Taeui was stunned watching Scarlet proudly show the ring to Ilay. He couldn't organise a single thought as he kept staring at it. He barely noticed Ilay shaking his shoulders or the chuckles around the room.
"The precious thing you lost was the ring?" asked Amber.
Her voice sounded so far away that it took Taeui a moment to force his head to turn to her and nod. His eyes moved to her parents, Daniel as confused as he was, and Helena holding her laughter behind her hand.
'Why is she laughing?'
Then, realisation dawned on him, and he sharply turned his head to Ilay. His expression told him what he needed to know; Ilay knew she had it all along.
His voice cracked as he uttered the words. "Since when?"
Ilay shrugged his shoulders, showing his pleasure on his lips. "The day I took them to the fair."
Helena and Kyle laughed, seeing Taeui's expression, however, Kyle had a pitying look in his eyes.
For the second time, Taeui realised something again. He had just declared he was Ilay's lover. Words tried to surface as his thoughts ran as fast as light, but his clogged-up throat didn't let him speak. He turned his head to Mr and Mrs Riegrow, his face pale, cold sweat dripping from his temples.
He didn't know how they would react or what they would say. But some ideas came to mind when he remembered they needed grandchildren. This was going all kinds of wrong, and Ilay was simply enjoying the entertainment, unbothered by what was about to unfold. Taeui's eyes were unfocused, and he couldn't properly see their expression. Perhaps that was for the best.
Taeui looked down, taking a deep breath as he remembered Ilay's advice to not overthink it and just say it. He gathered his words and, with newfound determination, he looked up again and declared.
"I'm Ilay's lover. I'm sorry I lied."
His voice broke slightly, but he was more worried about their reaction than anything else. From afar, he could hear the siblings laugh. A moment later, what greeted his ears was more laughter. Mr and Mrs Riegrow were chuckling, leaving Taeui and Daniel the only ones confused with everything.
"So you are Rick's lover," said Daniel slowly as if to confirm the truth.
"I'm sorry, dear," said Mrs Riegrow, finally calming down. "I didn't mean to laugh, but hearing you call Ilay adorable and then look so dreadful staring at us was quite funny. Your reactions are quite entertaining."
"Right?" Ilay said proudly.
Mr Riegrow nodded, still smiling, and added. "You are the only person who would call him adorable and live to tell the tale."
Taeui's mouth remained open as he tried to dissect those words. He was not expecting this type of reaction. But maybe he should have, after all, Ilay's personality didn't pop up from thin air.
"It doesn't bother you that your son is dating a man?"
Taeui needed reassurance to relax.
"It did bother me when I found out, but you turned out to be a good man," Mr Reigrow said with a gentle expression, shrugging his shoulders.
"As long as they are happy, we don't like to meddle in our children's lives. Except the grandchildren part."
Mrs Riegrow looked at him like a loving mother would look at her son. Her smile reminded him of his own mother, and he tried to smile back, but the circumstances still had him feel tense, and the heaviness he felt inside didn't seem to vanish, so his smile felt forced.
After a moment, as the chatter around the room continued, Taeui realised something once again.
"Wait... when you found out?" Taeui asked, looking at Mr Riegrow.
A long silence stretched until Mr Riegrow replied. "You didn't honestly think we didn't know, did you?"
There was nothing that Taeui could reply that wouldn't make him feel like an idiot, so he pressed his lips together and glared at Ilay.
"Oh no, he didn't tell us," said Mrs Riegrow.
"I know he didn't. But he could have told me you already knew."
"That brings me to the question I had since the moment I met you. Why him?" Helena jumped into the conversation.
'Since the moment she met me?'
"Did you find out right away? How?" Taeui asked, looking between Helena and Mrs Riegrow.
"Besides us, no one else calls him by his first name, and the matching rings were a big giveaway. Even though you stopped wearing yours right after we arrived."
Mrs Riegrow looked gently at him again, smiling. Taeui pressed his fingers to his head, taking a deep breath. Indeed, all he had done was useless and even worse, he felt bad and worried for the past two weeks for nothing. Taeui lifted his head and glared at Ilay again, who looked unfazed with a smile on his lips, while patting Scarlet's thigh as she slowly began dozing off.
"This guy is a cruel bastard, so why are you even with him?" pressed Helena for answers.
"Sometimes I wonder that myself."
Taeui took another deep breath. Now that everything was out in the open, he was more than ready to go back and catch up on sleep. For a moment, Taeui tried thinking what would have happened if Ilay had just told him his parents already knew, if things had been simpler. But there was no point thinking about 'what-ifs,' and Taeui decided not to regret his choice and move on.
"I can finally continue trying to get you pregnant."
Ilay shamelessly declared. Taeui was about to tell him to mind his words when he noticed the girls were already asleep, and Ilay was softly playing with Scarlet's hair while she slept on his lap, holding on to the ring. Then he looked at Mr and Mrs Riegrow, who looked as unbothered as their son. Helena, Daniel and Kyle had an uncomfortable expression, clearly not needing that type of information.
"Don't even think about coming into my room," Taeui said, standing up.
"Taeui..."
Ilay clicked his tongue, seeing Taeui's tired but resolute expression.
"You should have thought of that before keeping quiet about it."
Ilay glared at him but didn't speak. Before he stepped out of the room, Taeui glared back at Ilay. "If you come into my room, I will be angry."
Behind him, Taeui could hear Helena laughing and teasing her brother, but he was too tired to care. The second he got to his room, he stripped down and took a warm shower. All he needed was a good night's sleep free of worries.
The next morning, when Taeui came down for breakfast, he felt refreshed although still a bit tired. The table was lively with all the family members talking happily to each other, except for Ilay, who glared at him the second he walked in.
"From the way he looks, he didn't go into your room. Who would have thought he could listen to someone else?" Helena said when he sat down.
Taeui smiled and greeted her back. He noticed Ilay's features slightly slacking as if he hadn't had a proper night's sleep. Ilay nodded in greeting but didn't speak as he continued eating his salad with cheese and toast. Taeui stared at his plate, his expression darkening the longer he stared, and the second the same food was placed in front of him, Taeui had to turn his head to the side so he wouldn't look at it. Ilay, noticing his behaviour, quirked his brow.
"I'm not feeling hungry, that's all," Taeui said. However, the smell of the toast, cheese, tomatoes and all the rest of the food on the table mixed in his nostrils made him nauseous.
Taeui stood up after a while and excused himself. All the accumulated stress was still affecting him, and it would take a few days for it to leave his body. He went to the living room and eyed the book he still hadn't had the chance to read, but thought better of it and grabbed the newspaper instead, sitting on a sofa.