"Sweet dreams"

"I'm back." Father replied. His eyes softened as he looked at me.

He removed his high-class leather shoes and walked in. As both of us were walking up the staircase and towards the master bedroom, Father asked, "So how was the first day of school?"

"It was fine." Except for a certain someone being extremely annoying.

As he entered the master bedroom, he started undressing. I went along to help him, removing his blazer and unbottoning his shirt. It was then that I noticed there was a slight crimson-colored stain on his shirt.

"It's probably from a nosebleed." I thought.

Father removed his dress pants on his own and gave them to me. I headed to the bathroom and threw all the clothes in the laundry basket. When I returned to the master bedroom, Father had already put on a t-shirt and lounge pants.

I followed him down towards the living room and we both sat down on the sofa. Father turned on the TV and switched to the news channel.

As the news was playing in the background, I started conversing with him.

"How was your work trip, father?" I asked in a monotone voice.

"Mhm... Same old same old." He tilted his head and looked at me, giving a slight smile. "I have another work trip coming up though."

"When?"

"On Sunday."

I nodded at him. We both continued to watch the news for another 15 minutes. Then, Father went to the study room and I returned to my own room.

************************

At 11pm, I decided to go to sleep. I changed into my pyjamas and headed to bed. After tossing and turning for quite a long time, I was still unable to fall asleep. I stared at the ceiling.

After a while, I got up, took my pillow and headed towards the master bedroom. I can hear the sound of the shower running. I sat beside the King-sized bed located at the left of the master bedroom and waited for my father to come out.

The sound of dripping water stopped. After a few minutes, Father came out. He was completely naked, only wearing a towel to cover his pelvic area. I stared indifferently as a water droplet fell from his neck down towards his chest. There was a long diagonal scar running from the bottom right corner of his upper left. The water droplet continued dripping down. One can see two small circular bullet scars on the right lumbar region of his well-defined abdomen.

"I can't sleep." I told my father in a soft voice.

Father's soft eyes stared at me for a while.

"Wait a minute." He went into the closet and wore a boxer brief. He returned to the master bedroom after throwing his towel in the laundry basket.

Father climbed onto the King-sized bed and motioned for me to come over.

I headed towards him, leaning my head close to his chest. I curled my body up right next to Father and started falling asleep. The steady beat of my father's heart became my lullaby.

Father wrapped his arms around me. "Sweet dreams." He whispered in my ear.

*************************

The next day, I had to wake up earlier since I need to make breakfast for both my father and myself. I also need to prepare my lunchbox.

I naturally woke up at 7am to find that Father was already gone.

"He probably went to the study." I thought.

I went down to the kitchen and grabbed myself a glass of water before starting to cook.

After I finished cooking, I walked up the stairs and approached the study room door.

I knocked on the door.

"Father, breakfast is ready." I called out.

After waiting for a while, Father finally replied, "Coming."

I wanted to go into the study to find him but the door was locked with a 6-digit passcode. I shrugged and went down to the dining room.

Father arrived after waiting for a few minutes. We sat opposite to each other.

************************

The breakfast was a peaceful one. Neither of us like talking much, so there were only the clanking sounds of the moving metal cutleries. However, this gave me a more serene and homely feel than yesterday, making me feel more relaxed.

After we both finished our breakfast, Father headed back to the study room while I washed the dishes. Then, I went out and took a jog around the block. Finally, I returned home, took a shower and changed to my uniform. It was 8:30am by the time I was done with everything, and as usual, a person punctually arrived in front of the front door.

"G-" Leo wanted to speak but I immediately put my palm against his mouth.

"Don't say anything stupid. My father can hear us." I urged in a threatening tone.

"But I just wanted to say good morning." Leo whined.

"Oh, you're here Leo." A deep masculine voice resounded behind my back. Its tone was not overbearing, but quite gentle like the calm wind.

I tilted my head back and saw my father waking down the staircase.

"Yes, Uncle. We're heading off to school now!"

"Ok. Becareful on the road, and please take care of Hunter." My father smiled.

"I certainly will." Leo winked mischievously at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Bye Father."

"Bye son." Father closed the front door shortly afterwards.

******************

As we walked to school, I couldn't help but see that the trees are turning red, signalling the arrival of autumn. As the wind blew, many leaves were swept away, making a wonderful scenery.

Leo, as clingy as always, wrapped his arms around mine again. I wanted to get him off, but I didn't know what came over him, he wrapped his arms tightly and didn't let go. I furrowed my brows.

"Would you get off me?" I asked in a dissatisfied voice.

"Hm.....?" He stared at me innocently, pretending to not understand what I was saying.

I wanted to say something but was interrupted when someone ran over towards us.

"Hey, Leo! Hunter!" A girl wearing our school uniform ran over, waving her hands at us. She had straight long hair reaching down to her shoulders, and contained a charming smile. Yes, she was more charming than beautiful as her behavior and slight habits did not even contain any sort of femininity. One can say straight out that she is a tomboy.

Desperately trying to catch up to her while panting was a boy with a short and skinny stature. His facial features were average compared to a certain vixen clinging on to me right now.

"Rebecca! James!" Leo yelled. He ran towards Rebecca and gave her a huge hug.

Meanwhile, "Hah! Hah! I'm dying.... why do you always run so fast?" James was gasping for air. He grabbed his knees and tried to breathe in as much oxygen as he could. Leo also wanted to hug James as well, but James stopped him as he was still panting.

"Aren't you going to come for a hug as well?" Rebecca asked teasingly.

I shook my head and started walking towards the school ahead of everyone else.

"Tch! What a buzzkill." Rebecca joked.

"Don't mind him." Leo said.

Rebecca started walking side by side with Leo behind me, with James trailing at the end.

"So, why didn't you guys come to school yesterday?" Leo asked in a curious tone.

"I just came back from a month-long vacation to Europe." Rebecca replied.

Leo and Rebecca started chatting enthusiastically. As they talked, I tilted my head back, listening to their conversations. James wanted to join in from time to time, but his voice was always cancelled out by Leo and Rebecca. He gave up at the end.

I walked back in a slower place, allowing Leo and Rebecca to overtake me, and walked side by side with James.

"So, how was your summer vacation."

"It was good." He answered politely. James and I started to have our own conversations, but our voices were much smaller and less interactive than Leo and Rebecca's.

**********************

As we arrived at school, I slightly hoped that Leo will continue hanging around with Rebecca, but reality often disappoints you. Leo stared at James and I, pouting. He immediately separated James and I and started clinging on to me again.

"Hunter, you can't cheat on me with other guys." Leo said.

"It's just James." I replied. "Stop being mean to him. We were just having a conversation."

"No. You are only allowed to look at me."

I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. James was obviously just a friend but Leo was still eating vinegar when he saw us together.