In the dark, his phone started beeping loudly.
Lee Tanaka groaned while trying to bury his head under his warm comfortable blanket. Winter in London was a bitch, especially in early mornings. His hand reached out to his phone that he was sure he had put by the bedside table. He wanted to snooze it --
-- just 15 minutes more sleep would be great.
Then his hazy brain realized that the beeping sound was actually not his phone's alarm. But an incoming call.
He grabbed his phone and was going to blast a new one at the person who dared to call him when it's still dark outside... .
The screen showed "Dad".
Yawning, Lee pressed the green icon on his phone to answer the call while curling his body into a shrimp, burrowing himself more inside his blanket.
"Hello?" he spoke with his coarse sleepy voice.
"Lee? Video call!", a male voice in Japanese was heard from the other line.
"Urghhh", he groaned, "I understand. Wait up." he also answered in Japanese out of habit.
With a deep breath to gather all the warmth inside his body, he sat and leaned his body against the bedhead. He blinked a few times to soothe his dry eyes, then he turned on a bedlamp on the sidetable.
He pressed on the videocall button.
"Hi dad," He yawned while still not looking properly on the video screen.
"Happy Birthday, Lee," His father's face gradually came into view after he managed to finally focus his sight.
Lee grinned -- only to soon winced when he suddenly heard a bellowing soprano female voice from the background, a few steps behind his dad.
[Lovebirds resting as a couple, butterflies dancing in pairs;
intoxicated in a garden filled with the beauty of spring]
His mom came into view, swayed her petite frame then shamelessly wrapped her arms around his father's neck.
His father had a stoic expression, though Lee could clearly see the mirth in his eyes.
[I whisper to the monk behind his ears;
Am I pretty as you like, my beloved?]
Then she went full opera with her singing,
[Say, what is wealth, what is prosperity?
Why care about strict Buddhist rules?
Just wishing to be eternal, like the universe;]
Lee held his phone away from him at arm's length distance, while he groaned and covered his face with his other palm. His mom still continued after pecking his father on his cheeks.
"Oh, mom... ." He muttered, now fully closing his eyes in mock disgust.
[Being close to my lover,
Loving that person,
Loving that person,
May we always be together forever in this lifetime.] (1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THWCiOz_Q28
(the song)
After his mother finished her trademark song, Lee finally dared to open his eyes again. Her mother giggled while his dad just gave his son a helpless look.
His dad coughed, "I'll let your mother talk to you."
Then he left the phone, out of view -- Lee swore he saw the back of his dad's ears were red.
His mother was still giggling happily like a young maiden when her bright smiling face came into view,
"Really. So many years together. He is still so stiff. Like a monk," she laughed at her husband's retreating figure and spoke in Chinese, "How fitting."
"Mooommmm~~!" Lee rolled his eyes.
"Oh, that's right," she turned to smiled at him, "Happy 26th birthday, my baby!"
26 years old, and this woman still called him a baby.
Lee smiled and stretched his legs. He changed his conversational language to Chinese when speaking to his mother,
"What time is it in Fujikawa?"
"It's mid-day here." His mom gestured to the brightly sunlit room behind her.
Lee yawned again, "Seriously, Mom. With the way you have been teasing Dad, it's a wonder you both only have two children."
The woman snorted indignantly, "You brat! Kids are expensive. How much do you think your and your older brother's education costed me?"
Lee gave her a sheepish grin.
"One is a lawyer, the other is a medical practitioner... . Why couldn't you both choose a cheaper University degree?," she grumbled.
"I love you, Mom," he blew a kiss at her. The older woman smiled at his mischievous guilty expression.
His parents had moved back to Japan years ago -- to Fujikawa in Yamanashi perfecture. It was his father's birth place in which his father had lived until his teen years before interning in China when his father finally met his mom.
Then they migrated to UK, worked and made a small fortune, gave birth to two children and sent them both to higher educations that he and his brother were interested in.
"Doesn't matter how difficult it is," his mom once said when his brother said that he wanted to be a doctor; then himself later a law practitioner, "If you both want it, just go for it. Your brains are your own and that is the most difficult part. As for money, your dad and I have enough to support you both."
And so his brother and he did use their brains - they both graduated at the top of their classes.
Lee was now a rising star lawyer at a boutique law firm at downtown London. His salary was more than enough for his living and leisure; and even if their parents did not work anymore for the rest of their lives, he could support them - though he knew his parents would not let him do it.
So what he had done together with his brother was to set up a trust fund under their parents' names and constantly put money into it. Whenever their parents wanted to retire, even at this very moment, they could.
His mom always looked proud when she told her children - both Lee and his older brother - the tale of her courting their Japanese father.
That's right. She courted him. Until his dad practically threw in the towel.
His dad was always a stoic expressionless man. His mom dubbed him a "monk", so the song was her favourite. It was her arsenal when she chased after him in her younger years.
Lee thought they were a perfect pair, though.
After he said goodbye to his mom, he stepped off his bed and walked into the bathroom to have a hot shower. He still carried his phone - in this day and age, a phone was like a girlfriend, never leaving his side.
No point getting back to sleep as he had to get ready to work soon.
His phone beeped - signalling an incoming WA message. While still walking, Lee opened his whatsapp to look at the message; smiled, and typed in his reply.
Then he put his phone in an empty small basket for dirty clothes on a small table in front of his bathroom.