A/N: So sorry for the late update! Been sick >.<

XG 158 - His father is the real heartless one

Only when his father looked at his eldest son did he finally catch something. [YiWen is wasting time.]

It took Chen YiWen by surprise when he saw the frown on his younger brother's face. "Are you feeling unwell?"

"... No. The curry is quite strong."

Chen YiWen stared at the curry rice and then at his brother who often eats very spicy food as a challenge to himself. As someone that prefers milder spices, Chen YiWen thinks that today's curry was just right and not tongue burning. Plus, Chen Yibo was on his second portion and had not looked out of the ordinary when eating the first portion.

He did not think much of it and asked, "Do you want water?"

"... Please."

Chen Yibo really needs to drink water to buy him some time to readjust his thoughts. He had always thought his father was proud of his eldest son and willing to pay more attention to him. Adding to that, their father was quite lenient with his eldest son. But why would his father's thought give him the impression that his father valued his eldest son just because he would be useful in helping his research?

Did his elder brother know that?

Meeting Chen Yibo's strange gaze, Chen YiWen asked, "Can you still eat the curry rice? Do you want me to find other food?"

"Don't waste food," Director Chen interrupted with a slight crease between his eyebrows.

Chen Yibo adjusted his expression. "Father is right. I will finish it. It's delicious and the spiciness is toleratable."

"If there's no issue, go and finish the sample testing," Director Chen told his eldest son before turning to his younger son. "Rest and go to test your ability once you recover your strength. If there's anything wrong, press the alarm."

"Father, it's still better to have someone look after Yibo beside him," Chen YiWen said.

"There are others that can do that. You have something important you still need to finish," Director Chen said.

"Father, did mom rarely get sick?" Chen Yibo suddenly asked.

Chen Yibo's sudden question resulted in another thought from his father.

[Meng Ya.]

That was the name of Chen Yibo and Chen YiWen's mother.

"She takes care of her health well and her positive mindset boosts her healing speed. It's unreliable to assume things based on such things even if she did have the Alpha gene," his father said.

His wife had long passed away and even if he was able to get to his wife's grave, he would not disturb his late wife's rest just to verify the guess. It was enough to just assume his son got the Alpha gene from his wife, as he himself does not have it.

Chen Yibo waited for more thoughts from his father since his expression was slightly reminiscing, but there was nothing other than her mother's name.

Could it be that he could only read vocal thoughts, not emotions, not memories, or imagination? All this while, he could not read the emotions behind their thoughts. What he heard was the person's voice in a neutral tone, without fluctuations that betrayed what they were feeling. So he could only guess their mood from their facial expression or the content of their thoughts.

But he was told he was quite unreliable in guessing what the other person was feeling.

[She will be happy if she sees our sons have grown up.]

His father's sudden and unexpected thought had Chen Yibo clenching his jaw until his vein was visible to the eye, surprising his brother yet again. "Are you really alright?"

"... Yeah. I'm just trying to use my ability."

Chen YiWen glared at his brother that was younger than him by six years. "What are you using your ability for when you are still bedridden? Are you trying to extend your bedrest period?"

"Sorry. I could not resist."

Not that he knows how to turn it off either. He was too interested in his father and brother's thoughts to have the motivation in figuring out how to turn it off.

At least, not now. He wanted to know more about his family first before they become guarded against him for his mind-reading ability.

Chen Yibo suddenly thought that the only person who could move his father's heart was his late wife. Even so, he was glad his mother was sincerely loved.

Strangely, his heart started to let go, suddenly feeling that it was alright not to get attention from his indifferent father who only cared about his research. He was too young to remember if prioritizing his research was his father's usual behaviour, or if it was a new one after his wife passed away.

If it was the former... Hah, his father is the real heartless one.

Speaking of the one that had called herself heartless, he unexpectedly had the urge to see her and let her know that he could finally step forward from his obsession for his father's attention. She might be happy to know he finally 'gave up' just like her.

But she had avoided him after her confession, likely to be hurt and embarrassed to face him.

He really wants their friendship to remain the same, unaffected by her confession and his rejection. It was not difficult to hope so, right?

A/N: I'm curious, but do you think it's scummy thinking? XD

Director Chen eyed the two boxes of uneaten curry rice waiting to enter his youngest son's stomach with a trace of impatience. He had already accepted that his eldest son would not leave anytime soon. "How much longer?"

Chen YiWen had been working with his father closely for many years and easily understood what he was actually asking about. "Until I finish feeding Yibo everything. He can't move now, what if he's hungry later?"

"Call someone else to feed him when he gets hungry again. You should not leave your work unattended for long."

What's the urgency?

Afraid that it was really urgent, Chen Yibo said, "Elder brother, you can go back to your work."

"After I finish feeding you. It's kind of reminding me of the time when you are younger, constantly wanting me to feed you."

Their family has a nanny when they were much younger, but Chen YiWen liked to spend time with his cute little brother and feeding him was one of their shared activities. Sadly, his little brother grew up so fast and refused to let him feed him any longer, wanting to do everything by himself.

"As a team leader, you should act like a role model for others," Director Chen chastised, but what grabbed Chen Yibo's attention was his thoughts.

[The gene activation booster experiment had to discontinue for now. Hopefully, Miu's ability will go back to normal soon.]

"What happened to Ms Miu?" Chen Yibo asked, surprising others.

"How did you know? Did Seungri and Ryewook say anything to you?" Chen YiWen frowned unhappily. He does not want his brother to know anything so that he could recover with peace of mind.

"No, it's not them. It's... something to do with my ability."

By now, Chen YiWen suspected that Chen Yibo was not being forthcoming about his ability not because he was uncertain but because of the nature of his ability.

Chen Yibo, who could listen to his elder brother's mind, gave him a helpless look that answered his guess. Chen YiWen eyed their father, who had not caught on and then looked at the camera that was recording their actions and words.

Although the person behind the camera does not necessarily watch them, with how power-saving conscious they were getting, it was still dangerous to bet on it.

Chen YiWen understood well that not all abilities were fair in terms of power and usefulness. But there were abilities like his time manipulation in another future timeline, which would draw unwanted attention to him.

Anguished people would want him to 'reverse' the time for their zombified family members.

That sounded much harder than sending memories back ten years ago, and the future him that had the aid of two ability user's energy had died after achieving that goal.