Rewritten Past

Dad noticed me on the garage pavement and tilted his head. "You're up early, Son. Training?"

"Mmhm." I nodded and started up my footwork drills again, but at half-speed. "I have big objectives to complete, so I need to put in the time."

A faint smile crossed Dad's face. "That's good." He shut the door to the house behind him and said, "If you're this diligent when you're young, the rest of your life will be easy. You can do anything you put your mind to."

*You can do anything you put your mind to. So why can't you do this?*

An echo of my past life. The same words, the same message, but with different intentions.

The Dad in this life wasn't putting any expectations on me, so those words were just an affirmation of pure possibility.

But the Dad I remembered in my past life had PLENTY of expectations. Those words, that message... it had always felt like a curse than a blessing.

Funny how such a small change could make a world of difference.

I paused my training and gave a faint smile back to Dad. "I know."

And I did know.

I learned it the hard way.

The moment I had decided that I would rather die than go back to a 9-5 job, I succeeded in content creation. You really could do anything if you devoted everything to it.

And you could never do anything you didn't put your mind to. Like my half-assed life trying to fulfill expectations instead of what my heart was screaming at me to do.

Can you tell I still had a grudge about that?

Still, that was a lifetime ago.

...Well, technically only four months ago, but this was basically new game plus, so...

Let's leave that be. I'll consider it as a 'bad ending' in this game of life and work towards the golden ending instead.

I glanced at Dad's suitcase and said, "Going to work?"

Dad nodded and started walking towards the garage, pressing the remote to open it. "Yes. Unlike most places, Public Housing doesn't stop on Christmas. But I'll be home early. Probably around noon."

"That's good. Mommy would want you here for Christmas lunch and dinner."

Dad nodded. "I know."

After those words, he headed into the garage, unlocking his car with his keys.

It seemed like the conversation was over, so I went back to training.

But before I could, Dad's voice rang out again.

"Son."

I paused and looked over. "Yes, Dad?"

He didn't turn to look at me. But as he opened the car door, he said, "...I'm proud. You'll go much further in life than I will. Keep working."

I froze, the words echoing back in my head.

*I'm proud.*

*You'll go much further in life than I will.*

*Keep working.*

I'd heard them all before. Many, many, many times in my past life.

But they had always been a command. An imperative.

Dad had been proud of the work I did, boasting about me to his peers. He had made sure I always pushed myself, never giving me a break because he saw that I had more talent than him. And he always told me to keep working- FORCED me to keep working.

They were the same words just now.

But the sentiment was different.

The Dad that I remembered had said those words to live vicariously through me.

But the Dad right now. The one who I had in this life.

He had said those words as a blessing, not a curse. Support, not command.

A blank check. A declaration that he would be watching at shore as I sailed off instead of tossing me onto a boat of his choosing.

Before I could respond, Dad had already driven off, closing the garage behind him.

I watched his car shrink into the distance and muttered, "That's not fair, Dad. If you were always able to be like this..."

'Then why did you push me so much in my past life? Why did I have to break until you saw who I was? Until you let me free?'

I bit back those words, leaving them as just quiet thoughts in my heart.

Some things were better left unsaid and unacknowledged.

What mattered was that Dad was already different from the man I remembered.

And the man I remembered would never exist.

Not now that Mama Yue, Serena, and April were involved.

Not now that I would be getting a baby sister instead of a baby brother.

Not now that I had already broken once, picked up my pieces, and was reliving my life in a way I never could have.

I let out a long, slow exhale. Then I went back to training.

'Don't think too much about it.'

With that self-command, I quietly let the resentment towards a man who no longer existed fade into dust. Because the man I knew in this lifetime was someone I could properly respect.

But I couldn't do that holding onto the shadow of someone who couldn't exist. So...

'Forget it.'

The future was a lie. The past didn't exist.

Only the here and now was real.

And the Dad here was the one who mattered.

I let my feet carry me back into the rhythm of footwork drills, allowing it to silence my thoughts.

Later.

I'll think about all of that and the implications later...

===

"Alex! Merry Christmas!" April ran up to me and pulled me into a tight hug.

I blinked and realized that I'd been training for hours already. The sun was now high in the sky, and I could hear cooking coming from the open kitchen window.

Huh. Must've been more lost in thought than I considered I'd be.

But I set that aside and relaxed, hugging April back. "It's not Christmas yet, silly. It's Christmas Eve right now. Santa hasn't even come yet."

April puffed her cheeks and said, "Christmas is Christmas!" She grabbed my arm and said, "Come on! Mommy's making cookies and fruit cake!"

"Is she now?" I smiled and let her lead me back inside. "Well, I guess we should have some fun until they're done then."

"Yeah!" April nodded and said, "Let's watch movies! The Grinch is playing!"

I chuckled and walked through the door to the house with her.

Like April said, her mom was baking cookies in the kitchen, happily humming to herself as she kneaded dough.

My mom was sitting nearby, frosting ones that had already finished and were left out to cool.

Surprisingly though, I didn't see any sign of Mama Yue. I looked over at my mom and said, "Is Mama Yue not here?"

Mom looked up from frosting a cookie and smiled. "Yuyu said she had some last minute gifts to prepare, Sweetie. She'll be back around the same time as Daddy will."

Last minute gifts?

April gasped. "WE'RE GETTING LOTS OF GIFTS?!"

Serena put a tray of cookies into the oven, starting the timer to bake them. Then she looked at April and said, "Of course you are, dear." She looked at me next and winked, saying, "Santa's bringing lots of presents this year since you two have been so good."

"YAY!" April giggled and started skipping around the hallway near the kitchen. "Presents, presents, presents~ And cookies too! Oh! We should leave out a glass of milk and cookies for Santa!"