Chapter 3: Day Three
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‘Yesterday… I wonder why he acted like that…’ Mason thought to himself as he was preparing breakfast. ‘Edward seemed to act friendlier with me all of a sudden… Maybe I finally charmed him huh? Ah… I can’t even say it as a joke. Why does he have to be such a jerk and then suddenly turn all friendly all of a sudden?! Makes it difficult to dislike him.’
“Morning…” Lucas said as he came into the kitchen and noticed the other man did not respond. “Hey, you alright?” He asked as he tapped his friend on the shoulder.
“Ah? Yeah I’m fine, I was just thinking about something. Go wash your face, hands and come to breakfast, okay?” Mason said while flipping the omlet in the pan.
“Okie…” Lucas said with a tired voice and went to the bathroom.
‘Hm… I guess I shouldn’t think too much of it. Edward is just an oddball… Thought I’m surprised, I’ve never met a fan of my books before in person. It feels kind of weird, but it makes me happy to hear he likes them so much. Maybe I could get him an exclusive copy of one of my books… No, what am I suddenly planning on giving him a present for? I don’t even like him and he didn’t even speak with me before. I must be going nuts…’ Mason’s thoughts continued to rush as he couldn’t comprehend the sudden change in attitude his classmate had.
Yesterday Edward had suddenly begun talking more to Mason and smiling. It was so sudden it surprised the man, much more to see the otherwise stone faced student suddenly smile out of nowhere.
‘Am I falling for him just because he was nice to me? Seriously I’m an i***t…’ Mason wasn’t the type to fall in love easily but this time something in him was different. ‘Hell… why is Edward just my type? The more I think about him, the more I see his good qualities…’
“Are you still lost in thought?” Lucas came back to the kitchen as he was wiping his face with a towel.
“Yeah, still thinking about it.” Mason replied as he placed the omlet on the table and headed for the other room.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” Lucas questioned while looking around.
“No, I already ate. I made mine before yours.” Mason replied from the other room as he searched for clothes to wear.
‘God… My style is really plain… Nothing but black clothes, I should buy new ones but… I also want to buy a new laptop to write my books on. Geez alright I’ll get the laptop first. It’s not a big deal anyway right? My clothes are okay looking still even if they are old.’ Mason thought to himself as he looked through the hangers with different clothing. ‘Ah… I always think of buying new clothes and then end up buying novels instead. But it’s for research so it can’t be helped!’ As if convincing himself he picked out a pair of black pants and black shirt, then to add color he chose a beige colored suit jacket. The outfit looked professional and casual at the same time.
“Hey! Bro, your phone is ringing!” Lucas yelled from the other room.
“Alright.” Mason replied and went back to the kitchen to take his phone. ‘Agh… it’s mom again.’ He thought as he answered the call.
“You haven’t called from so long! It’s been three months since you last came back home as well! You’ll probably forget to do either of those if I don’t call you!” Mason’s mother Vivian yelled first thing after having the call go through.
“Yeah, I intentionally wasn’t calling. I don’t have much to say anyway. I’d also appreciate it if you didn’t yell in my ear each time I pick up the phone.” Mason answered with an annoyed voice.
“What else am I supposed to do? You never listen unless I yell. When are you coming back?” Vivian asked with an equally annoyed voice.
“Not soon. I don’t really feel like coming back after that scene with my brother.” Mason said while checking out his graphic for the day.
“Would you stop being a baby? Your brother was just joking around, you’re being far too sensitive!” Vivian continued with her tone raising as she spoke.
“I’m not coming back again if all I’m going to hear is insults thrown at me from that bastard…” Mason said with an even more annoyed voice but he did not yell at the speaker as the other person did.
“I need you to come back and watch over the dogs. I’ll be going on an excursion for a week.” Vivian said this time with a more subdued tone, almost like she was telling a secret.
“Why don’t you ask your other son to watch them instead? Didn’t you mention he was at least of some use to you?” Mason spat out the same hateful words that his mother had directed towards him previously.
“Are you still on about that? Can you blame me? Your elder brother gives me money to pay the bills, buys me medicine and food. What have you done for me?” Vivian asked.
“I’m just 20 years old and working from barely a year and paying for my own expenses each month without troubling you. Your other son is 27 and working for more than seven years and he is still living at your apartment! How could you even compare us like that?!” Mason was now becoming angry at how his mother only really cared about the elder son because he was giving her money.
“He helps around here.” Vivian argued and her son interrupted her with a counter argument.
“He sure does help around, goes to work for several hours every two days and spends the rest of his time playing games and lazing around at home. Then at the end of the month all of his money goes to either you or grandma, in the end he’s not left with any money for himself.” Mason said with great annoyance, he was ready to end the call on the other person but didn’t.
“That still makes him more useful than an ungrateful child like you that spends all his time away from home and comes back twice a year! At least be a bit useful to me and come back for a week.” Vivian yelled and then shut the phone on the other.
“She f*****g ended the call first!” Mason yelled from annoyance and barely held back at throwing his phone at the wall.
“Was that your mother?” Lucas questioned after observing his friend’s reaction.
“Who else could it be? My brother and father never call me.” Mason answered with annoyance and went back to the other room to change his clothes.
Lucas quickly stood up and went to him. “What did she say this time?”
“As always she only ever calls me when she needs something from me. She wants me to go back home to care for the dogs while she’s out on an excursion with some dude.” Mason said with annoyance as he changed his shirt.
“Are you going back?” Lucas asked as he tilted his head.
“No way, I have no business in G town anymore. Even though I do miss my dogs…” Mason hasn’t seen his pets in over three months. The trip back was worth it only to see his dogs and nothing else.
“I was thinking about going back to K village soon. How about we go back together?” Lucas suggested. G town and K village were very close to each other. And since the train from V city only reached G town, it was perfect for Lucas to go there and then take a bus to K village where his home is.
“I don’t want to go back, you can go on your own.” Mason said while changing his clothes and putting on his rings.
“Think about it for a bit. They probably miss you. I know your parents aren’t that bad as people.” Lucas said while crossing his arms and looking at his friend who had his back turned to him.
“Lucas, it’s time to go to Uni, get dressed and let’s leave.” Mason said while trying to keep his tone as even as possible. ‘What do you know Lucas? I don’t want to argue with you but saying s**t like that when you have no idea what I’ve been through is just…’
Mason was mainly annoyed because his abilities were being questioned by his mother. However that wasn’t the case for his elder brother Kris who only lazed around at home besides going to work. Kris was allowed to do whatever he wanted to because he contributed to the bills. It was a ridiculous thing and it made Mason angry each time.
That’s also the reason why the author hasn’t spoken about his profession to his parents either. If they find out that he writes gay smut novels for a living, he would become the laughing stock of his entire family and relatives. It was something Mason was not going to allow to happen…