5:26 PM...
Mingyu's POV...
As I continue to pedal my bike, my mind continues to wonder about the odd feeling I felt when I saw Xiaoliang and Yifei together, with Yifei linking her arm around Xiaoliang's. Weird since I thought that I would be ok with seeing them closer, so when I had that sting feeling in my heart it was something new to me. Her confident yet icy gaze made me felt nervous, while her presence was already an intimidation to me. If I could be honest, when I see her especially around Xiaoliang, I only feel more insecure with myself.
But honestly, even though his presence brings me more comfort in every encounter, I still don't know where do we stand with each other's feelings. More likely, I don't know how he actually feels about me. This obscurity slowly awakens my restless side, making me keep thinking about all the possibilities about us, good or bad. I wanted to wish that the answer to my curiousity would be answer with a small hope in my heart. A small hope that he actually feels the same way as I do.
After minutes of pedaling, I eventually arrive at my house, but to my surprise, I hear sounds of shouting coming from the inside. I turn my head to see the "closed" sign being placed on the glass door of the noodle shop, which sends shivers down my spine. It's weird since my mom don't usually close the noodle shop early. Other than that, I only see one gray car parked near my house, signaling that there's only one customer inside. Worried, I hop out of my bike and run to the glass door, instantly opening to see my mom shouting at a man, though I couldn't see his face since he is facing my mom. All I could see is that he is wearing a shabby-looking white t-shirt along with some black short pants.
"Ma, what is going on?"
My momma instantly shifts her gaze away from the man to look at me. Her face looks exhausted and furious at the same time. The man soon turns around to face me. I became shock upon seeing who this man is, and to my surprise, he also widens his eyes out of shock when he saw me. This man had been out of my mind for years now, so to be standing in front of him right now only brings back those painful memories from the past. I could feel my fury burning up slowly, which is weird I thought I was gonna be anxious when standing in front of my enemy.
"Mingyu? Is that you?" his voice sounded crack, irritating me more as I try to calm myself down.
"What do you want?" my voice sounded stern as I stare at him with hatred. Honestly, it surprised me to see myself behaving like this, which is 180 degree different from my usual habit of being anxious. It's like all of a sudden, the burning fury towards him is bigger than my anxieties through out the years.
"Do you remember me? It's me, your papa!"
"Get out before I kick you out of my house!" I say, my stern voice filled with rage which I tried to calm down. My momma turn her head to face me with wide eyes. I could tell she looked shock at my sudden action, since I don't usually attack people. Even when people attack me, I'll just try to avoid them, but right now, seems like everything is taking too much turn when I'm facing him, my own papa.
The man stood in front of me with a shock look. I bet he didn't expect me to blurt out those words to him. I stare deeply into his eyes with a sharp look, feeling myself getting more furious at his sight. After 12 years of putting my momma and I through hell by taking our family's savings for him to have lavish night parties, here he is entering my house as if he is flawless without a fault. I want to stab his eyes so badly, but again I reminded myself that I am way too young to get into criminal penalty because of this damn jerk.
"Shen Ming Yu, I-"
"Don't you dare call me that! You don't deserve to put your name in my name after your actions. Get out of here right now!" I am discgusted when he referred to me with his surname, when he never even contribute to be a father figure as I grew up.
"How dare you shout at your own father like that? You little-"
Without anymore words, I kick him as hard as I can, sending him to almost fall backwards. My momma widen her eyes at my action, but took this chance to bend down and choke my father, making him slowly losing his breath.
"I will only warn you once! Get out of here right now before things get uglier!" my mom's voice sounded stern, deadly, and vengeful all at once.
My mom removes her hands from my dad's neck, making him catch his breath. He then stood up from the ground, but before he could say anything else, I drag him out of the noodle shop with fury.
"Don't you dare ever come back here again!" I close the glass door shut and lock it, with the sight of that pathetic man still standing there. He really doesn't have any shame in himself, it only makes me more furious.
I walk back inside the house to see my mom sitting at the dining room, her face looking furious yet exhausted. Usually I wouldn't want to engage in conversations with her unless neccesary. Yet, it was shocking to see my dad hanging around at the noodle shop arguing with her. I needed to know the reason why that jerk even popped out in the first place. Of course, I already have a feeling that one of the main reason is that because he is a jerk, but hey, I want to know more details on why they were shouting at each other after his 12 years of absense.
"What did he want?" I pull out an empty chair next to my momma.
"That jerk wanted to manipulate me back to his trap," she says with a vengeful tone. "He really thought he could lure me back after ruining my life? What an idiot."
I went silent, the fury starts boiling inside of me. Seeing the sight of that horrible man today just made my day worse. I would have killed him if I didn't have anymore hopes with life. I turn my head to see my momma, still looking exhausted.
"He ruined my life, wasted my time," she starts going through all of my dad's dirty doings from the past, which was true. Yet, somehow I have a feeling I know where this is going. Everytime my momma starts talking about all the bad things my dad did, I always have this uncomfortable feeling indicating a sign that I'll get into trouble. Believe me, 90% of the time my feelings were true.
"I should have let you go from the start. You don't know how much burden you've added to my terrible life because of that jerk," my mom says, her voice sounded hurt and filled with grudge.
I sigh. As expected, I already had a feeling she was gonna say this, and right now I don't even have the energy to say anything back. This indicates my cue to leave before things gets more complicated.
"Excuse me," I say while getting up from my seat.
"You're not going anywhere!"
I wasn't able to take my first step, when she already shouted at me. I sigh. Again I have to face this like my daily routine.
"And can you please stop sighing in every moment? It's irritating," she says all of a sudden.
I turn my head to look at her, already feeling exhausted by hearing her voice. I am really not in the mood to argue after a long day, but at this point it's not like I have any other choice.
"I apologize," I say, really just wanting to end whatever she started.
"And do you think that would solve any problems? Did you think your apologies could change anything?" she says, her voice sounded furious. I didn't bother to take a deep breath since I am used to it, but screaming at my face when I'm exhausted after an annoying day only triggers my emotions more.
"Momma, I never intentionally tried to make you mad, but if you think I only caused problems then I am sorry," I say in an upset tone. "Sorry for being a burden."
If I have to admit things I never made just for the sake of peace, I'll do it just to avoid problems. As I was about to walk away, I feel a hard grip on my shoulder, making me almost lose my balance. I see my momma holding my shoulder while looking at me sharply in the eyes.
"You're not going anywhere until I'm done! You ruined my life and this is how you react? Are you an animal that you responded to this without even feeling a bit guilty? You're not far different from your father!" her voice sounded deadly as it tinkles through my ears, sending shivers down my spine, yet I try my best to hide the fear in my eyes.
"I never even disobey you, but all you did was-"
A hard slap was felt on my left cheek, making me hold my cheek eventually in pain. Again, I wasn't able to finish my sentence because I already got her too furious. While holding back the pain, tears slowly starts flowing from my eyes. I turn my head to face my momma staring into my eyes with a deadly look.
"You're nothing but an ungrateful traitor! Just go to your room before I kick you!"
I turn my head down and walk in faster pace, just wanting to escape this hell. I walk upstairs and run to my room. I slam the door close and sit down on the floor while letting the tears run down my face. I'm starting to sob, though I didn't want my momma to hear it since she could be more furious. This fact just makes me feel more pressured. Why am I not allowed to express my feelings even in the simplest ways? Why did she have to make me feel bad for crying? Why do I have to hide my tears when she was the one who caused them?
Frustrated, I get up from the floor and walk over to my bed. I bend down and pull out my medical kit from under the bed. I open the medical kit and grab a bottle of my stress-relief pills. I didn't bother to follow the psychiatrist's instructions, since I didn't want to think about what will happen eventually. By that, I instantly grab two pills from the bottle and drink it with a glass of water on the table.
After that, I throw my weak body to the bed, as I continue to sob in silence while covering my face with a pillow. Again I repeat the same questions in my head, on why after all these years, I'm still crying over the same issues.
Why did life have to be like this?
6:15 PM...
At Yifei's house...
After reaching Yifei's mansion, Yifei had insisted Xiaoliang to join her family for dinner, though he refused the idea at first since he was afraid that he would disturb her family time. However, Yifei had convienced him that her family wouldn't mind, and that he should take it as a favor from her.
At the dining room...
"Steamed lobster with lemon butter!" the maid says as she serves the dish on the table.
"Thank you," Yifei says, before taking a sip of her green tea.
Through out dinner, Xiaoliang went silent while eating his shrimp and tofu soup. Though he was amazed by the various lavish dishes that were served. Not only do they look aesthetically good, but the taste of the dishes are all on point, having been cooked by the family's personal chef. Yet, looking at the cold responds from Yifei's parents made him feel small, while wishing to escape this lavish dinner. While Yifei's mother only looked cold and unwelcoming, her father had made Xiaoliang feel more insecure in every gaze. It's obvious that his intimidating gaze at Xiaoliang pictures how much he dislike the boy's presence.
"Xiaoliang, you have to try this." Yifei reaches out to get some kungpao beef with the available chopsticks for Xiaoliang.
"It's ok, Yifei. I am already full," Xiaoliang says in a low tone.
"Yifei, continue with your dinner and stop mothering him. Dear child, you are not even his mother," her mother says in a calm, yet cold tone.
Yifei turns her gaze to her mother who is staring at her in an unfriendly manner, before moving her vision to her father who didn't seem to care less for her, since he is too busy eyeing Xiaoliang with an intimidating look. Looking at her parents' respond, Yifei puts down her chopsticks and looks up to her mother with a confident look.
"Ma, Pa! You do realize that I am an adult now and I am capable to take care of myself and know what I want. By that, I don't think you guys should continue to worry about my decisions," Yifei says, before moving her vision to her dad. "You guys have to learn to trust me sooner or later."
"Child, life isn't as simple as you think. Even those who are expert in life still chose many mistakes on their way," her mother says in a satirical tone.
Hearing this, Yifei noticed her dad didn't bother to move his vision from his meal, instead just continues to cut his steamed fish with scallops in a calm manner. She knew too well that her mother is throwing another satirical sentence to her dad, which often happens.
As the tension gets more awkward, Xiaoliang could only turn his vision down to his meal, at this point avoiding eye contact with everyone in the room. He just wanted to finish his dinner quickly and go home, since the tension is already killing him.
7 PM...
At Yifei's room...
After dinner, Yifei asked Xiaoliang to help her sort out some of her books in her room, just so she could spend more time with him. After the unpleasant tension caused by her parents during dinner, Yifei felt bad for the way her parents treated Xiaoliang. This leads her to comforting him during their time together while sorting out the books.
"My parents are just too overprotective. Believe me, even I found it a bit intimidating," Yifei says, before letting out a fake giggle. She didn't want Xiaoliang to feel as if her parents dislike him, even though they actually do.
"They're just looking out for you," Xiaoliang replies in a calm manner.
Though Xiaoliang doubted her explanation, he didn't want to debate and just responded in a calm way. He wasn't offended when he knew that her parents didn't like him, since he found it logical. Coming from a family with a good background and social status, it's no surprise that Yifei's parents wants her to hang around people with similar backgrounds, which is obviously not him. Deep down, Xiaoliang was actually surprised when he found Yifei actually approaching him, despite their different backgrounds, which often times made him feel insecure of himself deep down as a man.
"There," Xiaoliang says as he puts the last book inside the small drawer.
Yifei takes a glance at her drawer, before moving her vision to Xiaoliang. Her peach lips forms a small smile at him.
"Thanks for helping me tidy up," Yifei says with a small smile.
"You're welcome," Xiaoliang says while grabbing his black backpack from the floor.
Looking at the time on the clock on her wall, Yifei knew that after finishing all his work, it's time for Xiaoliang to return home. Though she wanted to spend more time with him, she knew that he has to return home. By that, she could only feel excited about the next day.
"Well, take some rest. You gotta wake up early," Yifei says.
"Yeah, I will," Xiaoliang says. He slowly walks over to the door and exits.
"Bye," Xiaoliang says from outside of the door.
Yifei smiles. "Bye bye!"
7:35 PM...
At the subway station...
Xiaoliang arrives at the subway station. As he walks inside and is ready to get his ticket to go back home, his phone suddenly rings signaling a notification. He grabs his phone to take a quick look, only to see that he has a new message.
"Meet me outside Moonlight Cinema?" as he reads the text, random questions starts popping in his head. He thought that there must be a reason why the particular person wants to meet him in front of a cinema during night time.
To be continue...