The line between love and obsession

The ordeal of Daniel Wang

Wei Ying was packing up the lunch for his son when his phone rang.

"Hello,"
"......."

As the one-sided conversation progressed, Wei Ying's grip on the phone tightened as well. His legs were shaking with rage, his face contorted to hold himself back from saying something regretful.

"Mrs. Wang. I'll have to talk to him first, and then we can discuss this further," Wei Ying said calmly, his voice was nowhere close to betraying his true feelings.

"......."

"Ok. All right. Thank you,"

Wei Ying took a few deep breaths and that calmed him down a little. And only then, he took his steps forward to greet his son, who was seated on the sofa, putting on his socks.

Mrs. Wang had just accused A-Yuan of beating her son. His son, A-Yuan, was nothing but the gentlest soul. Wei Ying wanted to fight Mrs Wang, wanted to haul her out by her hair, but he remained calm instead. Wei Ying didn't want to be that kind of parent who was always refusing to hear anything negative about their children. Wei Ying wouldn't come to the conclusion without hearing both sides of the story.

He sat on the table instead of the sofa, wanting to face A-Yuan directly.

"My little bunny. Do you have something in your mind? Is there something you want to say to your baba?"

A-Yuan took this question pretty seriously. He was in deep thought for several seconds.

"Baba, I was thinking...how I don't like rain anymore. My shoes got wet yesterday, and we can't even go play outside,"

Wei Ying couldn't agree more with that sentiment. Wei Ying had always been the hopeless romantic who had always loved the rain. In recent years, he also enjoyed how a beautiful rainy day stirred sweet melancholy within him. But it was raining for almost a week, nonstop, and Wei Ying was a bit jaded.

"I know sweetheart, I also hate how it's raining everyday. By the way, you know, Mrs. Wang called,"

"Who is that?" A-Yuan was quick to reply.

"Um. She's the mother of your classmate Daniel Wang. You know Daniel right?"

"No. I don't know who that is either," A-Yuan said matter-of-factly.

Wei Ying was puzzled; When did his sweet boy turned into a passive-aggressive child? How did he not notice it before?

"Well, Mrs. Wang called to tell me that you beat up Daniel. Is that true?"

"That is outrageous," A-Yuan almost shouted.

"What does that mean, sweetheart? So, you didn't hit him?"

"Of course, I beat him up, baba," A-Yuan said that with passion, and it startled Wei Ying again.

"You can't just beat people up, A-Yuan," Wei Ying said, voice raised by an octave, however unintentionally.

"Why not?" A-Yuan retorted.

A-Yuan was matching with him, the tone for tone. His sweet boy was showing belligerence out of the blue, and Wei Ying cursed internally at the rapidly approaching headache. He needed a quick change of tactics.

"A-Yuan, my little peach, what happened? Why did you hit him?"

A-Yuan lowered his gaze and began twiddling with his sleeves.

"Baba. Are you sad now? Did I make you sad?" A-Yuan asked so softly that Wei Ying felt like weeping.

"No. A-Yuan never makes me sad. You make me the happiest in the whole world. I'm just a little worried," Wei Ying replied.