Because I Cannot Hurt You

Daniel scowled. "That wasn't a very proud time of my life. Why should I tell you about that? Mom and I lived in misery. She got injured during her work one day and then was prohibited from working or going out almost all the time. She did some work from home jobs from multiple employers to handle the expenses, but I had to step in because I couldn't watch her suffer like that. I did whatever I could to make the ends meet. I became a doctor because I wanted to treat my mother."

He sneered. "Apparently, her treatment needed more money, and if you have no money, you are in deep shit. People treated you like trash. Even the doctors shrugged in helplessness. Yet, they lived a life of respect because hey? You are a doctor. You can save people. You are like God to them. And you know what? Once I finally became a doctor, the world suddenly looked differently at me. I was not pitiful anymore. In fact, those same judgmental people started coming to me for help as my reputation grew. They pretended as if they never treated me as trash."

Si Min smiled. "That's why I fell in love with Daniel. He was a proud doctor and always treated his patients with respect. He even treated so many for free when they couldn't afford it. Others could never have that courage. Also, Daniel was one of the few men who didn't show bias towards me. Being an Asian in America gets very hard at times."

She sighed. "Though I do disagree with him for pushing you like this. At first, I was also skeptical of your orientation. Like Daniel, I also wanted you not to miss anything in your life, and living as a bisexual was challenging."

There was a beat of silence.

Daniel finally said, "I only wanted you to live a life without complications! And you did nothing but bring them to your door by becoming a delinquent! Look what happened with Philip! I told you getting into fights and shit will only land troubles for you! For God's sake, he was admitted to the hospital! Do you understand how serious of a matter that was!?"

Jack gritted his teeth. "You are sounding as if I-"

"Yes! I sound exactly like that! You didn't beat him up, but he got into trouble because he was in your gang! I talked like crazy that it wasn't your fault! I know teenagers are not so mature, but they are old enough to understand and make choices. If Philip joined your gang, then he was also at fault because you never forced him!"

Jack looked at him, stunned.

Shuang tilted her head. "So you defended Jack. But he doesn't know about this."

Daniel scowled. "I am his father! Am I gonna keep hearing shit about him when Jack is not at fault? And that incident was a perfect example to show how people don't care about facts or feelings. Jack didn't touch Philip, but his mother and others still partly blamed Jack. They even thought that Jack forced him to become a gang member. See? Who believed you? Who cared about you? Nobody! Do you think they would have given a fuck about your bisexuality? This is how society is." 𝐟𝗿𝚎𝐞𝓌e𝒃𝑛𝒐ѵ𝒆𝑙.c𝚘𝓶

Then he took a deep breath and faced him. "But like I admitted before…Not caring what you wanted as a career was my fault. So…so you were right. I am the reason to force you to become a delinquent."

Jack was at a loss. "You…you always acted as if you only cared about your reputation! Didn't you kick me out because Philip's incident damaged your doctor's dignity and respect!?"

He glared at him. "I kicked you out because you refused to listen to me! I told you to stay put and not to touch the gang who hurt Philip. I told you to leave that to the cops! But hell! It was as if you had taken an oath to be a pain in the ass! You went ahead and took your revenge! You…you…do you think the cops didn't understand that you were the culprit? You were a teenager. You were brash. It was obvious that it was your revenge! You could have landed yourself in juvenile detention like the other kid had I not b-bribed that cop!"

Jack and Shuang widened their eyes in disbelief. f𝗿𝗲e𝒘e𝚋ｎ૦𝘃𝙚𝑙.com

Daniel's face flushed red in anger. "I know I did wrong. Bribing is wrong. But…" he clenched his jaw, "But I couldn't see you getting arrested! You weren't really at fault with what happened to Philip. Taking revenge was wrong but I also understood your anger when that gang targeted Philip. But you cannot let emotions take charge of you! Who would have given you a job if they knew that you were a troublemaker? That you were violent. They won't care to know the backstory! They will simply judge you based on what they see, not what they cannot! Your whole future was at stake just because of this incident!"

He trembled. "T-to be honest, I knew that cop from before. I had treated him when he was injured in the line of duty. I asked him a favor to press everything against you, and thank God that he agreed! Otherwise…I couldn't even imagine what might have become of your life…"

Silence.

Daniel stood up to leave. "I might not have been a good father. But you also never tried to understand me, especially when I was hell bent in getting you out of trouble! You just jumped right into it. There are some things you will only understand when you become a father yourself. It's not like you don't want to support your kid. I…I did try to accept you. Even your bisexuality. But I couldn't…"

His eyelashes trembled. "When I talked to the people I know about this, nobody really viewed bisexuality as normal. Some pretended to smile and accept, but I could see the truth in their eyes that they were not in favor. Many went even farther to curse and humiliate them. I…I got so afraid thinking about your future. I didn't want you to live a life like this…People looking at you as if you are abnormal, getting cursed and sneered…do you think any parent would want to see their child getting humiliated like this?"