第8章 | Chapter 8

不要讓他落後 | Not leaving him behind

The next morning, Hakyeon has left the mattress already and I already hear him talk with my dad. Hakyeon doesn't speak Mandarin, so he has issues with any communication towards my mum. I get up and I make my way to the bathroom, where I make sure that I at least look good for today.

Then, I walk back to my 'bedroom' and I change into the other pair of clothes that I have. I don't have a lot of clothes, so I have to do it with that what I have. I think I have at least two shirts and two pairs of pants, that's all I have. Shangri La barely has money to get some clothes, everyone suffers from it and young children only have about one shirt and one pair of pants.

As soon as I walk to the kitchen, Hakyeon looks up with a smile and approaches me.

''Goodmorning Taekwoon, I hope you have slept well last night.'' Hakyeon says and I nod without using any words. Hakyeon's smile turns brighter and grabs my hand, before he pulls me with him to the small table we own.

My parents look at me with a bright smile, but I ignore that. I know that they think that I'm dating him, but I still deny the fact that we are dating. I mean, my heart may have given in but my mind hasn't. And whatever my mind wants, is still above the decision that my heart has made.

Hakyeon and I take a seat and the four of us enjoy breakfast. It's not much, so Hakyeon doesn't have to expect much of the breakfast he gets here compared to whatever he is used to. I hope that Hakyeon isn't going to complain that he is hungry, because that's how we basically feel everyday. We feel hungry day in and day out, but the gouvernment rather wants to let Shangri La die instead of helping us.

''So you're going to leave today, am I right?'' my dad asks and Hakyeon nods. He looks at me, before I look at him and a smile appears on his face.

''Yes, I'm leaving today. My father will come here by himself to pick me up, so I'm curious what he thinks when he sees how Shangri La is like. I was surprised to see how you are living here.'' Hakyeon says and looks at my dad again at the same time that he is eating his fish.

So, his dad is coming himself? Well, I hope that even his eyes are going to be opened when he sees that Shangri La isn't such a paradise as he has in mind.

Hakyeon takes my hand in his and rubs over my hand with his thumb. Ugh, stop it Hakyeon. I don't want to love you, especially because of that you're leaving today. How can I love someone who leaves after one day? I can't.

I want to love someone who stays with me for the rest of my life.

~*~

After breakfast, a knock on the door is heard. My dad gets up and makes his way to the door. Wow, that is quick. I wonder how long Hakyeon's dad has travelled.

''Ah, mr. Cha. Come in.'' I hear my dad say and I look at Hakyeon. I break free from Hakyeon's grip and I get up. Hakyeon also gets up and makes his way to the door.

''Dad, it's good to see you again. How did you find me here?'' Hakyeon asks and I leave the kitchen, but I freeze in my spot. I'm not going to approach them if it's not needed, only if Hakyeon wants me to. I think that's better, now that his dad is around too.

''The leader of Shangri La told me that you stayed here and he also gave me directions of how I could find this poor thing.'' Hakyeon's dad says and I see a nasty expression on his face. Ugh, I hate that man already. Hakyeon clearly changed and his dad apparently hasn't.

Hakyeon's dad takes his son's hand and wants to pull him out of the house, but Hakyeon pulls back his hand.

''Dad no, I'm not going to leave so soon. I met someone here and I want to introduce you to him.'' Hakyeon says and looks behind him to look me right in the eyes. He uses his other hand to sign at me that I can come to him and I approach Hakyeon carefully.

As soon as I'm next to Hakyeon, his dad looks at me from head to toe and looks back at Hakyeon with a surprised expression on his face. He didn't see it coming that Hakyeon met someone here, because he thought that Hakyeon probably was arrogant enough to hate everyone here.

''Dad, I want to introduce you to Taekwoon. He is quite special, because he is a citizen with both the Chinese and Korean nationality and he speaks both languages. I heard him talk Mandarin last night and I was surprised about that. Also, he made sure that the open-air theater here is being used again. And I fell in love with him.'' Hakyeon says and his dad looks at me again. I don't like his expression, as if he wants to challenge me.

''그래서 한국어와 북경어를 할 수 있을까요? (So you speak Korean and Mandarin?)'' Hakyeon's dad asks and I nod.

''네 저도 그렇습니다 (Yes, I do)'' I respond and his expression hasn't changed at all, but I'll make it change.

''我只和這裡的市民和媽媽說普通話 (I only speak Mandarin with the citizens here and with my mum)'' I then change to Mandarin and Hakyeon's dad's eyes widen. I may look Korean on the outside, but I am multilingual on the inside.

''Dad, I love him. He is one of a few here who clearly is showing that he wants to stay alive and I don't want to leave him behind. I want to provide him a better life.'' Hakyeon tells his dad and his dad shakes his head, because he isn't ready to take a Shangri La citizen with him to his luxurious lifestyle.

I look at my parents and I mouth that I don't want to go, I can't leave them behind since I'm their only child. I'm the one who has to provide my parents with some food and I don't want their health to deteriorate. But my dad tells me that everything is going to be okay and that I should go with Hakyeon if Hakyeon wants me to.

But before I can continue my conversation with my dad, Hakyeon pulls at my shirt and starts to kiss me. It's then that Hakyeon wraps an arm around my waist and I hear his dad say that Hakyeon has to pull back. And Hakyeon does that after a short time, but he doesn't let go of my waist.

''You can say what you want dad, but I want him with me. I want to provide Taekwoon a better life and I don't want to leave him behind in this poorly maintained house. Yesterday was a day in which I saw a lot of Shangri La and it opened my eyes.'' Hakyeon says and starts to kiss my cheek.

I seriously don't know what to do, Hakyeon is making it hard for me.

~*~

A/N I wrote this one during class, hope you guys like it.