(MC POV)
What's with everyone's timing today? It almost feels like they had conspired together for the best timing to appear or something…
I cleared my throat, "Not at all, please come in, Brendan. I'll get your coffee ready in a moment. Diao Chan, if you'd like, I'll give you a few names right now and you can head over there to present this piece to them right away."
The tsundere witch gasped and quickly went back to trying to hide her art piece which was really pointless considering everyone had already seen it.
I then quickly wrote down the names of a few of the art galleries from my memories on a piece of paper before handing it to her, prompting Diao Chan to quickly snatch up the painting and run out of the store with her head down.
The others also went back to do their own thing as though what happened just now was just an illusion. Aside from Eris and Lian Li who seemed to have gone to the kitchen for some reason.
I have this nagging feeling that there was something wrong, though I don't exactly know what it was. They were behaving just like usual after all.
Brendan came up to the counter and I realised he was looking even more haggard than yesterday.
Going by how things have been happening for my disciples so far, I'm pretty sure he's currently facing some kind of big trouble that I'll have to help him solve.
"So… What's wrong? You look even worse than yesterday, did something happen to your family?"
He looked up from where he was sitting, "Huh? No, no… Things are just like usual… I'm just… Tired, I guess."
"Huh? There's nothing out of the ordinary today?"
"Umm… Not really? Nothing really special happened."
Wait, seriously? I thought for sure that he would come here telling me about some big calamity that's going on with his life and then I'll just help him deal with it and yay, everyone's happy. Maybe Brendan doesn't have this setting in this World?
He continued, "Yeah… Completely normal… I woke up to news that my father got caught by the guards for being involved with some illicit gambling operation… My Mother smashed up an entire room while she was drunk and had to be hospitalised… My older brother does nothing but tosses money at prostitutes like he owns them… My younger sister had a relapse in her drug addiction… My younger brothers got themselves caught up in a gang war… Yeah… Everything's just normal as always."
Ok, correction… It's not like things got worse for him, it's just that it has been that bad from the start but he's probably on the verge of a mental breakdown, assuming he hasn't broken down before already.
I poured the hot water into the filter paper filled with the ground coffee beans before turning to him, "Brendan. Seriously… Are you alright?"
He sucked in a breath before breathing out, "I'm fine… Just fine… I'm… I'm ok…"
Yeah, he definitely does not look ok…
"Brendan. You need help, seriously."
He shook his head, "I'm fine, this is just something I have to deal with… I've already been dealing with this for so long so it's just another day. I just need to… Need to do what I usually do and I'll be fine again."
I frowned at him, "Brendan… Why are you not relying on anyone else to help you?"
He gave me a tired look, "This… This is my own family's problem, Master Lin… How could I ask anyone else to help me with it?"
"Are your friends not meant to help you in your time of need?"
"For something like this? No, no, no… And besides… I don't have any friends I can trust to help me with this."
I gave him a pointed look.
He jolted slightly, "Ah… I… I don't mean Master Lin of course… But you've already helped me out so much that if I were to impose on you any more than I have, I fear that I would not be able to face you anymore."
"Nonsense, the fact that you're suffering like this yet nothing is being done to help you is the real problem. All you need to do is ask for help and I'll definitely do all I can to help you. Besides… Have you not been helping us out by giving us all these tips?"
I nodded at the gold coins he had already placed on the counter to prove my point.
He grimaced, "I mean no offence, Master Lin… But I fear that the solution to such a problem might be out of your reach… How would you be able to solve a problem like this?"
I placed Brendan's coffee on the counter, "Well, that's for me to figure out isn't it? All I need is for you to ask and that's when I'll come in."
He looked at the coffee I placed in front him but made no move to pick it up, as though he was just taking the moment to contemplate my words.
"What if… Hypothetically… I were to leave it to Master Lin… Would I be the lesser man for doing so?"
"I would say that trying to shoulder everything yourself while knowing that you would fail would make me think you're the lesser man. Why would you still continue to do so even when you already know that you will fail?"
The silence stretched on for a minute before he moved to pick up the cup of coffee and give it a sip.
He placed the cup gently back down, "All these years… Has the taste of your coffee ever changed, Master Lin?"
"I would say yes. I started out not even knowing how to brew coffee after all. It's only after I practised constantly that I'm able to brew the one that you are drinking now."
He lowered his head again, contemplating my words.
"I gave up being a Practitioner to help my family… I've achieved what I had set out to do… My family is one of the richest families within this entire country… But yet, my family is torn apart more than ever before… Even with all the wealth in the World, I'm still not able to keep this family together…"
Brendan stared at the cup of coffee that he was holding in between his hands, his voice had cracked slightly at the end, showing that he was indeed not ok.
He then looked up at me, "Master Lin… Help me…"
Ask and you shall receive~
