Chapter 87: Why Him?
The room was silent.
Too silent.
Max's eyes stayed frozen on the laptop screen, unmoving, unblinking, as if even the smallest motion would make the image disappear.
His coffee dripped slowly from the edge of the cup onto the table.
He didn't notice.
Because on the screen…
Was Noriko.
Her smile was soft. Familiar. Painfully familiar.
And beside her—
A man in a formal suit, smiling proudly with one arm wrapped around her waist.
His older brother.
Max's breathing stopped.
"…No…"
The word barely escaped his lips.
The picture looked warm. Happy. Like the kind of image people framed inside expensive homes and showed to guests proudly.
A wedding photo.
No.
Not yet a wedding photo.
An engagement photo.
Max's fingers trembled against the mouse.
His brother looked older now. More mature. The same sharp eyes their father used to praise endlessly.
The successful son.
The worthy son.
The son that stayed.
And Noriko…
Noriko was smiling.
Smiling the same way she used to smile at him.
The same smile she made while holding Kota.
The same smile she wore while sleeping beside him.
The same smile he spent years trying not to remember.
His chest tightened violently.
A sudden ringing filled his ears.
Then—
Fragments.
Messages.
Ignored calls.
Unread emails.
Letters.
His parents.
His brother.
His jaw slowly clenched.
"…No way…"
Max suddenly stood up so fast the chair screeched loudly against the floor.
"Dad?"
Kota peeked from the living room, holding a toy sword.
But Max didn't hear him.
He moved immediately.
Fast.
Too fast.
Opening drawers.
Pulling boxes.
Throwing old papers aside carelessly.
His breathing became uneven.
"Where is it… where is it…?"
"Dad?"
Kota walked closer, confused.
Max dropped to his knees near an old storage box beside the shelf. His hands dug through envelopes aggressively, old mail scattering across the floor.
Electric bills.
Advertisements.
Old notices.
Then—
White envelopes.
His eyes widened.
Letters from years ago.
Letters he never opened.
Letters with familiar handwriting.
His mother's.
His father's.
Max's face darkened immediately.
"…Those bastards…"
His hands shook as he tore through the pile.
He remembered every argument.
Every insult.
Every disappointed stare.
Art school.
Painting.
"Worthless."
"Embarrassment."
"Failure."
Their voices still lived inside his head no matter how far he ran.
And when Kota entered his life…
They hated him even more.
A child out of nowhere.
A struggling artist.
A single father.
To them, Max wasn't their son anymore.
Just a disgrace carrying their family name.
Max finally found a newer envelope.
His eyes locked onto the date.
Recent.
Very recent.
His heartbeat pounded painfully.
Slowly…
He opened it.
The paper unfolded shakily in his hand.
And then he read.
---
> Dear our worthless son,
You are invited to your brother's wedding.
You must go. This is the only thing you can do for your brother after wasting your life.
Do not embarrass this family further by refusing.
---
Silence.
Then—
CRUMPLE.
The paper crushed violently inside Max's fist.
His entire body trembled.
"…Shit…"
His voice cracked.
"…Why…?"
His knees weakened.
He lowered his head slowly, gripping the crumpled letter so tightly his knuckles turned white.
"Why him…?"
His breathing became heavier.
Noriko's face flashed again inside his mind.
Laughing with Kota.
Cooking beside him.
Falling asleep on his shoulder.
The warmth of her lips.
Her goodbye letter.
The tears he buried for years.
And now—
His brother.
Out of all people.
His brother.
Max suddenly slammed the storage box shut violently.
"FUCK!"
Kota flinched.
The shout echoed through the house.
Max grabbed his hair tightly.
"Why… why him…?"
His voice cracked harder this time.
He looked completely shattered.
"Why all of the men around you…?"
His eyes reddened immediately.
"Why my brother…?"
The words came out broken.
Almost pathetic.
Almost desperate.
Like a man trying to survive drowning memories.
Kota stood silently near the doorway.
He had never seen his father like this before.
Not this broken.
Not this angry.
Not this hurt.
Max staggered backward until his back hit the wall.
He slowly slid downward onto the floor.
The letter remained crushed in his hand.
"…I waited for you…"
A whisper.
Small.
Weak.
"…Even after that stupid letter…"
His shoulders trembled.
"I still waited…"
His breathing became shaky.
"Every damn year…"
Kota's chest tightened.
His father looked empty.
No.
Worse than empty.
Destroyed.
Like someone ripped open old wounds that never truly healed.
Max laughed suddenly.
A horrible laugh.
Dry.
Bitter.
Painful.
"…What am I even expecting…?"
His eyes watered heavily now.
"She already left…"
He covered his face with one hand.
"But why does this hurt so much…?"
A tear slipped through his fingers.
Then another.
Then another.
Max cried silently.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just quiet, exhausted crying.
The kind that came from years of holding everything inside.
Kota slowly stepped closer.
Carefully.
Like approaching an injured animal.
"Dad…"
No response.
Max stared blankly at the floor.
Kota looked at the scattered papers around him.
Old letters.
Old pain.
Things his father never talked about.
Kota's small hands clenched slightly.
He hated this feeling.
Seeing his father hurt.
Seeing the person who always smiled for him suddenly look so weak.
"…Dad…"
Still nothing.
Kota scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"…Uh…"
He looked around nervously.
Usually he joked around.
Usually he made Max laugh.
But now—
Nothing came out.
Because this didn't feel like one of those moments.
This felt heavy.
Adult heavy.
The kind children weren't supposed to understand.
But somehow…
Kota did.
Max suddenly spoke again quietly.
"…Maybe they were right…"
Kota blinked.
"What?"
Max laughed weakly.
"A failure…"
His voice sounded dead.
"I couldn't keep anyone."
"Dad—"
"I couldn't keep my dreams…"
Another tear fell.
"I couldn't keep her…"
His hand tightened against the crumpled invitation.
"And now she's marrying my brother."
The words sounded unreal even saying them aloud.
Max leaned his head against the wall weakly.
"…What's wrong with me…?"
Kota's eyes widened slightly.
For the first time…
His father looked small.
Not like a parent.
Not like the dependable adult who cooked for him and made dumb jokes and played games beside him.
Just…
A tired man.
A lonely man.
Kota slowly sat beside him quietly.
Not saying anything at first.
The room stayed dark and silent.
Then—
"…You know…"
Max didn't move.
Kota scratched his nose awkwardly.
"…If she left you for Uncle… then maybe her taste is kinda weird."
A pause.
Max blinked slowly.
Kota continued carefully.
"I mean… look at you."
Max turned slightly.
"You cook."
"…Badly," Kota added honestly.
Max stared at him blankly.
"You clean."
"…Eventually."
"You buy me games."
"…Only discounted ones."
"You let me eat junk food when I cry."
"…That's called emotional parenting."
"And you're cool."
Max snorted weakly despite himself.
"…Cool?"
"Yeah."
Kota nodded firmly.
"You're cooler than some random rich uncle."
Silence.
Then—
A tiny laugh escaped Max's lips accidentally.
Small.
Broken.
But real.
Kota noticed immediately.
"…There it is."
Max rubbed his eyes roughly.
"You little brat…"
"You looked ugly crying."
"Wow."
"You looked like a depressed potato."
Max laughed harder suddenly despite the tears still falling.
"You're seriously terrible at comforting people."
"I learned from you."
"…Fair."
The room slowly softened.
Not fully.
The pain remained.
Noriko remained.
The betrayal remained.
But beside him sat Kota.
And somehow…
That stopped Max from completely falling apart.
Max slowly looked down at the crumpled invitation again.
His eyes darkened.
"…A wedding…"
Kota peeked at the paper.
"…Are we going?"
Max stayed silent.
The air became heavy once more.
Then quietly—
"…I don't know."
Outside, the evening sky slowly darkened.
And somewhere far away…
The past waited patiently for Max to face it again.
Chapter End...
I really want to expand and create some more depth to the characters but there's no readers and so many ideas flowing through.Head so yeah I'm rushing to end this novel because I'll feel guilty if I don't finish my stories
I have a confession to make so I uses ai to translate my words in English because I'm really not that proficient on English but I wanted to reach global readers so many can read what kind of world in planning to build so yeah I'm disgusting maybe I'll never get a contract but I'm putting an effort into learning and being proficient in English so if there's just one non bot reader's thanks for reading and I'll finish the story thanks