marry and he… Uhm… Grandpa said he wants to see her for himself. ]

Lewis could imagine how his brother fumbled and how he would sound while explaining the situation to him in great difficulty. However, his blank expression didn't change.

The lack of response from Lewis urged his brother to send another message. It says,

[ From: Insignificant One

Brother!! TT.TT I know I overstep and put you in a troublesome situation! I will stop being a busybody, I swear, and stop misunderstanding! Pleaseeee just don't punish me! No, I'll punish myself! I will ground myself! I will teach myself a lesson and discipline myself! T.T ]

Lewis arched his brow, as he had heard this many times in the past. Not that he was planning on doing any of that, as he was just thinking of something else. He was about to reply when his brother sent another message.

[ From Insignificant One

Please don't kill me, big brother. ]

'He's overreacting,' Lewis muttered internally, shaking his head as he glanced at Devon. 'Knowing Grandpa, he will surely nag me once I come back to work.'

So, Lewis replied, 

[ To: Insignificant One

Meet me tomorrow. ]

He didn't mean it negatively, but Lewis did not know how that short reply sounded so traumatizing to his little brother. Well, no one could blame his brother, since Lewis' punishments were extreme.

Although Lewis hurt no one physically, (aside from exhausting them with office work) he'd devour anyone and crush them mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. One would even consider being beaten to be better.

"It's getting late…" Lewis trailed off upon seeing Devon's sad expression that made him furrow his brows. 

"Are you alright?" He asked, and Devon faced him squarely, chewing her lower lip as she held back her tears.

This alarmed him as he moved closer and asked, "What's up this time?"

"My friend," came a meek and tiny voice, staring at him in pity. Devon reached for his hand and squeezed it, staring into his eyes as she nodded in determination.

"You can count on me."

"What…" Lewis trailed off as his eyes fell on the note on the laptop. He narrowed his eyes and read the note on the screen.

[ Today marks my 6th month as Mister Qin's sleeping buddy. It reminds me of the day I met him in Secret Garden. I instantly had this sense of responsibility the second I laid my eyes on him.

His sophisticated beauty that night stood out even though the bags under his eyes made him look like a beautiful grim reaper. We talked a lot that night, but I can barely remember our discussion.

The only thing that I remembered that night was the sense of responsibility of a big sister towards her little brother. Ironic to say that when I'm five years younger than him. Lol.

But yeah, I wanted to help him… or not. 

I'm not sure why, although sometimes I think it sympathy. But there were times I think the reason was that he reminds me of me. 

He reminds me of how it felt to be everyone's strong pillar of support, but no one was there for me because they all think I'm firm enough to need anyone's help.

Maybe it's not really because I want to help him, nor this strong sense of responsibility is just out of goodwill. Perhaps, being someone he could rely on about one thing makes me believe I'm also being there for the old me.

Whenever I think about him, I get depressed than I already am. This is the last time I'll ever write anything about him. So, I will say this for the last time, Mister Qin.

Live well and take care of yourself. I hope when you can finally sleep on your own, you can smile a bit more… (Imagines his smiling face) I take it back. Don't smile, it's deadly. 

Anyway, I'll stay by your side until you find the woman who will sincerely love you and give you the solace you needed. Until then, you can count on your secret big sister. 

END — ]