My Two Dads

Chapter 23.2 - About Chinese New Year 2 Part 2

Old Yang used his foot to drive away the husky next to him when he went to pour himself a cup of water.

He pretended to be nonchalant about it as he said, “We’re visiting your aunt’s house today. Your cousin will be introducing a girl to you. She also just returned to the country and works with computers. You and her…”

Yang Mo interrupted him directly: “I’m not going.”

Han Shi Yu was also in the living room. He was dragging away the husky lying down on the floor with its front paws out, causing a “traffic jam”. He stopped in his tracks when he heard that.

Old Yang looked up and glanced over at him. Yang Mo was sitting on the sofa with his head hung low, scrolling through his phone. He wasn’t actually looking at anything, only aimlessly scrolling through.

Old Yang put down the teapot in his hand, his tone as gentle as possible, “Put your phone down. I’m talking to you.”

Yang Mo slowly threw his phone aside and then poured himself a cup of tea to drink.

Old Yang secretly glanced at Han Shi Yu who sat down quietly as well. There was an outsider after all, so his words couldn’t be too harsh.

Old Yang settled his gaze on the hot air steaming from the tea cup as he said, “You’re grown up now so I can’t control you regarding this. But if you have any plans, let me know. I won’t force you either. You don’t communicate with us on anything these days, so we’re growing anxious…”

Yang Mo looked up and talked back, “I can’t communicate with you guys anyways.”

Han Shi Yu who was squeezing the husky’s paws with a heavy heart, sucked in a breath of cold air when he heard that. He squeezed a little too hard that the husky let out a soft whine.

He had forgotten that Yang Mo was like a stubborn firecracker, the kind that doesn’t blow up on its own but is capable of lighting up others.

Old Yang’s expression clearly changed. He set his tea cup aside and said, “What do you mean by that?”

Yang Mo seemed to be in an unusually irritable mood and didn’t want to reason with him, so he specifically chose words that would anger others. “In other words, you wouldn’t understand and I don’t want to talk about it either.”

Veins popped up on the back of Old Yang’s hands. He glared at him angrily and said, “After four years of studying at Shou Cheng University, is this how you learned to talk to your elders?”

Yang Mo did not answer back. He got up, picked up his phone and walked around the sofa, heading back towards his room.

Old Yang was completely enraged by that proud, condescending behaviour of his and yelled, “Get your ass back here!”

The husky jumped from shock.

Han Shi Yu got up, grabbed onto Yang Mo’s wrist and said, “Mo.”

“Don’t pull me,” Yang Mo didn’t turn around and tried to break free from his grip with a frown, “Leave me alone for now.”

Han Shi Yu had stayed at his house for four days. And during these four days, Yang Mo was either distracted, staring at his computer blankly or finding excuses to avoid them when he was talking to Old Yang.

Yang Mo wasn’t good at pretending or hiding, so his poor disguise was seen through by Han Shi Yu with a glance. There was something bothering Yang Mo.

“I’m talking to you; can’t you hear me?!” Old Yang was quite healthy, so with two big steps forward, he was trying to drag Yang Mo back.

Han Shi Yu stood in between the father and son, smiling as he said, “Uncle, don’t be rash. Calm down first.”

Han Shi Yu pulled Yang Mo over, holding his shoulder and smiled at Old Yang. “He’s your son. Don’t you know he’s not very honest with his words? So, don’t get so mad.”

Old Yang scolded, “I really raised such an ungrateful brat.”

Yang Mo let out a ‘tsk’, looking down at Han Shi Yu’s hand that was tightly grabbing him, “Let go of me!”

Han Shi Yu didn’t answer back, only holding on to him tightly, refusing to let him go while he tried to calm Old Yang down on the other hand.

Just as Yang Mo couldn’t stand it anymore, Han Shi Yu suddenly said, “Please don’t let Yang Mo go on blind dates anymore. He has someone he likes.”

Yang Mo, who was on the verge of saying something, felt the flames inside of him extinguish a little.

Old Yang’s own flames were also mostly extinguished by him, only left with cold sneers. He snorted before saying, “He can do whatever he likes. I won’t care even if he’s in love with a computer!”

Han Shi Yu raised his eyebrows.

He said, “Is what you said true?”

Old Yang was rubbing his waist angrily. When he heard him ask that, he turned around and looked at him in confusion.

Han Shi Yu’s hand which was grasping Yang Mo’s wrist at first had suddenly inched down and grabbed Yang Mo’s hand instead, slowly interlocking their fingers together.

Yang Mo suddenly felt a tingle down his spine, but he did not turn his head around and only heard Han Shi Yu said—

“Then. do you think I can be your ‘daughter-in-law’, dad?”

Old Yang slowly shifted his gaze to their intertwined hands, then to his silent son.

Old Yang: “……”

The husky sprawled out on the floor, quietly watching over all of these.

“Hmm,” Lu Yue Ming pulled up his scarf a little and smiled, “That’s pretty nice.”

Yang Han shook the sparklers in her hand a little.

She smiled, “But my grandpa didn’t think so.”

Lu Yue Ming asked, “What’s wrong?”

Yang Han got up and saw that Lu Yue Ming’s sparkler had gone out, so she lit up another one for him. The sky was turning dark and the warm glow of the fire reflected on both their faces.

“Grandpa’s initial reaction was that he couldn’t accept it. He didn’t know what he should say either. He was so shocked he turned speechless.” Yang Han said, “A joke is only a joke. But when actually facing this sort of matter, someone his age really needed some time to digest it.”

Lu Yue Ming nodded thoughtfully.

“Setting aside my matters, let’s go look for Er Dan to play with.” Yang Han patted the dust off her body, grabbed the sparklers on the ground and tugged Lu Yue Ming forward by his wrist. “Han Shi Yu’s not even playing with Er Dan.”

Lu Yue Ming froze a little. At a loss, he took out his hands from his pockets, watching the smile on Yang Han’s face as she ran towards Han Shi Yu. As though he was infected by the sight, he bowed his head and smiled a little too.

That day, Old Yang went by himself to Yang Mo’s auntie’s house, bringing the husky along. Using the reason of playing mahjong, he didn’t return all night.

Yang Mo made a call, only hearing the lively noises and cheers from the crowd of relatives and friends there. He asked how Old Yang was doing and didn’t say anything more.

In the evening, it started snowing.

He exhaled a breath of warm air, sitting down on the marble seat in the community square while looking out towards the entrance of the neighbourhood. Then, Han Shi Yu dropped a jacket on Yang Mo from behind him.

Han Shi Yu: “How many years have it been, can’t you change this firecracker character of yours a little? That’s your dad after all. He was trying to talk to you properly, not forcing you…”

Yang Mo put on the jacket properly and glanced at him.

Yang Mo: “My dad can’t accept it.”

Han Shi Yu: “Our dad isn’t that unreasonable of a person. Give him some time and patience, it will definitely get through him.”

Yang Mo looked at this person who had used “our dad” in a blink of an eye. He wondered just how much sunlight did god owe him in his last life, so that he could be this optimistic and bright in this life.

Yang Mo didn’t answer him. He admitted that he was too impatient and impulsive.

Han Shi Yu came closer, sitting next to him with their shoulders touching.

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A blanket of silence covered them like the snow tonight. The snowy night wasn’t cold and it was soaked in the scent of Chinese New Year. Colourful fireworks could be seen a distance away, with bright lights and red lanterns hanging all around them. They could hear a noisy bunch of people too.

Han Shi Yu suddenly said, “Mo.”

Yang Mo: “En.”

Han Shi Yu said, “Let’s get married.”

Suddenly, the group of people set off fireworks in the only spot that fireworks were allowed in the community square.

It wasn’t that far away, so they had to tilt their heads really high to take in the full view of the sight – when they tilted their heads, lights shone on their faces and the beautiful splendour of colours reflected in their eyes.

Yang Mo was stunned as he turned to look at him.

Han Shi Yu wore a smile as he looked up at the sky. Just like the little prince who never aged in children’s picture books, tying a yellow scarf around his neck, sitting on a bench on a small planet to watch the sun rise and set.

He couldn’t take his eyes off the sky, which was dyed red by the fireworks, much like the rose that he dearly loved.

Han Shi Yu’s eyes were tender with a hint of smile. He turned towards Yang Mo and slowly reached for the pocket on his chest.

Han Shi Yu: “…….”

He let out a ‘tsk’ and fumbled around a little. Then, he stayed still blankly for a while before realizing he gave his jacket to Yang Mo.

It dawned on him as he pulled out a ring box from the front of Yang Mo’s chest instead.

Yang Mo: “……”

This man pretended as if nothing had happened, concealing his embarrassment very naturally. After pulling out the ring from Yang Mo’s pocket, he knelt down on one knee, solemnly opened the box and said, “Mo, let’s get married, okay?”

Yang Mo stared at him.

Then, he looked up at the sky with a slight tilt of his head.

He deeply reflected on what exactly was the reason he fell for this fool back then.