Luhan hesitantly made his way downstairs, to meet his parents. He had a fair idea of what they wanted to talk about, but he hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. It was as if the days were rushing by; he was getting older and that meant more responsibilities on his shoulders. He couldn’t lead a carefree life of self-indulgence anymore, instead he would have to experience the hardships in the world, start earning and get married to raise a family of his own.

No amount of self-assurance would curb his initial perturbation towards the idea of it, for it was rather intimidating. Change was intimidating, but he’d have give in eventually and follow what the rest of them did; move on in his life and reach the next step, which in his case, was to get married and start a family.

He fixed his hair slightly and walked over to his father’s study, the room which he was very familiar with. Every time his father wanted to hold out an important discussion, he would be called into his study. It always meant that his father had a pensive matter to talk about and there was no other way to go than listening to him carefully and adhering to his instructions later on.

Luhan had never dared to go against his father; he didn’t even want to think of the consequences if he ever did so.  He had witnessed how stringent his father could get if the situation demanded it; he distinctly remembered the time when he had gone against his father’s wish to support one of the maids, who had been accused of stealing from the household.

Luhan, who had been rather fond of the old lady, had taken a huge sum of money from his father’s safe discreetly and handed it to her, when he learnt that her husband was gravely ill and needed unaffordable medicines to survive. His father had gone berserk; he refused to acknowledge that his son would do anything of that sort. He had fired the lady and registered a lawsuit against her for theft. Luhan, on the other hand, wasn’t allowed to interact with the house-help anymore. And that made Luhan feel lonelier than before for the house-help were the only other people he could mingle with. Perhaps that was the reason why his parents had agreed to let him befriend Michelle later on, he thought.

He bowed politely as he greeted his parents who seemed to be waiting for him anticipatorily.

“Why don’t you take a seat, son? Your mother and I have a rather important matter to discuss with you,” his father began, while his mother looked on with a bright smile on her face.

“Luhan, dear, we both know how you’re turning a year older in a month and you'd be taking over your father’s establishment…we just felt that maybe it’s time for you start a family of your own,” his mother explained, with a glowing smile.

Luhan nodded knowingly, he had expected this. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, he thought. He had always imagined a life wherein he would be married, possibly to Liling, and have his own kids. And maybe they’d live happily just like his parents had. His parents always seemed happy around each other and he had wanted to experience that with someone.

“So, do you have anyone in mind? Any young lady who’s managed to capture your attention, perhaps?” his mother pried on.

Luhan his dry lips before clearing his throat awkwardly. There indeed was a lady who had captured his attention and that was none other than Liling. However, he couldn’t seem to accept it readily, it was as if something was holding him back. He didn’t know what it was that he had with Michelle now, but he liked it. With her he could forget about his troubles for a while and be carefree. Liling, on the other hand, reminded him of his responsibilities that lay on his shoulders. He was torn in between the two; he knew he had two options, he could ask for Liling’s hand in marriage and work towards building a livelihood or he could be with Michelle and not care about his obligation towards his parents or the society.

“I do have someone in mind, mother,” he answered after a while. “Actually it’s not just one young lady, I have two of them who could potentially fulfill your requirement,” he added quickly. Something inside him said that he couldn’t just abandon Michelle. She deserved a chance. It would be his way of repaying her of all the things she had taught him in childhood; she had played a vital role in shaping who he was right now.

“What do you wish to do then? You know very well that there can only be one, who you would eventually marry,” his father pressed.

Luhan smiled in response as a brilliant idea struck him. He could always let his parents choose, that way he wouldn’t disappoint them and his conscience wouldn’t make him feel remorseful as he would be giving both the girls a fair chance; for they were the two girls that mattered to him the most.

“I know, father. And that is why I wish you both would decide and pick whoever you think is my rightful companion.”

∻∻∻

Yixing felt nervous as he made his way towards the Yang residence. He didn’t know what had come over him the previous day; he had uttered the most preposterous thing to Michelle. It had led him into spending a sleepless night, tossing about on his bed, pondering on what the girl might have thought.

Her question had been rather simple. But he couldn’t seem to give an equally simple solution. Was he in love with her? He wasn’t sure. Did he dislike her? He wasn’t sure either. That was the thing with Michelle Yang, he concluded, she was a different person at different times. She could be the rude, uncouth lady who he hated with a passion. But at the same time, she could be the vulnerable, lost girl who made him want to take care of her. She could be the bold and unconstrained person he envied or an exuberant, merry girl who made his heart race. In short, he was perturbed. He had to know that nothing good would ever come of it. At the end of the day, she was a rich heiress while he was an ordinary secretary who worked for her father.

When he stepped into her room, which was brightly lit for a change, he found Michelle pacing about back and forth.

“Young Miss?”

Michelle’s eyes gleamed when she finally noticed the secretary in her room. She had been waiting for him eagerly. “Good, you’re here,” she exclaimed rather happily, making the man puzzled.

Before he could comprehend what was happening, Michelle had managed to grab his wrist and drag him forcefully down the stairs.

“Young Miss, what is going on? Where are we headed to?” he questioned, for he was oblivious as to what the girl had wanted, but didn’t stop the girl from dragging him.

His eyes fell on the article of jewelry adorning her wrist, that was tightly secure against his own. And he was back to being perplexed again; he felt happy that she had been wearing it, but he couldn’t understand why it mattered so much to him. Before he could groan internally at himself for not figuring out what was happening with the crazy mind of his, Michelle turned around. Her wild hair was tied into a neat ponytail; it made her look fairly tamed and smart. Although, if Yixing had been forced to choose, he would say that her wild hair was her charm.