The breakfast table the next morning was so eerily silent that even with the delicious delicacies before him, Hai could barely pass them past his throat. His mother, in particular, had her hawk-like gaze boring into Hai as if one wrong move and there would be no head over his body anymore.
"It's quite a sunny day, isn't it!" Hai beamed.
Silence.
Yes, last evening had gotten beyond grim and serious than it should have, but to Hai, the stifling atmosphere was too much to take, and he naturally reverted to his cheery self.
But a lack of response turned the air even staler. With Liu Liyan's tigress-like demeanor silently sending death glares to her son, even Chunhua didn't have the courage to cross that fiery path.
Hai didn't give up and cleared his throat. "I was thinking if we should celebrate a barbecue party this weekend~ It will be so much fun!"
Silence.
Eventually, Chunhua's soft corner for her husband came gushing forth.
"Yes, it's a good idea! It's been a long time. We will invite Liling and Chen Guiren too. Ri-Right Jinhai?" She coughed and glanced at her son. "It will be fun with Jianyu."
Hai swallowed a gulp upon noticing from the corner of his eye how Liu Liyan tightly clutched her chopsticks with a deathly grip.
I think she wants to stab those in my eyes…
Jinhai was quietly eating his food when he looked up. There wasn't an explicit response from him, but he did nod his head.
"Perfect!" She shone.
Jinhai wiped his hands and then got down from his chair. "I will leave for school, Mom."
She patted his head. "Yes, have a good day at school."
Hai blurted out suddenly. "Oh, oh! Let me drop you to school. It's-"
The glint of death sentence in his mother's eyes just ramped up several notches higher.
"...on my way, so…"
Her jaw audibly clenched.
"I thought we could go…to…gether..?"
Am I getting a heart attack? He patted his chest, being unable to breathe.
"Oh," Jinhai wasn't sure what else to say. He looked to the left, perplexed.
The storm called Liu Liyan was about to hit the coast when Chunhua clapped her hands once.
"Good idea! I remember his teacher had also called for a short parents' meeting so guess you could attend that too. I-I will be busy with Jing so…" she didn't dare to meet her mother-in-law's eyes. "Go, go! You will get late otherwise."
Hai smiled at Jinhai, slightly awkward and stiff. "That okay with you?"
Jinhai's fingers clutched the handles of his school bag and he nodded once - much to Hai's relief. Before Liu Liyan could throw the plate at his face, he grabbed his son and escaped with lightning speed.
A sharp silence dropped. Chunhua quietly took a bite of her soup, lacking the tears to shed.
"I know what you are trying to do," her pointed voice cut through the air.
She stiffened.
"Which is why I am warning you as well. If Hai does anything now that worsens the situation or if he makes Jinhai any more troubled, then I will kick you both out of the house!"
Her brow twitched. "Y-Yes, Mom."
Hai, you better make this right or we will be left homeless in the streets!
—
A second version of a suffocating silence now fell in the car. Hai drove, while Jinhai was in the passenger seat, so hushed and soundless that he wondered if he was even breathing.
His fingertips tapped upon the steering wheel as his mind raced to think.
When did it become so hard to talk to your own son…?
He grinned. "Do you want to eat ice-cream?"
Jinhai blinked once. "It's morning."
"There is no wrong time to eat ice-cream."
He shook his head.
"Oh. Okay."
Hai exhaled a strained breath, now visibly sweating.
"How is school going?"
"Good."
"Did you make new friends?"
"No."
"Are you facing trouble with any subject?"
"No."
"What about sports?"
"Good."
His perfunctory and too to-the-point answers made Hai seriously contemplate whether offering this car ride was a bad idea after all.
I guess I should stop by a bookstore and get a guidebook…
He stopped at a signal, and the time pressure now made his pulse spike. The school wasn't that far.
"Oh, oh! I know! Let's skip school!" His face brightened like the sun itself.
Jinhai stared at him, confused. "Skip school?"
"Yes! Let's have some fun today~!"
"I thought children are not supposed to skip school."
"Fun is as much of a part of our life as studies!"
"I am already ready for school."
"We are still outside the school gates."
"I have an important math class today."
"You can learn that lesson later~"
"Mom will be mad."
His brow twitched. "Y-Yeah that's a valid concern. But I will take care of it! Don't worry, your mother is weak to my handsome charm hoho~"
Apparently, Jinhai's dry look clearly indicated he wasn't so impressed. He contemplated.
Hai pouted. "Bunking studies should make you feel happy."
"Math class is important."
Such a dedicated boy…
"I used to bunk all the time~" he chirped merrily.
"Grandma said you also used to come last in exams."
Mom!!! How could you disgrace me before my own child! He thought he would cry tears of blood at any moment now.
"That's because I was too lazy to study, but that didn't mean I wasn't smart! I just didn't put in the effort," he shrugged.
Jinhai tilted his head. "Why?"
Hai paused, unable to answer immediately. He glanced to the right once, then looked back.
"I was in a pissing-off contest. My failure rubbed a certain someone the wrong way. I liked when that someone got irritated, so I never studied."
"Oh."
Hai wasn't too sure how much of his vague explanation he understood.
Jinhai said after a beat of silence. "Okay. But you will handle Mom. I shouldn't get scolded."
"Or course, of course!" He nodded hard.
"But what will we do skipping school?"
He grinned. "I have just the right place."
—
"Why are you here?"
Chen Guiren stared at the father-son duo at his home's entrance, his gaze as flat as the walls.
"Good morning, Uncle," Jinhai greeted responsibly.
"Good morning, Jinhai," he smiled at him - not so much at his father.
"Moooorningggggg Guireeeeennn!!!" Hai's booming voice almost shattered his eardrums.
"Why are you here?"
"To have fun!"
"Jianyu said that you told him not to go to school today."
"It's a bunk day!" Hai looked more eager about the bunking than the two children involved themselves.
"Who declared it?"
"Yours truly!"
Hai lay bleeding and motionless on the floor the next moment.
Jinhai asked, "Is he gone?"
Chen Guiren held his shoulder and pulled him inside. "People with thick and shameless skin don't die so easily. Let us have some snacks."
"And him?" Jinhai pointed at his lifeless father.
"Let him reflect upon his actions."
