When I came out of my room, I found four of them engrossed in the TV show. They were still unaware of my presence. I looked at Vivi and Zain. They were smiling brightly with the other two.
But they must still be worried about me. Yet they concealed it well.
Both of them are 3 years younger than me.
However, sometimes they behave more mature than their age.
Mom is preparing dinner. It's also time for our tutor to arrive. He occasionally tutors Yuriya and Aria as well.
I freshened up and grabbed something for a quick bite before starting my homework.
I want to complete at least one or two assignments before the tutor arrives. While this routine is familiar, this is the third homework assignment I've started.
Despite my best efforts, my studies had also sometimes been affected by those haunting dreams. Those fears and uncertainties often lingered in my mind, making it challenging for me to focus on my schoolwork.
Yet, I was determined not to let those dreams interfere with my reality. I pushed myself to overcome everything, even if I had to suffer miserably in my dreams.
I snapped back from my thoughts due to someone's intense stare. I glanced to my side. Yuriya's pair of eyes was fixed on me.
Her gaze was sharp and piercing; somehow, it cut through the haze of my distractions and brought me back to the present moment and the tasks at hand.
Before I resumed my assignment, I asked Yuriya,
"Do you have something to say to me?"
She simply nodded as a response and went silent again. It seems she is gathering her thoughts before telling me anything.
I smiled lightly as I waited for her.
After a few moments, she finally spoke, "Are you okay?"
Her question caught me off guard, and my eyes widened briefly. I hadn't expected her to ask this. I composed myself and replied,
"Of course, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
"Big sis Vivi and brother Zain always seem sad when they look at you. And you always have nightmares. That's why."
"They're just dreams. Don't you have nightmares?"
"I do, but not as often as you.”
"That's because you're still young. You'll experience them when you're older.”
I started to tease her. But her expression became pale. I couldn't hold my laughter and started laughing. However, she became upset and frowned as she understood I was teasing her.
I ruffled her hair to calm her down.
"I'm fine, and you won't have those nightmares. Now, go back and finish your homework. I need to complete mine too."
She left the room without further questions. Growing up in our intense family environment made Yuriya mature.
At least she and Aria have more innocence at their age than Vivi and Zain; they matured way too quickly for their age.
Setting aside these thoughts, I glanced at the clock.
"Is he going to be late again?"
For the past few months, the tutor has not been giving us the time he promised.
While I could have overlooked it if he were only my private tutor, his increasing lack of responsibility in his teaching is concerning, especially because Vivi and Zain also take lessons from him.
Now, he comes late every day. He was a competent tutor at first, but now his demeanor has grown increasingly aggressive, especially towards Zain. He punishes him for the most minor of mistakes.
I told my parents about this, but the outcome just left me disappointed.
Even my parents seemed to agree that physical discipline is necessary to correct Zain's behavior.
Despite my objections, their opinion remained unchanged. I could have accepted verbal scolding, but those strikes were unbearable.
He claimed to discipline Zain only once in a while to defend his actions. However, the aftermath always left Zain's skin marked with bruises.
Ding-Dong…
I almost sneered. Speak of the devil.
Vivi and Zain dashed to the study room at the sound of the doorbell. They didn't have any smiles on their faces.
They had always told me they didn't like this teacher, but...
He still hasn't come to study. He's probably talking with my mom.
Being late wasn't enough; now he was just chatting.
After a few minutes, he finally made his way into the study room. The smile on his face faded away as soon as he entered. It puzzled me how my parents remained oblivious to this.
Half an hour had elapsed, and I was still doing my assignment. Occasionally, he offered some assistance to me, but most of his attention was directed towards Vivi and Zain.
Both of them were working diligently so they could escape any form of punishment.
But after 20 minutes, he exploded into a rage at Vivi simply for overwriting. Zain and I attempted to say something, but he swiftly struck Zain on the back with a stick.
As he raised his hand for another blow, I instinctively pulled Zain and hid him behind me.
"Bian, move aside."
He barked at me with anger, but I glared at him.
"That's enough. What do you think you're doing?"
"What?"
He was taken aback by my sudden question.
"All Zain did was try to explain. There was no need to resort to such extremes…”
Before I could finish, my eyes fell on the stick. It was stained with blood.
I was shocked and turned to look at Zain's back. His clothing was torn, and blood was coming out.
I couldn't hold my anger anymore and shouted at him.
"Are you insane? How could you strike him so forcefully that he's bleeding? You piece of shit!"
"W...w...what? How dare you speak to your teacher in that manner? What I did was..."
"Don't talk shit about teaching methods," but I didn't let him speak.
"You......"
Click...
Mom entered the room; she must have heard me shouting.
"What do you think you're doing, Bian?"
Her voice conveyed her displeasure with my behavior.
But he took this chance to manipulate the situation.
"Did you hear, Ma'am? Look at your daughter. How's she..."
Before he could continue with his excuses, I intervened. "Is it your job to beat my brother until he bleeds?”
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