Delicate

Chapter Twenty Nine

The tension in the Seong household was high. Neither of Milan's parents acknowledged what happened during the weekend. They didn't ask Milan about his time with Ben. They ignored the matter, and went on with their lives.

Milan wasn't surprised by this. It wasn't the first time his parents pretended that ignoring a problem automatically solved it. If you didn't talk about it, that meant it didn't exist. Milan was frustrated, but he didn't want any more conflict, so he kept quiet too.

A week passed by, it was Saturday morning and Milan was finishing up his homework so that he could spend the rest of the weekend revising. He perked up immediately when he received a text from his boyfriend.

To : Milan | From : Leo

So, Maya has been asking about you, and Roan is gonna be making steak. Wanna come over for dinner?

Milan gulped as he read the message over and over again. Sure, he had met Leo's family before, but this was different. He was calling him for dinner with them. He was officially going to meet everyone as Leo's boyfriend.

Milan texted him back, telling him that he'd be there. Leo asked him to come around seven, and to be ready for a very competitive game of monopoly after dinner.

Milan remembered Leo telling him how board games were taken extremely seriously in his house. Being invited for that felt even more special than just dinner. Needless to say, Milan was both nervous and excited.

The only issue was having to tell his parents where he was going. He could lie and say he was going out with Quinn, but after actually standing up for himself and calling his parents out— lying would send him two steps backwards.

He went to the living room where his mom was watching television. He sat down next to her on the couch, trying to act all casual.

"I won't be home for dinner tonight," Milan finally spoke up.

"Okay," his mom replied, "where are you going?"

"Leo invited me over," Milan answered after taking a deep breath, he was already on the verge of panicking.

"Oh," his mom sighed, "are you both..."

"We're dating."

"Your father—"

"Will not be happy with this, I know," Milan interrupted her, "he's a logical guy, isn't he? How long can either of you police who I hang out with or who I date? Just a few more months till I'm off to college? You both have to understand that I'm an adult now, and that I can make my own decisions. The more you try to control me, the more you're only going to push me away."

"I don't know where we went wrong," his mom whispered, "with you and with Ben. I thought we were good parents and next thing I know is that both my sons hate me."

"Mum..." Milan frowned, "I don't hate you. Just because... Just because I'm growing up doesn't mean I hate you. Or dad."

"You've met your grandparents. You've seen how strict they are. Growing up I didn't have any say in what I was doing. Neither did your dad—"

"And that is terrible, but you know projecting it on your children is not right either," Milan tried to explain to her softly.

"I know," she replied, "I was so scared when you left last week. I thought I was going to lose you. Like I lost Ben. I don't know what to do, Mila. How to make all of this right? With you and with Ben."

"Talk to Ben."

"But your father—"

"You can't let anyone tell you whether or not you can talk to your own son. Not even your husband," Milan said.