Renzo's POV –
(Age: 16. Status: School's it-boy. Problem: I have the clingiest, scariest, best family on Earth.)
Okay. Real talk?
My life's kind of insane.
I'm sixteen, top of my class, captain of the soccer team, people at school call me "Ash" like I'm in some anime.
I'm smart, athletic, popular, and totally inherited my dad's terrifying vibe.
But all that doesn't matter because the second I step off the field, dripping sweat, high from the win, the loudest voice in the stadium goes—
"MY BABYYYYY!!"
And then?
She runs.
Sky Wang . My mother. My menace. My biggest fan and also my #1 hater whenever I forget to drink water.
She jumps on me like she's five-foot-tall chaos incarnate. Kisses my forehead, both cheeks, my chin, then pulls out a water bottle labeled "Renzo Boo <3".
And my entire team stares.
"Mom," I groan every time. "Please."
But I can't lie.
I'd rather die than not see her in the stands.
---
And then there's my dad. Rain.
Yeah, Rain.
The former "Ghost Emperor." The silent, brooding, sharp-eyed legend.
Now?
He's still silent and brooding, but also the guy who makes my lunch before school and lowkey threatens anyone who looks at me the wrong way. He's not soft—but he's mine. Always has been.
I try to walk like him. I talk like him.
But I think I feel like Mom.
Explains a lot.
---
Then there's Ren.
Uncle Ren, but not really. He's like... my second dad. My favorite person to watch movies with. The guy who knows exactly when to bring ice cream or sneak me out to the arcade.
I once called him "Uncle Buff Bunny" after I found a picture of him holding a pink bunny plush from when he was 18.
He didn't even get mad. Just told me not to tell Rain.
I told Rain anyway. Rain smirked and said, "He still sleeps with it."
Ren chased me for two hours after that.
---
But look. Let me say this straight:
They're idiots.
Loud, dramatic, terrifyingly overprotective idiots.
But they're mine.
I've seen the way Dad looks at Mom like she still holds the sun.
I've seen how Uncle Ren smiles when Mom drags him shopping, like he's just glad to be there.
I've heard the stories. The past. The darkness. The blood.
But I live in the light they built out of it.
And I'll protect it.
All of it.
---
Even if Mom still calls me "baby" in front of my girlfriend.
Even if Dad silently watches the guy walking me home and sharpens a knife for fun.
Even if Uncle Ren drops me to school shirtless after the gym and causes a traffic jam.
I love them.
Desperately.
Proudly.
Stupidly.
And every time I step onto that field, into that exam hall, or even just into the kitchen where Mom's burning pancakes again…
Tangled to them. Always.