My close friend

Nothing Really

"Oh, thank God! Take good care of our little baby! But Chan... That is not all, is it ?"
He stared at me and smiled, before grabbing my hand and drawing circles on it with his thumb.

"Secondly... It's Eric."
Honestly, I had sensed that coming.

"He... I feel that he is getting along well with dad and mom now. When he had just moved in, there would have been barely any communication between him and mom, but now, they chat for like, five minutes in the morning. I am not saying that it is wrong; even we would talk more often now! But it's just that... I still feel that he somewhat does not deserve that... yet. After what he did to Grandpa, you know ? It's like... But on the other hand, I have to say that he is not that much of a bad person. I just feel so contradicted; I don't know what to do!"

After listening to him, I truthfully felt happy because there was still hope that Eric would be able to re-integrate his family. Chanyeol had finally acknowledged that he was not as bad as he thought he was. After all, he had been in rehab for a long period of time, and having traveled around the world, he should have seen things that would have made him realise his mistakes, and consider a happy ending for himself. And the fact that auntie and uncle were at least not ignoring him and rejecting his effort in trying to reform and become a better person was quite encouraging in itself.

"Chan, I understand what you feel, honey. It's okay; just give him a chance to redeem himself. Auntie and uncle seem to have given him a chance too", I said as I hugged him tightly. I had always said that that man deserved another chance anyway.

"Look, I know it is quite hard to do it at the beginning. But don't you think that he in fact deserve a second chance ? You know, he might have not been fully conscious of what he had done in the past! You know that when affecting the brain, the drugs stimulate some responses by activating neurons- okay, I'll spare you the details. What I am trying to say is that he may not have been aware of what he was doing at that time. He may even have been manipulated to do so! Or else, why do you think you grandpa side with him till the end ?", I explained.
It would seem logically correct that under the influence of some particular drugs, he had been manipulated by someone and made to do those atrocious things. And that would also explain why Chan's grandpa would always back him up..!

"Well, I cannot confirm any of that. It's not like I don't want to give him a second chance; it's just that, for some reason, part of me is really reluctant in trusting him. It's my intuition, you know ? It's like a really strong premonition. I want to be able to talk to him and trust as much as I do to my other uncles, but there's that gut feeling that he is up to something. Ah... I don't how to explain this clearly", he let out, frustrated. 

From my point of view, his mixed feelings were confusing him and he had only one choice in the end: either he would trust Eric and end up getting painfully hurt if ever he had really been up to something nasty, or he would keep his distance from him forever and miss out on the great opportunity of getting to know his presumably charming and friendly personality. Well, in life, you have got only one shot at things and either they would end up well, or you'd end up with a good lesson for life.

"Chanyeol, trust me when I say this: I completely understand what you are going through. Look, the final decision is yours to take, but I just want to say that, no matter the outcome, I will always be with you. I will always be by your sides to support you. You can count on that", I said as I hugged him tight again and kissed his forehead.

"And babe, you know, there is no need to rush with the trust thing. Trust is something that is gained upon merit; it may seem to be easy to gain but once lost, it is hard to gain back. Well that goes for most people, but you, my pure-hearted angel, I am sure that even if he ended up being a rascal and were to implore you to forgive him, you would actually give him that chance to repent-"

"I know, I know! I am so  pathetic!"

"No honey! Look at me", I said as I grabbed his cheeks and looked in his pretty little dark-brown, almost black eyes.

"It is not pathetic at all! Look, it just means that you are a very good, pure and humane person! And you know that I am kind of like that too, although there are some exceptions." He let out a cute chuckle which my ears had been dying to hear after all this serious talk. I was surely glad that I had made him laugh a little at least!

"And that is why we are here: to guide each other, so that we do not make silly mistakes that would end up deeply hurting us. All that I am saying is that there is no need to trust him right now. Talking to someone does not necessarily mean trusting the latter! Just take me and that pest of Trisha for example! I talk to her without even laying an ounce of my trust in her. Hehe... No, seriously...! And I am 100% sure that neither auntie nor uncle trust that guy yet, so take your time too! You can get to know someone by being rational and not fully laying your trust in him. If he deserves to be trusted then he shall be trusted in the time to come!" I finally laid a soft kiss his forehead and tightly hugged him once again. (I know I am a very cuddlesome person.)

He seemed convinced with my opinion on the matter, which made me happy. He smiled at me and left a soft kiss on my lips. Ah, boy was I glad to have gotten my old giant back, well almost. But that little talk made me realise just how sensitive and fragile, yet how pure-hearted and beautiful he was. I just wanted to protect him for life and make sure that nothing would ever erase his sweet, lively and precious smile from his face. Such was Chanyeol: passionate, lively and caring, in a word, beautiful.