After spending the rest of the evening in harmony around the campfire, they all retired around midnight to their rooms to sleep. Zhan and Yibo cuddled with each other for a while and then fell asleep too. In the morning, shortly after 6 am, Yibo woke up to the noise from the kitchen that he had been used to since childhood. Zhan was still asleep, so he carefully got out of bed, tucked Zhan in properly and crept out of the room and then downstairs to the kitchen, where Yibo's mother was trying to make breakfast but was far too busy wiping away her tears.

"Mother?" Yibo asked, joining her in the kitchen.

His mom slowly turned to him and looked at him questioningly. "Mother? Is that what you call me now? Not mom anymore?"

"Yes. Because right now I'm pretty mad at you."

"I know. Unfortunately, I still remember very well what I did last night."

"And that's all you have to say about it? You're just upset because your secret slipped out?"

"God no. Yibo, I'm upset because I didn't try to explain it to you. I just slammed the information that you have a six year older brother on your head and tried to talk my way out of it instead of explaining it to you."

"Then explain it to me now. Dad's still asleep. I heard him snoring when I passed the guest room. No one else is here. So tell me now."

"Come here and sit down son." She said, pointing to the empty chair next to her. Yibo sat down next to her, handed her a pack of tissues and waited for her to start talking. But before she spoke, she wrapped her arms around Yibo and asked: "You know how much I love you, don't you?"

"Well, I think I do." Yibo replied, feeling a little uncomfortable. Because he and his family were not huggers! They only hugged on certain holidays or birthdays. But never just like that. And now that she was clinging to him, Yibo felt really awkward. But he didn't say that. Which he didn't have to. Because she felt it, because Yibo stiffened.

She gently placed her hand on Yibo's hand, stroked it briefly and said: "When I got pregnant with your brother, I was only 18 years old, had just finished school and had been married for three months to a man I didn't even actually know."

"You were even married?" Yibo was shocked.

"Yes. It was like that back then. It was rare for girls from simple families to even have a high school degree. Only very few of them went to university. Most girls dropped out of school to get married and support their families. I was at least able to finish school before my parents married me off to a young man I didn't know. I only met him twice before our wedding. Once when his family came to meet me and the second time to discuss the wedding. Three months after I finished school, I was married, had to leave home and move into my in-laws' house, where I had to work in the household. Just like women did back then. Three months after the wedding, I didn't feel well for days and after an examination we knew I was pregnant. My husband and my in-laws were delighted. But even then I was completely overwhelmed by being married, no longer living with my family and now expecting a child."

"I can well understand that."

"Shortly before our son was born, my husband and I moved into a small house that belonged to the in-laws' property. The house only had two rooms, no bathroom, no kitchen and was leaky. I gave birth to my son in my in-laws' house. And while everyone rejoiced because it was a son, I cried because I didn't know what to do with a baby."

"So you were completely overwhelmed."

"Yes, very much so. I was a wife, housewife and mother and had no life of my own, no plans for the future. Simply nothing. I wasn't doing well, but neither my husband nor my in-laws were interested. And when I went to my parents to talk to them about my problems, they immediately sent me back to my new family. Only my older brother gave me a sympathetic ear and advised me to think about what I wanted and then leave. And that's what I did. I thought about what I wanted and I wanted to study. I wanted to become a lawyer. I wanted to have my own life. And when I realized that, I knew that I had to run away if I wanted to fulfill these wishes. So I secretly packed my things and left in the middle of the night. My brother drove me to a friend in the city. She helped me find a job so that I could earn money to go to university. I started studying and met your father. I really fell in love with him straight away. He asked me to marry him six months later and I accepted after his parents promised me that I could continue studying and that they would even finance my studies. At this point, I was already divorced from my husband. Because just a few months after I ran away and he found out where I was, he divorced me and married another woman. I married your father and had you a year and a half later. And unlike with your brother, I was ready for you. I had help from your dad and my in-laws. I went to law school, became a lawyer, and became the proud mom of an absolutely amazing son."

"But why didn't you ever try to see Haikuan?"

Yibo's mom sighed. "My ex-husband didn't want me to. And I didn't want to confuse Haikuan either. He thought his father's new wife was his mother and had found a good mother in her. He was fine."

"And then? A few weeks ago, he suddenly contacted you?"

"Mhm. He suddenly turned up at the front door and I recognized him straight away. I think it's a mother thing. I looked at him and knew he was my son."

"Yes, and what did he want?"

"Well, since your dad wasn't home, I let Haikuan into the house. He told me that his father had recently died and he found out that his mother wasn't his mother at all. After some back and forth, he found out who his mother was and came looking for me. He wanted to know why I didn't at least keep in touch with him so that he knew I existed. He said that he had always felt that his mother was not his physical mother. He always had the feeling that he was missing a part. So I explained the same thing to him as I did to you. That I was overwhelmed and not ready to lead such a life. He understood and then I told him that my husband didn't even know that I had been married before and had a son because I was afraid that my husband would love me less. He understood that too. And then I told him about you and he asked me if he could at least get to know you? And I said I would ask you."

"But you didn't do that."

"I wanted to. But I had to process all of this first. I spoke to your dad about it all that last night and told him everything."

"And what did Dad say?"

"That I was a stupid woman. Because he would have married me anyway. And he even said that he would have agreed if Haikuan had come to visit us from time to time. God, I had been so stupid."

"That's right, you were stupid mom. But I can understand you too. Not about how you could leave your own son behind, but about everything else."

"And... would you like to meet him?"

"Yes. He's my brother, isn't he?"

"He is. Your half-brother."

"Don't be so petty mom. He's my brother, that's it! Do you actually want to have contact with him mom?"

"I've thought about it and now that you and your dad know, yes. I want to get to know my son."

"Then tell him that too. If it's been a few weeks, he's probably waiting impatiently for a call from you."

"You could be right about that. I'll call him later."

"You do that. And now come outside with me. Let's go to the chickens and look for the eggs in the nests. We'll leave breakfast to Zhan and his parents. They said last night before we all went to bed that they'd make breakfast at seven."

"Oh, well, if that's the case. Then we'll get the eggs." Said Yibo's mom. She hugged him again and thanked him for listening and understanding. Then they both went outside to the henhouse, still dressed in their pyjamas, and collected the eggs.

As they were about to go back into the house, they saw Zhan's parents, fully dressed, coming from the field. They had carried fresh salad, tomatoes, cucumbers and onions. "Good morning." The two greeted Yibo and his mom.

"Uh, good morning. I thought you were still asleep." Yibo said in astonishment.

"No, no. We get up at 5 o'clock every morning and take care of the animals before we go out into the fields. But Zhan is still asleep, isn't he?" Zhan's dad replied.

"Yes, as far as I know."

"Good, then we'll let him sleep a little longer. In return, you can help us make breakfast. And your mom can rest upstairs." Zhan's mom said.

"Sure, of course." Yibo replied, took the basket of fresh vegetables from Zhan's mom and they went into the house, where they were surprised to see that Zhan was already awake and standing in the kitchen, where he had already started preparing breakfast with Yibo's dad. The others joined them and they were ready in no time.

After breakfast, Zhan's parents took Yibo's parents to the nearest town to buy meat and a few other things and Zhan took Yibo for a long walk. After half an hour of just walking past the fields, holding hands, Zhan said, "I heard your mom and you talking earlier. At least a small part of it. I didn't want to eavesdrop, so I snuck back upstairs."

Yibo smiled, kissed Zhan on the cheek and replied, "You could have listened to the whole thing. I have no secrets from you." Then he told Zhan about the whole conversation and that he would probably meet his big brother soon and that the thought of it made him nervous. "What if he doesn't like me?"

"Mhhh, I think when he meets the Yibo I met, he'll like you. You're a great guy and I'm sure you'll make a great little brother. And hey, because you're famous, he already knows you." Zhan replied.

"Oh right. I hadn't even thought of that." Yibo realized in amazement. How could he forget that he was a famous idol in this country and that his brother had definitely heard of him before he found out from their mother that they were brothers?

When they reached a small bridge, they stopped. Zhan leaned against the parapet of the bridge and looked down at the railroad tracks. "I'm not a special agent." He said suddenly.

"Um, excuse me?"

"Well, that's what you're wondering, isn't it?"

"To be honest, yes."

"Well, I'm not. I'm almost a normal guy. I went to a normal school. I studied normally. And I have normal friends. But I didn't grow up normally, as I said before. I went to the shooting range with my parents almost every weekend as a child and teenager. My uncle taught me close combat techniques and archery. I won a few international archery championships. I love crime series and books. And when I was 20 years old, the Federal Intelligence Service tried to recruit me. I refused without asking why they wanted to recruit me. I know they did it because of my high intelligence quotient. My talent for solving tricky cases. I know this because I've taken part in several competitions where the aim was to solve tricky criminal cases."

"Oh wow. And why did you never want to join the Federal Intelligence Service?"

"Because I want to lead a normal life. I'm comfortable the way it is."

"But, excuse me for saying so, you're not normal."

"Sure, I know. But I want to be. And my life is normal. At least it was."

"Mhhh, I can't say I understand. But I think I can empathize with you. Sometimes I wish I had never become famous. I miss being able to be outside so freely and carefree, like I am now. But I really love being an agent and so I'm happy to accept the hardships."

"We're different in these things."

"True. But if you're such a criminal genius, can't you just tell me what we're missing and why we're not getting anywhere in our mission?"

"You can't miss something that wasn't there before, Yibo. The problem with this mission is that new pieces of the puzzle keep popping up before you've had time to put the other pieces together. You were after Isla Isari. And when you were finally on the verge of having something to use against her, she was killed. You were looking for Pete Kapajewski and suddenly it turns out that Agent Lee is working for the other side. Then the bodies of Pete Kapajewski and Agent Lee turn up and new people come to light. Kira Bell and the two brothers Joe and Terry Brice. And along the way, a few of your agents uncover things that had to do with Isla Isari and now don't really matter anymore. Because she's dead and there are killers who have to be found first. It seems to me that everyone in your agency has lost the ship and is swimming back and forth to find a piece of flotsam that will take them further. But that's not how it works Yibo. I suggest you just take out anything not directly related to the murder of Isla Isari, Agent Lee or Pete Kapajewski and focus solely on finding the three psychos who are now wreaking havoc in the city."

"Wow. I'm listening to you and falling in love with you even more." Replied Yibo and kissed Zhan. Then Yibo said we'll call Agent Fang later and I'll tell him what you just said.

"You do that Yibo." Said Zhan smiling and was back to being the normal Zhan. The cheerful Zhan, always smiling and adoring his famous boyfriend. And while he looks at Yibo as if Yibo were a god from another planet, Zhan says to himself, this is my life. That's all I want. My job, my apartment and my idol.