MIRACULOUSLY ESCAPING SLACKERLIFE

LXIII

"Cale... no... you... Who are you?"

Cale fell silent as he approached his father slowly. His eyes were calm, but his heart was pounding in his chest. The question caught him off guard, and he knew his father had been suspecting him for years.

He was confused as to why he asked him that, but the moment he saw all the paper in his hands and the letters that came from whoever it was. Cale knew that the fear he desperately wanted to avoid, was right before his eyes.

Should I tell him or deny it?

He looked up, but Deruth's gaze never left his.

Ah. He knew it all. That was the gaze of a man who just wanted to confirm his suspicion.

With great hesitation, he answered.

"I am not your son... I am someone from a different world that is living in your son's body now..." Cale - no - Kim Rok Soo thought he was prepared for this confrontation. His lips trembled with fear. He was well aware of this man's feelings for his son. He knew he could remain silent indefinitely, but he did not want to keep it from him. He wanted to be accepted for who he was, no matter what.

Only him... he does not want to lie to him.

Deruth remained deafeningly silent. He just stared at him, dumbfounded, hoping that this was some kind of joke. His son's gaze, on the other hand, remained fixed on him. There was no regret, no guilt, only fear.

Cale smiled bitterly. He grabbed Deruth's hands and squeezed them tightly. Only when confronted with impending heartbreak did he feel miserably helpless?

Will he accept him? Will he still look at him?

Will he love him still?

"I promised myself that I would tell you everything... for me... you are the only one I do not want to keep this forever... My name is not Cale... my name was Kim Rok Soo... the last of the people who took everything away from you... the soul who took over your son's body..." He said slowly and loudly. "The soul who has loved you so much for the past ten years, you are the only one I do not want to lie to," he said, his heart quivering with each word he squeezed from his heart.

He was well aware that this man would never be able to forgive himself. .

He knew that even if they shared the same feelings, his love for his real child wouldn't be the same for a stranger like him. Wounds from the loss of someone he cares about. Wounds from despair and los.

This is the only person... who did not retain his identity indefinitely.

Cale's gaze is drawn to Deruth's reddish-brown eyes. He can not move any faster than he is right now.

He was well aware that he would not be easily accepted.

He realized he could not be the beloved son he fathered.

He was a completely different person.

He had a different soul...

But... he was his first and only father.

This brief encounter. This fate has changed.

It was his most cherished encounter, one that meant his entire life to him.

"Dad," he called. He knew this could be the last time he could call this man intimately his son, "I am not asking for affection nor I am asking to be accepted easily... It's okay if you hate me... You have reasons to do so... But please... this is my only request..."

He has evolved into someone who is desperate for love but cannot bring himself to be greedy enough to ask for it.

"Please... believe that in all those years... I..." Damn these wicked feelings, "Please... believe that in all those years... that I..."