Always behind you! [YiZhan FF] Short story. ✔️

-10- Family

-10- Family

I went into the bathroom, showered and got dressed. Lena had fallen asleep again and asked me to go out for dinner alone today. She had a few glasses too many last night and now she is not feeling so well and she just wants to sleep.

But since I didn't want to sit and eat alone in the hotel restaurant either, I sat down in my rental car and drove to my grandparents. They were insanely happy to see me and my grandma cooked my favorite meal right away. We talked a lot and my grandmother, who always thinks I am way too thin, fed me all kinds of delicious snacks.

And then happened what I actually wanted to avoid. Meeting my family unplanned and unwanted when Lena is not with me! Two cars drove up, my grandparents were wondering who it was, they really had no idea and then I saw my father get out of the car. Honestly? The first thing I thought was, shit, why don't my grandparents have a back exit?

My grandfather took my hand and said, "Don't worry my boy, we're here for you." But I don't want these two old dear and wonderful people to be angry with them in their old age.

But to run away now, it was too late anyway, my grandma had already opened the door and I heard my father yelling that finally everybody should move their asses to the door. He obviously hasn't changed.

When they were all inside and came to the living room, my parents stopped in the middle of the door and stared at me with eyes wide open. "ZhanZhan?" My mother asked.

"Zhan is enough." I said it calmly.

My parents rushed into the living room, looked at me from top to bottom, I saw my brother storming past my parents, coming towards me, and falling into my arms. He was crying, so happy he was to see me. While my parents were still shocked and did not know what to say or how to react.

My sister was also there. She also looked at me shocked, with her was her husband, a guy who doesn't match her outwardly. She did not say a word and just stared at me.

And while my brother was still crying bitterly in my arms, telling me again and again how much he missed me, all the others remained speechless. Only after a few minutes my mother came to me, took me in her arms and said she was glad to see me again. My father, cold as he is, gave me his hand and said: "So, after 7 years you finally show up again."

"Well, you never contacted me. So I didn't think you really wanted to see me." This immediately made my brother start crying again and scolded me for wanting to see me. I felt sorry for my brother. Even when I had to leave the family, he was very upset.

After a while, everyone seemed to have gotten a little caught up in it, except my sister. She still hadn't welcomed me, even though her husband had introduced himself to me. And slowly I became curious why Chuyue was so insistent that I confront her about what was written in the message from Yibo.

When my brother's tears dried, he started to tell me about his last seven years, how he likes college, and that he has a girlfriend but she always bosses him around and gets angry quickly. The way he told it, I really had to laugh.

My parents told me that my mom no longer works as a dental assistant and is now at home as a housewife. And my dad was promoted two years ago and now runs the department he works in. Well, I guess there's not much to lead with three people.

And then I told him: "After I successfully completed my studies, I worked as an assistant for a star photographer until a year ago, but now I'm not only his assistant anymore, I'm also a photographer, after my boss trained me properly and I'm often booked. The money I earn is great, I have a great new apartment and my job has allowed me to travel almost all over America".

"And how is love?" My mother asked and I rolled my eyes.

"Nothing at all." I said.

"Like nothing? You're 26 years old, you should start thinking about getting married."

"Is this a joke?" I asked my mother.

"Why? You're not gonna tell me you haven't met someone else?"

"No, I haven't met anyone. I'm as unkissed and untouched as I was at 19. And I'd appreciate it if we could just drop this subject." I kept a close eye on my sister as I said this and saw her suddenly swallowing hard. So this stupid cow is really hiding something from me.

Before anyone else could say anything about it, my grandfather interfered and explained that if they asked me again about love or lack of love, they would all get a spank with a cane. Suddenly there was silence!

The only thing my father said was: "Don't you want to greet your brother? You just stand there staring at him the whole time." My sister swallowed again, nodded and pretended to hug me.

Why do I say she pretended? I didn't feel any touch! She put her arms around me but not on me! It's like when a woman with make-up greets another woman. They pretend to kiss each other on the cheek but don't do it for fear their makeup will smear. And so my sister hugged me as if she was afraid to touch me.

When most of them were in the kitchen and only my brother and sister stayed with me in the living room, I asked my sister: "What did Yibo write in the message back then?" I swear her face turned bright red, but she claimed she didn't remember, it was too long ago.

Then I asked her, "What did you write to him?"

She shrugged and said, "I don't know why you ask. You told me to write him the truth and I did." That's when I knew she was definitely lying. Because Chuyue told me that Wang Yibo said that the message was read but not answered before the account was deleted.

"I don't know why you are lying, because I happen to know you never answered him. So I am giving you one last chance. Do you really not remember what he wrote?" I said, getting angrier and angrier.

"God he wrote to you. He wrote he knew who you were all along. I never read any further. I didn't want to. I don't care if you believe that or not. But I never read beyond the first two lines and it said he knew all along that you were. Are you satisfied now?" She hissed.

"Of course not. But it doesn't matter now." I said.

Suddenly my belly felt queasy, so queasy that I ran into my grandparents' bathroom and threw up. So while we were both writing for almost a year, he knew it was me all along. Was that why he kept writing things like "I should talk to him, I shouldn't give up, maybe he was just so distant for some reason.

And then sometimes he wrote things like, you are so sweet, I've missed you already, it would be nice if we could see each other now. And once he wrote that he would love to hold me in his arms. Does that mean he liked me maybe? This is so confusing that my tummy is spinning again and I threw up again.

My parents were actually the ones who asked what was going on. And since I swore to myself that I would never lie again, I told them and thought there would be another fight right away. But then my father said: "So it seems he liked you very much after all."And suddenly he yelled at my sister and asked her why she hadn't told him. Because my parents thought I had turned into a crazy stalker who just couldn't accept that the boy I was in love with didn't like me.

For the very first time I heard something like an explanation for why my parents acted that way. They really thought they had to protect me. They believed I was stalking Yibo, harassing him on the verge of getting a report or going to jail. They really felt they had to protect me from going on and messing up my life. They sent me away because they thought they would protect me from myself.

The much worse thing for me, however, is that if they had taken the time to talk to me and ask me just once, none of this would have happened. For years I just hated them. They were in their own strange way, just worried.

In the end my brother brought me back to the hotel with my rental car so I could rest. We agreed that we would speak again in the coming days.