It was Christmas Eve and the hustle and bustle in the streets wasn’t amusing… carrying your grocery that is… I just had to run out of food to serve for my mom, dad and sister Dara.

Frankly, I grew anxious to see them this evening and have them around for the next day is something I don’t get to do. Living separately from them but the reason that I did so was to have an independent life, to feel some freedom first hand.

Yeah, I got that freedom… and it’s so much that I couldn’t think clearly on what to do with my life lately. In order for me to really FEEL that independent life, I have to work at a nearby coffee shop from my apartment and believe me that apartment ain’t worth every penny but it’s cheap and it’s the only one near my work.

Sometimes I think of my life before I became alone, I recall how wonderful it was to have mom around, cooking and taking good care of me, dad, although busy with work, always finds a way to at least spend time with me and my nagging yet thoughtful sister at weekends.

But one thing’s for certain, I don’t regret my decision; I don’t regret giving up the cosy life under the fire with my family. It’s my way to venture in what life has to offer, easier said than done but still, you can never say you’ve lived a good life without facing challenges and getting through or pass them.

Jiyong mind was still drifting off and didn’t had full attention on where he was going, it wasn’t long before he bumped into a guy and knocked down his groceries. All of what he had bought was scattered at the street as people passed by looking at the mess, Jiyong was groaning in frustration at the sight of his supposed to be cooked meal and salvaging what could be.

“What the hell… don’t you watch where you’re going?!” Jiyong frantically spoke, “Tch, I should say the same with you, you dope” the guy shot back. He bit his lower lip and took a deep breath and sighed “Do you know how much those were? And damn it… it was already hard to buy those but also finish getting through that crowd!”

The guy rolled his eyes, “I have no time for this, here” he pulled out a check and quickly wrote an amount, “Here 600 bucks… just to shut you up and for me to give some charity for a like you” he tore the check and handed it to him. Jiyong was taken aback not because of the amount but how the way the guy wanted to resolve the problem.

“What? Still not satisfied? That’s 600 DOLLARS… ain’t that enough for a few cheap groceries?” he was about to leave but Ji got his arm and stopped him, “Do you always act like that to people you don’t know? Don’t you know that not everyone can be bought with money?”

He glared the guy straight in the eyes and the guy didn’t let himself get to be taken lightly and shot the same stare back to him “Here, I don’t need this ing money. What I need is to have my groceries so I can get my meal done for my family or else things would turn uglier than your face”

The guy sighed sharply “You think I give a damn about you and your dumb meal? I have a much more important agenda and it’s far more important than the likes of your stupid~” he trailed off with a loud groan.

He felt a knee hit his stomach. People around them were taking a gander at the scene but still walked away after taking a look. “W-What the… …” he muttered along with the throbbing pain, “I hope you have a WONDERFUL Christmas with that agenda of yours because you’ll need it” he gave one last kick at the man’s leg which nearly knocked him down at the sidewalk.

He left the man there groaning in pain while people were still looking at him, “s… they never falter to bug you and look down on you” he whispered to himself as he went his way to the Bus stop.

Damn it, what to do… what to do…

He rested his head at the window thinking of a good way to get things ready before his family gets to his place. “It took me 2 hours to run around and get those groceries and what? I’m only left with a few? Geez… what dumb luck to run to that good for nothing , it was bad enough that my food got wasted but looking down on me with his money? He’s lower than a roach”

He took a deep breath and shut his eyes for a few seconds before he decided to let things unfold once he gets home.

I never really liked snobbish rich people, for me they act high and mighty as they sit on the coattails of either their parent’s inheritance or their parent’s hard work. They don’t see the real effort their parents gave in order to have a wonderful life like that so they just throw that money like it was nothing…

And even if he did earn that money, he shouldn’t just waste it like that. He doesn’t know how hard it is for striving people to earn, he should be the one on homeless people’s shoes for a change in his life.

When he finally got to his apartment building, he made his way up to the 3^rd floor. Feeling exhaustion pressing its weight on him as he carries what’s left in his goods, he was still bothered on what to serve his special guests.

“Maybe I should just take them out or something… damn it… why does the meat had to fall at the dirty ground like that?! Ugh…” he pressed the password for his unit and when it beeped he opened up and was puzzled to see some shoes at the rack.

“Who…?” it took him a few seconds before he realised who owned them, “Aish, he just got here!” a soft voice spoke and as he looked at who it was, he felt himself panic. “Oppa, what took you so long? Don’t you know how boring it was to wait for you? By the way what did you bought for us later on?”

“Oh, hey there dear… I happen to remember the passcode for your unit, since we got a flight that’s earlier than you expected. We came here right away, I thought you’ve forgotten that we’ll be visiting” his mom appeared with a warm smile.

“How’s my son doing here? You know if you’re having problems with the space in this apartment, your mom and I can help you out at least with where you live” his dad then came in right after.

Oh my… first the meal and now they came here ahead of time… this calls for a dinner outside, I can’t prepare a meal with what I have right now…

“Here, get this to the kitchen” he passed the bags to his sister and she pouted and stuck out her tongue but still did what she was told, “Yeah mom… you know I wouldn’t forget such occasion and… dad… I’m fine with this place, besides haven’t we talked about this?”

He took off his shoes and placed them at the rack with the rest and his wallet at the secret compartment he had at the rack, “I know, but you can never blame either of us to at least help you out even with a place for you to live in” he approached them and gave them a hug and a peck on the cheek.

“Hey, you guys are my parents, I can never take that away from you” he smiled at the two of them to lift up the mood a bit” his mom smiled but his dad had a bit of disappointment in his face.

“Is there something wrong?” he frankly asked, his dad took a breath before answering “Let’s talk about it at dinner” he patted Ji’s shoulder and went off to the living room; he looked worried about his dad, “Is there something going on mom?”

He looked frightened in the eyes of his mom “Nothing’s wrong dear but, there is something your dad needs to talk to you about so wait until dinner” he was having a bad feeling but it’s nothing to be worried about, so that’s what he’s telling himself.

Since Jiyong refused to cook the remains of his groceries, his mom improvised with what was left and did her magic in the kitchen while his sister helped out. He was at the living room with his dad; they were both watching random shows on the TV and had a silent moment as they try to find an interesting show.

As the silence was starting to suffocate the two of them because of the talk at dinner thing, his dad cleared his throat which immediately caught his attention, “Jiyong… have you enjoyed your life as an independent person?” he looked at his old man.

“I can’t say that I was happy to be one but in general, yeah, I was happy to have survive on my own” he answered honestly, “Don’t you miss our home?” with that he smiled partially “There were times when I just couldn’t stop thinking about home, to be with you guys and spend some weekends with the four of us. Clearly, with that I missed our home but, it was also something I held on so I can survive on my own”

He paused and looked at his dad intently, “As I think of our home, I already feel that I am. Besides, I know that you guys wouldn’t forget me. So even if were far apart we’re just like a street apart” his dad took that in, “How’s your… love life?”

Jiyong was struck with that question, he had been open with his family and he had already gotten out before college but it was always a bit embarrassing to be asked about that part of his life. “Well… let’s just say that, it’s not one of my prior right now. I’m not rushing and I’m not picky, it’s just that… there are things I just want to set up before I look for someone”

His dad nodded, “Have you even been dating?” he asked once more and again, Jiyong still felt that awkward feeling in discussing it. “Well, not really… there isn’t too many guys out there that… really suits my taste” he chuckled but fail to hide the embarrassment “I know it’s not that easy to talk about things like that with your dad, so you don’t have to force yourself to answer”

He lowered his head, “Well, it really is awkward to talk about it and honestly… it’s not about the dates and stuff but the fact that it’s not a woman that I’m supposed to date” he felt his cheeks burn, “Don’t be like that, you know that in my eyes, you are my son, my treasure in life. Whatever you are, whoever you choose and whatever you might decide on with, you know that me and your mom is right behind you”

He felt his dad’s arm around his shoulder and pulled him close. He felt the warmth and the comfort inside his father’s embrace “Thanks dad… for understanding and also accepting me” he laced his arms around him. “What can I say… a parent can never resist their children” he giggled and Ji soon then followed.

I’m fortunate, to be loved by people like my mom and dad as well as my sister.

“Ugh… dad?” he hesitantly asked, “Yes?” he looked at his son, “I was wondering about what you said a while ago… as much as I want to let you muster up before dinner, I think it should be better if we talk about it now” for a moment his father resisted the urge to drop the question but seeing how eager he was to know, he couldn’t help but to render.

He took a deep breath before he responded “Well…” he paused

Meanwhile

A woman was sitting at a crowded yet classy restaurant, she was alone and she seemed to be waiting for a certain person. For every 3 minutes she would take a look at her phone’s clock then around the place.

She kept doing so until she finally saw who she was waiting for, “Oppa” she waved. “Over here” it manages to get his attention and he made his way towards her table.

Her joy showed with the plastered smile from ear through ear, “What took you so long… by the way, you seemed pissed” she noticed the look in the guy’s face. “Try bumping into a maniac that kicks you and tell me if your day would be wonderful” he sarcastically spoke.

“Oh… sorry if I’d ask” she bit her tongue, “Let’s lighten the whole mood here, it’s Christmas Eve and we should be merry and lively. Come on… it wouldn’t be merry if you’re not smiling” she did her best to please him and also lighten him up but still, a serious and pissed off look was in his face.

He sighed and took a sip of water before he spoke “Chaerin… listen, we should stop seeing each other” he straightened out. She was shocked with what he said and it left her breathless for a few seconds, “You can manage to find someone better once were through, I know you can” he didn’t even let her react with what he said.

When everything sank in she snapped out of it and saw him leaving, “Oppa…” she stood and followed him towards the parking lot, “Oppa… oppa!” they made it to the car and she stopped him from placing the key on the door by a strong grip on his wrist, “What… what went wrong?”

He didn’t face her, “Did I do something wrong to you? Have I… displeased you or something? Tell me…” tears began to run down “I need to know… I need to know where I went wrong” she was resisting her urges to cry down in defeat.

He took a sharp breath and turned to face her, eyes locked into each other “I’m getting married” her grip on his wrist loosened and for a good 2 seconds he took a final gander at her reaction and got inside the car. No more fuss with what he said, she just stood there in awe of what had succumbed to their 3 years of relationship.

“I’m sorry…”

Meanwhile at Jiyong’s place

“WHAT!!!” a loud yells from the living room startled both his mother and his sister. They rushed towards the living room to see what was going on “What in the world happened” his mom felt like her heart was gonna drop “Oppa! Don’t you go and scare us like that” she eased their mother’s back.

Ji was still dumbfounded with what he was told, “Dad…  please… tell me you’re just joking” he tried to laugh but the serious look in his dad’s eyes meant he wasn’t fooling around. He started shaking his head, “Dad… no… that can’t be. I can’t, I… I …”

“Ji listen…” he was about to reason with him but he began to scramble towards the door with a quick grab on his sneakers on the way.

No… this can’t be… I can’t… I won’t… I’ll… never marry someone I don’t love!

He just ran aimlessly at the crowded streets, he only felt the need to get away from what his dad said. As he ran around he recalled what his dad said

“Ji… I’m sorry for this but… I’ve arranged a marriage for you” his eyes nearly popped out of its sockets, “I know it’s too sudden and also, I know that you’ve planned to get married to someone you love but… honestly, this was a dire situation… pleased try to understand”

He gulped “W-What happened?” his dad took a breather before he answered “Do you recall your uncle Choi?” he nodded “I know I’ve already told you how long we started off ever since we became the successors of our companies and you also know how close we are…”

“So… what does that have to do with me getting married?” he quizzically looked at his dad “Me and your uncle… well, we already made a pact that our first born would be arranged together to tighten both our friendship and our families so…”

“When his child was born, his anticipations for his son’s partner grew; he was a lot more excited than us to have a child so things could be arranged in the proper age. To his dismay though, you came out as a boy as well”

“We both accepted the fact that we couldn’t get the both of you to marry since the both of you were boys and his wife could no longer bear another child after giving birth with the first because of complications. Honestly I’ve gone to reconsider your sister but their is 10 years apart and also he respected your sister’s free will since she was young”

“Wait up… what about my free will, why I don’t get to have a say in this?” he interrupted “I know… I’ve already reasoned with him, I’ve told him that even though you were gay, you still want to choose a person you’ll end up with…” he stopped “Well… what did he said”

“He actually acknowledged it and he had let it pass a couple of years ago” Ji wasn’t picking up the whole situation “So why am I getting married now?!” he was starting to freak. “A year ago, sales in the company began to deflate and the finance department was starting to get corrupted…”

“I had it investigated and finally a few months ago, we caught the culprit but we were too late. They’ve already gotten a lot of money that the company started to slowly crumble down… the years of hard work and effort began to vanish right in front of my eyes… just because I was too blind to not see what was going on behind my back” Ji felt his heart break at his father’s vulnerable moment.

“It was then your uncle Choi found out that things were starting to fall apart. He came in the nick of time to provide with sufficient amount of funds to get the operations to work and also assisted us with boosting up the advertisements with new potential stock holders in order to strengthen everything up again”

“He became the company’s hope in surviving; I was in awe with what he had done. Alas I wanted to show my gratitude by… fulfilling what he wanted. I…” he hesitated to continue as he watches the colour of his son’s face turn pale.

“I… agreed that you and his son to get married~” he wasn’t able to continue “What?!” he stood up from his seat with tears threatening to fall.

He’s selfish… based on what he said he didn’t care on what I felt… he didn’t think of what I would feel with this stupid decision he made… there’s no way, that I’ll agree to this marriage, not a chance!