Passion Raga Novel (Completed) - Chapter 31

Ling Xinlu briefly looked back and gestured for him to continue, indicating it was fine. Yuri paused for a moment, then slightly increased his speed again.

“…Yes, then I’ll see you on the weekend. Yes, I love you, Mother.”

Ling Xinlu whispered sweetly, then hung up the phone and tossed it onto the backseat.

“Ah, now she’ll call Qianping. ‘Where are you meeting? What are you doing? Be careful and take good care of Xinlu.'”

Yuri raised an eyebrow at Ling Xinlu’s light chattering.

“Don’t you have plans to meet that person?”

“No.”

“Then if your mother calls that person…”

“She’ll know I lied.”

“…Is that alright?”

“It’s fine. She won’t call me back to scold me anyway.”

Ling Xinlu waved his hand dismissively, saying it was his mother who was bad for calling even the friends he was supposedly meeting. Yuri silently looked forward again. Indeed, this wasn’t the first or second time such a thing had happened, but Yuri had never seen his mother scold or reprimand her son. Instead, she would look more cautiously, barely managing to ask, ‘Do you dislike Mother?’

“Really, it’s amazing and commendable that I haven’t gone astray despite all this. Don’t you think so?”

“Yes.”

When Yuri readily nodded, Ling Xinlu seemed on the verge of bursting into laughter, puffing out his cheeks and glancing at Yuri. Yuri continued to drive on the clear, unobstructed road, speaking calmly.

“Because to them, you are always their beloved son.”

Ling Xinlu was always like that, acting as he pleased yet always wearing a gentle and bright smile like a mask. Ling Xinlu chuckled.

“That’s the image they want. Isn’t showing them what they want filial piety? But actually, they know too. People’s eyes aren’t knot-holes; they see everything, even when they seem not to be looking.”

He didn’t deliberately try to hide that the image of the good and cute son they saw wasn’t his whole self. It was as if he was saying, ‘If you want to like me despite that, then like me.’

Indeed, being good doesn’t guarantee love. Some might think it’s unfair, but affection isn’t something earned through effort.

Yuri silently looked straight ahead.

Sometimes, Ling Xinlu would look at him with eyes that seemed to say, ‘You like me no matter what I do, don’t you?’ And that thought wasn’t wrong. There were times when even his arrogant, self-assured attitude seemed endearing; it seems that’s what happens when one is blinded by affection.

Just as Yuri was nodding inwardly, thinking how much more so for his parents if even he, an outsider, felt this way, his phone, placed in the slot next to the gear shift, signaled a new message.

“…”

Yuri and Ling Xinlu almost simultaneously glanced at the phone. Since Ling Xinlu’s phone was tossed in the backseat, the message was on Yuri’s phone, but Yuri didn’t touch it, acting as if nothing had happened.

“You got a text message.”

“I’m driving right now.”

“It might be an urgent call.”

“If it were, they would have called. I can check it later.”

Even without checking, he had a rough idea who had sent it. Ling Xinlu probably guessed too.

There were very few people who would text Yuri, who had only been here for a few months. Most people who contacted him personally preferred calls, and above all, the number of people who exchanged messages with him in this country was very limited.

“It seems Fei has returned home.”

Ling Xinlu murmured casually, and Yuri replied just as casually, “It seems so.”

The content of the message was also easy to predict. It would be a greeting message, not much different from, ‘You came to the house—the main residence—they said. I wish I had come sooner. Drive safely.’

The only deviation from the expectation might be if the sender was Xiao Qun instead of Fei. The content would undoubtedly be similar. Despite the considerable age difference, they sometimes acted like twins.

Ling Tangyun had only two children, and both Fei, the eldest of that generation, and his younger sister, Xiao Qun, were children to be proud of anywhere. While he didn’t dote on them as unconditionally as his father did on his youngest son, Ling Tangyun’s eyes would soften whenever he talked about his children.

Yuri knew the siblings well. Since their childhood, though he hadn’t met them often, he had occasionally encountered them with Ling Tangyun. They still followed him like puppies, calling him ‘Uncle,’ even as adults. Perhaps because the age difference between Yuri and Fei was smaller than that between Ling Tangyun and Yuri, Fei, who had no older brother, might have thought of Yuri as one.

When Yuri signed the contract with Ling Xinlu and moved into the Ling family home with his luggage, it was the siblings who welcomed him with the brightest faces. Fei, who had recently returned from graduating school in America, and Xiao Qun, who had started university in Shanghai but was then at the main residence for her grandmother—Ling Hwirung’s first wife—’s birthday, both hovered around him like puppy siblings, calling him ‘Uncle Yuri, Uncle Yuri.’

It was enough to make Ling Xinlu, who usually paid no mind to others’ business, glare at Yuri and mutter, ‘I don’t know since when Mr. Gable became of the same generation as me.’

Ling Xinlu, who was a few years younger than his nephew Fei, never cared about his age among relatives, but he disliked being called ‘hyung’ or ‘oppa’ by his nephews and nieces—on the grounds that they were of similar age. Not for reasons of authority, but because ‘I don’t like relatives I don’t particularly care for acting familiar.’

“Xiao Xian also contacts you sometimes, doesn’t he? A student studying far away in a foreign land should just focus on his studies.”

Ling Xinlu snorted, looking with displeasure at Yuri’s phone, which occasionally blinked with a lamp indicating unread messages. Yuri glanced at Ling Xinlu and spoke calmly.

“They are good children.”

“Good? What nonsense. Stop it. I don’t even want to hear it. Didn’t I already say I don’t like those siblings?”

“But they like ‘Uncle Xinlu’.”

“Just because dogs like me, do I have to like dogs?! Stop it. I’m really starting to get annoyed.”

Ling Xinlu frowned deeply and waved his hand. He revealed his displeasure by turning his head to look out the window, indicating he wouldn’t listen anymore. Yuri lightly shrugged his shoulders and fell silent.

It seemed they hadn’t been on very good terms from the start. It wasn’t to say they were on bad terms either, but it was clear that Ling Xinlu disliked his nephews and nieces.

He had once subtly asked Fei about it, but there didn’t seem to have been any particular incident. Fei didn’t even know that Ling Xinlu disliked him. He innocently said, ‘Youngest uncle? He’s a bit hard to approach. He seems a bit shy with strangers,’ and then proudly added, ‘Still, the youngest uncle is closer to me than to the other nephews—my brothers. We sometimes talk.’ And of course, Yuri didn’t say a word to Fei about Ling Xinlu’s thoughts on him.

It seemed to be a matter of type.

The siblings, who were not shy and treated everyone with clear friendliness, were, by analogy, canine. Ling Xinlu, on the other hand, purred lovingly when necessary but was fundamentally capricious and thoroughly private, feline.

“Come to think of it, when I stayed at my maternal grandmother’s house in Birmingham, that house had both a dog and a cat.”

When Yuri spoke, Ling Xinlu looked at him with a ‘Why suddenly dogs and cats?’ expression but listened silently.

“They were raised together since they were young, so they didn’t fight severely, but they weren’t exactly on good terms. No, that’s not it either… The dog liked the cat and followed it around, but the cat disliked it and avoided it.”

“Of course you’d dislike something you don’t like following you.”

Yuri smiled silently, watching Ling Xinlu, who naturally sympathized with the cat. That smile quickly faded, making Ling Xinlu, who had perhaps misseen it, ask suspiciously, “Did you just smile? No?” Yuri calmly shook his head and merely replied, “No, I just thought that dogs and cats really don’t get along well. That’s all.”

Yuri changed the subject, looking at Ling Xinlu, who seemed to be pondering deeply, wondering why this man was suddenly saying something so random and what the hidden meaning of his words was.

“So, are we stopping somewhere before going home? Or going straight home?”

“Hmm? Oh—, let’s go home. The DVD I ordered a few days ago should arrive today.”

Ling Xinlu sighed lightly, as if giving up on trying to read Yuri’s mind.

Yuri frowned slightly as he watched Ling Xinlu insert a CD into the player and then sit in the passenger seat with his knees drawn up to his chest. Although he was wearing a seatbelt, he looked unstable, swaying whenever the car turned a corner or made a big movement, and Yuri had told him several times not to do that, but Ling Xinlu didn’t break the habit.

So, in the end, Yuri had to instinctively reach out and grab Ling Xinlu every time he turned a corner. Each time, he would chuckle and say, ‘I won’t roll over,’ but Yuri also decided not to listen to him.

“So, I called to say that it might be troublesome, but I’d appreciate it if you could pay a little more attention in the future.”

Ling Tangyun’s expression, sighing on the other end of the phone and adding, ‘I don’t particularly want to say this to you either,’ was vividly clear in Yuri’s mind. He would be massaging his wrinkled brow, shaking his head as if troubled.

He was already over fifty. Although his tiger-like father was still vigorous and he refrained from standing out too much under him, he was undeniably an elder in charge of a family. Moreover, though not as much as his father, who had gained renown, good or bad, since his youth, Ling Tangyun was also reputed to be a formidable figure, proving the adage that a tiger begets no dog. For such a man to call someone to make an awkward request for something that wasn’t even his own business was truly rare.

It seemed Ling Xinlu’s mother was greatly disappointed when he only received treatment at the main residence and then left. (As Ling Xinlu had predicted, she had also called his friend.) When his beloved wife, whom he cherished like the apple of his eye, teared up and became depressed, Ling Hwirung was displeased. However, he couldn’t call his youngest son directly to scold him, so he seemed to have poked his eldest son, who had a close relationship with Yuri, Ling Xinlu’s attendant, to do the nagging.

Thanks to this, Ling Tangyun, who never had to make awkward requests elsewhere and whom no one dared to treat carelessly, was sighing into the phone to Yuri. To keep Ling Xinlu at the main residence for a little longer whenever he visited for treatment.

“Since it’s not something I can control, I can’t promise to do that, but I will try.”

Yuri, always honest and clearly distinguishing what he could and couldn’t do, replied bluntly. Ling Tangyun, who seemed to have already known such an answer would come, sighed but said nothing more.

“Alright, how’s Xinlu doing?”

“He’s showering right now. If you have a reason, shall I tell him to call you back after he’s out?”

“No, no, no. There’s no need for that.”

Ling Tangyun quickly replied. Yuri, who had expected as much, casually said, “Yes, then.”

Even before Yuri met Ling Xinlu in Serengeti, he would occasionally hear Ling Tangyun speak of his ‘youngest brother.’ And each time, though he couldn’t pinpoint it exactly, he felt that Ling Tangyun regarded his youngest brother with uneasiness. Not dislike—

Ling Tangyun was not so small-minded as to be jealous of a son born to his father’s mistress in his old age, a son so favored and cherished that people secretly called him ‘Little Young Master.’ Yet, somehow, rather than dislike or jealousy, Yuri sometimes felt a sense of uneasy distance, and he vaguely understood the reason only after coming here. It was a feeling closer to fearing and being wary of a mischievous monkey who might suddenly cause some absurd trouble and shock people.

For example, it was like that last month.

At the Ling family, unless there was a special reason, close direct relatives would gather for dinner every weekend. Ling Xinlu, who lived separately from the main residence, almost always returned home for dinner on weekends, and sometimes even stayed overnight.

On the last weekend of last month, Ling Xinlu also returned to the main residence, and of course, Yuri accompanied him.

At that time, Ling Xinlu was annoyed with Ling Tangyun, though it wasn’t for a grand reason. A few days prior, when Ling Xinlu went to the main residence for acupuncture, Ling Tangyun, who encountered Yuri, casually and without malice, joked, ‘I’ve heard quite a few complaints that Yuri Gable, an informant coveted by many, is wasting his talents doing someone else’s errands.’ This remark had later, by chance, reached Ling Xinlu’s ears.

Ling Xinlu’s bright smile, as he confirmed with Yuri, ‘Did the eldest brother say something like that?’, seemed somehow unusual, but Yuri, fearing Ling Xinlu might be bothered, honestly nodded and replied, ‘Yes. But I don’t think I’m wasting my talents. Rather, I feel a bit uneasy about resting comfortably and receiving excessive compensation.’

Ling Xinlu laughed, ‘Haha, why, because it feels like I’m getting something for nothing?’, and dropped the subject then and there, but it seemed he hadn’t forgotten that memory and kept it in his mind.

Yuri thought he would just forget about it, as Ling Xinlu wouldn’t bother to argue with Ling Tangyun—it would be awkward for both of them—and couldn’t anyway. Yuri himself didn’t care and quickly forgot about it. In fact, it was too trivial to remember for long.

Then, on the weekend, it was a family dinner. Since it was only an immediate family, and only up to Ling Xinlu’s generation, there weren’t many people.

While they ate, Yuri ate separately at another table. That day, even after Yuri finished his meal and returned, their dinner wasn’t over yet. This was because Ling Hwirung, who had been out, returned a bit later than scheduled. So Yuri quietly stood by the dining room pillar.

He could see Ling Xinlu slowly using his chopsticks, eating at a slower pace because his eyes couldn’t perceive distances. To him, who was eating not much differently from others, just a bit slower, Ling Tangyun, who had finished his meal and was holding a teacup, belatedly spoke as if asking about his well-being.

‘So, are you doing well outside? No discomfort?’

Ling Xinlu paused his chopsticks in mid-air for a moment, looked at him, and then smiled gently.

‘Yes, I’m living comfortably.’

‘Good, that’s good. I don’t really need to say this, but if you ever need anything, just say so.’

‘Yes,’ Ling Xinlu nodded obediently. And after smiling lovingly for a moment, he said innocently.

‘Eldest brother sometimes feels like a father.’

The room fell silent. Ling Hwirung, who had just picked up his teacup, Ling Tangyun, who had frozen in place, and the other family members all looked at Ling Xinlu. Ling Tangyun tried hard to smooth out his face, which had almost twisted into a strange grimace, and smiled.

‘What, you resemble father a lot too.’

‘No, I don’t mean resembling father, but that feeling people usually describe as father-like. Generous and dependable. I’ve occasionally thought about that for a long time. My oldest brother is just like father.’

Perhaps it’s because of the large age difference, he added, smiling nonchalantly. After Ling Xinlu’s words, no one spoke for about a few seconds. Only Ling Xinlu leisurely continued using his chopsticks.

Ling Tangyun didn’t turn his gaze away, seemingly observing Ling Hwirung’s mood. Ling Hwirung drank his tea without saying anything, but the corners of his firm lips were turned downwards.