those years between us

[14] PEARL OF THE EAST

"YAM-YUET! DO you want the salt-cooked chicken or the hand-teared chicken?"

"Oh, Auntie Ip, either works! I love both."

"Yam-yuet, put on a jacket, the air conditioner is so cold here—"

"Yam-yuet, what vegetables do you want, hmm?"

"Yam-yuet! Tell uncle what it has been like in university—"

"This is almost enough to make me wonder," Orion whispered in my ear, "whether I'm their son or you're the daughter."

I shot him a glare. He chuckled.

"Tsun-kit!" Auntie Ip scolded, "what are you whispering about? Don't make Yam-yuet angry."

"I was just," he replied smoothly, "complaining about you neglecting me for her."

"Well, of course. She is a girl and she is younger and she is far more obedient and nice and sweet and—"

"Ah, all those things I am not."

"None of those things you are. That's right," Auntie Ip said matter-of-factly. "Oh, I am always so jealous you had a daughter rather than a son," she said to my parents, releasing a loud sigh.

Orion blinked. "Was I that bad?"

I sent him an amused look. It didn't matter at all what he was like as a kid right now. Auntie Ip was intent on praising me, and she'd do anything to do that. Even if it meant completely destroying Orion for things he had never quite done.

My mum let out a hearty laugh. "You won't say that if you actually had a daughter, you know."

Auntie shrugged. "Still be better than this boy. Never calls us. Even when he comes home he just stays in his room or goes out all day. And not even with a girlfriend. I would be okay if he spent all day outside with a girlfriend." I was drinking a sip of tea when I heard that, and I almost choked. Letting out a few coughs, Orion gave me a few smacks on the back before I swatted his hand away. And then, as if reminded of something, Auntie Ip turned her eyes to me. "Does Yam-yuet have a boyfriend?"

"No," my dad answered for me, shooting me a glare. "If she had she'd tell us."

"Well, it's okay. Yam-yuet is only eighteen. But Orion! Twenty! Turning twenty-one so soon! Still single! And the last girl he dated—and the only one he ever told us was almost two years ago!"

This time around, it was Orion's turn to choke. I turned curious eyes upon him. I wasn't precisely jealous—I wasn't stupid enough to think he'd have spent two years at university without dating. I didn't think he'd dated anyone at Arrington, because surely I'd have noticed something? Or Dean would probably have spilt it by now. But he'd never mentioned a girlfriend at uni.

He glared at me. "Michaelmas term of my first year. You won't know her. She's a Chem major."

I leaned in, perching my chin on my hands. "How long?"

"Eight months."

Eight months. Jesus Christ. Now I felt a bit jealous. It had been somewhat serious, then. Auntie Ip made a disapproving sound. "And you break up over what, huh?"

"She didn't communicate with me like, at all. Regularly ghosted me, left me on read, all that type of crap. Wasn't worth it."

"You could have tried, Tsun-kit," Auntie Ip scolded.

My father spoke up. "Ai, you know kids these days. They don't just marry the first people they date, you know. They date many people. Not necessarily a bad thing, less chance of bad choices."