“Wow, we’re a real animal lover then, I see.”
I lay my hands on Luan’s shoulders to get his attention. Some part of me fears he’s too far gone in his head that he won’t even care, but he surprises me when he leans his head back to look up at me. Luan’s eyes are soft, and he offers me one of his signature smiles, the sweet ones. That’s the only sign he gives me to let me know that he’s fine, that heknowswhat he’s doing and didn’t just fall back into an old habit.
“We can go,” I suggest. There’s no use in arguing any further anyway. My dad now knows I am in a relationship with Luan, he’ll want me out of his life and that’s alright because I don’t want him in mine either.
“It’s just getting interesting.”
Yeah, which is why we should definitely leave. I don’t want to trigger Luan’s manipulative side any more than it already has. I trust Luan that he won’t fall back there, but why push his luck?
“Baby…”
“Be gay outside of my house!” my father yells, hitting a hand to the surface of his desk.
I lift my head, my eyes meet my father’s for a moment. I smirk, dip my head back down, and press a kiss to my boyfriend’s lips. I can feel the corners of Luan’s mouth tug up against mine.
Both of our smiles widen when we can hear my father gag.
As soon as we pull apart and I straighten my back, I find my father staring past me and toward the door. When his eyes darken by a whole shade, I know he found my mother.
“And you are okay with this, Eun?”
She doesn’t respond at first, so I’m assuming she’s shaking her head. I don’t turn around to get confirmation because I know my mother doesn’t care whether I date a woman or a man, but seeing her say no just because she knows that’s what my father wants would hurt me more than I’d like to admit.
“Yes,” she says, which then does cause me to whip my whole body around, my eyes colliding with hers.
“What?” I choke on the word. My mother smiles.
“I don’t think you’re okay with your son dating anotherman, Eun,” my father forces out through gritted teeth.
“It’s none of my business, but even if it was, I am,” she answers, averting her eyes from me to my dad. The smile that was on her lips just a second ago is now gone. “I am, Ji-Hoon, because unlike you, I don’t care who Grey loves, nor is it any of my business. He’s my son and I will love him no matter what.”
She takes a few steps toward my father. My eyes follow her, but my head is somewhere I don’t even know.Iwas supposed to “rebel” against my father, not my mother.
Luan gets up from the chair, standing beside me in seconds.
“Grey is no less of a human just because he has a boyfriend rather than a girlfriend. And I don’t know what is wrong in your head, Ji-Hoon, to even think foronesecond that only because you don’t want to believe your son could ever love another man, that he wouldn’t.”
“Mom…” Why would she do this? She’s been silent about all of this for almost fourteen years, has never stood up to my father whether it was about me, my siblings, or herself. So why start now?
My mother holds up her hand, stopping me from talking.
“Maybe you—”
“How dare you?” my father interrupts. “How—”
My mother slaps her hand to his desk, leaning forward. In a dangerously low voice, she says, “I am talking, Ji-Hoon. When I talk, you listen.”
“I don’t li—”
My mother takes my father’s laptop, then throws it against the wall behind him.
If I was capable of moving, my jaw would be on the floor right now, but it’s as though I’m frozen in place. I didn’t know my mother had a side like this to her. But I suppose it’s good to know that my tendencies to throw stuff around when I get mad, I inherited from her.
“You will listen, or the next thing I will ruin is your company.” She straightens her back, wiping off her hands like she was brushing off dust.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me, Ji-Hoon. Interrupt me one more time and find out if I dare.” Right now, I wouldn’t put it past her to have some kind of evidence against him that could potentially ruin his image and Li Co.