“I can’t believe that our parents are coming together. Did they plan this?” Leonel bit his thumb while he was skipping on his toes as they waited in the airport for their parents to arrive.
“Calm down.” Ren wanted to laugh at how nervous Leonel was. It was a weekend and exactly nearing the end of the month, and the Guild Wars would start later at night.
Like fate wanted it to happen, both Ren and Leonel’s parents took the same day and time to arrive in Zone A.
“Easy for you to say. Your parents already know about your secret. But mine doesn’t. I kept having nightmares that my mother was sending me to the police for questioning.”
Ren only shook his head. “Don’t worry. I specifically told my parents to keep their mouths shut. So you can surprise your parents.”
“I’d rather have your parents tell mine so they can save me from the torture of telling them.”
“Oh. There they are.”
Leonel turned to stone at the famillar silhouette of a chubby middle age woman together with a skinny older man and a girl in pigtails that had numerous highlights on her hair.
On the other hand, Ren couldn’t contain his smile at the appearance of his parents. They were finally going to move with him and could rest easy without worry.
However, his smile dropped when an unfamiliar face accompanied his family.
It was a woman that was the same age as his mother but on the chubbier side. She was small and plump, with a face shining in foundation.
Who?
Ren didn’t have the chance to ponder when he felt something squeezing him from the side.
“Brother Ren!”
Ren caught his footing and quickly looked at the girl peeking at his waist. Like he remembered her, she was charming with a pair of energetic blue eyes while a mischievous grin never left her lips.
“Hey there, Mia. Glad you’re still the same as always.” Ren patted Mia’s head while she pouted from Ren’s waist.
“What do you mean the same?” Mia let go of Ren and twirled from where she stood before she leaned and squeezed her small breasts between her arms. “Haven’t I matured?”
Ren only saw the girl as a sister; in his eyes, Mia would still forever be that little girl.
“Yeah. You look good,” Ren said without thought while he went to his parents.
Mia’s smile dropped, and she stomped her foot when Ren still refused to acknowledge her beauty. He was kind to her like always but that was only because she knew that she was his best friend’s little sister.
Leonel cleared his throat and waved his hand at his little sister. “H-hey.”
Mia looked over his older brother, and her lower lip puckered out. “Heh. . . you’re still there?”
“Y-you . . .”
“Leo, you lazy bum! Come here and get our things! Your mother is old. Your father is old. But you just stand there without care! Are you really our son? Don’t you feel pity for us?” Margaret hollered before her face changed to a sweet smile and greeted Ren.
“Mom, aren’t you glad to see me, at least? Am I really your son?” Leonel grumbled to the side, but his mother’s only reply was a toss of a bag on his face.
While Leonel and his parents were getting together, Helen and Troy had an awkward smile on their faces upon introducing a relative.
“Ren, I want you to meet your Aunt Hazel. She’s my cousin on the mother’s side,” introduced Helen. “We’ve met her on the plane. She’s also here to visit her son.”
“I see.” Ren only said. He didn’t have any favorable impression of his relatives because he really thought that they didn’t have one. NO relative was there when their house was demolished, and no relative rescued his parents when they lived in some made-up house in the slums.
Hazel was all smiles, but her smile froze at Ren’s lukewarm attitude. Even so, she continued her talk. “My son is the same age as you. He is studying at AU University and earning a doctorate.”
“Is that so?” Ren’s dead reply prompted Helen to save the day.
“Ren is studying at Fate Academy and taking up management.
“Fate Academy?” Hazel was surprised and asked, “Isn’t it expensive there, though? Can you two afford it? Thank goodness my son is only studying at a public college, so his tuition wasn’t that expensive. They all teach the same anyway.”
Ren didn’t comment when he felt that his parent’s mood plummeted. Hazel’s voice didn’t contain any mockery just the tone of belittlement. The woman was straightforward with no regard for the others feeling. Her words spoke facts, and there was no sympathy in them. Enough to hate the woman.
Ren liked it that way so he wouldn’t feel any pity when he slapped on her face the money that he owned.
“Ren already paid his own tuition,” Helen said. She kept her voice neutral, but it came out with a tinge of pride. She didn’t care if someone looked down upon them, but she wouldn’t sit still if Ren was being demeaned, directly or indirectly.
“Egh?” Hazel was surprised. “Is that so? He must be working so hard to afford it, then. Poor boy. How many jobs must you take to pay that ridiculous sum? And it’s only the first semester. I heard that tuition cost is over a hundred bucks there.
“Helen, are you okay with him working that hard just because of some fancy classroom? I would never with my boy. It’s alright if there was no air conditioning in his classroom as long as he could focus on his study and not worry about something like tuition fees. As parents, we owe our kids that and not the other way around. It’s our job to give them a good life.”
Helen and Troy were a bit red, but they kept their emotions at bay. It was their fault that they couldn’t give Ren a good life. It was Ren who worked hard on his own and gave them a good life. They had nothing to say to save themselves because all of it was true.
“Auntie,” Ren said in a low voice but with an edge that stopped the old woman from sprouting insensitive words nonstop.
It was one thing to insult him but making her parents feel bad about themselves really crossed the line.
Ren smiled, but all Hazel felt was dread, and she didn’t know why.
“Is Auntie and cousin free later? If you want, we can have lunch together.”
Hazel’s eyes shone a bit, and her set of big teeth showed under her thick lips. “That’s a great idea! Let’s exchange numbers so we can meet up later.”
Eventually, the two families went out of the airport after another round of pleasantries.
Outside the entrance, Ren and Leonel’s rented Van stopped in front of them. It wasn’t just any Van. It was a Van designed for celebrities with individual leather seats with enough leg space to sleep. There was also a sofa at the back with ready champagne and snack and still a lot of space in the trunk for their things.
At the sight, Hazel’s jaw drop. “Is this your ride? It’s too expensive! Did you spend your whole tuition on renting this car? My goodness!”
Margaret was also scolding Leonel and pinched his ear. “You brat. What is this?”
“It’s our ride.” Leonel got away from his mother’s hold while holding his injured ear with tear-stained eyes.
“Son. It’s not good to waste money like this. We can always ride the bus,” Leon seconded his wife.
Helen and Troy could only watch with sealed mouths since they weren’t allowed to say anything to Leonel’s parents. They were a bit embarrassed because their reaction was exactly the same as them, except that they didn’t pinch Ren’s ear.
“Mom, dad, what are you talking about?” Mia hopped into the car first and was amazed at the interior of the vehicle. “Let brother treat us for once. Since it’s already here, we might as well enjoy this.”
Instead of listening, Margaret only reprimanded her daughter in a sweet and baby voice, very different from how he threated Leonel. “Mia, be careful. You might damage the leather, and we might have to pay for it.”
“Mom, can you just hop in and let’s go? You’re holding the line. We’re already causing traffic.” Leonel got into the car as well, and when Leon hopped into the front seat, Margaret didn’t have a choice but to get in as well.
Ren was the last to go inside, and he sat near the door.
Seeing that everyone was inside the car and she was a bit left out, Hazel was about to ask Helen to give her a ride, but Ren’s words stop her.
“See you later, Auntie. Travel safely on the bus. We’ll message you later for lunch,” Ren said before closing the door shut on her face.
—-
A/N
I was thinking of publishing these chapters after the Guild War but the timeline only coincides with before the War so we’ll just get this chaps publish before jumping into the war.
Please have patience �