Chapter 26
Father and son
November 4th
The faint sunlight dies out along the horizon. The streets cannot endure even half a second of darkness, with lights of all kinds turning on in the houses — from simple, rustic glows to colorful, flickering lights — wiping away the black and gray. Countless lights twinkle like fireflies under the thousand-star sky.
On the hospital rooftop, Sam stretches out one leg, half lying and half sitting on the dome, quietly watching. He rests his head against the lightning rod and silently watches as swarms of fireflies trail one after another to form a Milky Way. Brightly shining and stretching endlessly, the Milky Way gradually fades beneath the churning dark clouds of the gloomy space.
Monotony. Gloom. Cold. Everything is locked in that kind of sadness.
Sam gulps down his beer to warm himself against the cold wind slicing through his body. His eyes, reddened by the beer yeast, close as he thinks about everything. A mother's cold betrayal. JK's revenge. A family ensnared. His older brother's failed suicide attempt — fearing he might ruin the lives of the innocent — yet in the end, he was forced into an incestuous relationship with his sister's entire family. The four of them believed they were trapped in an incestuous relationship, suffering and tormenting themselves over it, yet in truth, they were not of the same bloodline. Sam chuckles at the absurdity of what existed only in imagination.
Bitter salty tears are not enough; fate tauntingly pours an ocean of salt onto the wounds. The mother and her two daughters have learned of the brother's true identity. The tragedy is that sentimental women cannot let go of the deep affection built up over time. The relatives are sinking into a karmic entanglement of affection and gratitude.
Sam gulps down his beer to drown his sorrows, yet one sorrow still remains. He buries it deep in his heart, yet finds it hard to hide his feelings in front of his father. The first person he wants to hide this from is, in fact, his father.
A man can open up to a stranger, but finds it hard to bare his heart to his father. Between every father and son there exists an invisible distance. Apart from paternal love and family duty, in that distance, father and son cannot truly see each other.
The distance, right before their eyes, is like a blind person separating the father and son.
The father does not want to waste himself trying to find his child across that unseen space.
It is a distance he cannot touch — only feel.
If it cannot be felt, father and son will forever be like blind men within that distance.
Huge knows that if Sam keeps suppressing his anger, he will go mad. So the father quietly gets drunk with his son, patiently waiting. A father always has the upper hand, especially in battles of wits — a son should never hope to prevail against a father. Sam, reeking of alcohol, mumbles drunkenly:
- Old man, how are we going to clean up this mess?
Huge sighs, for Sam has yet to truly open up — but at least he has spoken, rather than silently enduring it all alone.
What Sam speaks of is a difficult problem for Huge. The father ponders over the family tragedy, his thoughts a tangled skein. Not just for him — for anyone, it would be hard to accept something that violates morality.
At first, when Sam told him, the father had wanted to protest to stop things from going too far. But now, his resolve to stop it is no longer as firm, his mind lingering instead on the suffering endured by his family.
On closer thought, it still has to be weighed again and again. If the planks have not yet been built into a ship, the matter can still be resolved. But things have already reached the point of no return. Everything now can only follow the arrangement of fate. Huge takes a sip of beer and sighs helplessly:
- Tch… whatever comes, let it come. Let things run their course.
Sam casts him a bored sideways glance:
- Damn, I'd rather you hadn't said anything — less annoying that way.
The father shrugs:
- Your older sister and niece have become your brother's women — are we helpless? Damn it, I can't tell whether the Silk Old Man and the Matchmaker Goddess, intentionally or not, have bound the mother and daughter in an unethical relationship. The old man and the old woman have tangled things so badly that they have even lost the trace of the red string, and even God couldn't untie it!
Sam lets out a cold laugh as he watches a lightning bolt flash across the gloomy sky. Any move from the Almighty pokes at those who are already disdainful of the high heavens. Sam looks at the clouds and imagines a repulsive face wearing a crown. The grimy face cackles, taunting him. Tired of cursing, Sam casts a scornful sideways glance at the heavens:
- Damn it, God only unties the ropes of dogs with rabies! The old man in the sky forces the Matchmaker Goddess and the Silk Old Man to forcefully bind that karmic debt to these four people! I'm no stranger to this dirty nature; the old geezer is only happy after forcing our family into a dead end. Respecting the elderly brings longevity, and heaven is benevolent, but he doesn't respect the old, and his behavior loses to a young water buffalo guy!
Huge is distraught but can't help laughing, spitting out a mouthful of beer as he listens to Sam "sacrificing" to the heavens with bitter curses[2]. The old man is speechless at his son — the sort whom heaven tries to strike, but whose blow always misses.
- Son, parents give birth to children, but their nature is inborn. If Hoang Kim had been a little selfish that night, the Matchmaker Goddess and the Silk Old Man, even if they had made a mistake, couldn't have bound anyone. - Huge waves his arms, taps the beer bottle against the dome, and shakes his head, sighing - Unfortunately, Hoang Kim is a hero truly worthy of the name. A hero is the intoxicating yeast that makes women fall in love. Women and girls are more obsessed with heroes than men are with wine!
Sam doesn't like beating around the bush, but the old man is still reciting his philosophy to him. The son scratches his butt and curls his lip:
- Father's been pretty refined lately. Hoang Kim truly lives up to being a real man. He sacrifices himself without harming innocent lives; any girl would be moved by that — not to mention the mother and her two daughters. Just say it simply like that!
Huge lets out a crazed chuckle as every word and every syllable is used by his son to mock him. Sam puts his hand behind his head and takes another drink.
- Many Eastern people still value chastity. - Sam grimaced and spoke in a terrified voice - My older brother has always been afraid of taking a girl's virginity. He describes the feeling of a girl losing her virginity as if he were raping her. Scared splatter bullets!
Sam lowers his head sullenly, his deep voice talking about his sister:
- My sister was married to a husband who was worse than a beast. Damn it, he made love with a wine demon all year round, and no wife could endure it. For years, my lonely sister maintained her virtue as a wife. She's so young and beautiful; surely old goats slowly approach her to flirt. - Sam curled his lip in a faint smile - If she ovulated day and night like "a certain someone," she would have run away to be with her lover a long time ago. Heh heh, the funny thing is, those gossiping bastards have no reason to insult my sister's character either!
Huge secretly watches his son, noting how contemplation, melancholy, anger, and scorn constantly vie for control of Sam's emotions in just a few short sentences. In the end, what remains in Sam's eyes is pride for his dignified and virtuous older sister. The father secretly laughs at that familiar feeling: Whenever they have talked about family, his son has become so emotional and bold. Huge lowers his head and purses his lips, listening to his son's complete "praise" for his niece:
- A gentle sister gives birth to two female tigers. I touched the nieces, and they immediately chased me until smoke flew. If you and Mom hadn't come out in time, you wouldn't have recognized me. The feisty nieces might have even wanted to eat their uncle's flesh!
Huge laughs until he cries:
- Who says you're obsessed with butts and like breasts! - The old man slaps his son on the shoulder - Don't let breasts block your eyes and butts get to your head!
Sam rolls his eyes and glances but doesn't retort. He is busy praising his family:
- My older brother is a man but still holds old ideas, not to mention the mother and two daughters. They are all upright, women who value chastity and think alike, as if they are copying each other. They believe that no matter who they have sex with, they will become that person's woman. Besides that person, they can't marry anyone else in this life.
Sam clicks his tongue, admitting defeat:
- There aren't many women in the world with this kind of Eastern standard. A super rare case, one in ten thousand, is willing to become a 'husband-gazing stone' and later, if given the chance to be with someone else, says, 'I don't want to marry anyone but you.' Oh, MY God, Scared splatter bullets!
Sam holds his head and sighs:
- I don't know whether to call it loyal love or a burden of love!
Sam wants to say that the three women, the mother and two daughters, considered themselves Hoang Kim's women. Especially the Lan sisters, who had given their virgin bodies to his older brother, felt it was not just loyal love or an emotional burden, but a mark that was engraved in their bones and would never fade. In the end, they were to be lifelong companions to pain.
- How virtuous women are! Sam sighs wearily. - They suffer so much for love! - He waves his hand, chopping fiercely at the sky - Holding onto their skirts [3], my sister and my niece did nothing wrong. Saying it like that keeps it short and simple!
Sam continues to ramble, but he is not speaking nonsense. In fact, he is defending his loved ones; every sentence and every word is a condemnation of their cruel fate. At the moment the feelings arose, no one knew Hoang Kim's identity. When the truth was revealed, the raw rice had been cooked into ripe rice, and emotions had already taken root deep in everyone's heart.
Hoang Kim had failed in his suicide attempt, tormented to a half-dead state by the aphrodisiac, and had even torn his own arm to use the pain to suppress his lust and prevent himself from raping the girls. The image of a hero would have touched their hearts and been etched in their memories. Even a cold-hearted person would have been moved by a man who sacrificed himself for them.
The mother and two daughters harbored both strong feelings and desire for Hoang Kim. For emotional and... passionate people, sometimes all it takes is a glance or a gentle handshake to long for each other, not to mention that the mother and daughters had gone through an entire night of love and all the feelings of joy, anger, love, hate, and passion towards a man who was forbidden by morality and everyone in the world.
Love and sex were sublimated in pain, something that men and women alike found hard to forget. All the more so for the mother and two daughters who had been psychologically shocked by the thought of having committed a monstrous crime. Later, they learned that Hoang Kim was just an adopted son, so their mental scar was no longer as it was before, but the guilt and inferiority remained intact.
When something happens in the family, the family members must find a way to deal with it. The father and son are mentally confused because the red thread of fate has tangled their emotions, gratitude, and desire. That kind of emotional state and feeling has hypnotized the three women into infatuation. Since the father and son still cannot resolve this, they must open their hearts over beer, hoping to put an end to their endless worries about the future.
The father also has his own personal motive: he is using this opportunity to probe his son's thoughts. Huge narrows his eyes at Sam. His thick, curly eyebrows seem to want to twist together, the muscles on his face stretching on one side and contracting on the other. He just can't understand his son.
His mischievous and headstrong son, who often acts without thinking, is sometimes unbelievably profound. Sam empathizes with the suffering of the mother and daughters, and he is also searching for the clues of the red thread to untangle the emotions of his loved ones.
The father is startled, realizing that despite having gone through life-and-death situations and killed more enemies than his son has had meals, he is powerless against this family matter. Sam, this goofy guy who is sometimes shallow and naive, is about to find a clue that has been lost.
The father looks thoughtfully at his multi-personality son. Just now, he had secretly rejoiced, thinking he finally understood his son, but he did not expect that Sam had another hidden corner that he still could not discover.
The father and son are still searching for each other like blind men in the invisible distance.
Huge takes a sip of beer, trying to relax a mind in turmoil.
- You've already understood that you should let everything take its natural course, so what more are you dissatisfied with?
Sam's hand trembles. He pauses, then brings the beer bottle to his mouth. His deep voice speaks of the person he cares about:
- Luu Ly is too young! - Sam says, dizzy from the beer. He coughs several times with a grimace as the spicy, thick heat burns his body - I don't want the white-haired to see off the black-haired!
Huge sees that his son's eyes are red. He knows Sam is not drunk. He is crying. A man cries for his country and sheds tears for his loved ones. Sam has never cried for this country. People who value a deep sense of family loyalty and affection only cry for their family and the people they love. Countless beauties have approached Sam, Luu Ly only met him once, and this little girl is the only one who has left an indelible mark in his heart.
He remembers that smile.
He wants to forever admire that pure and lovely smile.
The villain Fate is teasing Sam again. Sam has almost lost everything, yet Fate still refuses to let go. That damned villain is about to snatch the peace from within Sam's soul. Sam fights fiercely, hoping to win this time. At last, he opens his heart.
The father faintly sees his son's shadow across the invisible distance.
Sam still hid a secret, but at least the son began to open his heart to his father. The father-son bond brought a smile of joy to Huge's lips as he patted Sam's shoulder with encouragement:
- I believe you will definitely overcome fate. Wait for the good news from the doctor!
Sam accepted the encouragement with a stern face, complaining about the pain:
- Damn it, you're slapping too hard! My spine is still numb! Do you want your son to be paralyzed?
The father pouted, clicked his tongue, and embraced his son with a clucking sound:
- Oh my, you love your boy too much. Does it hurt, son?
Since he had realized that he didn't truly care about his father, the son had wanted to hug his father once to feel the father-son affection, but he never had the chance. He was afraid of showing weakness like a woman, so he waited.
Now, the time finally comes, but Sam is confused and hesitant. He wraps his arms around his back several times, then lowers them, and finally chooses to bury his head in his father's chest, using this as a substitute for a hug. The touch is as light as a feather, and the rugged features are full of joy, so the father wishes time would stop, allowing him to fully enjoy this rare emotion.
The father wins in everything with his son, but only kinship forces him to surrender.
Half a minute later, the son pushes the father away forcefully, causing the father to lose interest.
- How scary! What are you doing? Are you a woman!? — Sam says, horrified, rubbing his arm and pouting — I have goosebumps all over, cold like duck skin.
Huge laughs crazily and teases his son to ease the awkward atmosphere:
- Luckily... splatter bullets, if you had groped Luu Ly, I don't know what would have become of you?
Sam swings a beer bottle at his father:
- Old man's ancestor. Every time you speak, you're just taunting and being sarcastic.
Huge dodges, and the bottle smashes against the dome. The old father laughs heartily, teasing his son:
- Next time, let your brain work before your hands do crazy things. If you touch the future sister-in-law by mistake, you'd want to find a hole to crawl into! This is a bloody lesson for you!
Sam sneers and rolls his eyes:
- The sister-in-law is in the Hexagon Kingdom, famous splatter bullets. The bodyguards cover them from head to toe, it's impossible to mistake the person.
Huge looks at his son with heavy, dull eyes. Everything has become so absurd that there is no unbelievable thing left that can't happen. Sam still doesn't understand or remember that gold attracts girls more than a magnet attracts metal.
- Have you forgotten Hanna Izumi?
Sam pats his head, just remembering that wherever his brother goes, he leaves behind lovesick hearts:
- From the Hexagon Kingdom to the Prehistoric Kingdom, then from the Prehistoric Kingdom to the Sun Kingdom!
Huge laughs, shaking his shoulders, hearing his son sigh:
- Old brother, old brother, do I have to restrain my fun when flirting with girls? Damn, how could it be...
Huge clicks his tongue:
- Tsk, if Hoang Kim keeps caring about others and not for himself, your brother will still be miserable, and the girls will suffer.
Sam lets out a heavy breath:
- Yeah, I know, but want him to change his character unless it's the end of the world. Tsk, don't worry so much, Hanna hasn't come for three days. She's probably just simply saving person.
Sam carries a plastic bag filled with empty beer cans and slides down from the dome. Huge jumps down from the rooftop, his huge body hitting the brick ground. A thud sounds by Sam's ear. With beer fermenting inside him and dizziness making him irritable, he shouts:
- What are you doing? Are you trying to show off being a super giant?
The noise is overwhelming; Sam hurries out to the balcony to peer down the street, worried the vultures would make a fuss over the commotion. Huge, tired of life, looks gloomily at his son and yawns:
- Tsk, it's hard to change military habits. But you're stupid, we're on the twentieth floor, how could they hear anything? Go back to sleep, tired as hell.
Sam doesn't bother to reply. He is busy watching a group of tall and short people surrounding someone. That person takes a long time to pass through the forest of reporters. Sam guesses it is a visiting celebrity, a patient, or someone relying on the aura of his older brother to grab fame.
Sam no longer cares, scratches his butt, and follows his old father. The father walks ahead, the son follows behind. Both just yawn, saying nothing. Father and son pour out everything; now they need a moment of silence for themselves...
This silence will determine everything now and in the future...
Perhaps only when this world collapses can that red thread be untied...
Delusional thoughts flash through their minds and quickly fade...
Delusions are forever just delusions...
Notes
[1]Silk Old Man and the Matchmaker Goddess are two gods who manage the love story of couples according to Vietnamese culture, the similar Chinese god is the Yue Lao.
[2] Meaning is Sam cursed the sky with contempt.
[3] Meaning is in conclusion, according to Vietnamese saying.