Is It Really That Hard to Be the Big Brother of Two Top-Alpha Twins? - Chapter 19

The car’s warm air should have made one drowsy, but Chen Luan felt inexplicably tense.
The necklace rested against his chest, the pendant only three inches from his heart. The metal watch strap pressed against his pulse, cool and firm.
When Jiang Xun and Jiang Ling finally released him, that faintly suffocating pressure vanished like a receding tide—
as if it had never existed.
Jiang Ling reached over, his fingertips brushing the sapphire heart before leaning back with arms crossed.
“You’re not allowed to take these off without my permission, understand?”
Chen Luan touched the cool pendant, pausing before looking up at him.
“So domineering?”
“Yes. You got a problem with that?” Jiang Ling raised an eyebrow, his tone teasing yet possessive. “Opinions are invalid. If I find out you’ve secretly taken them off—you’re finished.”
“If you can’t take his off, then you can’t take mine off either,” Jiang Xun added, tugging at Chen Luan’s sleeve.
“Otherwise, it’s not fair to me.”
Two fluffy little dogs, Chen Luan thought.
One fierce but weak, the other obedient and sweet.
“Okay, okay.” Chen Luan raised both hands in surrender, his voice laced with unintentional affection.
“I promise I won’t take off these two gifts without my brothers’ permission, alright?”
They were just two pieces of jewelry. It wouldn’t hurt to wear them.
“That’s more like it.” Jiang Ling nodded, downed his cup of milk tea, and rolled down the car window.
He tossed the empty cup perfectly into a trash can and clapped his hands. “Home!”
“Destination for this trip: home. Buckle up—Driver Chen at your service.”
Chen Luan fastened his seatbelt and started the car.
He drove surprisingly smoothly, not at all like a novice who had just earned his license.
Soft music filled the warm interior. Jiang Xun and Jiang Ling chatted quietly, while condensation blurred the neon lights outside into ribbons of color.
At a long red light, Chen Luan looked out the window and smiled.
“Oh—it’s snowing.”
At first, the flakes were faint and thin. But by the time the light turned green, proper snowflakes had begun to form, landing softly on the windshield.
“What are your plans for the next few days?” Chen Luan asked suddenly.
“We’re planning to go back to Grandpa’s. Why?” Jiang Xun replied.
His leg had fully healed, and since Grandpa had been asking about them for weeks, he and Jiang Ling had already bought tickets for the morning after tomorrow.
Chen Luan pulled three glossy tickets from his pocket.
“Nothing much. A new amusement park opened in Hongfeng District—I bought three passes. Since it’s the holidays, how about we go have some fun?”
His gaze flicked to the pendant on his chest and the watch on his wrist, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
“I almost forgot, you two distracted me just now.”
Jiang Xun and Jiang Ling exchanged glances.
Their last memory of an amusement park was from many years ago, back when their mother was still alive.
They’d been too young then—most of those memories had already faded into a blur of color and laughter.
“Amusement park?” Jiang Ling, sitting in the back seat with his headphones on, didn’t even look up and replied automatically, “No. Only kids like going there.”
Just as Chen Luan had a strange obsession with making Jiang Ling call him brother, Jiang Ling also had an obsession with being a “mature adult.”
And that obsession ran deep. Deeply ingrained.
“But it’s brother’s birthday today!” Chen Luan immediately frowned, feigning grievance.
Jiang Ling: “…”
He looked up and met Chen Luan’s gaze through the rearview mirror. Those beautiful eyes were smiling—utterly lacking any real grievance.
Realizing this person was completely acting, and half-heartedly at that, Jiang Ling rolled his eyes. “Can you at least act properly, Chen Luan? This seems so fake.”
“All right then,” Chen Luan said dramatically, “I sincerely invite my dear brother Jiang Ling—”
He paused, glanced at the obedient Jiang Xun sitting beside him, and decided to be fair: “Jiang Xun, could you accompany your poor brother, who’s been a corporate slave for months, to the amusement park for a little relaxation?”
Then, under the twins’ silent gaze, Chen Luan tilted his head slightly and added, “Please? Please?”
He had no idea how handsome he looked in that moment—in both Jiang Xun’s and Jiang Ling’s eyes.
The young man, dressed in a bright orange windbreaker, rested his hands casually on the steering wheel. The warm air inside the car gave his delicate face a faint flush; his beautiful, translucent gray eyes, like glass beads, curved into crescent moons and shimmered with a soft luster.
He looked exactly like a big cat being affectionate.
Jiang Ling abruptly turned his head away from Chen Luan’s gaze, a blush creeping up his earlobes. He opened his phone, pretending to play his game, though his fingers were just swiping randomly. “Stop, stop, stop. Fine—I’ll go. This is a one-time thing, though, so don’t do this again.”
He paused, then added, “And I only agreed because it’s your birthday. Not because I wanted to go. Or go with you.”
As soon as he finished, Jiang Ling fell silent.
…It seemed like he’d just made it worse. He pursed his lips, a little annoyed at himself.
Displeased.jpg.
Jiang Xun glanced at his foolish younger brother and sighed quietly before asking Chen Luan, “Which day’s tickets?”
If it conflicted with their flight to Grandpa’s, they could reschedule.
“They’re valid for a week. We can go whenever it fits your schedule,” Chen Luan said.
“How about tomorrow, Jiang Ling?”
“Whatever.”
And so, it was settled.
Chen Luan drove back to the Jiang residence. When the bright lights of the villa appeared in the distance, he unexpectedly felt a sense of peace.
Without realizing it, he seemed to have truly begun to think of this place as home.
Jiang Xun had fallen asleep, leaning against the back seat. Chen Luan opened the car door and stepped out. The moment he left the warmth of the heater, icy snowflakes, carried by a biting wind, rushed into his collar.
He shivered, his fingers quickly going numb with cold.
Then, after a moment’s thought, a mischievous smile curved his lips. He opened the passenger door. Under Jiang Ling’s questioning gaze, he put a finger to his lips and shushed him.
Then, with precise and swift movements, he slipped his icy fingers into the collar of the sleeping Jiang Xun.
“!!!!!”
The sudden chill startled Jiang Xun awake. He abruptly opened his eyes and instinctively grabbed the hands at his neck.
Their faces were close—so close he could see the snow still clinging to Chen Luan’s eyelashes, feel the faint warmth of his breath against his skin. He could almost smell Chen Luan’s breath.
With just a little more force, he could have pulled this unsuspecting man straight into his arms.
Jiang Xun’s fingers tightened around Chen Luan’s wrist. He blinked slowly, exhaled softly, and finally released him.
“Brother, you’re so childish.”
“We’re home. Wake up,” Chen Luan said, straightening up. He brushed the snowflakes from his shoulders and looked down with a smile. “I just wanted you to wake up first.”
“Thank you. I’m very awake now—awake enough to finish a math test right away.”
Chen Luan told Jiang Xun and Jiang Ling to head inside first, parked his ordinary SUV among the luxury cars in the Jiang family’s underground garage, and then, still dusted with snow, made his way toward the main house.
Before he entered, his phone buzzed with a message.
[Boss Zhou: You should be home by now. Did you receive the flowers?
There’s a surprise inside—look for it.
Happy birthday.]
Zhou Pei sent something?
I didn’t see it.
Frowning slightly, Chen Luan pushed open the door and stepped into the house. In the dimly lit living room, a string of fairy lights glowed softly beside the sofa.
His two younger brothers were sitting there, and a birthday cake with lit candles rested on the coffee table between them.
Jiang Xun was holding a slightly comical red-and-blue striped birthday hat.
“What are you looking for, Chen Luan?” Jiang Ling crossed his arms and raised a brow. “Waiting for us to carry you in on a palanquin or something?”
“No.” Chen Luan shook his head, walking toward them. “Did you see—”
“Flowers, right?” Jiang Xun interrupted.
“Hm?” Chen Luan looked up, surprised. “How did you know?”
“The housekeeper called at noon,” Jiang Xun said evenly, “and a bunch of flowers suddenly appeared at my door, and asked what to do. I told her to clear them away.”
Their eyes met in the half-light.
“What’s wrong?” Jiang Xun asked. “Do you know who sent them?”
Although his tone remained calm, something about Jiang Xun’s presence sent a chill down Chen Luan’s spine—an inexplicable sense of danger.
He quickly shook his head. “No… It’s fine. Just toss them out.”
“I thought they were from property management,” Jiang Xun continued mildly. “I was wondering why their taste had gone so bad this year—sending a bunch of tacky red roses when it’s not even a holiday.”
Jiang Ling chuckled and leaned closer to Chen Luan. “Hey, Chen Luan, have you been flirting with someone again?”
“What nonsense are you talking about?” Chen Luan muttered, pushing Jiang Ling’s head away and trying to shake off the sudden unease in his chest.
If Zhou Pei’s “gift” was indeed a bouquet of red roses—a bouquet with an unambiguous meaning—then he hadn’t given up on him after all.
Which meant… it was better to handle it carefully.
“It’d better not be,” Jiang Ling teased, reclining lazily on the sofa. His arm rested on the back of Chen Luan’s seat—close enough to look like a possessive embrace from a distance.
“Make a wish, brother,” Jiang Xun said, placing the silly birthday hat on Chen Luan’s head. His arm rested on the sofa as well, his hand hovering just an inch from Chen Luan’s lower back.
Chen Luan closed his eyes.
What should I wish for?
Being reborn into this era, witnessing the new world they had once fought so hard for—that alone was already the greatest gift fate could give him. He had no other desires.
After a long moment, Chen Luan silently prayed:
Then I wish my two younger brothers a peaceful and prosperous life, and may all their wishes come true.
He couldn’t see the look in their eyes as he made his wish.
That gaze—like the forbidden fruit of Eden—extended toward him, winding and sweet, its serpentine shadow flicking its tongue in the dark, offering a dangerous invitation.
Night deepened, and Chen Luan soon fell into a deep sleep.
Next door, the twins’ room remained brightly lit.
Jiang Xun sat on the sofa, holding a book. He watched Jiang Ling, who was clutching a plush pillow and ready to turn in, and suddenly said, “Jiang Ling, do you remember the bet you made with me?”
“Huh? What?” Jiang Ling turned toward him, groggy and confused.
“You said that if Zhou Pei didn’t get tired of Chen Luan in three months, you’d grant me one request.”
Jiang Ling, now fully awake, sat up with a start. “Damn it!”
Jiang Xun crossed his arms and watched his sibling’s crumbling expression with a faint, satisfied smile. “You have to keep your word. I won.”
“…” Jiang Ling gritted his teeth, wishing he could go back a few months and slap himself. “Fine. What do you want me to promise you?”
Jiang Xun closed his book, returned to his bed, and turned off the light.
His quiet voice came through the darkness.
“I haven’t thought of it yet.
I’ll tell you when I do.”