Demon's Protégé

Time Lapse

I decided to visit the city for a while.

It was inevitable. I still have some things I needed to buy anyway. And I also need some personal stuffs and more clothes during my entire stay at Avian Hills. I have to settle some urgent matters in the company as well, but maybe not in the real office though. I was still not ready to go back to that place. Moreover, this could also be the best time to finally show myself up in front of my parents and explain my plans more to them in person. I don’t like hiding anymore, more especially to my father. Just the mere image of his diffident visage and those permanent squinting eyes that could look past beneath my lies, immediately brought a heightened angst inside my head.

Where do I even start with him?

To be honest, my father and I had never really jived so well together ever since I was young. It was never a normal father-son relationship that other young boys and dads have. In fact, ours was actually more along the lines of extreme awkwardness and discomfort. I had literally grown up nursing an estranged and distant affection towards him because he was much harder to approach compared to my mother. He never really showed any expression aside from a brief rigid shrug of his shoulders and a vague squint of his eyes. He would only approach me when the matters deemed him necessary. And most of the time, it was all just about the business and serious stuffs. I have never really understood his entire cold demeanor and that subtle condescending aura that he had always summoned around him.

I was just always scared of him when I was a kid. And now that I am nearing thirties, I think I could still feel the shivers of fright even with just thinking about his anger. That is why I’m kind of antsy. Especially now when I am actually turning things around in my life so suddenly, it could really become much worse between us. Even more so, if I still withheld on this entire silence and hiding, it could really be the end of me. Knowing my brother, he most certainly have given our parents the rundown about our conversation last night.

I guess, I should already expect things to get ugly from here.

I sighed in utter disdain, just as I was about to drive past the border signs of the city. Filled with thoughts, I was then reminded again of Nari’s face as I headed down the road towards the central district. The sudden image, popping out of nowhere, had me smiling subconsciously and I entirely forgot my upcoming agony. It kept on like that until I had finally taken a turn at an intersection.

The more familiar the street signs had become, the more I felt nervous. I soon slowed down on a street until I receded to a halt in front of the big property of my parents in an upscale part of the city.

A tall well-built bodyguard in a black suit, who was standing outside the huge modern-looking mansion, quickly took notice of the arrival of my black SUV and immediately pushed a signal button in his hand to prompt the big steel gates. It automatically opened, revealing an expanse of enormous garden with a fountain by the front. I briefly gave the big guy a tight nod through the clear windshield and quickly drove up towards the driveway inside, where a helper was already waiting for me at the entryway to submit to my requests.

“Master Sun,” Edgar, the head butler of the family, suddenly appeared from the grand foyer as he stood in front of the big platinum doors of the mansion, after I got out of the car. The helper beside him quickly approached my side to take my car keys. I obliged and took off my coat to which another helper had silently taken from my hold and soon disappeared into the house after I handed it over to him.

“Are they home?” I asked, walking up the short stairs by the entryway and I reluctantly stepped past the wide entrance of the house, waiting for Edgar to answer me. He was trailing me behind.

“They’re at the dining hall.”

“Thank you,” I said to Edgar, giving him a small smile to which he had formally reciprocated with a bow. I quickly walked towards the farthest end of the hallway inside the house where the dining hall was located. As soon as I had opened the wide mahogany doors, the faces of my mother and father greeted me back with equally startled looks.

“Sun?” My mother blinked at me, a cup raised midway to her mouth.

“Mother,” I smiled weakly, and I slowly sauntered towards the long dinner table where they were sitting casually across each other, “Father.”

I gave my father a subtle nod, my face settling into a docile cast. He merely returned the simple greeting with a slight jut of his jaw—a usual response I have grown accustomed of since birth. And not even bothering to look back at me, he just calmly went back on continuing with what he was eating on his plate. It seemed that they were having lunch just as I had entered the hall.

“You’re not dead, I see,” he then remarked in that distant unexpressive tone of his voice after a long silence. And upon hearing this, I silently took a seat near him and nodded back.

“Where have you been, Sun?” My mother, however, cried out dramatically from across the hall, her eyes reflecting with relief and worry. She quickly put down her cup on the table and stood up from her chair to walk straightly towards me. As soon as she reached me, she immediately engulfed me into a tight hug while I remained seated and I awkwardly returned the gesture with an arm loosely embracing her hip.

“I’m fine, mom.” I reassured her, patting her on the hand that was holding me around the shoulder.

“We’ve heard.” Father interjected, still looking passive from where he was seated.