Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

Jin, in an unconscious state, slept on the lavish but comfortable bed of one of the rooms in Jun's condo. He had quite a bit of a temperature which didn't show any signal to come down anytime soon.

Shui, who had called Jun to explain this orderal, still couldn't wrap her head as to why Jun wouldn't take his brother to the hospital. Instead, Jun had arrived with Ai in a rush and took them home.

"Jun, we should go to the hospital or call Bao."

Liang Bao was Jun's cousin who was studying medicine and aiming to become a doctor. His father, Liang Shin, was Nana's elder brother.

She grew more and more worried. "What's the point of bringing Jin here? He needs treatment as soon as possible. It's not good to let this high fever…" her voice choked, seeing his body spasm with fever and weakness.

Jun's own body slightly trembled as he was brushing his fingers against Jin's hair. His face looked white and pale and his lips quivered with fear as if he was being chased by something demonic. The other hand in Jun's pocket was balled into a tight fist.

"He…will be fine," he quietly said, though his own voice was betraying his confidence.

Ai could see his shoulders trembling and knew exactly what he must be thinking. She glanced at Shui and said, "Shui, Jun is right. Jin will be fine."

"How do you know that!?" She unconsciously raised her voice in frustration. "S-sorry," she bit her lip and apologized, "I didn't mean to shout at you…" her eyes ached. "It's just that I don't understand what is happening at all. He was fine until we reached the church. Then he suddenly fell sick. Now you are saying that he will be fine. Even that elderly woman said the same, but I don't get it at all…Why are you all so confident?"

Jun snapped his head towards Shui and blinked his eyes rapidly. "What elderly woman?"

Shui wiped the corner of her eyes. "There was one elderly woman in the church. I didn't even realize when she came in. But she was saying these mysterious things about Jin…She seemed to know what was happening to him."

Ai stared at her and wondered if it was the elderly woman from the carnival they had met before.

Jun said, incredulous, "When we came, there was nobody else with you."

"Yeah. She left soon after she talked to me."

Ai quickly followed up. "What did she say?"

Shui gave a recap of that conversation.

'He cannot get out of that trance until he faces the truth.'

'There is something in his heart that has been locked away…for far too long now. There is a boundary he has drawn that he has been refusing to cross it for far too long now.'

Jun and Ai were deeply puzzled.

Does this mean that Jin wouldn't wake up until he faces whatever there is to face?

"That woman was really mysterious. I don't think Jin knows her, but she looked at Jin as if she knew him very well."

Silence.

Shui noticed their odd expressions and asked, "W-what happened?"

Ai snapped out of her daze and smiled. "It's nothing."

Shui shook her head. "We should take Jin to the hospital. Look, he is sweating even more than before…How long are we going to wait?"

Jun pursed his lips. "Trust me, Shui. Just let…Jin be for now. And can you do me a favor? Please don't tell anybody about Jin's condition in the family."

Shui widened her eyes. "You…How could I? Aunt Nana and Uncle Jinhai should definitely know-"

"Please?"

There was a strange urge in his voice which Shui couldn't ignore. "I won't say anything but I need to know that Jin will be fine."

"He will be."

If it's the woman we met at the carnival, then I trust her, Jun thought.

Shui said, "Okay. I will listen to you. But I won't be leaving from here until Jin wakes up," a tear slipped across her cheek. "I don't care if he hates me or he wouldn't appreciate me staying here. But I need to see him okay with my own eyes."

They gently nodded.

Shui left the room to make a couple of calls about her change in plans while Ai sat beside Jun who looked as if he was blaming himself.

"I won't forgive you if you blame yourself for this, Jun," Ai sternly said.

Jun gritted his teeth. "Then what should I do? It's all my fault! I shouldn't have…I shouldn't have talked to Jin about that damn clock at all. I shouldn't have asked him to check if he would experience the same thing! Then Jin wouldn't be l-like this today…"

He covered his face with his tears touching his palms. "I said to Shui that he will be fine. But I don't know it myself if he will really be. What did that elderly woman mean? What does Jin have to face? What is the meaning that he won't be able to get out of this trance? Do you understand how frightening that is? If Jin is never able to do what he has to, does it mean that he will be unconscious like this forever? I…I…" his voice broke through his sobs, "I am his elder brother, Ai. I am supposed to protect him, not put him in harm's way."

Ai grabbed his head and glared at him. "Stop it. One more word and I really won't forgive you. You are talking as if you knew beforehand what would happen and still pushed Jin to do this. Jun, we have both seen the clock. Surely, it was frightening to experience that, but none of us were lost into a trance like Jin has. How were we supposed to know that with Jin, it would happen differently?"

Jun rested his head on her shoulder. "I didn't know…I thought he would hear the voices just like we did and we might be able to figure something out. But look how Jin is now. You know, he looks like the day when the twins had locked him up in the dark room. I stayed with him the entire time. He looked so terrified when I first saw him. Jin…is looking exactly like that."