Asmo's Love

Expected

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.

“Kevin said you’re staying at some town in Preston.”

I grimaced at my mother’s added words. What a way to start a serious conversation. I turned and give her a sheepish smile and took a peek at father who was still eating his lunch in silence. His expression remained blank and unreadable.

“Are you really going to stay there?” Mom asked me, frowning down to my face.

“Yes… But I will still continue on taking care of the business and projects while I’m away from the city. You don’t have to worry.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.” Father grimly commented, speaking up all of a sudden. I was startled for a second because it was such a rare thing to happen. And as I glanced at his voided stance, I felt uneasy.

“Steve.” My mother warned beside me and she shot a stern look towards my father’s direction. But father just ignored it and didn’t even bother to acknowledge her remark. He just glanced my way without even blinking.

“Avian Hills?” he said with a serious face. I hesitantly nodded at him, nervous to even say another word.

“Why?”

I gulped and tried to organize a better way to explain things to him. We had never been too openly conversational with each other. The only things we had ever really talked about in mutual interest were only and would always be about the business and company. I felt quite trapped as he stared at me with such intrepid intimidation. I could even imagine him flipping out if I really told him the whole truth…

“I’m thinking of starting up a business there.” I lied instead.

“All of a sudden?”

“I just thought since it’s within the borders of Preston… We could take advantage of it. The whole town’s kind of mysterious and hidden but it has its own appeal. It might be in the suburbs but if we provide them a good offer we could make it a tourist pote—”

“Leave the town alone.” My father strictly imposed, a heavy warning sounding from his loud intonation as he abruptly cut my words off.

I frowned back, suddenly puzzled and feeling a bit annoyed. “Why?”

“It’s not a suitable place to start business. I know that town. It’s not too significant to be invested on. It would just be best to leave it the way it is,” he vaguely answered, not even missing a beat, “Just drop the whole thing about it and get back to work inside your office instead.”

I took a deep breath, controlling the growing frustration that I was starting to feel inside. I needed to get a grip. I closed my eyes and exhaled audibly. All logic set aside, I went with the impulse even when I already knew it won’t do me any good… I guess, doing what my parents have always wanted me to do would still do me no good anyway.

“No,” I harrumphed. My mother tensed beside me while my father glowered at my word, looking quite surprised as he tried to process what I just said.

“I’ll stay at the village,” I told them in a firm resolution. I was no longer capable of being stopped from what I was about to do. “I’m just letting you know, father. But I will still be as active as I am with the business. I just have things I needed to do for now. So, I hope you can reconsider.”

My father just stared back with cold reservation, our eyes deeply connected as we continued to hold each other’s gaze with an intensity that only men of stubbornness could understand. It might be the very first time we have really looked at each other’s eyes and got engaged into a silent battle of who was going to back away first. And as the moments continued to pass on, his eyes slowly retreated on their own and he was the first one to look away, unexpectedly. I felt kind of guilty as I heard him heavily sighing. He quickly reached for his glass filled with scotch to take a sip, looking quite bothered yet still eerily calm at the same time.

“If that’s what you want,” he finally said, his eyes casting down towards the almost empty glass in his hand. “I have already gave you my warning. If somehow, it worked for you, just give my regards to the mayor. But I still have one condition.”

“Okay,” I accepted too quickly, “What’s the condition?”

My father slowly tilted his head up and turned his eyes back at me. His gaze pierced right through me, letting me know that what he was about to say was one thing I should be completely serious about.

“Never interfere with any of the town’s business. Leave their matters alone,” he said in an ominous voice, the threat was very evident and I gulped nervously, “Forget the whole business bluff you’ve just blurted out on a whim. I don’t really think that’s the reason, anyway. Just do what you need to do and leave the place as soon as you can. Understand?”

Speechless, I only nodded at him. Yet his words continued to strain inside my head. What does he mean by that? Why am I being strongly warned to leave the town right away?

Why is it so strange?

Just what is there in that town that everyone keeps telling me to leave?