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50| "I love you and that won't change."

╰┈➤𝐘𝐈𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕*ೃ༄

Pang!

The sting of the slap reverberated through the room as mae slapped my cheek. My head turned with the force of the impact. A sudden silence descended upon us. War tried to interfere but I held his hand, making him stand behind me.

Pa, standing there motionless, observed the scene with a stern expression, disappointment etched in his eyes.

"What do you think you are doing, Yin Anan Wong?" Mae's voice thundered through the space, her eyes reddened, tears welling up.

I steadied myself, my cheek tingling from the slap but the pain was nothing compared to the weight of mae's disappointment. "Mae, I—" I began but she cut me off with a vehement gesture.

"Don't you dare speak! Not after what I just witnessed," she shouted.

"We asked you to take care of him!" Mae pointed at War, who remained a silent figure behind me. "Not to teach him such ridiculous behavior!"

"Aunty, it's not what you think. P'Yin and I—"

Mae cut War's off with a sharp glare, her hand raised as if to ward off any further explanation. "This is unacceptable, War. I trusted my son to look out for you, not lead you down a path of recklessness."

"Yin, we expected better from you. This is not who we raised you to be," Pa said.

I felt a knot tightening in my stomach. The disappointment in pa's eyes mirrored mae's and I struggled to find the right words to explain. "Mae...Pa, please, let me explain," I implored.

Mae's expression hardened, her hand trembling. "Explain? What explanation could justify such behavior, Yin Anan Wong?! What in the world possessed you to behave like this?"

"I...I love War and he's my boyfriend," I said.

The revelation startled both of my parents, their expressions caught between disbelief and shock.

Mae's eyes widened. "Yin!" Mae cried out. Tears streamed down her face as she struggled to comprehend the unexpected revelation. "Do you even realize what you are saying?"

"Mae, I—"

"War is a man, Yin. I already think of him as my son. What nonsense are you talking about?"

"We raised you to be responsible and make choices that would not bring shame to our family," Mae continued. "How could you betray our trust like this?"

Pa's disappointment cut through the air as he questioned with anger, "Is that why you avoided our questions about having a girlfriend? Because you have feelings for a man?"

"Pa, mae, please understand. Love knows no gender. I love War and I can't change that. Please try to understand," I plead.

Mae's tears continued to flow and she shook her head in disbelief. "I never thought you would bring this shame to our family, Yin," she uttered.

"Mae..."

"Don't come back home again. We don't want to see your face anymore," mae declared. The weight of her words hit me like a sledgehammer and I felt a sinking feeling in my chest.

I still tried to plead, to make them understand the depth of my feelings for War but my words fell on deaf ears.

As they made their way to the door, my parents, once the pillars of my world, now stood as distant figures. I reached out, my voice a desperate whisper, "Please, don't do this, mae, pa. I love you both."

Mae turned to look at me. "You have made your choice, Yin. Now you have to live with the consequences. I don't have a son like you," she said.

The door closed behind them. The weight of their absence settled around me like a heavy cloak.