Begin Again

Chapter 12

Both awoke the next morning to a loud string of knocks accompanied by the chime of the doorbell. Yibo quickly got up to put on some joggers and a t shirt and then left the bedroom.

"Uncle...," he said when he opened the door, "what are you doing here?"

"Is it true? Where is he?" His Uncle said pushing his way through the door. He looked visibly upset, his eyes were bloodshot and he had dark circles under his eyes. 

"Uncle, what is the meaning of this?" he said trying to block the entry to his home.

"I got a call last night from Haikuan. I really hope it's all a misunderstanding."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

His uncle raised his hand and gave him a hard slap. "I had to take a red eye flight last night just to get here as soon as possible. Where is this man? Is he in your bedroom?" He tried to push past Yibo.

Yibo pulled him back, "Don't." His uncle was taken aback.  Yibo was using force on him holding onto his arm to stop him from taking one more step.  

"Are you seriously going to mess up your life for a 30 year old married man with a kid on the way? What happened to all the morals I taught you? Do you want to end up like your father and mother?"

"It's my life. I'm an adult. I can make my own decisions," Yibo said angrily. He had never in his 18 years of life yelled at his uncle.

"That's the same thing your father said, and look where that left him. He gave everything to your mother and yet she left all three of you for some idiot half her age. You want to be like her? You want to be like the idiot kid that took her away from her family? You want to be like the man that took your mom away?"

"Don't talk about mother that way. You have no idea what she was going through with father. If you only knew everything father put her through..."

His uncle slapped him again.

"She made her vows to her husband, not that idiot kid she left all of you for. You have your whole life ahead of you. You are going to run the family business soon. You are going to marry a young woman who can give you children. You will not let this family down."

The front door opened again and in came Haikuan, with a serene look.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Yibo asked angrily. His blood was boiling.

"Is Zhan here?" Haikuan said casually walking into the home with his hands in his pockets.  

And just as he had asked the bedroom door open and Zhan walked out. He had changed into the clothes he was wearing the night before and had fixed his messy hair. His face was crimson. It was as if he was doing a walk of shame. He needed to get out of there.

"So that's him," his Uncle said glaring at him from head to toes. "Taking advantage of an 18 year old. What do you want? His money..."

"Uncle!"

Zhan stood in front of the elder and bowed down, "My apologies sir. I needed to get out of my home last night and called Yibo to let me stay here one night. I'll take my leave now."

"Zhan, are you going to back and pretend like nothing happened like always?" Haikuan said crossing his arms.

"Stop it." Yibo said to his older brother.

"I had to call my uncle after your stupid husband came looking for me at the hotel. He made a huge scandal. I'll be surprised if it doesn't come out all over the news today."

"Yibo, you can't be associating yourself with people like them. It's bad for business. We lost a lot of customers last night due to his actions," his uncle said angrily.