Hello, Mr Li: The Christmas Trip

"Mother!" Minde was the first to react in surprise. "What are you doing here?" He asked their mother who was still looking at Hoy. She looked surprised but had a suspicious look on her face.

"Li Hoy?" She called his name when Hoy didn't answer. He looked a little startled since he hadn't expected his mother to have heard them. 

Hoy looked uncomfortable. Why was there always someone barging in? He could not wait for this trip to end so he would have a private life with the only person barging into his space— Ping Quincheng. 

"We were talking about something else mother." Minde cut in.

"I know I'm getting old, but I'm not blind. Neither am I deaf. I know what I heard." She glared at Minde before looking at Muchen. At least, this one won't try to lie to her. 

"I heard correctly right?" 

Muchen was a little flustered to be put on the spotlight. He scratched the back of his head and shook his head, "I'm not sure what you heard aunt." 

"How unhelpful!" The woman was clearly displeased. She looked back at Hoy who stood up.

He looked at his older brother and cousin, silently asking them to excuse the two of them. 

As much as they would have liked to stay and keep denying what she had heard, the two knew this was a conversation Hoy needed to have sooner or later. 

As soon as they left, he closed the door, hoping no one else would enter and faced his mother. 

"Joreen." He answered.

That simple word had a lot of weight that made the woman touch her chest before going to sit on the bed. 

No matter how old a man was, his mother was still his mother. He held his breath as he waited for what she had to say.

"Luo... Joreen?" She asked in disbelief.

He nodded. 

"Why... why her?" The woman asked, looking at her son with genuine curiosity and confusion.

"Is that why you have been turning down every woman including Aishu and Xi?" 

"I just didn't like them." 

"Because you like Jo!" The woman tried to keep her voice down as much as possible.

"What were you thinking? She was placed under your care! You were supposed to look after her and not have romantic feelings for her!"

"You think I don't know that?!" He asked, slightly raising his voice in frustration. 

"I know that. And I remember that Every. Single. Day! But this isn't easy for me either. If maybe this was one sided, maybe I would have learned to perfectly control my feelings but knowing she likes me too makes it too difficult. Cause it makes me want to stop thinking about things and be with her and it makes me worried sick that if we are together, the pressure and opinion from everyone might get to her and she may not want to be with me anymore. Or maybe she'll suddenly think one day that I am too old for her and she wants a man her age and then she'll leave me– HEARTBROKEN. Or maybe her parents suddenly wants someone younger and better for her, or the whole family thinks it's absurd and does not approve of it. What about Joreen? Am I even sure she would be able to handle all the rumours people are going to say about us without breaking down one day? I have thought about all of this. The thought drives me crazy everytime but I..." He stopped talking and turned towards his window when he felt his eyes begin to sting with tears. 

He heard his mother gasp before she stood up from the bed. 

"You... like her that much?" She asked in surprise. She thought it was only just a passing thing. Knowing how pretty Joreen was, it was probably normal for him to like her a little but she hadn't thought he meant he was deeply in love with her. 

Seeing her boy broken like this tugged at her heartstrings. As much as Hoy liked to act tough and all businesslike, she knew how soft he was at heart. She was his mother afterall. 

Hoy also hadn't thought he would blurt out all of his fears like that and to none other than his mother. He hadn't even said this long epistle to his father when they had their 'talk' the other day. 

He felt a hand on his back but didn't look at the one who had placed her hand there. 

"I... don't... know what to say to make you feel better." She said honestly. "This is also a big shock to me. I think... the signs were there but I just didn't think it was possible." She began to rub his back up and down. 

"All of this fears... they must have been eating you up?" 

She saw him took a very deep breath with his eyes closed. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at his mother.

"You think I'm a mess right?" He asked in a pathetic tone.

"No." She shook her head immediately. "I just... well.. I would have preferred you be with a more mature woman while Jo takes time to learn about love from guys her age. But.. my sentiments doesn't matter actually."

He knew she was lying. She looked worried but wanted to make him feel better. 

"I'm sorry for making you worry because of something like this..." 

She shook her head again. "Not at all. You have always been too mature for your age. While other little boys gave their parents trouble, you did not. I remember when we found out I was going to be having a son again, I was worried because I know what your older brother put me through. That boy always gave me a headache." She laughed a little. "But you were different. It was always your brother running away from home, taking our cards to buy flashy things, throwing parties and giving us headaches. He got all our attention because of his truancy. Maybe if I had paid more attention to you, I would have been able to notice when you had problems like this." 

He had heard almost a similar speech from his father, but maybe because it was coming from his mother, it made him feel emotional.

She had a pitiful and guilty look on her face. 

"Mother..." 

"As your mother..." She continued. "I should naturally take your side. I... can do... anything just to make sure you are happy. You have always been a good kid. The least I could do is to not deny you of something you want." She said with a smile. He looked at her face carefully, trying to find the deceit or lack of sincerity in her smile but he saw nothing. She was really telling the truth? She didn't mind? 

"Thank you." He said sincerely. "But... I'm not sure I have the courage to do anything just yet." 

"You always broke the ladies hearts and now you are scared to try because you don't want your heart to be broken?" 

"That's not it." 

"Then it's the age? Look—" She took his hands and made him face her. 

"I am your mother. I gave birth to you." 

"No one is disputing that." 

"So it means whatever I say concerning you is final. If I say I gave birth to you 25 years ago, as your mother, people would naturally believe me. I've had a lot of people try to confirm your age with what they see on the internet because they think you look very young. So from today, you are twenty five." 

He looked at her carefully again and noticed she looked really serious. That made him choke out a laugh. "Don't be absurd." 

"I am being serious here!"

"That isn't going to change anything." 

"It would. I'm serious. Look... I have to go get my things ready so we'll talk about this later." She gave him a quick hug before leaving.

Her countenance changed when she left the room. She walked absentmindedly inside her room and saw her husband. 

"What is wrong?" He asked as he moved closer to her. She did same and hugged him. 

It took a moment for him to realise his wife was crying. 

"What is wrong? What happened to you?" He asked while patting her on the back.

"I'm... so worried... about Hoy."

"What about him?" He asked. 

"He told me something I can't seem to accept but I have no choice than to support him. I just hope I'm doing the right thing. What if he gets heartbroken later? Should I stop him?" She asked in between tears. Hoy was a strong young man but there were times when things could overwhelm him. How would be handle the rumors? Scandals? Gossips? What if Joreen's love wasn't as strong as his?

Li Han realised Hoy had finally told his mother about it. He continued to rub his wife's back. "It's going to be fine. Hoy is a big boy. No matter what, he can take care of himself. When things are too much for him to handle, he has us." He assured his wife.