[Recommended Song]: Heart attack by Demi Lovato
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The Jungs left with the last of the apology. Mrs. Jung realized such frustration and apologized to her nephews and niece.

"Did you guys have to do that?" Asked Mrs. Xiao sitting beside her children. "Especially you, Jace. You almost killed your cousin."

"I'm sorry... I don't know what happened to me. I lost it." Jace bowed his head and apologized.

Mr. Xiao sighed. "I do not blame the three of you, though. All of you had a point. Ace is a toddler no more, and my sister should have taught her child a lesson rather than tolerate the acts. Kai and Calli had a reason to be disgusted by such obsessive behavior too."

The three hummed. Their bodies were divided between regret and agreement.

"If you have nothing else to disclose, then, you guys may leave..." Mrs. Xiao smiled, but, her eyes landed on the second youngest. "Except for you, Jace."

They all nodded and left. Jace was still sitting on the couch.

"Mom, dad, why am I here?" Jace asked with a confused stare. Did he do something wrong?

Mrs. Xiao smiled calmly at his son. "How do you treat Elijah?"

Jace's head raised at the question. "I love him as my brother. Why, is there something wrong?"

"You don't love... him?" Asked Mr. Xiao tilting his head. "Like, as a personal lover?"

Jace shook his head. "No, I don't. Elijah is someone close to me in the Zàijiàn squad, I love him as a brother. Brother, and nothing else."

Mr. Xiao hummed. "Great, then. But Jace, I'm warning you to not confuse your body. Nothing is impossible, not even falling for the same gender."

"The skits I'm doing with Jah are for personal vlog content. I still do care for him as a brother, but not a lover." Jace denied. His mother just nodded to it.

"Besides, I don't want to..."

"Don't want to?"

"Disappoint."

Mr. Xiao gave a thumbs up, and let Jace leave. He took his glasses off and looked at his wife. "Jace is a tough boy, Shantal. Do not expect him to fall for the same gender."

"Marcus, falling for the same gender does not mean it is such a disgusting thing. Elijah is a sweet and loving boy who can calm anyone. Jace is no exception." Mrs. Xiao says, rubbing her temples gently.

"I know, dear. But, do not assume who Jace really is. Let him discover if he loves males or not." Mr. Xiao placed his hand on top of his wife's.

Meanwhile:

The Wangs along with Kiara came back to Xiao's household after a day of grocery shopping. They cleaned themselves after taking the groceries in.

"Where's K- Oh, Jah, where's Zack and Tris? You guys are home." Jace smiled, helping the younger out with the groceries.

"They're- in the guestroom... getting dressed, I suppose." Said Elijah pointing at the guestroom. "Oh, and... Do you have something to do today?"

Jace shook his head: "I don't- Why?"

Before Elijah could speak, their siblings came in. The younger became silenced as he was too shy to ask.

"Qué es? Háblame en Español, está bien. It's their weakness. (What is it? Talk to me in Spanish, it's okay. It's their weakness)." Jace laughed looking at their siblings who wore confused faces.

Elijah nodded. "Si estás libre, ¿quieres venir a entrenar conmigo? (If you're free, do you want to come train with me?)"

Jace smirked. "Relacionado con las armas, verdad?" (Related to weapons, right?"

Elijah laughed and nodded. "Sí." (Yes)

Jace winked: "See you later, Jah." He left while Elijah was in charge to prepare dinner.

"Can... you guys translate? My brain stopped working." Kai looked at the also muddled squad.

Tris looked at Kai in disbelief. "I failed History class and you expect me to like Language?" He looked at Zack.

"If I were good at Spanish I would've finished the book I am reading." Zack blinked, Kai looked at him and asked. "Did you?"

"I didn't."

Everyone let out an "Oh..." Their only hope was Dominic, Callista, and Kiara. Dominic shook his head violently.

"I skip language classes."

Callista denied. "I read books but, I don't like Spanish- even mom and dad gave up on their oldest child and chose Jace to learn because of his interest."

Kiara also crossed her hands: "Not me, I can't even sing the easiest Spanish song I can find."

They all looked down helplessly. Then Zack stated: "What do you expect from language learners?"

They all agreed to not eavesdrop nor show interest in Jace and Elijah's conversation. They couldn't understand Spanish anyway, either of them.

When an hour passed, everyone happily ate dinner and chat. They even made a deal that whoever eats last, gets to wash the dishes. (It's to help the maids, of course.) Which ended up being Kiara.

As a deal from Elijah and Jace, they went to the training room. Jace tossed a gun to Elijah, which the latter caught.

"How do I use this thing?" Elijah queried. "I'm only good with knives."

"It's easy, Jah. Watch this." Jace picked up a long gun, which Elijah later gasped at.

"The He- That's a..."

Jace smiled and locked his eyes on where to shoot. It was a cardboard human figure with numbers. A cardboard target, to be exact.

"You've never seen an assault rifle?" The older giggled and shot his gun.

Chest.
Head.
Arm.

Elijah was too stunned to even speak. Jace didn't even flinch one bit. Yet, he managed to shoot perfectly on the chest, head, and arm.

The latter took off his earmuffs and glanced at the other. "How'd you do that so perfectly without missing?"

Jace lowered his rifle and went closer to the target. He pulled Elijah as well. "You see where I've hit my bullets?"

The younger nods. "Of course, clearly. So I'm asking you...how'd you do it."

Jace looked at him. "Dad used to tell me to fix my posture, aim, and shoot. I did the exact opposite when I was young and fucked it all."

"What do you mean? If you didn't follow what Mr. Xiao said, then that means you might've failed. But the way you shoot, I see no miss." Elijah explained gently.

"It's not always the rules that make you perfect, Jah." Jace giggled, taking the rifle and giving it to the other. "Trust me, I'll show you."

Elijah went to position himself. The gun was unloaded by Jace for safety. The latter went behind to assist, his hand placed on top of Jah's. He whispered: "You know... I got better not because of the rules."

Elijah felt his mind spinning because of Jace's voice. He gulped down his own saliva.

"It's because of the challenges I've been through as a kid. Negativity forced me to focus on my wounds." Jace continued, slowly loading the gun and placing his finger on the trigger.

"Shoot, Jah." He followed. "What do you think will happen if you lose everyone around you?"

"You're still here," Elijah murmurs softly fixing his eyes to where he'll shoot, aiming at it.

Jace chuckled at the younger's ear. "No, I won't be, Jah. If I mean everyone... You'll lose me too. Think of the target as, a specific person."

Elijah wasn't thinking straight. What Jace said shocked and scare him to the core. He felt the older's grip lose. He pulled the trigger and shot three bullets, all directed at the red part of the human cardboard.

Jace smirked: "Calm down, lion. See where you shot."

"That... That wasn't me-" Elijah let go of the rifle and took his earmuffs off.

"That was you, silly. I just made you lose it on purpose." Jace hummed, walking closer.

"You see when you're afraid to do something unless you think of someone who'll be the consequence... You won't do it."

Elijah stared at him: "I did it because you were giving my body mixed signals."

"How?"

"I think I'm... starting to fall for you."
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Ksksksks LMAO LMAO naurrr 😭 My heart is beating oh please- did I escalate it too quickly? 😭 anyways, I love ✨quick escalations✨ that confuse my whole existence at the end.

-xoxo: Ms. Khi 🦊🖤