"It is Gray and Noah correct? The older one being Gray." Melisa confirmed with her sister.
"Yes. In fact, Gray is now working in country Z as a Major General in the army, while Noah is learning under the ropes of his father to take over the family business."
"Oh wow, that is interesting." Melisa was not that surprised that her oldest sister's sons would become successful people in the future. After all, back when the Tobion family wasn't as big as they were now, they were still considered a rising powerhouse. Since both her sister and husband were very smart individuals, how could their children fair any less.
Talking amongst themselves, the three sisters eventually started to talk about their children's relationships. Sharing first, Melanie spoke as her gaze fell on Yue Guang who was quietly eating the delicious tea break.
"Actually, my son, Gray is now currently dating someone from University Z. I do not know if your son has heard of him before." Yue Guang looked up at her aunt, interestingly.
"Him?" The young man asked curiously. Could his cousin who he never met be gay too?
"Yes. My son, Gray is gay." Melanie did not feel embarrassed about it. Over the months, she had fully accepted her son for who he was.
"Oh wow, that is another interesting turn of events. My son is also seeing a guy too." Melisa naturally did not hide anything from her sisters. Ming Yue Guang, on the other hand, felt uncomfortable to hear his mother talk about him.
"What? What a coincidence!" Melanie was surprised to hear about this. She turned to ask her nephew, "Have you heard of a young man named Sato?"
"Huh? Sato?" That name instantly rang a bell in the young man's head. It was a name that Yue Guang would not forget. "Sato as in the Sato that studies in Mechanical Engineering?"
"So you do know him!"
"Wait a minute. So Sato is dating your son, Gray…" Everything started to link and connect together in Ming Yue Guang's head. How Li Ming had watched his best friend kiss another man in a theme park. How Li Ming said that his best friend was in good hands when Sato was in a coma.
"Yes. Is there a problem?" Melanie noticed something was up with her nephew.
"Ah no, not really. It is just that there is a very large coincidence in this matter…" Ming Yue Guang spoke slowly as his head was still processing the realisation in front of him.
"What's wrong, Da Guang?" Now, even Melisa was waiting for a response from her son.
"My boyfriend is actually best friends with Sato."
"What? Really?" Everyone in the room was surprised by the huge turn of events. Ming Yue Guang skipped the emotional parts of the story between Sato and Li Ming, but he did fill in the rest of the context in for the three ladies. At the end of the gossip, everyone was satisfied.
"I cannot believe that such fated events could occur." Melanie breathed out.
"Indeed."
By the end of the meal, everyone caught up with each other on the family aspect. Of course, Melisa was still adamant on not coming back to the Hanlon family. Just as Melisa had said, "I very much enjoy my life as a commoner. If I do go back to the Hanlon family, it wouldn't feel the same anymore."
Melanie and Mary respected their youngest sister's decision. The only thing that had changed now was that the three sisters would still meet up time and time again. They couldn't bear to be separated anymore after this meetup. For the case of Ming Yue Guang, Melanie extended her hand as the eldest of the Hanlon family and also has the female head of the Tobion family.
"If you ever face any problem, call my number. Auntie will try her best to help you out, okay?" Melanie handed the young man her name card. Ming Yue Guang turned to look at his mother, who nodded for him to take it. And so, the young man did not declined her aunt's promise.
After all of this was over, Melanie and Mary both gave their sister a hug goodbye and headed to the private airports to get on the flight back to Country Y. Melisa and Ming Yue Guang both went home by taking the train. On the way back, Melisa gave her son a better back story on the Tobion family. When the Yue Guang heard about his aunt's husband's prowess, the boy's mouth went agape. Looking at Melanie's name card, he realised what this number meant in this world.
Back when he heard about Li Ming almost killing himself over his best friend, there was a small seed of hate for Sato that bloomed that day. After all, his actions had almost resulted in Ming's death. Though it wasn't Sato's fault, it was still because of him. However, now seeing that this young man was not only able to catch the eye of his boyfriend, but also an extremely large fish from the Tobion family, Yue Guang felt that Sato was an interesting fellow. If he could, Ming Yue Guang would like to speak with him one day.
When the week ended, Sato and Gray went back to Country Z. The old man, Byron was very reluctant to see Sato go, but he knew that the young man was itching to get back and start studying. There was a growing fire within him that wanted to escape and burn freely. In that one week, Sato had played a lot of chess and had only lost games when he was up against the top ten players in the world. The craze of the mysterious dark horse in chess came and would soon disappear without a trace. As of now, the young man had not thought about pursuing chess as an occupation. Even as a hobby, he felt like he did not have any time to play things anymore. Even for his favourite game, Ray Of Light, the young man decided that it would be best if he did not touch the game. If achieving his goals in life required him to not enter the ROL for many years, Sato would do it. What was a game when the responsibility in bearing some of the Tobion family's eminent issue was on him?
The final arc will begin in the next chapter and this will be a long ride (I think). The chapters will still be published daily, so enjoy at your own pace ;)