The sound of the clock ticking and glasses clinking was the only music that played in the room between me and ___ parents. I sat across from them holding onto the glass of water that her mother had given me with shaky hands.

The stares I felt from ___’s father felt like beams going through me as he scanned me from head to toe picking out all my faults and imperfections. I could only lift my gaze to his fingers as he tapped impatiently on his arm rest waiting for me to say something.

“So, why did you come here again, Luhan shi?” Her father’s deep voice was an intimidating feature that had me cowering under his more manly presence.

He could beat me up…He can hurt me….I really don’t want to get hurt.

“I-I came here today sir, t-to ask permission to date your daughter.” My stuttering voice didn’t help me in my quest to seem more manly or courageous as I wanted to be.

“___ has never mentioned anything about a boy to me or her mother…” Her father replied with no emotion as he looked to his wife that sat beside him watching me with a more curious gaze.

“She hasn’t? I see then…” I nodded my head slightly and gripped the glass tighter in my hands as I could feel my inner emotions start to get the best of me.

“But tell me, Luhang shi why are you interested in my daughter?” Her father questioned me once more.

“It’s Luhan sir, and I want to date your daughter because-“

I was cut off when the front door opened with a familiar voice calling out, “Mom! Dad! I’m home and I brought…A…Friend…”

___’s words trailed off into a whisper as she walked into the living room with Min. Her eyes firmly planted on me as she came to a stop at the doorway. I only gave a soft smile as I could see from the corner of my eye her father glance between us seeing the looks on both of our faces read the same thing, surprise.

“Luhan, what are you doing here?” Min asked already knowing the answer to that question. She was the one that gave me the idea to come here!

“He came to talk to me, so you two go upstairs, alright sweetheart. Luhan here was just about to leave anyways, isn’t that right son?” ___’s father turned to me and the expression on his face told me if I didn’t agree with him I was sure to die in his hands.

“Yes, I was just about to leave.”

Min pulled ___ upstairs giving me a encouraging smile before disappearing with ___. Her mother too had disappeared into the kitchen, leaving me with ___’s father.

“Look here, Luhan. ___ is not allowed to date as so long she lives under my roof. It’s very courteous of you to come here and ask for my permission but it doesn’t change my views on this situation and I’m not allowing any exceptions.” Her father didn’t as once stutter with his statement. He had recited this speech too many times, but I wasn’t about to accept it without defending my side of the story.

“But sir, you didn’t even ask me why I wanted to date her.” I replied looking at him square in the face seeing his eyebrows twitch a bit at my determination.

“Fine then, why do you want to date my daughter?”

Why did I want to date her? I never really thought about that.

Well, ___ was in some ways a breath of fresh air, or a slap to the face. I cared about how she saw me and how she looked at me, but not for my looks but for my character. To see the person that laid hidden behind the disguise. I wanted her to look at me the way I look at her. Look at me with an innocent curiosity of wanting to figure each out slowly. I wanted her to be the one to reveal the hero behind the mask. To peel away at the layers of lies I’ve stacked up over the years and finally see the truth. That I was no more than just a shy guy that really had no purpose for a relationship other than pride until I met her the one person that I was willing to fight for because I didn’t want to let her go.

Why would I come practically begging at her father’s feet for his acceptance, when ___ wouldn’t even accept me. I was desperate for a yes from either of them to give me hope that I still had a chance at being with her. But what was this emotion? Was it love?

But by definition what is love?

Love is…

“I want to be with your daughter, sir. I don’t deserve her, but I would like to be with her and I’m not asking for her hand in marriage, I just want to date her.” I argued calmly.

“If you want to date my daughter, doesn’t that mean you are interested in marrying her? What other reason would there be to date a person besides marriage?”

Such an old fashioned way of looking at dating, I guess back then dating was the first step to marriage, but today it’s different.

Dating…Dating was to…

A date was two people going out to find if they had mutual feeling for each other. I admit that what I’m feeling for ___ could be love, but a one sided love.

“Another reason would be to find out if she loves me just as much as I love her.” I spoke growing more and more discouraged by his lack of support.

“Love? You speak of love when you don’t even know what it is…”

I was right, he could see through me. He noticed the change in my expressions and sat back in his seat with the look of victory.

“You’re right sir, I don’t know what love is, but what I do know is that you’re holding onto her so tightly that you fail to see that your daughter is actually dying on the inside because you won’t let go.”

“Excuse me?” The fire in his eyes sparked a flame that was soon to turn into a wildfire. 

I might as well say what I want and leave no regrets. I’m going to hell anyways so adding a few more sins to the already long list wouldn’t hurt.

“You heard me sir, I’m calling you out because you can stop your daughter from dating all you want, but you can’t stop her from having feelings. And to be honest I don’t even think you know the meaning of love.” I argued back with a new found confidence as ___’s father began to turn red with anger.

“Luhan, I think it’s time you leave.” He growled through his gritted teeth as I stood up to leave.

“If you loved ___, you’d let her go because you’d know she’d come back to you because she loves you. Sir, I love your daughter…So you can count on it that I’ll be coming back.”

I left without another word and headed for the front door when I heard a small gasp from up the stairs. I looked up to see ___ standing half hidden behind the wall with slightly open and her eyes were searching. I reached for the doorknob without saying anything to her and left.

I hope you heard every single word, ___.

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*cringes* So....Cheesy....But I like it hahahaha

I hope you like it :))