WHEN YOU LOVE

NOT LIKE THIS

Lee hurried to catch up, but Dylan was faster, getting on his scooter and riding off.

Camille, who followed Lee, met him halfway.

"Where is he?" She asked.

"Gone."

"Aren't you going after him?"

The man barged passed, and the Camille, who followed his lead, "Lee, I'm talking to you."

Lee grasped the gate and stopped, "Camille, please, not now. I don't need anything coming out of your mouth now or ever. I gave I lost, now be gone with you."

The man stepped inside his building's premises and closed the gate on Camille, who lived her third shut-door experience of the day.

Only then did Camille realize how going to Lee's place made things worse. Now Dylan knew, and the woman had no clue how she could face her son again. Her world crumbled, and Camille didn't know how to catch the pieces.

Lee went straight to the living room and grabbed his phone, ignoring Sana, who stood in the middle. Lee dialed; there was only one person Dylan would run to and wish to be with at that instant.

"Hello, candy."

"Mr. Cook, what a surprise," Candy said as she lowered her head to lock the phone on her shoulder while she battered her mix.

"Yeah, sorry to bother."

"It's no bother, Mr. Cook. How can I help you?"

Her voice was different over the phone. One would assume they spoke to an overly confident person.

"Eh, Candy, Dylan should be arriving at your place soon."

"Dylan's coming. Why?"

What could he say?

Lee immediately jumped to his request, "eh, can I ask you a favor, Candy?"

The girl furrowed her eyebrows. Her boyfriend's father never called. She guessed something was up. Dylan always told her how serious his father was. She doubted his request would be something odd, "yeah, sure."

"Great, Candy, can you send me a message when he gets there. I'm worried about him. I want to make sure he's okay."

The request was sensible, and Candy answered positively.

They hung up, and Lee went to the kitchen. The man needed to do something with his hands as the craving for a cigarette mounted. Lee hadn't smoked since he had told his son he would stop, but the current circumstances of his life allowed the vice to break an entry into his consciousness.

He served himself a huge glass of water and followed up with another.

"Lee, are you just going to ignore me?"

The man gave a solid nod, "yes, I'm going to do just that."

For once, Sana would have wished for Lee to be less honest.

"ㅡLee, I know what I did was horrible, but it had to be done. We're in this mess because of secrets. ㅡThese things had to be told. Look at us arguing every day. At least now things are clear."

"Yes, Sana, they had to be said, but not like this, not by you. Dylan is my son. He's my responsibility. I decide when and where things need to be told. You're supposed to be on my fucking side."

The calm and poised tone hit differently in Sana's mind. The woman would have almost preferred the man to yell. She understood that the level of anger Lee attained surpassed the level of octaves available to scream, but also the man watched his blood pressure.