Furry Ears, His Unknown Brother's Identity

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'Ugh, what's this place?'

Shao Liling tried clearing her vision, blinking again and again, it was hard seeing her surroundings but she was sure it was somewhere unfamiliar. She was in a tunnel, rat squeaks ringing in her head, there was a distant sound of some liquid dripping from the ceiling near her. She was still groggy, as if she just woke up from a deep slumber, which she did.

Her whole body was cramping, her neck almost breaking apart from tilting her head slightly, a nasty odor lingering in the air, presumably, she was in a sewer, for god knows why. Ye MinFeng was nowhere in sight, she could just feel inside her bones that she was burning with rage, rage that she felt for the first time from someone betraying her trust which she hardly gave anyone.

Shao Liling was sure he had a part in this, but she was still felt broken and sad, he had spoken to her despite his fear, and they had questions all the time, but they were being answered, one at a time.

Shao Liling sucked in all the tears which were threatening to fall down her cheeks at any moment now. She didn't want to cry, not just yet. She wouldn't let anyone possibly watching her right now at the moment, anyone see that she was vulnerable.

Her legs and hands were tied up by a rope, on a rusty, creaking wooden chair. It looked like the ones who had brought her here with them, had the brain cells of probably two digits or less. Shao Liling could easily escape if she put a bit of pressure for a while. She struggled for a bit, wincing at the red marks that had formed on her legs and hands from being tied up too harshly.

There weren't any source of light except from small holes, and the sunlight coming from far away near the end, it seems like morning already so it should have been one day, or else there was no way she would have survived without food for that long.

Shao Liling moved around, the rope digging in her fair skin, the beads of sweats were making their appearance as it was getting more and more difficult. She looked around, but all she could see was the reflection of sunlight in the puddles on the ground.

As Shao Liling looked around, she remembered about her phone, which was in her skirt pocket, she prayed that she was lucky enough those thugs or whatever had left her phone behind. Her hands were behind her back, and tried moving again, squirming from the rough material of the rope and squeezed her hands to the front, slowly reaching from below the skirt as she took all her strength and reached as far as she can go.

Shao Liling heaved out a breath as she got hold of a rectangular item tucked safely in her skirt. She pulled it and checked the time, relieved that they hadn't brought her phone with them.

'11:56.am'

'Ok, dad's already in a frenzy in search of me by now, I should call him first'

Shao Liling held her phone closely to her chest, picking 'Shao Luhan' from the contact list, and pressed it, waiting for her dad's voice as someone soon picked it up,

"Hey d-"

Shao Liling heard footsteps echoing through the tunnel, the sound of water splashing as the sound neared her. She was panicking slightly now, taking deep breathes as she heard her dad yelling over the phone in worry, asking her where she was and what had happened to her. Shao Liling couldn't focus on that anymore, and came to see a figure. Someone's figure which she particularly had a clear memory of.

"Ye MinFeng, what are you doing here? Still taunting me for being this stupid?"

He looked at her, hesitation in her eyes, his Adam's Apple bobbing up and down. He was thinking about something, it was clear he was having trouble saying it. He looked left and right timidly, showing off his true self to her at that moment.

"I asked wha-"

"I'm sorry"

Shao Liling scoffed, tired from hearing the word again and again over the time they spent with each other.

"What? What do you mean you're sorry after you've literally kidnapped me? Does this look like a kid's play to you?"

"I...I know"

Shao Liling was about to speak again but Ye MinFeng raised up his arms and took the hat he had on his head, revealing the black ears beneath it.

"This....the reason I had to do this...was because I had no choice"

He spoke with a pause again,

"I was never allowed to make my own choices, it had to be my masters orders...or anything else I do, will eventually end badly. I...I didn't really know now....whether this is my own life...or-or I am just a puppet used by others. I can't do whatever I have in mind, I have to act accordingly to what my master wants. It was my choice that I wanted to be with you...it had nothing to do with my boss, I liked you...genuinely for the first time in my life. I had never had this much happiness in the years I've lived till now. But it had come to an end.....again"

"It had always been like that"

"Shao Liling! Where are you? I'll come and get you. Are you safe right now? Hello?"

"The things which were precious to me, had always been snatched away from me"

"I'm so sorry. I don't expect you to forgive me, and I don't deserve to be forgiven, but please just listen to me one last time"

"Just...just leave"

"Shao Liling! Shao Liling!? What happened?"

"Your dad must be worried about you, you should g-"

"I know human language, ok? You don't have to repeat it again and again. Who would even wanna stay here?"

Shao Liling said without regret, she had had enough. She didn't understood the pain he had gone through, but she understood the meaning. He was using his plight of a situation as an escape way, how could he? She knew he was a hybrid, her heart had softened when she heard about him being forced to do things he didn't want to. But just backing up when he can't do it? Ye MinFeng seemed like a coward to her, his head lowered with his eyes staring at nothing in particular, his chin was slightly wobbling, trying to hold in the swarm of tears he had in his eyes.

He couldn't do anything about it, he is just staying, taking it all in as Shao Liling threw him a last glare, and freed herself from the loosened ropes and stood up. Done with all this unnecessary drama and went towards the exit. Anger and sadness clear in the way her stomps in the water were heard from deep inside the tunnel, as Ye MinFeng broke down. He had let go one more thing.

No, one more person. He had let someone like her, go away from him, he had pushed her again. He couldn't understand the reasons behind his actions, but his heart was clenching. Clenching around emptiness.

Shao Liling reached outside, and started talking to her dad over the phone who was basically yelling at the point. She calmed him down, saying that she was safe and sound, but some things had happened. But it seems like her dad already knew about it, and was waiting patiently for her to reach home from wherever she was. Shao Luhan compromised that he would talk to her as long as she arrived without any injury and sent one of his chauffeur on a Ferrari to fetch her as quickly as possible.

Shao Liling was broken, her tears streaming down like a faucet, now that she had found a safe place to wait for the car, she let all the bundled up emotions out. She couldn't believe she was this hurt from letting someone go. She had done it on her own accord, yet she felt like she made the wrong decision. She vented all her emotions with her tears as she entered the car with the driver and headed back home. Now she was sure that she would never see him again.