Back in Manes, when Ray was notified by Cassandra about Ryu coming over for nationals training, he knew the brothers were getting back to their own usual life. He wasn’t free to plan for college as he had been busy running Rahi’s consulting business including the talks by himself.

Things may have slowed down drastically but he also was keeping an eye on the operations of Ophal while Marcel had the chance to inspect and pay more attention to the refurbishment of Manes’ old town project. Ryu was also looking out for Auntie Soh who was running their grandma's business in order to ensure there were no unexpected mishaps or harm. He had to ensure there were defenses ready to fight whatever Jeremy was planning. In actual fact, he was more anxious as compared to his brothers.

Despite how busy he was, he would not miss the chance to sit in the glasshouse while his mind drifted away to missing Ivy. He couldn't help but chuckle at the big teddy bear head that used to sit on top of the roof he was looking at. He sighed at the tough luck his sister had and was more determined to protect her when she recovered as he slowly drifted asleep.

Ryu, who drove to Manes in the early morning, arrived at his quiet grandma’s house. It was still creepy for him to step into the shabby-looking house despite the renovation completion due to his first scary experience. To ease his fear, he picked up a wooden stick from the ground and knocked on the iron cupboard holding the gardening tools as Daisy ran towards the glasshouse and started to scratch the door, knowing Ray was in it.

Ray woke up in an alarming state and instantly was agitated by the loud commotion. He forced himself to head out of the glasshouse and give whoever was causing the commotion a piece of his mind. However, to his surprise, he was pounded by Daisy as he fell to the ground cuddling with her.

“Ryu! Daisy!” Ray chuckled on the ground. Ryu laughed as Ray stood up after a while to hug his brother.

“Good to see you brother! How’s it going?” Ryu greeted as Ray patted his back.

“Not too bad… You?” Ray asked as he lightly punched Ryu's chest.

“Back for nationals.” Ryu smiled as Ray hugged his brother again with his eyes reddened, hidden away from Ryu.

“Glad to hear that…” Ray gladly said.

Auntie Soh who heard the loud bangs earlier was rushing to their house to check on Ray only to find the brothers reunion. Daisy ran over to greet Auntie Soh by running in rounds around her and wagging her tail as Auntie Soh patted her.

“Auntie Soh!” Ryu greeted her as he ran to hug her. However, it wasn’t enough to stop her from scolding Ryu for the commotion, scaring them.

“So it was you! You think it’s funny, is it? I thought what happened to your brother you know!” Auntie Soh glared at Ryu as she smacked him in his arms lightly while Ray chuckled.

“I had to arrive with a loud bang to make an announcement! I am officially back on the national team!” Ryu cheered with his arms wide up in the air.

“Crazy boy! You better come down now and have your breakfast!” Auntie Soh scolded as she ran back down the stairs with a little smile of gladness.

Ryan ushered both Ryu and Daisy to Auntie Soh’s little house. It was only her left as Sandra’s siblings had gone to school and Auntie Soh was rushing to head to the store to open up.

“Auntie Soh, let me go to the store and help you today?” Ryu offered while helping her serve the fried eggs.

“No need. No need. You all have more important duties to do and save the universe than helping out an old lady running your grandma’s business. Let me do it.” Auntie Soh rejected as she served the brothers and sat with them.

“Just let him help. Don’t worry. He needs to earn his upkeep.” Ray joked as Auntie Soh chuckled. “Who said you’re old? If you’re old, I am a grandfather already.” Ryu teased as he munched on the fried egg while Auntie Soh chuckled and sat with the brothers at the dining table.

“How’s my daughter doing and Andrew?” Auntie Soh asked as Ryu took a mouthful of eggs again before answering her.

“Sandra and Andrew had moved out of the house and stayed closer to their campus..” Ryu said solemnly as Auntie Soh smiled and nodded as though understood her daughter’s action.

“It’s not hard to tell that they are dating…” She sighed.

“I just hope they would not fall apart or advance too fast carelessly…” Auntie Soh sighed even more. Ray and Ryu chuckled to themselves.

“From the looks of it, they were doing fine and are mature.” Ryu comforted Auntie Soh as she nodded but sighed again at the thought of Ivy.

“Is your sister getting better?” She asked worriedly. Ryu laid down his fork on his plate as Auntie Soh understood and patted his back to comfort him. All they could hope for was that Ivy would wake up sooner.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

After breakfast, Ryu decided to tell Ray about his fan meeting which he was quite afraid of.

“Bro, could you help me with something?” Ryu asked awkwardly as Ray raised an eyebrow.

“Let me guess… It’s about your fans again?” Ray asked as Ryu chuckled and nodded.

“Could you be my bodyguard? Well, that girl that day... Erm... Melody is helping to arrange a fan meeting after my game this weekend and…Hmm... You know I am still a little weary…” Ryu explained as Ray chuckled.

“Ah, so Melody is her name… Weary? Weary about her?” Ryan teased.

“No! Not about her just about the fans…” Ryu tried to explain while Ryan couldn’t stop laughing and teasing Ryu about it. Ryu rolled his eyes giving up to explain.

Melody, that night explained her plans to Ryu over text messages that she had gotten all the other fans to cooperate. They all had chipped in to have some refreshments while he comfortably signed autographs for them and take pictures. Ryu smiled at her updates as he thanked her while nervously looking forward to the game day.

It wasn’t hard for Ray to spot who Melody was on Ryu’s social media as Ray contacted Melody about her plans the next day after getting Ryu’s agreement. Melody was surprised at first but quickly gained her composure to continue to share her plans with Ray.

After the conversation, Ray had a better idea of how to control the crowd to not frighten his baby brother. He was growing fond of Melody being so dedicated to Ryu and it was no wonder Ivy knew about Melody’s value in helping Ryu’s career during their first meet.

During his tournament, Melody had set up posters at a meet-and-greet corner where they were cheering for him. She worked with Ray and led the fans to a spot to wait for Ryu to change after the game to sign autographs. That way Ryu wouldn’t be bothered by his fans after a tiring game and could head to freshen up and change before meeting them at the designated area.

Ray also helped to distribute the refreshments prepared with ice creams and water as well as candies with Ryu’s message card. At the end of the match, Ray reimbursed the fans for the money chipped into the refreshments by arranging for Ryu to give out the equivalent value of the cost split among all fans who chipped in, vouchers to stationaries and book stores since Ryu’s fans were mostly students. It was a little way to thank the fans for their dedication.

Melody stayed till the end to capture pictures of Ryu during the match and the event to update Ryu’s fan page later. In actual fact, she was documenting it with the hope that Ivy would not miss out on anything when she was finally awake. Ray approached her with a bottle of water when he noticed she was checking the results of her pictures.

“Here, a drink for you,” Ray said as he took a seat beside her.

“Thank you!” Melody gladly accepted the drink.

“I have reimbursed everyone for what they had chipped in the event,” Ray explained as Melody was surprised and finally knew how the reimbursement was made.

“Oh, you didn’t have to! We gladly wanted to…” Ray raised his hand to interrupt her.

“Don’t worry about it. Do what you do best for Ryu.” Raysmiled as Melody gave a sad smile.

“I am also hoping what I do will not let Ivy miss out on Ryu’s life.” Ray’s eyes reddened knowing Melody was a keeper.

“If only Ryu was braver.” He thought to himself.

That night after the event, both brothers sat with Daisy by the stairs watching the skies. Ray had wanted to tell Ryu about Melody the whole night as he put an arm over Ryu’s back.

“Bro, is there something going on with Melody and you?” Ray teased as Ryu who was shocked at first raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

“Don’t think too much... We have no time for this…” Ryu tried brushing away the matter while Ray knew what he meant.

“Cherish what you have. She is a gem.” Ray hinted as Ryu understood. Although the constant connection, he made via conversations on text messages and noticing her following him often had quite smitten him but he knew it wasn't the right time.

“How’s the project Marcel is overlooking?” Ryu asked as he tried changing the topic.

“It’s getting worse as Jeremy was bolder with Ivy down and dad being …” Ray sighed as Ryu patted his back to comfort him.

“We are quite worried that Jeremy might go after any of our shares soon…” Ray shared.

“Sigh, I feel very hopeless. Jin is at least guarding Jeremy’s move while ensuring Ivy and Dad’s safety. And you… You’re defending the family business. As for me… I am just so useless doing nothing…” Ryu covered his face in his palm as Ray understood his brother’s frustration.

“No, you’re not Ryu… You’re living your life healthily and peacefully like how everyone wanted you to be. It was better than you being harmed. Ivy would definitely be proud and bragging about her effort of successfully managing your fan club. Look at how obedient they were?” Ray praised and tried to comfort Ryu as Ryu chuckled knowing it was Ray’s effort to not make him feel bad.

“I would love to ask for occasional help on more of such appeasing events later.” Ryu pleaded as Ray nodded in agreement before messing Ryu’s hair.

Meanwhile as though knowing Ryu and Ryan were reunited in Manes, Ivy had been showing signs of movements on her fingers. The doctor did some testing and notified Peter and James that it was a good sign as they both were hopeful for her to be awake soon.

Upon knowing the good news, Nick gladly let himself be discharged. Marcel who had been looking after him while he was hospitalised in Landsfield had planned for Nick to return to Manes to recuperate so that Marcel could keep watch on him easily. Nick insisted on staying in his own place as Marcel had no choice but to agree and accompany him there.

Marcel had already made preparations and cleaned up Nick’s place to ensure no traces of Nancy were visible in advance. Unless Nick asked, Marcel would never let him look at Nancy’s possession again. Instead of leaving Nick alone in his house, Marcel had arranged for a part-time maid to manage Nick’s daily life temporarily while Marcel was away at work during the day.

Surprisingly, Nick didn’t ask and he sat by the large window screen overseeing Jason’s house. He had cried all he wanted and vented all he wanted previously. He missed Jason and kept thinking back to the last time they drank at his house. He wished he could turn back time and change all that happened but he couldn’t.

All that was left was hoping for Ivy to be awake faster. With everyone trying to get back to the pace of their own life, Nick was still hovering around the past as Marcel hoped for the day Ivy come and save Nick again.