This extra will talk about Mark's parents' change of hearts and it's all thanks to...
♛┈⛧┈┈•༶
[From the 4th Chapter]
Fifteen minutes.
It has been five minutes but the guy's still contemplating whether or not he'll knock the door of his father's office.
If it's just a small favor, of course the guy wouldn't hesitate. But it's not, plus, he's not close with his father. He kinda think his father is scary.
He let out a sigh a couple of times before he found the courage to knock at the door. He heard his father's voice who told him to come in so he slowly opened the door.
"Dad..."
The older man's forehead furrowed, a bit curious with his son's appearance.
"What are you doing here?"
He swallowed a lump in his throat.
"This is a bad idea," he thought.
[CONTINUATION]
"Vee Vivis, what are you doing here? And why... " his father scanned him from head to toe before continuing. "...do you look so tense?"
Vee just stared at his father, not saying anything. He couldn't voice out what he wanted to say for he was a bit scared with his father.
The old man saw his son's state so he took a deep breath and smiled, "Vee...am I scaring you that much? Do I look like I eat people?"
Vee let out a sigh of relief, seeing his father's reaction gave him relief.
His dad isn't a scary dad to be honest, but he's too focus on his work, he took his job too seriously. When it's work time, he wouldn't let anyone disturb him, not even hid mother, so what more him, right?
But seeing that his father is fine, made him a bit calmer.
"So...are you just gonna stare at your father like that?"
He sighed for who knows how many times before speaking.
"Do you know someone who use Masa as their family name?"
"What about them?" his dad asked, scrutinizing him.
"Err...can I ask you a favor?"
"Is this something that can ruin my bond with their family?"
He shook his head, smiling at his father. "No! Err...I'm not sure. But...yeah! Help me?"
His dad was taken aback. For a moment, his composure was a bit shaken, seeing his son smiling like this made him a bit surprised but curious at the same time.
"Shoot."
He said, making Vee's smile grew wider.
++++++
Vee asked his father if he could do something to make an appointment with Mr. Masa, Mark's father. His father hesitated at first, scared of what his son will do. But after seeing his son's genuine reaction, he gave up and helped his son.
And right now, Vee is staring at Mark's parents, face to face.
"I'm not gonna beat around the bush since I know you're both busy," he blew some air before continuing. "I came here for your son."
Mark's parents just stared at him with glaring eyes.
When he immediately understood the reason behind those looks, he immediately shook his head.
"It's not what you think. I'm not here to ask for your son's hands or something like that," but if you'll allow me, why not?
"Then why are you here?"
"Can I ask you for a favor?"
"And who are you to ask something like that for us?"
Vee almost curse when Mark's father stared at him with full of seriousness.
"Hon..." Mark's mother held her husband's hands before looking back at Vee. "Go on. We're listening."
Vee stayed silent, cursing himself in his head because of his dumbness. He even told them he won't beat around the bush.
Stupid Vee!
"Aren't you gonna speak? Are you just gonna waste our time?"
How am I gonna put this?
"You're wasting our time."
Ai Vee! Think!
How should you tell them to——
"Speak!"
Mark's father startled him, causing him to...
"Please be a supportive parents to your son!" he blurted out
He mentally cursed his stupidity.
'I'm gonna make it worst,' he thought.
"What do you mean by that, young man?"
Should I just runaway?
Never mind. It's too late to back out. I'm already here. No turning back.
"I know I'm just an outsider and I shouldn't interfere. You don't know me——
Mark's father cut him off, "Exactly. Apart from you're a friend's son, I know nothing about you."
Vee swallowed before continuing, "You don't know me...but I know your son. He's someone important to me. And all I want for him is to be happy."
While saying that, Mark's sad eyes flashed through his memory.
After that dinner with Mark's friend, Vee could feel the change in Mark's aura. And even when he's smiling, Vee can see it in his eyes, he was sad.
And so he gathered all the shameless energy he could get from Nuea and here he is right now, embarrassing himself right in front of Mark's parents.
"Can you please enlighten us, young man?" this time, it was Mark's mother who spoke and asked him.
Vee took a deep breath again before starting, "The thing is, your son and I have been friends for more than a year now. He's always there whenever I need him, whenever I need someone I can lean on, he was there for me. He made me smile, he made me feel better, and I wanna return the favor. I wanna make him smile. I wanna see him smile wider than how he smile now."
"Are you saying that my son is not smiling whenever he's with you?"
"I didn't say that," he answered, making the old Masa stare sharply at him. "He smiles, but that doesn't mean he's happy."
"Maybe he's just annoyed at your presence."
Vee shrugged, "Maybe. Or maybe he's just really sad because of something."
"And what is it?" Mark's father asked, raising an eyebrow
Vee stared back, "Do I still need to answer that?"
Silence.
Both of his parents didn't speak, Vee waited but they didn't open their mouths so he decided to broke the silence.
"I don't have any rights to judge you,—and I'm not planning to do that—nor question you as a parent but..." he paused for a moment, as he observe their reaction, but it seems like they're waiting so he continued. "...can you please try...just try to understand your son? To know and understand him. To know what he wants and widen your understandings about him."
"Don't mold him to be someone you want your son to be. You can guide him, but please let him decide for himself. I know all you wanted was the best for him, for his future. But isn't his happiness the best for him?"
No one replied, so he again continued despite the fear and embarrassment he fely.
It's for Mark anyways.
"Mark knew what he wanted in his life, while I'm one of those people who doesn't really know what path I should take. But ironically, I'm freer than him," he sighed. "It's was never wrong to think about your son's future. But please also think about what will make him happy."
Mark's mother seems like she wants to say something, but her husbands hand above her's stop her. Vee noticed it, but he tried to ignore it.
"As long as he wasn't doing anything wrong, it's fine, right?"
"Why are you saying this?"
"Because your son is someone special. He might be a bit grumpy, but he's soft hearted," Vee grinned, remembering his Mark's confusing mood swings.
"Are you just his friend?"
Vee shrugged, making the older man glare at him.
"What?" Vee asked at the other man. "Maybe I am. Maybe I'm no t. But that's not important."
"It is."
"Or did he sent you here?"
Vee laughed sarcastically, making the old man look at him with daggers.
"What's funny?"
"You," he answered honestly.
"What do——
He cut him off, "You really think your son will send someone to meet you?" he shook his head while giving them a disappointed look. "Don't think lowly of your son, please."
"Your son...he's the best friend one could ever wish for. He's always there for you, cheer you up, and support you," he added, then turned to Mark's parents. "Your son grew up as someone dependable. He's s good person. A really good one."
"He's the nicest person I've ever met. And that's something you should be proud of. A child's attitude came from his parents—well, most if the time. Because after all, he's a product of your love for each other."
When Vee found out about Mark's situation with his family, he realized how lucky he was to have them. They weren't pressuring him to be like this, to be like that, to be their ideal son.
Or maybe they are.
But thankfully, Vee's someone stubborn and unstoppable. And he's something Mark couldn't be.
"Try to be nicer to him next time. You're his parents, I know he got his attitude somewhere deep within. Try to know him better, you'll see what I mean," he gave them a genuine smile this time. "I hope you realized the connection between the money you earn from your business, and your son."
"Both are treasure. But the latter should be cherish more than any bulk of gold. That's all."
Then he started walking his way towards the door.
But he stopped because of the woman's question.
"What's your relationship with my son?"
He shrugged, not turning around.
"Are you his boyfriend?"
He shook his head.
"Best friend?"
"Kind of," he answered
"If you're done, I'll go now," he added, then started walking away.
But what he heard made his heart skipped a beat.
"Are you...by any chance...into our son?"
He bit his bottom lip, trying to calm his nerves down.
He slowly turned around, wearing an annoying smirk to cover his true feelings then said:
"Make a guess."
After that, he walked away, not looking back. His heart still thumping wildly inside his chest.
༶•┈┈⛧┈♛
(
I use Masa as their family name, same as Vivis for Vee since I've read the novel but I still don't know or I just can't remember what their fanily names are😅)
»»——⍟——««
"He's definitely feeling something for our son...more than he could admit," the woman concluded right after Vee left.
"I know. It's obvious. Or else, why would he do such thing?"
Silence reigned after that. No one's brave enough to talk about the issue.
Involving their only son.
All they want was for the best of him, for him not to experience ugly things in the future. But that thing they thought was best for him...is actually the reason why he's experiencing much worse than they could imagine.
They were trying to protect him, that they failed to realize the ugly truth.
They didn't need to protect their son from other people. But rather, from them——his own parents.
The woman was the first one to broke the silence.
"Do you really think...we failed as his parents?"
The man shook his head.
"But isn't that what the guy was implying?"
The man shook his head again, making the woman frown.
"I want words, Masa."
And so he followed.
"He didn't," the man said, trying to decode Vee's words.
"But..."
The man shook his head again, "He kept talking about our son being the nicest. He also said things about our son, being a product of our love. He's indirectly telling us that he got it from us."
The woman sighed, "Is it really like that?"
"Hmm..." he nodded.
The woman couldn't help but smile at her husband, "You're surprisingly understanding this better than I do."
The man shrugged, "Couldn't help it. It's our son we're talking about here."
"So...what are we gonna do?"
The man slowly curve a smile, "I think I knew what to do.
»»——⍟——««
What the young Vivis told them made them realize things. They wanted to take the first step to get closer to their son.
Painting, it's something they took away from their son. Taking away his passion for painting is the same as taking oxygen away from Mark.
So a few days after, he contacted their son, informing him about the decision they came upon a few days ago.
He was so sure that he's son would immediately take the offer. But he didn't and instead replied with:
"Can you give me a few days to decide?"
He almost lose his composure, thankfully, he didn't.
So he replied with a question, "Don't you believe me?"
Mark shook his head, making his forehead creased.
"No! It's not like that, dad..."
"Then why not take it?"
He actually had a hunch as to why, but of course he couldn't voice it out.
"I don't wanna leave everything behind. It's...it's too much. That offer is too much. I can just study here."
"Is there something that's holding you back?"
He saw how his son hesitated, that confirmed his hunch. There is something holding him back. Something, or someone? Or maybe both.
"I'll think about it. I just..." Mark paused, before he gave his father small smile. "...need to consult someone first."
He didn't need to be a fortune teller to know who his son meant by that.
"This is so sudden, but I'm happy with this. It's just that...I need to figure out what I should do next."
The man just nodded his head.
When his son was out of sight, he sighed.
He didn't know they are that important to each other.
One, courageously talked to them, he even went for asking his father's help.
'Something he don't usually does,' Vee's father told him.
Then there's his son who—not yet—decline his offer just because of some things he couldn't let go. And that he needed to consult someone.
He wasn't scared when Mark said he needs to consult someone. Well, he just hoped it's Vee whom Mark's gonna consult.
Just like what Vee told them, the child often took their attitudes from their parents. And he knew that Vee wouldn't be someone selfish.
His friendship with Vee's dad would make him immediately answer Vee's dad in the question—who's the softest old man you knew? He might act as someone tough, but he's definitely a soft-hearted one.
He even said yes to his son's request without knowing why.
No doubt, they are father and son.
So when Mark said he'll accept the offer and go, his hunch was right.
He couldn't help but sigh in relief. It's as if a burden was lifted with his son's decision.
Selfless and genuine love.
This kind of love is difficult to find. And thankfully, his son is one of those lucky person who found it.
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This and the following extras will serve as flashbacks.
The story's real ending will be posted soon. Right after these extras.