The Assassin's Enemy Lover

42 Kissing a frog in the dark

Yi Chen took the napkin and wiped Ming Ming’s tears while coaxing the little girl. “No one will be kissing frogs. Yuoxi is just being silly,” he said before placing more pieces of meat in her bowl.

Like a hungry hyena, she stopped crying and ate fast while wiping her eyes. She was afraid her mother would tell Yi Chen to take back the meat so she gobbled it up before Lin Ruoxi could stop her. She was the kind of child who would eat meat only and not the rest which is why Lin Ruoxi was strict with her. Unfortunately, today she was destined to fail.

“What’s the hurry? I am certain he will get to meet a lovely girl in the military,” said the Marshal but his mind was still on Yi Youxi. He really needed to spend more time with him otherwise his son’s mind might keep twisting in the wrong direction.

“Oh hell no. Uh-uh, not happening. Those girls are tough as steel. Look at him, he would get bossed around by them,” she said making Yi Chen feel a little offended. What part of him screamed soft persimmon?

“No, he won’t. He is as tough as.....,” he said only for him to swallow down the last of his words. That’s because his wife was staring at him.

It wasn’t a terrifying stare but it had his last resolve melting like ice under the hot summer sun. It seemed a girl’s ability to boss around her future husband had nothing to do with whether they were in the military or not. She never enlisted but she had the Marshal wrapped around her finger.

“Besides, what if you do find a military girl and the both of you get deployed into different platoons? You won’t see each other then what’s the point?” she said but that was only helping Yi Chen make his case. He had no time for this nonsense. He wanted to exclaim, “Exactly!” but of course, he didn’t say it out loud.

“You don’t have to start a relationship. It will be like casting a net into the sea. Who knows who might catch your attention. Since you aren’t as comfortable about it, I and the girls can arrange a single’s day out.”

“All you need to do is show up and be nice. If anyone catches your eye you can tell me? Oh and do tell me immediately because your auntie is also looking for someone for your cousin,” she said without even catching a breath.

.....

Anything after ‘relationship’ Yi Chen didn’t hear it. He was busy thinking of a way to foil it. He knew mums who had kids enlisting in the military thought the same way. They wanted their kids to find someone before enlisting as anything could happen but.... he just wasn’t ready.

“Okay mum..... just don’t have high expectations,” he said before continuing to eat his meal that basically tasted like sand at this point.

Lin Ruoxi was dissatisfied by the expectations comment but she shut her mouth. At least he was willing to try. She could consider this dinner a success.

Meanwhile, Zi Han was regretting everything. He didn’t like what he saw in the mirror but that wasn’t the thing bothering him the most.

What was upsetting him was the fact that his mother while washing his hair suddenly told him that he was going to stay with his grandfather which he didn’t expect.

It’s not like he didn’t want to stay with his grandfather. It’s that all his life he had stayed with his mother. Everything about his life revolved around her and now that was coming to an end.

He didn’t think them coming here meant he would be separating from his mother. If he had known he might have refused to move. His eyes stung as he ran his fingers through his hair but no matter how much he messed around with his strands the heaviness in his chest didn’t dissipate.

Zi Xingxi who had just left to raid her father’s room for a hair clipper entered the room only for her to see her son’s reflection in the mirror. He looked like he was on the brink of tears which made her heart twist painfully.

It’s not that she hadn’t considered running off with him. She had but she also knew her father was right. She wanted her son to have a normal life.

Zi Xingxi didn’t want him to disguise himself as someone else just to take a trip to the mall. At least he should live a regular life and go to college or something.

If in the future he still wants to join her then no one can stop him. She knew her husband would have wanted that too.

Thus she could only comfort herself and let her baby go. In slow strides, she walked over and ruffled his hair while saying, “Don’t worry so much. I will come home more often than you think. It will be Iike I never left.”

Her words were comforting but Zi Han couldn’t accept them easily. His head lowered he mumbled, “It’s not the same. I want to go with you.”

Zi Xingxi sighed as she put a bath towel around him so she could cut his hair. She placed both her hands on either of Zi Han’s shoulders before saying, “Your grandfather is right. If you come with me you won’t have a chance at a normal life again so... just stay here and you two can also get to bond.”

Zi Han wanted to say his life was never normal from the start but he was afraid he would cry if he opens his mouth. “Now don’t make a fuss otherwise I will give you a bowl cut,” she said as she looked at him in the mirror.

With the thought of his days of having an ugly bowl cut Zi Han couldn’t help but snicker. “Pfft.... That cut was so ugly,” he said before a snicker turned into a chuckle and a chuckle turned into laughter and laughter into tears. As though affected by Zi Han’s emotions, Zi Xingxi began to laugh-cry as well. She seemed fine and she said she was fine but she wasn’t. She wanted to stay with her baby forever.

During this heartbreaking emotional scene, Zi Xingxi who now had the hair clippers in her hand accidentally shaved off the side of Zi Han’s hair.

Bzzzzz

That loud buzzing sound had the two falling into silence as they stared at the bald spot all wide-eyed.

“Fuck!” swore Zi Xingxi

Author’s Note: Guess who is getting a tapered cut?