Title: Love Becomes You
Author: sereace
Warnings: Unconventional pairing, unrequited love…Please, I beg of you, if you can't picture anyone else but the original pairings together, don't read this anymore, then go on and flame me. Or, if you do flame me, at least be responsible about it. CCs are most welcome.
Notes: Timeline: When Lei went to Japan the first time in the Meteor Garden 1 series. Supposes that Lei is in good terms with his parents.
He closed the folder with a flourish, a small, almost undetectable smile on his face, before reaching for the cup of hot, steaming, Japanese green tea. It was his eleventh cup on the seventh inch-thick folder he had assigned himself to go over for the three hours he had given himself, and frankly, even if he missed this mixture enough to give up a limb or two when he was in Taiwan, he was ready for a change. Today was definitely one of the days when he felt it unfortunate that the people around him would wait on their hands and feet just to give him what he liked.
Or what they thought he liked, at least. 'I'd bet half a hundred million dollars if they knew how I am yearning for a bottle of beer they'd wrestle with each other who would have the privilege, if it can be called as such, buying it.' A visual of a dozen or so people stepping over each other as they turn the whole town of Tokyo upside down for the most expensive, rarest bottle of beer danced across his mind, and he almost laughed out loud.
Almost.
He snuck a peek at the corner of his eyes at the figure of his father, who was currently hunched over his personal laptop, a glass of red wine within his reach.
He wanted to do nothing but reach out, grab the glass, and drink the wine. But he knew that even the slightest flinch from his would not pass his father's attention, he just glared at his current object of desire. What was his father thinking when he declared the law that no employee of his would drink spirits during office hours? And that it is applicable to anyone else but him? 'It's unfair. It does not mean that since he's President of the entire family business, he can do anything he wants. I mean, I'm his son! I can do anything I want, too! And I want that glass of wine.' Then he noticed that the center of his attention is being raised up, up, up, until his peripheral vision met his father's face, and the rim of the glass met his father's lips, his mouth open, his throat making the notions that the wine was passing…
"You're distracted."
He was pulled out from his reverie, which was to pounce his father and demand him to spit the wine out and let him drink the rest of the glass, with the soft yet firm voice he knew only too well.
"No, I am not." He chose to answer, even though he knew it was of no use. Once his father says something, it was always a fact. Always.
"You're one second late from finishing going over the reports, Lei. Don't give me that crap." There was a pause, before he raised his face to meet the eyes of his son. "Besides, you know I'm never wrong."
Hua Ze Lei snorted, or as much a snort he could produce, if he was capable of it. "Do you even keep the timetable on how fast I do my math?"
"What makes you think so?!" Was the incredulous reply. But his father was grinning.
Lei mockingly rolled his eyes.
"Hua Ze Lei! You dare roll your eyes at your own father? What makes you think I keep a timetable on his fast you do your just your math? That's preposterous!"
Lei just sat there, waiting for the next barrage of words. He knew his father was far from finished.
"Of course I don't do so! Not just your math! But also your reading! Your analysis skills! Your reaction time! Your chemistry!" His father stood up, and strode towards the bar situated at the corner of the office that looked like a suite, his glass on his left hand, and he reached for the bottle of red wine propped on the table. "By the way, I noticed that you're a little off with your chemistry lately. And you've never been off with your chemistry." A pause as he refilled his glass, and Lei was wishing desperately he could do the same. "Not even when Jing left for France."
Lei's head snapped up to search his father's face, only to find him facing one of the offices' windows.
"Don't act so surprised, Lei. You know how your mother insists on this…arrangement."
Lei sighed, defeated. He drank the rest of the contents of the cup, before rising from the leather-covered chair and joining his father.
"I know," he started, facing the same window his father was, seeing the same view available to his father's gaze, "Tokyo is beautiful. It's been a long time."
His father nodded in agreement. "Yes it is."
There was silence as the father and son stood and admired the view presented to them, viewing the metropolis of one of the richest countries of the world from a place deprived by most. They were looking down from a place where everyone looked up to, desired and envied to be, and strived to stay. They were taking for granted what anybody else considered luxury, as luxury for them was out of anybody else's wildest dream and fantasy.
Lei supposed he should consider himself lucky, but he could not, no matter how he tried. He grew up, breathed, and lived in this world. He was taught to, all his life, not to know any other way of living, any other way of life.
"But not as beautiful as the one that occupies your thoughts."
It was a statement said in a tone he could not argue with, not that he could actually argue with his father. It was said just as the way a teacher would state that the sky is blue, or the way a priest would preach that there is God. So all he could do was let the comment slide, and hope that his father would not press on the matter.
"She must be as stubborn as your mother."
Of course, he was only wishing that his father would not press on the matter. Not that he would mind any divine intervention…
"This stuff might work on other people, but not to the people who knows you." His father tilted his head to one side, looking at his son's profile. "You know I won't stop."
Lei sighed, before chuckling under his breath, slanting his head to meet his father's probing gaze. "I know."
They shared a smile identical to each other's; one of the few habits that professed to the world their kinship. Every physical aspect of Lei was of his mother—from his eyes, nose, lips, to the shape of his face—it's been said that Lei was his mother's masculine side by countless of people who were lucky enough to be graced with his mother's presence.
"She is." He said, staring straight ahead, gaze focused on one of the many smaller buildings in front of his father's.
His father chuckled, the sound resonating all over the suite. "I should find it hard to believe, that there's someone out there as stubborn as she is."
Lei smiled, almost glowing, his eyes lighting up. "I could not believe it myself either. The first time that I saw her, she was contemplating on how to kill F4 at the most brutal way as humanly possible."
"The very first human being who defied F4…a woman at that. Whoever thought someone could actually resist your charms?" The sardonic, yet jovial speech of the only woman in his life that he had, for as along as he could remember, loved as openly as was allowed, floated from across the room.
Lei and his father shared a look. The woman they both loved had a knack for very well literally popping out of nowhere. During the few times F3 visited while his mother was around, Xi Men, Mei Zhuo, and Ah Si had had their share of near-nervous breakdowns, heart attacks, and a list of more embarrassing incidents that happen in regular intervals whenever the Japanese aristocrat choose to make her presence known. Over the years Lei had managed to copy his mother's technique, but not master it quite yet. He had yet to pull the trick on her.
"Okaa-san." Lei greeted, turning around to face her.
"It's nice seeing you say it…hearing it." His mother started, sitting herself on one of the couches located near the mahogany conference table Lei and his father had been slaving on for three hours. "It's been so long."
Lei's smile widened, his dimples showing, as he strode towards where his mother was. "I'm sorry. I should visit more often."
His mother waved the comment off, slender hand gracefully gesturing for him to take a seat in front of her. "Don't take me seriously—I'm just a lovesick mother whose only wish in life is to be visited by her son more often."
Lei laughed softly at that as he leaned down when he finally reached her, and planted a soft kiss on her left cheek. He sat down on the sofa directly across hers. His father followed suit, only he sat down beside his wife.
"Excuse your mother. It had not crossed her mind that traveling to Japan more often would mean jetlags and fatigue."
Lei bit his lip to keep from laughing when his mother hit his father's arm, and the latter winced.
"What was that for?!"
His father was ignored. His mother, the daughter of one of the most prominent and richest families in Japan, turned to look at him, her eyes staring intensely into his. He was helpless that he could only meet her gaze.
"Tell me about her. How she looks like. How she talks. What her hobbies are. What she likes. How you two met. And what's this I hear about her being as stubborn as I am?"
Lei laughed, openly this time, as he raised his hands in the air, palms out, in a gesture to slow down. His father scolded his mother, saying that she could not expect her son to answer all of that.
"And why can't he? I am his mother. I have the right to know."
"Anata…"
"Okaa-san…"
They began at the same time, and Lei glanced at his father to see him nodding at him. He smiled in thanks.
"Okaa-san," he began, smiling fondly at his mother, before beginning. "She has long hair that reaches her waist. Her face always has a ready smile for those willing to look. Her eyes had shed tears for those who are too proud to, and by doing so cleansed her sight from the hypocrisies of this world. She lives for her parents, and she would gladly lay down her life for them. When she talks you have to listen, because the conviction in her voice is as strong as iron, and as unbendable as steel. When she says she will do something, even death would not deter her from accomplishing that task. Her determination to succeed in life, to be the person her parents want her to be, to prove to the world that she can live up to her name…" He closed his eyes, his mind painting a vivid image of her. Of her eyes crinkling in the corners when she smiles for him…
With his eyes closed, he did not see the look his parents exchanged, and the smile on their faces when they saw him drift off his own world.
"From what I can gather, she's the perfect woman for you."
Lei opened his eyes to see his parents looking at him, a knowing twinkle in their eyes. He gave them a look of his own.
"You know about her already—her family background, her name, her likes, her dislikes—everything, down to what she wore the first day she went out of the nursery. Why do you have to ask me this?"
His father cleared his throat, and gave his mother a pointed look. His mother sighed, as she met his eyes.
"You know I do not believe in rumors, Lei."
"You do not trust you own people?"
"Lei…" his father started. His mother shushed him.
"If it came from any other than the people involved, it is considered hearsay. You know how I believe that."
Lei sighed. He would never win an argument with these two. "I know." He looked at his mother steadily in the eye. "Thank you. For giving me the benefit of the doubt."
His mother smiled. "It's a privilege given to few. You're my son. You're allowed much more. Now tell me more about her. What's her name? Her mother's? Her father's? Any sisters or brothers?"
"Her name is…Shan Cai…"
It was a half an hour, minus the questions his mother threw at him, before he finished telling his parents what he knew they probably already knew, and when he did, he stood up and went to the bar. His throat was as good as burning. He hasn't talked for that long in months. 'So my oratory skills are not as developed as my father. That's actually a blessing.' He reached for the bottle of red wine his father was drinking earlier on, and selected a wineglass from the shelf. As he was pouring his drink from the bottle, his mother spoke.
"She looks like the woman you love."
His head snapped up so abruptly that he felt the world spin for a moment before it settled. He stared, and it took him a moment to realize that the bottle was still tilted, his glass overflowing, and he was wasting perfectly good wine. He tipped the bottle, closed it with the cork, before reaching for the rag under the table.
"Aren't you going to answer for yourself, Lei?"
He took his time, making sure that the table was spotlessly clean, before he grasped the crystal goblet between his fingers. He sipped, swallowing at his own pace, enjoying the expectant look on his parents' faces.
"Yes."
The three-letter word brought his parents out of their stupor, a smile spreading on their faces. He walked back to his former place, playing with the chalice, his legs crossed. He did not meet their gaze.
His father got the message. "But?"
Lei smiled inwardly. His father…his father was the best father he could ask for. If he had been different, then the Hua Ze Lei the world knows would not be the Hua Ze Lei that he was. It was sometimes an advantage, sometimes an inconvenience.
He finished his drink down to the last drop. His mother was calm, but Lei knew how much she wanted to wring his neck. His father was more composed, secure in the knowledge that his son would speak, sooner or later.
He smiled slightly, his mouth turning up at the corners, as he crossed his arms above his chest and looked at them.
"She's Ah Si's girlfriend."
There was a silence, until his mother exasperatedly groaned out. "Trust those spies to report everything to me."
His father was a different story, however. "Of all the woman in Taiwan, why did you have to fall in love with Ah Si's girlfriend? And why is it that we received no reports of Ah Si having her as a girlfriend? What happened to those spies? Did you thrash all of them? And more importantly, do you know what the consequence are for falling in love with a Dao Ming branded woman?"
Notes: Okay. Since I'm quite sure that the series Meteor Garden, not the anime HYD, did not, in anyway give any characterization of Hua Ze Lei's parents, I fashioned his parents in such a way that their attitude would fit in my story. If this offends you, then I'm deeply sorry. Dedicated to dang, jfish, joie, pyn, tricia, ate eden, my namesake!, and to all those who had the patience to read until this part. I can't promise to update real soon, what with college and all, but I'll try my best to have it out by next week. I hope.