"Promises are meant to be broken... but whose promise are they talking about?" A little kid whispers over the blanket that's covering his lips. His eyes are wide open. Anticipation is written on their depths.
"Shhh... I'm not yet done. Shu Yi, let me finish first before you can ask a question." The older kid hushes the younger one in silence.
"But I want to know if it will end happily?" Shu Yi pouted. The other boy shakes his head and ruffles the other's hair.
"You'll know soon. Just hold on to that blanket tighter for now. We have a rocky path to take first."
~~~
The sound of rain is like music to the ear. The droplets falling one at a time... the cold wind that makes you want to bury yourself under the warmth of a blanket partnered with a hot mug of melted chocolate topped with little white marshmallows. That is Ray's ideal night.
He knows that a storm is coming and somewhere out there some people are not taking this as a blessing, but for him... it gave him a sense of peace. He likes the smell of the soil during and after the rain. The earthy scent makes him feel close to nature.
Ray asked Tian before if they could buy a cabin in the forest. He likes the orchard for it was something close to the ambiance of nature he was looking for. But his husband doesn't felt fine to be away from this place for a long time.
He realized that all of them was a prisoner of the past. This place is what pulls them back to the starting line even if they wanted to move forward to the finish line. They locked themselves and let their fears become the warden. Ray's dream life near nature, Tian's desire to live for the future instead of the past, Evan's passion for traveling to save animals, and Richard's desire to be free from the shackles of his trauma. All of them had put them on hold till their hairs turned grey and their joints ill fit for what they wanted to do before.
Now that the DNA result will be released tonight, every one of them tries to divert their attention to other thoughts. Ray wonders if both Tian and he would still have time to live fully just for themselves without Zi Hong and Yu Teng's memory looming on their backs and threatening the family they built.
They've been keeping secrets not only because they are afraid Sam will get hurt. It was also because they fear what they couldn't see. They fear what they couldn't understand. It was easy to bury and push back things and stop talking about them instead of facing it heads on. Cowards.
That's what they are. That's why it reaches this point. Ray sip on his hot chocolate and let the sweetness calm him. If Sam ends up not Zi Hong's son then it means he wouldn't inherit Zi Hong's disease and meant to live a long happy life. The four of them can close this chapter once and for all. It took 27 years of their life.
And if... if worsts comes to worst and Sam indeed is Zi Hong's son, even if it pains him... he had to let go of his endless self blaming and anger. Ray realized that Yang Yu Teng and Lin Zi Hong are two persons who have their own minds and did all their decisions by themselves. The four of them have been drowning in guilt that they forgot that the disaster that happened in the past is because of the decisions those two have committed.
Whether they are wrong or right... 27 years is enough time for the four of them to set YU and Zi Hong's memories free. Their tragic entanglement must have continued somewhere else already... he, Tian, and the rest of them were just the only ones holding on all this time.
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It's always been you
Fanfiction"Loving you was the greatest mistake I've committed in my entire existence." "If I'll be reborn, let's never meet again." "I chose death because that's the only way I can unlove you." - Yang Yu Teng "Loving you was my lone saving grace in my short b...
