XG 144 - Obsession to be of value

When Wong Xue Guo arrived at Chen's family apartment, Chen YiWen happened to be asking Vihaan to destroy the lock. Her eyes twitched and quickly walked over. "Elder brother YiWen. I heard something happen to Yibo."

From what she heard, Chen Yibo had actually waited for more than a day for her to wake up. But knowing that she was just sleeping and not in danger, he decided to go ahead with his own awakening even if it would break his promise to her.

Nana had told her that Chen Yibo had pushed himself too hard, with the ambition to fully awaken his ability in the span of one day. Just hearing that caused Wong Xue Guo to frown. She had expected him to set a more realistic goal when he had been logically advising her.

Predictably, the machine's alarm rang when Chen Yibo's state hit the safety level and Chen YiWen immediately called the session off. Much to everyone's shock, Chen Yibo insisted on continuing and even raised his voice, yelling at his elder brother not to interfere with his matter, which was very unlike his usual polite and respectful self.

Unfazed by his brother's temper, Chen YiWen used his authority to stop his younger brother from continuing the session. But since then, Chen Yibo had locked himself up in his room, refusing to speak to anyone.

"It's been almost half a day and he has not even emerged for dinner. He's inside but not responding to whatever I said. We do not have the key to his room, so I had to request Mr Vihaan's help to break the lock," Chen YiWen explained wearily.

Chen YiWen may not have seen what his brother's fears were, but he was quite clear on what it could be about. Since young, Chen Yibo always questioned why their father hardly paid attention to him and had always done his best in doing anything to get their father's praise.

Their father really had done a lot of damage to Chen Yibo by comparing him to his elder brother, which developed his brother's obsession to be of value to their father.

After Chen YiWen graduated early from university, his father immediately had him join his lab and do his Master degree at the same time. His sudden increase in workload made him unable to spend more time with his brother. From the little time he could spend with his younger brother, he could see Chen Yibo gradually changed and it was not for the better. It was to the extent where he reluctantly suggested having Chen Yibo be taken care of other than their hired help, such as letting him live with their relative.

Musihada Laboratory was not a place where the family members of the researchers could stay for a long period, especially when Chen Yibo needed to go to school. It would be bad if some parties have the idea of kidnapping Chen Yibo during his travel back and forth, just to get information about their research.

However, their relatives in Geum country were involved with sensitive political matters which would not be ideal for Chen Yibo to get involved in.

Chen Zhang Bei knew that his friend, Charles Wong, had his wife and daughter migrate to Marigold. Trusting his friend's judgment, he let his youngest son move to Marigold and bought the house next to his friend's. With Suzie Yap's daughter coincidentally the same age as Chen Yibo, they could be friends.

Upon knowing that Chen Yibo would be moving to Marigold, Chen Zhang Bei's father and youngest brother's family choose to follow in moving there as well to avoid being implicated with military politics brewing in Geum country.

That decision helped Chen Yibo to recover to his usual self, even if he refused to live in the same house as his uncle and Grandfather.

As breaking the door was the occupant's elder brother's decision, the outsider Wong Xue Guo does not really have the right to protest, even if she did think it would pose Chen Yibo some trouble in future when he wanted some privacy.

If Chen Yibo gets angry over his door, they could redirect the blame to him for not responding to their calls and making them worried.

Vihaan himself does not think it was anything wrong with breaking down a door when it was concerning a person's safety so there was no protest from him.

There was no reaction from the occupant after Vihaan eroded the doorknob and pushed open the door. The interior was dark, but with the windows, they could still see the outline of the interior along with the help of the white walls.

This was the first time Wong Xue Guo entered Chen Yibo's bedroom.

Chen YiWen turned on the light and revealed Chen Yibo seated on his bed. He squinted his eyes slightly from the sudden brightness, and then there was no other reaction from him after that.

Wong Xue Guo frowned when she caught sight of his bleeding hands. He had clenched his fists so tightly that his nails had pierced his skin. Not only that, his eyes were bloodshot that were rather contrasting to his lips pale. His mental state must be really bad for him to let go of his appearance this much, as he was a person that cared about his image a lot to avoid being disliked by people.

"Yibo." How could Chen YiWen's heart not hurt seeing his younger brother's state? "It's bad to sit in the dark. Let's go and have dinner together-"

"How did you get in?" Chen Yibo asked curtly.

That emotionless expression resonated with the 'Chen Yibo' that Wong Xue Guo's fear had created, freezing her body in place.

"You did not respond to my calls. I had to break in," Chen YiWen said.

Chen Yibo slapped Chen YiWen's hand away before he could touch him. "Get out. Just get out!"

"I'm worried about you. Let me help you," Chen YiWen pleaded.

"Help? The only thing you can help is to leave me alone."

Wong Xue Guo's shoulder tensed uncomfortably as she could clearly see Chen Yibo was rather hostile to Chen YiWen. Not only that, there was a mixture of jealousy when he glared at his elder brother.

It was the first time she had seen this emotion from Chen Yibo, who was generous and friendly to everyone.

"Yibo, please talk to me?"

The sneer on Chen Yibo's face looked so out of place from the usually polite and smiling guy. "But brother, you are the person I least want to talk to right now."

Whatever he had seen in his fears had changed him, with his elder brother playing a part in breaking down his own confidence and his positive view of life. His elder brother might be Chen Yibo's closest and dearest person, but that might not mean he was the right person to snap him out of it during his most sensitive moment.

Wong Xue Guo reached out to grab Chen YiWen's wrist, lightly tugging him back from trying to reach out to his younger brother again. "Brother YiWen, if you don't mind it, why don't I accompany Yibo until he feels better?"

Chen YiWen got her hint and with a heavy sigh, agreed to let her try since he failed twice. "Please."