2005
Chinatown
Chicago, USA
"Just come out..I know you're there....!"
Dayu gasped, peeking at his father from behind the table. His father was still hunching over the table, not giving any hint that he's talking to him. But, who else was hiding in the room beside him? Nobody. Of course, his father was talking to him.
Dayu took a deep breath, then he walked out from behind the table, pursing his lips as he met his father's eyes.
Feng JiSang sighed as his ten year old son, walking towards him sheepishly. He took off his spectacles and stopped what he was doing, folding his hands in front of his chest; trying his best to give his son a stern glare.
Dayu pursed his lips more. He'll get scolded again, that's for sure.
"Aren't you supposed to be in school? I thought I saw you getting on the bus this morning...!" Feng JiSang began, "you slipped out again..?" It was not a question. It was a statement.
Dayu bit his lip and then he hurriedly explained, "I was not planning on skipping today! Really! Honest..! But..I heard that you received something very special yesterday..and-" Dayu's eyes grew bigger and bigger as he saw what was in front of his father.
"That's...The book of Origin..!?!" Dayu whispered, his big eyes sparkled as he stared at the book unblinkingly, "that's the special thing that arrived yesterday, right!?" Dayu was breathless with excitement, "Wou...!!!"
"Stop right there." Feng JiSang growled, snapping Dayu out of his excitement; pulling him off the air into the ground with a 'thud'.
Dayu stopped, "baba..!" Dayu looked at his father, batting his big eyes, and pouting his lips pleadingly.
Feng JiSang took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. His son might be the most infuriatingly coquettish kid in the whole universe. Then he exhaled as he gave his only son a very stern look, again. But, as soon as his eyes met Dayu's pleading eyes, he knew he was defeated.
"What am I going to do with you!" He muttered to himself resignedly, "go get an apron and wear gloves..." he motioned towards the hygiene counter where the aprons and gloves were kept.
Dayu gasped pretending to be surprised , as his face bloomed with a real full bloom joy, "thanks, Baba!" Dayu almost ran to the counter. He put his bag there and then he took a working apron and a pair of gloves, wearing them as he walked back to his father.
Feng JiSang had lost count, of his son skipping school and sneaking to his work place like this.
He's one of the curator for the Chinese American Museum of Chicago, and whenever he received some new artifacts or relics, his son would know about it. And he would skip school to go to the museum so that he could have a look at the artifact.
Dayu, had always had this deep interest in artifacts and relics. Perhaps it was because of his Feng JiSang's influence; because he had been exposing Dayu to his passion for artifacts and relics since he was born. Other fathers would read fables and Disney stories for their kid, as bedtime stories but JiSang would recite stories about history and the relics and artifacts related to it. So, when his son became obsessed with such thing; he couldn't really complain.
"Your Ma is going to grill your father again tonight.." feng JiSang sighed, giving Dayu one of the magnifying glass, and making a space for Dayu beside him.
Dayu nodded, "yeah..She's going to grill us both, Baba..." Dayu replied, "I wonder how long we would be grilled tonight..." he mumbled half heartedly because he was already paying attention to the artifact on the examination table, in front of him.
"I hope she let us have dinner first..." Feng JiSang mumbled back, he too was already leaving the thought behind as he paid his attention on the work at hand.
"Uhum.." Dayu mumbled.
"Do not touch anything...You can only have a look..Do you understand?" Feng JiSang reminded his son, "this is a very special and important piece of history..."
Dayu glanced at his father, in disbelief, "I know baba..I would only watch you do the examination...Geez...What do you take me for..? An amateur? How long have I been coming over to watch you do this?" Dayu huffed, and Feng JiSang couldn't help but smack Dayu's head gently.
"Yeah..Right..You're an expert in skipping school and sneaking in...And getting us both into trouble with your mother..." Feng JiSang muttered, as he put on his examination glasses, adjusting the examination lamp, before resuming his work.
"Ouch!" Dayu pretended to grimace in pain, patting his head which had just been smacked by his father, "it'd be worth it..If this turned out to be the real thing...!" Dayu said.
"Well..Let's find out..!" Feng JiSang smirked at Dayu. Then he gave his full attention to the artifact in question.
Dayu smirked back, as he too, followed his father's movement, looking at where his father was looking.
One of Feng JiSang's task as the museum curator, was to determine whether an artifact sent to them, was genuine or not, and then he would catalogue it and send it to another curator for the organisation of display.
His father scribbled every details he found as he examined the book. Then, he snipped a little of the edges of a few pages in the book, and put it into different plastic specimen collectors, before sealing them. Dayu knew that his father would send the papers he had snipped, to the carbon data team, to determine the real age of the book.
The book was written in the ancient sumerian language. And that was already one the characteristic Feng JiSang was looking for, because any ancient book artifact written in sumerian would already be half authentic.
Feng JiSang continued to read some pages, looking for the Sumerian language characteristics; to determine whether it was really the ancient Sumerian language or just an 'attempt' to copy the Sumerian language.
There was a complete silence, for an hour or two, as the father and son examined the book.
"It's genuine..." Dayu mumbled, as his father turned to the twentieth pages, "at least the book is written in real ancient sumerian language..."
Feng JiSang blinked, then he looked at Dayu, "what makes you say that..?" Did he hear it correctly? What Dayu had just said?
"The phrasing, of these words...The use of these letters..." Dayu pointed at the words he was referring to, taking care not to touch the paper, "they're consistent with ancient sumerian..."
Dayu's father is an expert in paleography (specialising in Aramaic writing) and ancient historical archaeology. And he had tons of books about these which he kept at home. These were the books written in ancient Aramaic languages, ancient sumerian being one of them, that he used to read to Dayu, while he was growing up. They were also the books that Dayu first looked at and associate himself with.
So, it's not really surprising if his son knew a little about the ancient sumerian, but, this is the first time that Feng JiSang saw just how in-depth Dayu's understanding of the language really is.
What Dayu had just said, was exactly what he was thinking. And he's a thirty five year old, PhD holder of paleography and archeology.
Feng JiSang hadn't really paid attention to Dayu when he was fiddling and opening the books at home. And because he's now able to read on his own, he had stopped reading the books to Dayu. Whenever he saw Dayu holding his books at home, he thought that Dayu was just curious.
"Feng JianYu?" Feng JiSang called his son, "you could read this?"
Dayu looked at his father, as if the question shocked him, "well..yeah.." he nodded, frowning at his father, "I'd been reading your books for several years now..."
Feng JiSang put down the things in his hand, and paid his full attention to his son.
"What..?" Dayu blinked, confused as to why his father stopped working.
His father was working on the latest artifact; a book, presumed to be The Book of Origin. It's the holy grail for the history and origin of the 'special' gender; how people started to develop the characteristics of an Alpha, a Beta and an Omega. It's the rumoured book that first depicted and documented about the dawning of the 'special' gender era, where people were no longer just male or female.
The Book was said to exist but nobody really knew for sure because for some reason, the Book was either being very well kept by someone or it may have been lost in all these years, or the Book might not even exist at all.
And now; it's here. From what Dayu had seen so far; it looked legit. So, why was his father not jumping up and down over it? And why was his father looking at him like that?
Dayu stared back at his father, in confusion.
"How is this even possible?" Feng JiSang mumbled to himself, in disbelief. Dayu is a Beta, but his level of intellect seemed to be on par or maybe more than that of an Alpha.
When his son was tested as a Beta in his initial test for his special gender, earlier this year, he already thought that it's a little strange. His son, was as active and as resourceful as an Alpha child since he was a baby. And he'd only been more and more 'ahead of his years' as he grows up.
He could slip out of his school, take the bus, and sneak into the museum; without being detected; even with the high security installed in the museum, since he was seven.
Dayu was also athletic, he was the front runner of his school's 4X100 quartet which won in the Chicago inter-district Kid Athletic Games. And despite, always making troubles in school, by doing some outrageous experiments, Dayu excelled in his tests and exams.
That was why, even though, Dayu was considered as a trouble maker, he was still very much loved and admired by the teachers. Dayu's the kind of kids who knew he troubled a lot of people, and took responsibility for his actions, owning up to everything and would happily receive his punishment. He never complained nor talk back to his teachers.
Feng JiSang was sure that Dayu's an Alpha. But, when the test result came out, and Dayu was determined as a Beta; of course he was surprised. But, he was not in the least disappointed.
An Alpha or not; his son , is already special. His son is a joy to have; even though his trouble maker attitude was a pain in the ass sometimes but, he's a good son. A special son. Even if he's only a beta. He's special.
Feng JiSang just didn't know just how special until today. He knew that Dayu's intelligent but not to this extent.
"I've finished with the book..." Feng JiSang said, as he reached out, to force Dayu who was already looking back at the book, to look at him instead.
"I will now put it in a preservation container, to wait for the other result..." he explained, "so..Baba want you to go and sit at the table over there and wait for me a bit..okay..?"
Dayu glanced at the book, a little regretfully and then he let out a sigh, before nodding. Feng JiSang also let out a huge exhale as Dayu walked away.
Then, he tried so hard to remain calm, as he finished his remaining work. He secured the book and called the staff from the Artifact Room department to get it, then he also called the staff from the carbon dating department to get the samples, he had taken for carbon data testing.
The staff were not even surprised anymore to see Dayu there in the room with his father. They already expected the little guy to somehow slip through security, to see his father whenever there was a new artifact sent to the museum.
Professor Feng's son, had such a deep interest in history, even though he was just ten years old. Most kids would have thought it to be boring. But not Feng JianYu.
"Hey, little guy!" The staff even greeted Dayu and Dayu greeted back, with a big beautiful smile, "hi, guys!,"
"Don't encourage him.." Feng JiSang gave reprimanded the staff half heartedly, "it was because nobody ever scolded him to be here, that he thought it's okay to sneak in, like this..!"
And the staff just gave Dayu a wink before they hurriedly went out.
Feng JiSang took a deep breath and sighed. His son was just too likable. Alphas and Omegas could entice people to like them, using their pheromones. Yet, his son, didn't even need to do that.
Then he walked over to where Dayu was waiting.
"Now...Let's talk about the most important thing.."
Dayu's face lit up, "the Book of Origin?!?" He gushed excitedly.
"No...You." Feng JiSang sat down in front of Dayu.
"Me..?" Dayu frowned, becoming confused again, "what about me?"
Dayu put his full attention to his father then, he took every single detail of his father's expression and body language, "you think I'm more interesting than the Book of Origin?" Dayu gasped, "what did I do?"
Dayu met his father's eyes and it became very clear then, "you didn't know I could read sumerian? But, baba...you know I've been reading your books since I could remember...I also knew other Aramaic languages..Not just sumerian..."
Feng JiSang's mouth fell open. Two things became very clear at that moment; first, Dayu knew Aramaic languages and second, Dayu was reading his expression as if he was talking aloud with Dayu.
"What...? Am I really that special..? Is it really unbelievable?" Dayu gasped again, "it's impossible?!?"
Feng JiSang finally had it, he reached out to Dayu and said, "stop!" He whispered, "Dayu ah...Do you know how impossible it is, you talking to me, as if you could hear my thoughts...? I was not even uttering a word...And you understood everything...!"
Dayu blinked, now, his father's reactions is scaring him. He bit his lip, as he teared up, "Baba...."
Feng JiSang saw the tears in Dayu's eyes, and he quickly hugged his son.
"Sorry Dayu ah..Forgive me..I didn't mean it like that...It's okay...It's good..." he quickly assured Dayu beseechingly.
Dayu inhaled and then exhaled and then he closed his eyes, hugging his father back. His father was telling the truth. Dayu could feel it in his father's body.
"Baba will ask for a half day leave today..I think we have to talk with your mother..." Feng JiSang pulled away to look into Dayu's eyes, smiling gently.
His wife would be very shocked, she might lose her head. Their son is more than what they thought he was.
Dayu nodded tentatively, then slowly, he smiled back.