Mine, To Begin With!

37. Family and Friend

         Forth knocked on the huge wooden door and waited nervously.

        "Come in", A deep authoritative voice shook his already jittery nerves.

          Forth took a deep breath and pushed open the study room door. He entered the room and stood in front of his father's study table.

        Wirat Jamornhum was sitting behind the table with a few files sprawled in front of him. Forth chewed his lips not knowing how to start the conversation with his father. He couldn't even remember the last time when he actually looked at his father from this close. His father seemed to have gained weight and looked aged.

       "Good evening, dad", Forth mumbled nervously.

       Wirat froze for a few seconds before raising his head slowly and looking at Forth. He closed the file he was reading and placed it on the table. He leaned back on his chair and observed his son's face, which was full of anger, disappointment and resentment the last time he saw. That was the day Forth had left home and started staying alone before joining the university. That was the day Forth had freed himself from the demands and dreams Wirat had nurtured for Forth in his heart for years.

         A painful memory of his son's high school graduation day flashed across his mind. Wirat had always dreamed about visiting Forth's school on his graduation day and celebrating the day grandly with his whole family. After all, to him Forth was the pride of the family. He always excelled in everything in which he set his foot on, be it studies or sports or arts. But he neither visited Forth's school on the graduation day nor Forth invited him. Wirat was waiting hopefully at home that Forth would at least come back and talk to him. But what happened shook him to the core.

         Forth had come back from school and had gone straight to his room ignoring his father who was waiting for him at the living room. He had quietly packed his bag with only a few clothes and left home leaving everything behind.

          "I am not a minor anymore. I don't need an adult to look after me and I guess I don't have a family too anymore", Forth had said before walking out of the door.

        Wirat was too stunned to even react that day. It was the day he had realized how much he had cornered Forth to make him take a huge step like leaving home. Wirat wished that it was all a bad dream and Forth would be sitting near him at the dining table the next morning, eating happily and chatting with him. But that morning never came and so did his son, he never came back.

         Wirat thought that Forth would come back home as soon as he would realize how difficult it was to survive in the actual world. But who was he kidding, because Forth was his son and he was as clever and as adamant as he was. Forth had applied for scholarship at his university and he had paid the remaining tuition fee and dorm rent with the money he earned by developing gaming softwares. Clearly, Forth had not just survived but he had shown Wirat that he could survive without his father and his name. 

         Thats when Wirat realized what was wrong from his side. He had raised his three children equally without any gender discrimination. His daughters had an equal share in his company and assets as much as Forth had. They were give equal opportunities and support whenever needed. In fact, to Wirat, all his three children were his pride. But he had acted out rashly when his son had claimed to prefer a certain gender. He wondered why he flipped out when he saw his daughters and son the same way. Because that meant that he should be seeing their partners too the same way without any gender discrimination. But his stupid conservative side had kicked in making him homophobic and causing his son to leave behind his family.

         The father and son stared at each other without a word, going through various emotions in their heart. Forth had missed his father even though he had grown a strong dislike for how he was treated because of his sexuality. But he never hated his father. And now the older man had shown him how big his heart was despite the differences they had. Forth understood that his father had bought the INC crop just to save his arcade. His father had let him win the challenge generously.