Haru’s Love (A Stepbrothers BL Harem) - Chapter 48

Uncle Jin’s penthouse was lively the moment we stepped in, mainly due to Isaac being so loud in shouting “Merry Christmas, everyone.”

In the living room, I noted a Christmas tree, which wasn’t there before. In the dining room, there was an array of food on offer, which made my stomach grumble and my mouth water.

Obviously, Patricia Steel was present, along with a few other people I didn’t know. Once we entered the living room, Higa-san made us line up near the Christmas tree like a bunch of elementary school students, which was rather embarrassing. What were we doing? Made to stand in front of everyone else like this?

Uncle Jin came in then and said, “Everyone, I would like to introduce you to my nephews, Ono Reo and Ono Haru.”

Loud clapping ensued, and Isaac looked pleased at the attention we were receiving.

Uncle Jin then said, nodding to the others, “My VIP guests from America: Aiden, Noah, Mason, Isaac Davis, and of course, Connor Mathews.”

Once the introduction was out of the way, Uncle Jin then proceed to make a speech, telling everyone that he was sorry for the late notice in inviting them to the Christmas party, as it wasn’t planned. He also thanked them for their hard work for the company, and that was when I realized they were the staff, probably the heads of departments and managers of the company.

After his speech, Uncle Jin told everyone to enjoy the buffet in the dining room. Isaac yelled “Yay!” causing everybody to laugh.

I was about to follow Isaac to the dining room when Uncle Jin said, “Haru, will you come with me for a bit?”

Shit. So, it was that time, was it?

I nodded and followed him out the door.

Uncle Jin took me into a room that I assumed was his office. It was a neat place, with a study desk and chair on one side and a sitting area on the other. There were even murals on the walls, too. One of them caught my eye—it was of a beautiful girl in layers of colorful kimonos and surrounding her were mystical creatures: a dragon, a fox, a snake, and a cat.

“That’s beautiful, Uncle,” I said, nodding toward the mural. “It looks like it’s in the Heian era, the setting.”

I noticed Uncle Jin smiling. “It is beautiful, isn’t it?”

I sat down and then said, “What did you want to talk to me about?”

Uncle Jin leaned back against the seat and said, “I assume you know by now that Reo will be moving back here to Japan?”

I nodded. “After he graduates from the university.”

There were a few knocks at the door, which were followed by Higa-san’s voice saying, “I’ve brought them, sir.”

“Good,” Uncle Jin said.

The door opened, and I saw Aiden, Noah, Mason, Isaac, Reo, and even Connor entering the room.

What was going on? I had thought Uncle Jin wanted to talk to me in private.

Isaac came to sit next to me and said, “Haru, the food is awesome. Can’t wait to have more.”

I asked, “Why are you guys here?”

Sitting on the armchair, Noah said, “Higa-san told us to come with him, so we came.”

Aiden took a seat on my other side while Mason and Connor remained standing. Once Higa-san closed the door and left, Uncle Jin said, “Thank you for coming. As you all know, I’ve decided to hand over the company to Reo and Haru when I retire.”

When some us of nodded, he went on, “Fortunately, Reo has agreed, but…” He turned to look at me. “I haven’t yet officially asked Haru.” He gave me a smile. “I know it’s short notice, but will you return to Japan and run Lake Aoi Resort and Onsen with your brother, Haru?”

What type of pressure was this? Was Uncle Jin doing this on purpose? Putting me on the spot? How cunning of him.

I licked my lips, my heart racing. Shit, it was either now or never.

I cleared my throat and said, “I…I’ll come back.”

I heard sucking in of breaths, and I knew I had shocked everyone. Well, damn, but it shocked me, too, this decision of mine.

Beside me, Isaac said, “Haru… You… Are you serious?”

With my gaze fixed on the coffee table in front of me, I nodded my head. “I’m serious. I’ll return to Japan and inherit the company with Reo.”

“Shit!” Noah said. “Haru, are you fucking kidding me right now?”

Mason said, “That’s…unexpected. Have you thought this through, Haru? This is your future we’re talking about here.”

Uncle Jin said, “And it’s a perfect future, if I say so myself.”

Isaac said, “Haru, you’re kidding, right? Tell me you’re kidding? Aiden, say something. Do something. Haru has been brainwashed. That’s right, it must be the place and the food. It’s just too awesome.”

I said, “I haven’t been brainwashed.” I finally lifted my head, turning my gaze to Mason. I noticed he looked sick to his stomach. “I have been thinking it through. Uncle is right. It’s a beautiful future. I mean we…don’t really have much back in New York.”

Noah tsked. His voice was dark and sarcastic as he said to me, “Are you fucking kidding me, you little brat? So, what? You have a millionaire for an uncle now and you decided to ditch us for the high life?”

I shook my head, my gaze on him. Fuck, but he looked pissed as hell.

“Aiden, say something for fuck’s sake,” Noah demanded. “Haru is planning to leave us.”

Aiden said, very calmly, which surprised me, “I trust Haru. I trust his decision, his choice. Why don’t we let him finish?”

The two brothers stared at each other for a moment, and then Noah took a deep breath and relaxed back on his seat.

I said, “I’ll return, Uncle Jin, but on one condition.”

“Oh?” Uncle Jin cocked his head to one side. “And what might that be?”

This was it.

I swallowed hard and then said, “That they all come with me, my stepbrothers. You give them positions, high ones, ones they’ll excel at. If you do that, I’ll come back.”

I heard another set of sharp inhales, followed by Uncle Jin bursting out laughing. When he managed to calm down, he said, “I see you’re a shrewd little thing, aren’t you, Haru?” He sighed, looking, oddly enough, pleased. “I never thought I’d be bargaining with my own nephew because I want him to inherit my company.”

I asked, tense, “Will you? Give them jobs? When the time comes? After I graduate?”

Uncle Jin leaned forward and said, “Before I answer that, first tell me, Haru, why are you going to such lengths?”

“Because they’re my family,” I said, as though it were obvious.

I thought that would satisfy him, but he shook his head. “No, Haru, family can still part ways. Once you grow up, you move away from your family because of a new job, getting married and having your own family, and some even move away to another country. That will eventually happen to your family, too, Haru.”

I shook my head. “No, I…I don’t want that to happen. I don’t want any of my brothers to leave me, move away from me.”

Shit, but thinking about it, talking about it, made my heart ache. What the fuck was wrong with me? I felt like I was about to have a panic attack or something.

“Why, Haru? Why don’t you want your stepbrothers to leave you?” Uncle Jin insisted.

I said, “Because…because they’re important to me. I feel like I won’t be able to live if I don’t have them with me. I…”

I had to tell Uncle Jin. I didn’t care anymore.

“I love them,” I said. “They’re special to me, Uncle, so please understand.”

I felt Aiden’s hand clasp over mine then, and I shifted my gaze to him. He was smiling, and he looked proud of me.

Aiden was proud of me, eh?

“I see,” Uncle Jin said, chuckling. “It looks like I have nothing more to say.”

I returned my attention to Uncle Jin. “And?”

He looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, “I don’t want to lose you, Haru, especially not after I’ve lost my sister, your mother.”

Isaac asked, “Then we’re all moving to Japan after Haru graduates from the university? And we’re getting jobs here? Yes! Awesome.”

Uncle Jin said, “Actually, two positions have already been accepted.”

“What?” I, Isaac, Noah, and Mason uttered in shocked surprise.

Two positions? One would have to be Reo, right? And the other?

Connor raised his hand. “It’s me.”

“Huh?” Isaac expressed. “Seriously?”

Connor said, “The thing is, you see, I already applied for an open position here. It’s managerial, but Mr. President wanted a face-to-face interview with me before making his decision, and since you guys were planning to come here anyway, I thought, why not?”

Noah said, “Is that why you said you’d join us on the trip on such short notice?”

“Well, that’s part of the reason why,” Connor said. “Besides, I like Japan, and I have wanted to get a job here for a while now.”

Isaac said, “And the other person is Reo. Okay, we got it.” He clapped his hands. “Right, everything is hunky-dory now. Let’s get back to eating.”

Isaac was about to leave when Uncle Jin said, “You have three years to become fluent in Japanese, Aiden-san.”

I turned to Aiden, who was smiling.

“Especially if you’re going to become the CEO of the company.”

Huh?

“Holy shit!” Isaac shouted. “Seriously, bro? You were offered the position of CEO of Lake Aoi Resort and Onsen?”

Mason said, “That’s…unexpected.”

Noah said darkly, “And when did you plan on telling us that?”

Aiden chuckled. “Obviously, when we got back home. But Uncle Jin beat me to it.”

Uncle Jin turned to Noah and said, “You’re an excellent marketing expert, Noah-kun; when will you be able to join us?”

That got Noah looking more than a little surprised. “I…” He shifted his gaze to me for a moment. When he turned his attention back to Uncle Jin, he said, “I’ll join the company once I’m more experienced, when Haru finishes at the university.”

Uncle Jin nodded. “I see. Yes, of course.” He turned to Mason then. “And you, Mason-kun?”

Mason chuckled. “I still have another year at the university to go…”

“Yes, of course. We’ll decide when you’ve graduated then.”

Mason nodded, looking relieved.

Uncle Jin said, “Now then, how about we return to the party?” He stood, and we did as well.

As we filed out of the room, I felt a sense of relief sweep through me.

“You did well.” I heard Aiden’s voice beside me.

I asked, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? That Uncle offered you the CEO position?”

He gave me a dashing smile. “It’s a secret.”

I frowned. Secret my ass. Here, I had been worried sick as to how I should solve this problem, not disappointing Uncle Jin and still have everyone with me. I wanted to have my cake and eat it, too, after all. I mean who’d want to turn down inheriting a multimillion-dollar company?

Back at the party, I enjoyed my time eating until I felt stuffed. Then, of course, Uncle Jin’s staff came and surrounded me, asking me so many questions that it made my head spin. Luckily, I managed to give them the bare minimum, and Isaac finally stole their attention away from me.

Yeah, I sucked at this sort of thing, but not Reo. He looked right at home, conversing with everyone with a dashing smile on his face.

I was just getting a moment to myself when Noah approached me. He didn’t say a word as he grabbed my wrist, led me out the door, and into that same bedroom we had entered before.

After shutting the door, he asked, “Did you mean it?”

I was confused. “Mean what?”

“What you told Uncle Jin,” he said. “That you…love us.”

I felt heat rush to my face as I nodded. “I really mean it, Noah.” Then I thought to add, “I’m sorry I didn’t think about you and how you feel.” I gasped, only realizing it just now. “Shit, I didn’t even think to ask you guys first if you’d wanted to live in Japan in the future. I just decided everything by myself; how stupid of me.” I raised my gaze to him. “I’m really sorry.”

Noah made a move that surprised me. He roughly grabbed my chin in his hand and squeezed me tight. Darkly, he said, “Yeah, you like doing that, don’t you? You little brat. Go and decide things by yourself.”

“Noah, that hurts.”

Noah wasn’t listening to my plea, however. If anything, he tightened his grip on me like he was damn pissed.

Well, considering how things were, he had the right to be pissed.

“I said I’m sorry. I’ll tell Uncle Jin you don’t want the job and—”

He thrust me back against the wall, which made me gasp.

“There you go, deciding things by yourself again, like you always do.” With his face close to mine, he said, “And who the fuck said I’m not interested in living in Japan and taking on that job?” Suddenly, he loosened his grip on my chin, thank God, and then rested his forehead against mine.

“Noah?” I called out his came softly.

“Onii-chan,” he said. “When we’re alone together, call me onii-chan. That’s an order.” He took a deep breath, and then he kissed me on the forehead.

His lips were hot against my skin as they lingered there for a moment. When he moved back, he said, “You have no idea how much hope your words give me.”

Hope? My words?

He let go of me then and stepped back. “Things are going to change when we get back home, Haru. I won’t lose to Aiden..” With that, he left the room, leaving me to wonder what he meant.