Chapter 35 : Early morning surprise
"Fck!! Fck!!"
Great Just the thing i needed to conclude this day ,me accidentally sneaking up on my own parents making out. His face twisted in a mix of disgust, regret, and second-hand embarrassment. He wanted no, needed to erase the last five minutes of his life. But unfortunately, he now had an upgraded memory thanks to the three stat points he recently dumped into Intelligence, raising it from 22 to 25. A slightly sharper memory was not a gift tonight it was a curse.
"Great... Now I’ll remember that for a long while, im sure ," he muttered, voice dry, as he leaned against the outer wall, still outside the house. There was absolutely no way he was going to walk back in right away. He needed to give it time. Let the shame air out.
Eiden stayed outside for the next ten minutes, eyes glued to his phone as he desperately tried to distract himself from the traumatic visuals now permanently burned into his retinas. Eventually, he decided it was time to go in. But not quietly. No, this time he wanted them to hear him.
He opened the front gate with enough force to make it rattle. His footsteps weren’t mere walking they were stomps, deliberately heavy as if he were trying to summon a demon from the ground. He swung the front door open with flair, letting the hinges creak in protest.
"Yeah, yeah. I’m home," he mumbled with exaggerated volume, hoping that if his parents were still doing that, they’d at least retreat in horror. But as he entered, he saw no one in the living room. No giggles, no rustling, no moans of forbidden midlife passion. Just silence.
He exhaled in relief. "Good. They heard me."
Eiden marched straight to his room. As he collapsed into his study chair, the brief comfort of relief wore off, and his brain, traitorous as ever, began reflecting.
"Sh*t! Again?!"
He clenched his teeth and smacked his forehead. But as much as he wanted to forget, another thought crawled into his mind. Why? Why is Mom not saying anything? She clearly saw him cheating with Mika. There’s no way she didn’t. But instead of being angry, filing for divorce, or even confronting Dad, she was... showing him affection? Smiling like nothing happened?
"Is she pretending for the sake of the family?" he whispered to himself. "Or is it because she still loves him, and she’s trying to protect the marriage?" Eiden sighed deeply. "I get it... kinda. But still how is she able to act like nothing happened? Is that how love works after years of being together? Or is it just survival instinct after building a life together?"