Grandfather's Request

Yohan went to his paternal grandfather's house to visit. He brought some fruits and supplements for the old man along with him as he did not visit him like he did to his own family. He did not have the courage to do so because of his family's standing in the old man's eyes.

He could not bare to watch his family being humiliated in front of their own relatives and the socialite's inner circles. So when he was assigned abroad and whenever he had some time off, he never visited the old man.

However the old man knew that his youngest son's family had produced an outstanding young heir but he did not dared to voice out his praise because it might caught attention towards their enemies and eliminate Yohan without a second thought.

The old man knew the minds of his own children and how it worked. He hinted that he loathed Bernard and his family to spare them with the hate and inner conflicts inside their own family.

Now that his days are numbered, he hoped that Yohan will be able to fulfill his request, just this time.

When Yohan arrived at the huge ancient looking Chinese house, he directly walked towards his grandfather's bedchamber. He knew that the old man was not in his prime and was about to kick the bucket sooner but some intel were false and what he had taken was kind of something like that.

Truthfully, he never had any deep hatred towards the old man because he knew that he has his own reasons to do things like that.

He just wanted for the old man to spare his family from the drama and from the hatred from his own uncles and aunties.

Yohan gently slide the door to open it and saw his grandfather on his bed, resting. The old man knew that Yohan will be visiting him today so he made look like that he's frail and weak to the point of not getting out of bed.

"Who is it?" the old man's weak voice rang inside the bedroom.

"It's me Yohan, grandfather... How are you?" he slightly bowed and placed his gifts in the bedside table before he grabbed the stool to sit beside the bed.

"Ohh… It's you...What brings you here?" the old man sounded distant. His face not facing Yohan's instead, he stared at the landscape outside his bedroom.

"I heard that you're ill so I when I got back here from my assignment, I immediately rushed to see you." Yohan said in a respectful manner. The old man felt his filial piety and he's glad on the inside. He seemed not to detest him and did not hate him that much.

"Ohhh... I see..." the old man kept his silence after that as kept on looking on the landscape on the outside.

"Grandfather.... Mother said, you had a request for me to fulfill?" Yohan asked as it was his prime objective of visiting him also, his mother will nag at him if he will not be able to fulfill or even hear out the request of the old man.

"Yes..." the old man said and then let out a sad sigh. He was a proud general in his younger years and had gone to battles countless of time.

He had met friends and comrades during the wars and even seen some of them die.

"In my golden years, I had this one friend and had promised him something... and I know that you are the only one who can fulfill it."

"What is it grandfather?" Yohan had a bad feeling about this.

"Well, how old are you young lass?" the old man suddenly asked.

"I'm turning 26 this years grandfather..." Yohan still answered him but the bad feeling in him won't just fade away.

"Hmmm... 26... You are quite young but then, it was the time I married your grandma before and I had that best friend, his name was Jin Yun... We both promised to betroth our future grandchildren. It was an old promise and I learned that my friend had already passed away five years ago..." the old man started to tell his tale.

"What does it have to do with me, grandfather?" Yohan gulped down his saliva because of nervousness. He knew where it will end and then, Jin?

How is that friend of him related to that crazy woman?

No.... No... This can't be right, right?

"I had that verbal agreement with him that if I had a grandchild which is a boy, I will marry him to his family and if I have that grandchild of a girl, then he will marry his grandchild of a boy to mine. Now that you are man, I have to fulfill our agreement or else I will not die in piece..." the old man said with a frail and weak sounding voice especially when he said the last part.

Yohan nearly fell off from the chair as he looked at his grandfather incredulously.

'What a sly old man!!!'