"See what I keep telling you? He's going to keep being rude for the whole week! Keep acting like I don't exist, okay? I'll do the same for you. Your Nana will be happy to see you treating your parents this way."
Gu Shi Lu's voice increased in volume. "Can't even ask how our trip went. If we've eaten breakfast? Are you getting ruder with every passing year? Hm?! Finally showing your true colours?"
The person who had been about to change the GPS stopped his movements, deranged laughter coming out of him as he took in his father's words.
Did you ask me if I've eaten breakfast? How my trip to pick you up went?
And you want me to do that for you? Maybe start acting like a real caring parent first.
But Gu Wei didn't say those words. Instead, his laughter turned into dark chuckles as he replied.
"Thank you for letting me know how long you'll stay this time."
Gu Bai Jing was enraged by this.
"You little…! That's all you have to say?! After not picking up our calls for a whole year! We had to call Ha Xing just to check up on you! Do you know how embarrassing it was? You couldn't even send a text! Just to know if you're okay, eating well, healthy, using your drugs?!"
Shrugging nonchalantly, Gu Wei tapped his index finger on the steering wheel, half tuning out the familiar words, half listening to them.
Gu Shi Lu grabbed her husband's arm to stop him, but Gu Bao Jing brushed it off in a fit.
"Nothing to say? Hm? Your mother's been worried non-stop about you, and all you have is a shrug? At least show some conscience. If not for me, then for your mother."
"I have tissues if she needs them."
The words came out before he could stop them, bitterly without mercy. Gu Wei flinched at the jab, Gu Shi Lu's sharp inhale ringing in his ears.
His eyes strayed to hers in the rearview mirror, meeting her hurtful eyes.
Gu Wei hadn't meant it as a dig at her, but more at his father, and the look on his mother's face made him want to apologise.
Gu Wei looked away and trained his eyes on the road.
The effect Gu Wei's words had on his father was instantaneous.
Gu Bao Jing moved to remove his seatbelt, stopped only by a second by Gu Shi Lu.
He didn't fail to react in words though, his loud voice hurting Gu Wei's ears.
"Wang Gu Wei! Is that any way to speak to your mother! Apologise now! Or I swear to god-"
"Enough!" Gu Shi Lu interrupted, clicking Bao Jing's seatbelt back into place.
The use of Gu Wei's unofficial second surname 'Wang' must've cautioned Gu Shi Lu to act.
"Stop it, you two. That's enough. Let's all calm down before we say any more regretful words. Bao Jing, one more word from you, and I'll have Gu Wei dropping you off on the road. Understand?"
Gu Wei's father huffed and crossed his arms, eyes string daggers at the back of Gu Wei's seat.
Gu Wei's tapping on the wheel had moved to full speed by the end of the fight, and the finger was rapidly tapping at incredible speed on the leather.
Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap. Gu Shi lu stared at the nervous tick, searching her son's face through the small glass.
Gu Wei gazed up, and Gu Shi Lu tilted her head in question, signing, 'Are you okay?'
In reply, Gu Wei tucked his finger in, stopping the rapid tapping, and focused completely on the road.
No words were uttered during the remaining trip.
Father, mother, and son were suddenly strangers to each other, and Gu Wei would've passed as a driver from a single peek at the rigid silence in the rented car.
+++
Gu Wei's Nana, Wang Dai, welcomed his parents with open arms.
Hugging and chiding at their thin wear, smoothing out Gu Bao Jing's frown, unfolding his crossed arms and trying to make the mood lighter.
Gu Wei was given the same warm greeting, his Nana cupping his cheeks and scolding him for not visiting.
Gu Wei mumbled an excuse and dropped his parent's luggage inside, his Nana following behind in the form of help.
Gu Wei rolled his eyes at her and urged her inside.
Still, she trailed behind him as he dragged the heavy suitcases and dumped them in the vintage living room.
Unlike Gu Wei, his Nana spent her money sparingly and practically rather than on purposeless things like fan events, and the spacious homey surrounding was a testament to this.
Shaking his head at the different couches and furniture in the place he'd grown up in, Gu Wei wondered if he should've dipped into the progressing trust fund his parents set up for him.
One look at his parents and he shut down the idea before it took root.
He hadn't touched the money for a reason, not since his last college funds, and he was sticking to his decision.
Gu Wei's foot stubbed on a stool as he dropped the last of the luggage.
The same toe he'd hit with his desk at work, which made him eye the furniture distastefully because it wasn't supposed to be there.
His grandma always complained of things getting dull and boring, so she changed her furniture every 4 or 5 months.
Not unlike Gu Wei's buying of the Sweet As Ever wine.
His grandma did have a black abyss where she tossed her money, and the shiny new stool gleamed as a fresh addition to her ever-changing furniture.
The couches this time were furry and antique-styled, forming a half circle directly by a new TV. Gu Wei squinted at the screen.
This one was definitely bigger than the last one.
His parents sat on the brand-new couch, Gu Wei's Nana fussing over them and asking the questions Gu Wei apparently should've.
Gu Wei was sent to get water, and he trudged to the kitchen, his feet taking him instinctively to it.
However, what Gu Wei came upon wasn't a kitchen, but a gaming room.
Gaming chairs had replaced the slab of counter, and PCs were in the place of the cabinets and cupboards.
Confused, Gu Wei left the room and retraced his steps, only to arrive at the same room that was supposed to be a kitchen but was not a kitchen.
Gu Wei did this two more times, genuinely feeling like he'd forgotten the way.
But that wasn't possible.
His own childhood home, and he didn't know where the kitchen was.
A clueless Gu Wei came back to the living room empty-handed, baffled as to why he even had to ask.
"Nana… Where's the kitchen?"
At the sight of her grandson's confused, innocent expression, the woman cracked an evil laugh and pointed the other way from where Gu Wei had gone.
"Looking for the kitchen? What to do? I moved it. It's that way now."
Staring in disbelief at his Nana's pettiness, Gu Wei gave her the most 'really?' expression he could muster.
His Nana laughed harder, this one more witchy than the last.
"You've been gone for so long. How do you expect everything to be the same? If you visited often, you would know, wouldn't you?"
Wow. So this was about him not coming home?
Opening his mouth to reply, Gu Wei found himself at a loss for words.
He shook his head and went the way she'd pointed instead, his steps trailed by the ongoing laughter of his grandmother.
Finally arriving at the real kitchen, Gu Wei stood there in another type of confusion.
Everything was different. What the hell?
This was even worse than her changing furniture every few months.
Opening the cupboards and cabinets in search of cups, Gu Wei was met with another problem.
Where the hell did his Nana keep the cup?!
He bent down and shoved open the one below in annoyance.
There!
The cups glinted in the light as he took two from the pile. Gu Wei was about to close the door when he noticed something.
The light shining wasn't from the kitchen itself, but an installed small bulb in the cabinet itself.
Once again, Gu Wei could only think, what the hell?!
Cursing under his breath, Gu Wei slammed the cups on the sink and went on to fill them with water.
He smacked his lips together, discovering he was thirsty too.
Gu Wei went back to the bottom cupboard in search of his favourite mug.
\But what had he expected? There was no such mug to be found in the tens of cabinets in the kitchen.
Gu Wei's eyes were tinted with red as he tried to breathe calmly and not scream.
Slamming another cupboard shut—-he's searched for the tenth time now—-Gu Wei lost his cool and screamed.
"NANA!"
This was followed with heavy stomping steps back to the living room.
Gu Wei gritted his teeth and swallowed the curses on the tip of his tongue. "Nana.. Where. The. Hell. Is. My. Mug?"
The words were said one by one, ground through his clenched teeth.
His Nana took one look at his angry demeanour and cracked a laugh again.
"Aiyaaa, poor Wei Wei can't find his favourite cup? That's because I had it redone with your name engraved on it."
Gu Wei breathed deeply through his nose. "Okay. So where is it?"
Tutting at the impatient boy, Nana Dai stood and patted down his taught feathers.
"It's not here now. Everything got done just last week, so it's still at the shop being made. If you'd been home, you would've know this, wouldn't you? You could've chosen the font of your name yourself. Nana had to do it all herself. Almost seventy, and I'm still jumping to and fro with an existing grandchild."
Gu Wei placed his hand over his face wearily and dragged it up into his hair.
"Nana, Nana… I didn't ask you to renovate my mug with the whole house."
His voice was pleading now as he complained, sounding exactly like a child.
Slipping her arm into his, Nana Dai dragged him back to the foreign kitchen and opened the special light cupboard.
"There's many cups here, just pick one. You'll have to wait for your mug. You're not here. How could I know you didn't want it renovated?"
With a hand over his head, the boy appeared like his whole life was ending with the absence of his mug, and he tugged at his hair in frustration.
Gu Wei gave in and took another bland cup as his grandma had directed.
She gave a pleased sound, added hers, and helped his pack the four glasses onto a tray.
They returned to the living room, where his parents were still sitting, watching warily as Gu Wei and his Nana interacted like two old friends.
Gu Shi Lu wished she had the same relationship with her son, or something close to it at least.
But Gu Wei sat next to her mother on the chair, refusing to even sit near her.
Nana Dai raved on how she'd cooked yesterday, preparing food for her beautiful guests.
At the talk of having a late breakfast together.
Gu Wei dusted his clothes and stood, bidding them a happy breakfast and retreating to the door.
His Nana grabbed him before he could escape.
"Where are you going? Not eating with us? But Nana cooked so much food, at least let me pack some for you. It's already packed even. I'll just get it, and you can go."
Agreeing to the packing, Gu Wei lingered in the doorway as Nana Dai hurried to the wrong kitchen, stopping in confusion at the doorway before snapping her fingers and moving to the right one.
Gu Wei snickered. His Nana shot him a death look as she passed.
Shifting from foot to foot awkwardly, Gu Wei avoided his parents.
His father was still staring at him like he'd secretly committed a crime, and he was the lone witness to it.
Gu Shi Lu, always the amicable parent, called out to Gu Wei.
"Wei-uhhh Gu Wei-ah, why don't you come sit down." She patted the space beside her.
Suddenly turning cold, Gu Wei shook his head and followed his Nana's footsteps.
"I'll go help her."
Then he was gone, leaving Gu Shi Lu with an empty space.
She drew her hand back, folding them on her lap instead, blinking back tears. Gu Bao Jing hugged his wife in consolation.
Gu Wei and his Grandmother came out eventually, Nana Dai hugging him one last time before he left.
All Gu Wei offered to his parents as a goodbye was a bow, this one even more formal than the inclined head at the Airpot.
At the absence of the three adults' son, the house grew quiet, all of them lost in thought, the water forgotten.
Gu Shi Lu sniffled, glassy eyes straying to her mothers.
"Will he ever forgive us?"
Nana Dai could only sigh, looking into her daughter's sad eyes, recalling her grandsons hollow ones.
She slowly shook her head from side to side, lips pressed in a thin line, "I don't know. Lu Lu-ah, I honestly don't know."