"Ooh. Pasta and meatballs. Smells delicious."
Fen sat down at the kitchen table, more than ready to enjoy the Italian cuisine his mother had prepared for his family. The rest of his family was already sitting down and eating by the time he arrived, too busy eating to acknowledge his late appearance.
Dad popped some bread and butter in his mouth before speaking, crumbs flying everywhere, "So how'd it go?"
A glint of an unknown emotion flashed in Fen's eyes before quickly disappearing. He munched on his food for a few moments, choosing his words carefully. "How'd what go?"
He decided to play clueless as revenge for being abandoned to call his girlfriend all alone. 'Well, it might have been awkward with Dad there but still, who leaves their son like that?! At least have the shame to apologize or something...'
His sister Alex was already keyed into the situation and personally knew Miko and her personality, and so made the strategic decision of avoiding the conversation so as to not risk his terrifying girlfriend's anger. Miko had her ways to find stuff out certain information using her information channels, so it was impossible that she wouldn't eventually hear about what was about to happen.
Fen's mother however wasn't aware of what happened between Fen and his father and so entered the conversation. Thankfully, she must have forgotten about her fake anger after seeing Fen actually working in his room, even if he just did it out of boredom.
"Did something happen?"
"Oh nothing, just that we nearly lost our dear first born! If not for my quick intervention, then we truly would be left to plan a funeral!" Dad took advantage of his lapse in reaction time to quickly establish his version of the story.
'Bullshit!' Fen thought to himself, incredulous at how ruthless his father was.
His dad jumped on the opportunity given by his beloved wife, quite literally, as he jumped out of his seat and started preaching his good deeds. "You see, our dear Fen was with another girl! Not intentionally of course, but he still didn't see the need to tell Miko, so I, as gracious and kind as I am, urgently reminded him!"
Fen fired back. "It sure didn't look like that from my angle."
Snorting, he continued, "What I saw was my own father, sweating buckets, his face pale with terror-" Not wanting to be outdone Fen also jumped out of his chair. Pointing at his father, he started his planned out rant.
"In my time of need, he abandoned me! Leaving me alone! He was so afraid that he ran straight out of my room, sacrificing his own child. Don't let his claims of graciousness fool you! This man is a coward!"
"OKAY!!" The table clattered again as his sister joined their shenanigans.
His little sister didn't want to be left out apparently. She stood in a ridiculous pose and pointed her fingers at both Fen and his dad. Unfortunately, she jumped where the bread and butter was, making a big mess. Fen and his dad immediately stopped messing around and froze in place.
They could feel it, the barely perceptible anger that was warping the room's temperature. Fen creaked his head, making small, quick movements that mimicked a terrified bird so not be noticed. Slowly, his mom's face came into view. Her hair covered her eyes with small veins popping on her neck and forehead.
Alex was the first victim. She didn't notice that she went past the line and was staring at the statue-like Fen and Dad wondering what was happening with a innocent expression on her face.
Then, like a snake, his mom struck and grabbed her. Not giving her time to scream, she threw her outside demonstrating her monster- ahem, mother like strength. And monstrous it was; Alex went flying out the back of house from his mother's inhuman strength.
"Go grab the mop and clean what you did!" She screamed like a rabid animal, her bellow making them flinch. At the sudden movement, as if they had escaped her notice before, his mom reached over and grabbed both of their ears. She started bellowing in rage.
"And you two! You caused it! You and your shenanigans! One dinner! Just one! Is one dinner where you two aren't acting violently like you're the center of the world impossible?! I worked hard on that food!"
"But you're the violent one.…"
"Ah!? You think you're in a position to disagree with me?!"
His dad escalated the situation with his mumbling; his ear would be cursing his name and ancestors for a while. Mom continued to twist his ear in her death grip.
"M-M-Mom?"
"What?"
She snapped at him, closing her mouth as she saw him open his arms in a lovable pose. Dad gaped his mouth in disbelief at the betrayal. He was in denial and then disappointed that his son chose the morally degrading option in order to escape his mother's anger. But he was also secretly envious that he was able to think of it before he could. When Mom wasn't looking, Fen shrugged, communicating if you can't beat them, join them.
Fen almost regretted his decision when he was locked in his mom's embrace. He thought about resisting, but knew that the alternative would be worse than this. So he endured. With determination and will, he survived the hug.
His dad sputtered, "Y-You! Traitor!"
A small ring sounded in the room as his mom 'quieted' Dad with one of the unfortunate pans in the kitchen.
"Shhh, honey, let him sleep."
Or, at least, Fen thought he survived. As it turned out, he passed out. That was a fact he discovered later when he woke up in his bed wearing a giant t-shirt and underwear.
'Did....Did she change me?!' The youth nearly passed out from the embarrassment. 17 years old and stuff like this still happened. However, he remembered that it now the weekend (He was knocked unconscious Friday night and woke up just in time for the morning) and didn't want to waste the gifted time that Saturday gave him. So, he watched tv for a couple hours in his room after exercising. After only going downstairs to eat with his family, Fen basically became a live-in ghost for a period of time.
It was only when the sun began to set that Fen showed movement resembling a functioning member of society. He showered, got dressed, brushed his teeth, and even combed his unruly long brown hair. When he looked presentable, he went downstairs and ran into his sister:
"Eh? Why are you dressed up?"
Fen smirked and ruffled the top of Alex's hair, messing it up. Of course, that came with consequence in the form of a jab to the stomach.
"Eugh!" He coughed.
"Ahem. Well, if you have to ask, I am on my way to a date. Oh wait, sorry, is that insensitive of me? You don't have a boyfriend yet, right?" Fen covered his vital areas as he purposefully pointed out one of Alex's sore spots.
'Of course she doesn't have a boyfriend. I 'took care' of all the candidates.' He chuckled at his inner genius.
Alex had a suspicion of why all the boys in her class never took interest in her, but never had any solid evidence that would allow her to convict Fen. However, mentioning it outright still hurt her pride as a young woman.
So, she defended her pride as any woman would. Another jab in the stomach made Fen double over in pain.
"Euk!" It was much harder and aggressive than the first one, so even after protecting himself using his muscled arms the blow still hurt.
"Why the same spot you heartless woman?!" Fen groaned in the direction that Alex ran off to after delivering her shameless blow.
After enduring and standing up despite the growing pain in his abdomen, Fen still managed to stagger out the door. Not to take the car, but to walk towards his date. Inside all the bravado and confidence was a desire to protect the environment. Not for any particular care or love towards nature, but because Miko liked nature walks. Wasn't he a caring boyfriend?
Such was the extent of his love for his girlfriend, to advocate for climate change just so his precious girlfriend could remain content.
After taking the bus (Public transportation didn't count as climate-danger in Fen's mind) he waited on a bench next to a popular movie theatre for his beloved date to arrive. He confirmed that Miko was on her way and proceeded to play games on his phone.
"Guess who?" A playful voice whispered into his ear as a pair of small and delicate hands covered his eyes. Fen caught the familiar fragrance of Miko as she leaned over him.
"Uhh, would you be my favorite girlfriend, Jasmine?"
She smacked him.
"Damn, sorry, great to see you again Erica!"
She smacked him again, harder this time.
"Ahh! I'm sorry, forgive me Miko! I was just joking!" After being hit twice, Fen decided to stop risking death and kneeled down in front of her.
"Hmph. Yeah. Sure. Let's go watch a movie then." A disinterested voice that didn't match the smile on her lips spread out across her lips.
Seeing the smile made a similar one pop across Fen's face and he pulled her back from walking away. For some reason, she found his oftentimes twisted sense of humor funny, which was great, because he could be himself around her.
"You think you can walk away without me getting my kiss?" Fen pulled Miko in close, lightly pressing his lips against hers, holding her so she couldn't escape. And she did try to escape, feigning anger and lightly pushing on his chest. After a few seconds however, she stopped and let herself lean more into the kiss.
"So? Still angry at me?" A little grin appeared on Fen's flushed face, his brown eyes almost glowing in the nighttime lights.
"Ugh, you know I'm weak to your kisses you bastard." Unlike her words, her face was honest. A smile that was being forced into a calm countenance was caught by Fen's trained eyesight.
He loved seeing her face. She had pretty pale skin and a mouth that was very quick to smile, or crease into a thin line whenever she was angry. Though, Fen thought her angry face was as cute as it was scary...
"I know you love me."
Fen firmly placed his head and shoulders on top of Miko, wrapping his arms around her stomach from behind after pushing away her long black hair away from his face.
"Now guide me, my lovely girlfriend. To the theater!"
"Fine! But you'll carry me back home!"
Two hours passed, then the couple exited the theater, still glued to each other but in opposite positions. Now, Miko was being carried on top of Fen, piggy back style. If Fen was an honest man, he would've admitted to being slightly embarrassed about the pose, but he wasn't. At least not to anyone who wasn't his family or Miko. And Miko's laughter made the embarrassment worth it, so he didn't mind it that much anyways.
Although Fen did have friends, he was content with his family and girlfriend, and he couldn't say that he felt particularly close to any of them.
The young couple made light conversation, not really speaking. Instead, they enjoyed the warmth that each other created. Sometimes, it was more pleasant to simply be with each other and not do anything.
A large man bumped into Fen, interrupting the romantic atmosphere they had corrupted.
"Oh sorry, my bad!" Fen flashed an apologetic smile at the man he bumped into, but the well-built man was already walking away by the time he turned around. Strangely, a weird aroma was surrounding him at the moment, and Fen wrinkled his nose at the smell. He thought it was from the perfume or cologne the man was wearing, and probably rubbed off onto him during the collision.
"Oww~" Apparently, in the collision, the precious cargo Fen was carrying was slightly jostled. Wincing as he knew he might receive an earful of complaints later, he checked the status of the cargo.
'That guy was rude too. He could have at least acknowledged me, y'know? Eh whatever, got to transport my important cargo.' He continued on his way after hoisting Miko to her original place after she got jostled by the tall man.
Staying in that position, Fen walked, or rather, carried his girlfriend to a nearby street where her mom waited to pick her up. Seeing a woman with pretty features that resembled his Miko, he came to a stop.
He set Miko down onto the pavement.
"Alright, here's your stop. I hope you enjoyed your ride on the Fen-Taxi~"
"Thank you for the service. Here's your payment!" Miko kissed him, giggling before stepping into her mother's car. Fen was quite proud to see that her mom had a grin while waiting for her daughter; it was the boyfriend's duty to appease their partner's parents. Waving goodbye, Fen kept a stupid smile on his face as he got onto the bus.
Snapping himself out his delirium, he stepped out of the bus near his house.
The same, white house had lights on that he could see from the outside.
'Someone turned on the light inside of his room, I assume it was Alex. Probably using my work out equipment? She does that sometimes.' He was still delirious from his date, so his mind had yet to start working properly.
Unlocking the door with his key, he stepped inside the house and took off his shoes.
"Mom, Dad! I'm home!" He grabbed his shoes and was about to place them on a rack before he froze.
On the rack was another pair of shoes. A guy's shoes. A pair of blue, men's 11 size sneakers.
Just like the calm before the storm, his usually energetic eyes accompanied with a charming smile meant for his family disappeared, replaced by a fierce expression. His happy energy was replaced by a cold anger, which was barely held back by his reason.
'Oh hoh. So, a boy's here?'
"Ha." As if he would let that happen. Fen pushed his hair back up, and was about to run to his sister's room when she herself came down the stairs.
Alex flinched in surprise and not a small amount of fear. The two stood like that for a while before she broke the silence.
"H-hello? What are you doing here?"