(BL) Mafia Love; He who falls the hardest loses-Chapter 88: Family 2

Hiroshi didn’t argue with the sick Aki when he was done coughing. He knew Aki made millions or maybe even more than that from the businesses he owned and his job but being richer than him? Mhhh . . . maybe not.

***

Hiroshi went to his father to inform him of his plan to apply for leave from work after the surgery he had that day.

"To what do I owe this visit?" His father asked after Hiroshi sat down and was served a cup of tea. Hiroshi worked with his father and they met frequently for professional reasons but hardly met for anything person.

"I want to take a leave for two weeks maybe," Hiroshi replied calmly.

"Okay, when will you leave?"

"In two days."

"That’s a bit sudden. Remember you have a lot of important clients you would not want to offend," his father reminded him sternly.

"I want to check on Aki. I didn’t attend his wedding because I was busy and I think it is only right I visit him now, especially because he sounded sick when I called him yesterday," Hiroshi explained calmly as he met his father’s gaze.

"I have not heard from him for a while because I have been busy," Hiroshi’s father said and dropped his gaze with a trace of guilt on his wrinkled face.

Hiroshi felt a strong urge to tell his father to look up at him when he was talking but he pressed his lips together knowing it was not his role to play. He could not be the one commanding eye contact but being commanded.

"I will have everything set in place for you to leave," his father told him assuredly.

The one in need of attention was his son, Aki, there was no way he wouldn’t get everything ready for Hiroshi to leave.

He had a lot of patients in his care especially the one he had just operated on and leaving was not very wise since his brother was sick, he could give good excuses but with the head of the hospital backing the leave, he had no reason to worry about their care.

"When will you leave exactly? Have you bought your ticket?"

"Yes, I bought it yesterday, I will return it as soon as I confirm Aki is in good condition. He said it was nothing serious but confirming it would be best."

"You can stay a bit more if there’s a need. I will ensure the two weeks’ leave is approved so that you two can spend some time together as brothers." His father sighed and shook his head saying, "We are so busy these days we barely have time for family."

"Work is important too," Hiroshi said seriously. For the most part of his life, he knew how seriously his father took his work maybe even more important than family, it was interesting how he blamed the lack of time spent as a family on his work.

They could not even be all together as a family because Aki wasn’t in the country and even when Aki came to the country, they barely had time to relax together as a family. freēnovelkiss.com

Hiroshi could imagine how awkward it would have been if they tried to set a planned time specifically for the family because it was not something they had done in the past.

Spontaneous meetings brought by other plans like Aki’s wedding were the best at least their focus will be on the occasion rather than on the time they were setting aside to spend together as a family.

"Did he mention his wife?" Hiroshi’s father asked.

Haruki looked at his dad calmly without any ripples in his expression that could have revealed what Aki had told him. He could guess that Aki didn’t tell his father about it or the father knew about it but hesitated to tell Hiroshi, it was a bit difficult to guess what his father knew sometimes.

"No, I did not ask," Hiroshi replied. His expression did not give out the fact that he was lying.

"You didn’t bother asking but you want to see him immediately," his father said with a trace of laughter in his voice. "That’s the spirit of a very concerned brother."

"I guess," Hiroshi said as though he was not sure if his father was right about him.

"Since you don’t want a wife here, you might as well find someone there. Two weeks is not too short to meet the love of your life. You know, I fell in love with your mother as soon as I saw and it took me only three days to make her fall for me."

Hiroshi’s lips formed a small upward curve when he heard his father mention his mother but the smile was far from the sadness in his brown eyes, one he could not completely hide.

It was very rare to hear his father mention his mother. It was as though there was an unwritten rule not to mention his mother while he was growing up. It was as though her name was taboo with the new wife, his stepmother present.

It even became worse after his stepmother gave birth and he had to throw the memories of his mother to the back of his mind to be a good stepson and brother.

Even his mother’s pictures were put away completely hidden away. He would have loved to hear more about his mother but the curiosity was forced downwards.

He knew he could not stay with his father anymore so he rose from the seat and told his father he had other things to do. At that point, he did not care if his father could read the change in his mood, he just wanted to leave and his father didn’t stop him.

He walked to his office with quick steps so that no one bothered him on the way seeing he was in a rush. He walked into the office and closed the door. With a couple of deep breaths, the stiffness of his expression still holding the forced smile he showed his father, loosened and the smile disappeared.

He walked to his desk and as though nothing had affected him, he sat down and began going through the information of one of his patients. Once again, he had successfully locked the memories of his mother up.

There was a knock on the door and the door was pushed open after he invited the person in. It was one of his colleagues. "I just heard you are going on a leave," the older man said as he walked into the office putting his hands in the pockets of his ward coat.

"Yes, I will be away for two weeks maximum," Hiroshi replied. The man was the assistant surgeon who operated on his patient and he was certain the man was the most important person to know about his leave.

"Our best surgeon is going, what are we going to do?" the man asked seriously.

"I don’t think I am the best with a genius like you present but I will come back as soon as the leave is over. If anything tries to hold me back, I will just bring it back with me," Hiroshi assured the man.

"I understand you need to rest. This will be your first major leave this year and from the way you overwork yourself even when unnecessary, I think you deserve to rest for a month at least. But since you chose two weeks, I guess that’s what your workaholic self needs."

Hiroshi smiled warmly at the man. "I assure you, that’s all I need."

They ended up discussing some serious things about the patient from the report Hiroshi was reading earlier.

Hiroshi was prepared to leave the country when the time came. His father offered to drive him to the airport but knowing the man must have asked out of courtesy, Hiroshi refused his offer and took a taxi cab instead with only a travelling leather bag.

It had been years since the last time he last travelled out of the country and he wished he could avoid the long hours in the plane despite the comfort of the business class and the overly nice air hostesses.

When he arrived at Aki’s home, he remained standing at the first step up to the door. He turned around looking at the garden, and the fountain, he listened to the sound of flowing, rushing water and the sound of birds. This was home, this was the place he knew as home but what was Aki doing here?

How did Aki get his hands on the house that held his earliest childhood memories, both the good and the bad? He pressed his hand against his palpitating heart. He looked up at that window, the window she fell from twice.

The window was open and someone was standing there in a purple dressing coat. The person moved closer to the window. It was Aki holding a mug. He looked down and waved with a big smile when their gaze met.

Aki placed the mug down rested his hand on the window sill and leaned forward. Hiroshi’s heart pounded hard as he tried to remind himself to breathe calmly.

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