When the Autumn Comes | BoyxBoy

07 - Home Is Where Family's There

When the autumn comes, where would you be?

When Jorden finally arrived at his main house, the sky had already darkened and the rain had finally stopped. As he stood outside of his main house, a sense of nostalgia began hitting him like a truck. The main gate and the door were locked, preventing him from looking into the house. Gulping, he raised his hand, wanting to ball his palm into a fist and knock on the door. However, a wave of unrest in his stomach roused, an invisible tree vine twined from his shoulder to his palm, as if to hold him back from doing so. He gulped again, feeling the cold wind blowing from the outside and the chill down his spine. He could have used the keys given to him, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to do it. When he let out a long sigh, he built up the courage and raised his hand again. This time, his hand made contact with the door and he knocked.

"Ba, Ma! It's Sheng Jie. I'm home."

After a while, he heard the doorknob to the main door twisted. When the door opened, he saw his father's face glimmered in joy. Jorden's eyes peered to the side of the keyhole, only to realise that the main gate wasn't locked at all before. Did they forget to lock the door? His father fumbled as he tried to unlock the main gate, as if he wasn't aware that the main gate had been unlocked already. He twisted the key clumsily in the wrong direction, which caused the door to be locked.

"Look at me, I'm getting older... I can't even open the door for my son," his father joked. An invisible needle sent itself to Jorden's heart. Although some of his black hair had turned grey and wrinkles started to appear on his father's face, his father was still sensible and could do things all by himself. Now, he even forgot to lock the door. 

He was in his early fifties, but the redness surrounding his eyes told otherwise. They told a story of someone who had years of experiences more than just merely fifty.

He was shaken by Joanna's death anniversary tomorrow, he bit his lips in realization. I'm an unfilial son for leaving them alone.

The gate was unlocked finally, and his father immediately pulled him into the house. Then, he pulled Jorden into his embrace and patted his back. "Your Ma has prepared all of the food that you like to eat, take off your jacket and come to the dining table." Nodding his head, he returned the hug.

"Ba, Ma, I'm home."

-

"Eat up, Sheng Jie. Look at you, so skinny..." his mother shook her head as she hurriedly used her chopsticks to take more prawns and meat for her son. Smiling mildly, he ignored the pain in his chest and took his mother's empty bowl. 

"Ma, drink more," after scooping soup into the bowl, he placed the bowl on his mother's side of the table. "Don't look at me like that, I actually eat like a pig in school! If you don't believe, ask Weiren. He would gladly vouch for me!" joked Jorden as he cracked a silly smile. 

Glancing at her son in fake suspicion, she asked as she narrowed her eyes, "Really? Look at your muscle-less arm..." She proceeded to squeeze the upper arm of her son. "Why didn't you bring Weiren home? He's like our son and I want to see how tall has he grown."

Because I wanted to be alone, just for that bus ride.

"What are you talking about? Even if you see him, he's still going to be the short-ass kid who cries every day," he let out a loud laugh.