章節 127: Jerk and Cinnamon Roll

"Dinner is ready!" Misha screamed, turning off the oven.

After years of practice, he had become quite skilled in a kitchen, both for cooking and keeping the place neat. Although he had been busying himself with today's meal for a while now, the kitchen wasn't a mess. The counters were clean, and the dishes had been washed and left in the sink to dry.

The reason why he had become such a good cook was simple: a few days after listening to the record contained in the watch, Misha went to his mother and begged her to teach him how to cook. If his other self could do it, so could he.

'Like hell I'll lose to him!' was his thought at the time.

And indeed, Misha discovered he had a knack for cooking. He hadn't known before because he never bothered to learn how to cook in his past life. Back then, he had no one to cook for and didn't see the need; as long as he could feed himself and not die, it was good enough.

His mindset had changed quite a lot since then, however.

"Don't touch!" Misha scolded, quickly catching the naughty hand before Tristan could pick up a piece of braised pork. "It's still hot."

"But it looks so good," the boy drooled, staring intently at the meat. "When can I take a bite?"

"Soon enough! For now, just go sit at the table and wait. Don't, and I'm not giving you any!"

The threat worked wonder and Tristan scrammed to the table at lightning speed, obediently taking a seat. Not long after, Jake and Gabriel entered the room, sniffing the air.

"Smells wonderful!" Gabriel said, walking up to Misha. "Do you need my help with something?"

"Not really, everything is ready. Just serve yourself and your brothers," Misha answered, lowering his voice to warn Gabriel, "If you let me serve Jake, I may or may not add a shitload of rat poison in his plate. You'll handle his corpse and the aftermath if he were to suddenly drop dead, right?"

Gabriel responded with a wry laugh, not doubting Misha's words. Sometimes, even he found it hard not to kill his brother, so, honestly, it was a miracle Misha still hadn't strangled the man in all these years. Well, he almost did a few times.

…All right, not just a few times. Misha itched to wring his neck whenever they met, but since they didn't meet often…

With this in mind, Gabriel quickly got to the task at hand, knowing that making Jake wait too long wouldn't end well. That man was good at running his mouth and courting death, if anything.

"Where's your mom, by the way?" Gabriel asked, placing his brothers' dishes before them. "I still haven't seen her."

"She's out with my father. They went on a date, apparently," Misha shrugged. "My father finally got his weekend off, so they decided to act like a couple for once and rented a chalet near the Great Lakes."

Over the years, Alexey fell into the bad habit of overworking, just like he had in the second timeline. When he wasn't away on a business trip, he was at the office, working on whatever project his superiors had thrown his way. Not only did the higher-ups exploit him, but his colleagues also tended to come crying to him, asking for his help and whatnot.

His days off were thus scarce and hard to come by. Deep down, Alexey felt guilty about his lack of presence and usually tried to make it up to his family, whether by bringing them to the restaurant in his free time or buying a lot of presents. He spoiled them as much as he could.

However, Misha blew up a few days ago and scolded him. Now that he and his sister were older, his father should stop putting his children first. Instead, he should take his wife on a romantic outing once in a while. Kids were good and all, but couples needed to have their private time too!

"How many years has it been since you went on a date?" Misha had snorted, arms crossed in front of his chest. "Don't you dare try to count! Anyway, it has been a long time, so just bring mom to an awesome place, ok? What's with the face? I'm not gonna burn down the house in your absence! Have faith in your son, will you?!"

"But…"

"I said no but!"

Though they argued for an entire evening, Misha still chased his parents out the next day. Jake and Tristan were coming this weekend, and he didn't want them to meet.

He didn't like how Jake looked down on his mother and threw not-so-discreet jabs at his father—it made his blood boil every time. For his mental health's sake, it was better for his parents not to be in the house when that guy was around. Or else, he feared he would succumb to his desire to kill him sooner rather than later.

Sometimes, Misha wondered how his parents did to endure such blatant disrespect. If he had been in their shoes, he would have long thrown the man out the window—from the second floor, of course, not the first one. Better yet, from the rooftop.

Hmph.

Well, if Misha was honest, he knew why his parents were so tolerant. Despite the years that went by, they still felt guilty about Gabriel's coma, but the blame should be his to bear, not theirs. No matter what, they shouldn't have to put up with a spoiled rotten, insensitive jerk such as Jake.

"Can I have seconds?" Tristan's soft voice snapped Misha out of his thoughts. "It's so good! I want to eat the whole pot!"

"I'm not sure your small stomach will allow it, though," Misha chuckled, his eyes curving into crescent moons.

At least, the jerk also came with a cinnamon roll, his only consolation.

"You never know!" the boy pouted, puffing out his cheeks like a squirrel's. "I'm in the middle of growing up, so I do eat a lot. Tell him, Gaby!"

"Well, he indeed eats a lot more lately," Gabriel nodded, a smile stretching his lips. "You could be surprised, Misha."

"Ok, ok, I get it. But you need to leave a portion for my sister. She'll probably eat it after returning from work or keep it for tomorrow's lunch."

"Oh? So she'll come back tonight?" Jake cocked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, got a problem with that?"

"Not at all."

Misha squinted, glaring at the man. Maybe he should text his sister not to come back today, even if she had to stay at a hotel. That guy seemed up to no good tonight.

The fewer times Jake and Masha met, the better.

***

After dinner, they watched a few movies to pass the time until nightfall. In the end, Masha did not come back, having answered Misha's message text with an "understood" and a winking smiley face. They told Jake that she had to work the night shift and would probably stay over at a friend's. Why? Because it was close to her workplace, obviously.

Jake wasn't happy, but they pretended not to notice.

Not long after the third movie ended, Tristan, who had been dozing off on the sofa for quite a while, finally fell asleep, his head resting against Misha's arm. Knowing it was about time to go to bed, Jake excused himself, saying he was too tired to help lay out the futons. He then snuck upstairs to Misha's bedroom. It was where he usually slept when he stayed over.

"I think your brother is allergic to helping others," Misha snorted, gently laying Tristan on the sofa before bringing the blankets. "Sometimes, I wonder how someone can be as shameless as him. Does he really think we can't see through his lies?"

"Hm?" Gabriel smiled, though his smile did not reach his eyes. "I think it's good if he takes us for fools, however. It means my training went well."

"Remind me to never get on your bad side," the teenager mumbled, unfolding the futons. "He's so oblivious to your schemes that I often don't know what to think. Your manipulative side sure is scary."

It wasn't the first time they had this conversation. Still, Misha felt the need to bring it up again. Though Jake was an ass, he wasn't an idiot, and seeing him dance in the palm of Gabriel's hand was a little unsettling at times.

"Are you scared of me?"

"Of course not," Misha threw him a pillow, pursing his lips. "Why the hell would I be? Help me make the beds instead of spouting nonsense."

Snorting, Misha turned around and spread the blankets. While he did so, Gabriel covered the pillows with an amused smile on his lips. Misha was so easy to fire up… It was pretty cute, honestly.

Once the futons were ready, Gabriel carefully pulled his little brother into his arms, then tucked the child into bed. He brushed a few strands of hair back behind his ear, and the boy curled up, wrapping his arms around his wrist and refusing to let go.

"You got caught," Misha laughed, untying his hair before sliding under the blanket. "Looks like you're the human pillow tonight."

"…"

Gabriel sighed but quickly accepted his fate. Tristan had developed the bad habit of clinging to something in his sleep. It was usually a folded blanket when he was sleeping alone, but if someone was in the vicinity, he instinctively rolled to their side and snuggled into their arms, even wrapping his limbs around them like an octopus. And just like Gabriel, he slept like the dead, uncaring about the rest of the world. It made it near impossible to push him aside once asleep.

"What's the plan for tomorrow, by the way?" Misha asked, glancing at the man. "Want me to drive Jake away?"

"No, not this time. I actually need you to keep him distracted for the day."

The teenager squinted, staring straight into Gabriel's emerald eyes. He could never guess what he had in mind. So, better ask. "What are you planning this time?"

"Hm? Nothing much."

"Yeah, sure."

"Don't pull that face. Just play along tomorrow, ok?"

With a pout, Misha turned around, showing his back to the man. They could not see each other often, so why did he have to spend his time with that jerk instead of Gabriel? It was pissing him off. But he knew the drill and thus only complained for the sake of it.

"I know, I know. Don't worry, I will."

"I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"You better."

Only, they were both aware that it was an empty promise. How many times had Gabriel said the same thing without ever being able to keep up his word? Well, too many times.

__________________________

Chapter revised on 2022-06-10

Edited by Clozed! ♥

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/rs_vaesen

Discord: https://discord.gg/ZsEYr5eh6h