Inside Meracle’s parents’ house

The Cross family were spending family time in their living room by watching TV on two very large sofas in the shape of a V with a square table in front of them……

Every once in a while, while watching TV, Meracle’s father or mother would have a sudden burst of anger that would scare the children that sat next to them. Both Ophelia and Ania felt so bad that they had to suggest that their mother and father should sit on the edge where the two sofas intersects with either Ophelia or Ania next to them to sandwich the two and to keep them under control.

What were their bursts of anger about? …..

“I can’t believe my daughter got together with a man like that! I’ve been her mother for eighteen years! I’ve raised her for eighteen years with painstaking efforts and this is how she repays me!?” Meracle’s mother snorted.

Meracle’s father slammed the table in front of him. “*BANG!* I should be angry! I’m her father! Who worked to feed us all? Who bought all the good clothes for her to wear!? Who brought home the money so all this could be possible!?”

It was an understandable rage the parents had for Meracle. They poured all their heart and affections in raising their children and Meracle as the most troublesome one of the bunch so they put a little more effort into her than any of the other children. Even as kid, Meracle caused so much trouble that even her teachers did not know what to do with her. It wasn’t because Meracle was violent that brought so much headaches although she was very violent and it did bring a lot more problems later on; it was because Meracle was too nice when she was young and could be considered pure of heart. She had no real distinction of social classes or statuses and would try to befriend many people regardless if they were broke, rich, good or bad! Only when Meracle hit puberty did she get more violent and learned the difference between peoples’ statuses and classes.

Though Ophelia did not mean to, she added fuel to the flames. “But how could she get together with someone like him!? This guy is the sixth and the worst of them all! The first boyfriend she brought home was garbage. The second to fourth were normal and nothing special but because they were normal and had no way to really protect her, so we forced them to break up with her! But the fifth! Oh my god! The fifth boyfriend! She brought home someone named Johnson or Mason but I could care less because he tried to hit it off with all of us! The nerve! But now him!? From what I know, all he is just a hobo Meracle founded on the streets to help!”

The hate she had for Jin was not unjust either. Because of Jin’s appearance, her father nearly shot her boyfriend and almost made the two break up over one little misunderstanding.

“OOOOOOOOOOOH thank you for reminding us Ophelia. WE FORGOT THAT HE IS A HOBO!” the mother exclaims.

“W-wait a minute mother. Although he is a hobo, I doubt that he is a bad person. Why don’t we wait for him?” Ania tried to calm down the flames but her efforts only fanned it even more.

“*Snort!* The guy did not even set an appointed time! It only goes to show how much consideration he has for us! I’d say that he would rather run away than to meet us because he knows that if he comes here, I’ll blow his head off!” Meracle’s father did not like Jin for many reasons. Mostly because he made his daughter, Ophelia cry because of his misunderstanding. But because his daughter, Meracle, actually got together with someone like Jin, he hated the thought of Jin being a potential son-in-law.

There were already some friction between Meracle and him and her mother. So Jin was already at a bad start to impress the family.

While the entire four engaged in a lively conversation, Aria Cross was sitting in a corner on a leather chair staring at the empty space in front. Her gaze shifted to the angry Ophelia still adding fire to the conversation. The aunt sighed in her heart because even if she told the family that Jin was a dangerous man, there was no telling how dangerous.

The aunt scoured her entire network of people to track down who this “Jin” character was and there was no sign of him. Only when she looked up “Houyi” and “Belphegor” did her face paled.

“Houyi” was the name of a famous person overseas that held a position in the East Asian government who was known to be a nice person until he was provoked while “Belphegor” was the name of the underworld ruler that disappeared six years ago and was infamous for his ability to destroy peoples’ lives.

Little was known about them because they chose to erase all data on themselves and left the world in a mysterious way. Above all, the two names would cause massive panic across the globe should even one of them come back. Houyi’s influence was no less than Belphegor’s influence on the world. ‘*Sigh* I wish you could take back that bet Ophelia. Even I am at a loss at what to do. He could be a powerful politician or a returned underworld ruler. The chance that he could be Belphegor is slim but is not impossible.’

The family talked the entire afternoon till 5:50 pm. By then, the Cross family was preparing dinner and Ophelia already notified the family that her boyfriend would come over by six. Ophelia, Ania, and Meracle’s mother were all in the kitchen while the rest were still watching movies.

Ophelia handled mopping, the mother made food and Ania was the second hand in helping with whatever chores inside the kitchen that was needed to be done.

*Ding Dong* the doorbell rang.

“That must be him!” Ophelia squealed as she dropped the mopand ran to the door to welcome the one she thought was her lover.

*Click*Click* Creeeeeeeeeaaak*

But the person who stood there was not her boyfriend.

“Hello Ophelia.” Said the familiar blue haired person who was standing at the door.

The man wore a dazzling golden hanfu adorned with shapes and colors of the four spiritual animals that matches with the warm noble welcoming expression that had no hint of discomfort at all. His smooth mannequin-like face and shining starry silvery eyes only made his overall appearance look like he was born from a mysterious royal bloodline. He carries two pink duffle bags with him that did not fit with the image.

The blue haired man was none other than Jin himself and behind him was Meracle dressed in casuals. ‘Wasn’t his eyes yellow before? Why is it silver now? Does this guy like to dress up a lot?’

“W-who are you?” Ophelia asked to confirm his identity.

Jin closed his eyes and smiled a little before speaking. “Forgive me if I was a bit coarse when we first met. I’m the man you called hobo.”

“Ah… Sorry.” She shamefully apologizes.

“Mind if we come in?” Meracle suddenly peeked out to ask. She was meekly hiding behind Jin because she was scared. She was not scared of Ophelia but scared of her parents would pop out to scold her. ‘Oh…. I should’ve stayed home today…’

“Wha?” Ophelia did not even notice Meracle until now.

Seeing how little Meracle became, Jin lightly chuckled. “Ha ha… Will you allow us to come in?”

Ophelia was still slightly stunned at the well-mannered person in front of her eyes. His words were definitely a lot more… well picked with a hint of clarity and confidence behind it. “Ah… Please. Come in.”

“Thank you” Jin warmly smiled before walking in. Meracle just trailed behind him without trying to look at Ophelia.

Ophelia did not want to believe her eyes. The man before her, who she insulted did not look like a hobo one bit! ‘Wait! Did I just apologized to the guy I hate? Why does he look so amazing now!? Why isn’t he the hobo!?’

The moment Jin entered the house, everyone inside could feel a change within the air. The tense hatred that once lingered in the atmosphere slowly dispersing. Jin stood at the entrance to the living room and stayed silent. Meracle did the same because she did not want to see her parents.

“Ophelia. Is it your boyfriend or the pizza boy?” The father asked.

“Pizza!? I thought we agreed that we ate the food I cooked tonight!” the mother screamed and ran in with a bloody knife.

The father flinched a little when he saw the knife. “It was a joke dear! *Sigh*…. *mutters*Though, I wished it was the pizza boy. Some of the food she cooks sometimes do not turn out right like her soup… Especially the soups…*mutters*”

“Oh! I forgot to tell you dear. I’m making fish soup right now!” the mother said in a sweet voice.

“B-But you just said you would make beef stew!” the father whimpered.

“Nope. Now, I’m making fish soup. *Hum*Hum*Hum*” and so, the mother walked back to the kitchen with a new deadly recipe in mind.

“Dad? Are we really going to eat the soup mom is going to make?” The children asked with puppy eyes.

The father could only sigh in sadness now that he made the entire family suffer. “*Sigh* How long are you going to stand there? Why don’t the three of you come in?”

“Four sir.” Jin corrected him.

Meracle’s father frowned. “Hm? Four? I count three kid.”

*Ding Dong*

“Huh? Jin? What the? How’d you….?”

A smile curved up on Jin’s face. “Four sir.”

Meracle’s father did not like being corrected even though he was wrong. He kept a calm expression and said, “Ophelia. Get the door. I really hope your boyfriend is better than his guy.”

“Huh? Wha?” Ophelia still was in a slight shock.

“Can you please get the door Ophelia?” Jin asked in a sweet voice.

“Huh? R-right!” Ophelia did not even know why she responded to Jin instead of her father.

While Ophelia ran to the door, Meracle had a mused look on her face.

“Hm? What’s so funny Meracle?” Jin asked the girl behind him.

“Eh? N-nothing. Just a thought.”

“… Well, if you say so Meracle. But… this golden hanfu is getting kinda hot -.-‘ not to mention that she is opening the door too slowly. I just want to get home by midnight if possible. *phew*”

“Then why don’t you take it off Jin? Also, why are you carrying two of the four pink duffle bags?”

“Eh? Oh this? These are your family’s surprise present. I’m sure they’ll love it. It has tons of class and style all in two small packages. Very religious as well.” Jin inwardly laughed as he emphasizes the small part.

Meracle could feel a dark shadow creeping out form Jin’s back. “Huh? Jin? Are you going to do something bad?”

He shook his head and laughed. “Ha ha! Nope. Trust me. It’ll make your family a bit more whole again. Ah ha ha ha.”

Meracle really had a bad feeling now. ‘Please don’t piss off my dad or mom Jin…’

Ophelia, who just got the door open, squealed in excitement. “You’re here!”

Who was the person Ophelia was waiting for? It was none other than the blue haired debt collector Jin met not too long ago. The blue haired man wore a business attire with castings underneath and held flowers in both hands. She was about to pounce on him until she saw fiberglass castings all over his body. “*Gasp!* What happened to you!?”

“Ah… I got into a car crash accident. It’s nothing.” The blue haired debt collector lied.

“Uh… Shouldn’t you be resting?” Ophelia was overly worried because her boyfriend came in a pitiful state.

The blue haired debt collector smiled. “It’s fine Ophelia. If you give me a kiss I’ll feel all better.”

“Hurry up and bring the guy in!” The father shouted.

“B-But he just came from a car crash accident dad!”

Once Meracle’s famly heard it, everyone scrambled to the door aside from Jin, Meracle, and Ania. The family purposely ignored Jin and Meracle.

Ania was still in the kitchen watching the food so it would not be burnt. Jin and Meracle were just watching the family asking flurries of questions about the blue haired man’s well-being. ‘Heh… He still did not see me…’

Jin laughed inwardly and shook his head. He put aside the family at the door and walked into the kitchen because he smelled something both good and bad being made. ‘What is this twisted aroma?’

Ania noticed his presence and asked, “Coming here to help?”

“Ha ha… I came because I smelled something interestingly strong.” Jin walked over to the pot of fish soup and discovered a man-made disaster. ‘The hell? Is the fish scaled correctly? It also looked as if the mother did not even bother to cut off the fish’s head either!” Jin took a ladle and lifted the fish. The entire body was still slimy and it was obviously just dropped into the pot without its organs removed. The stench that the soup let out was horribly strong once Jin lifted the fish and he nearly passed out.

Jin did not even want to taste the soup but for the sake of everyone’s safety, he took a very very very small sip. What he tasted was beyond what he could describe. ‘The soup is so slimy that I could feel it going down my esophagus, the taste is overly salty, bitter, spicy, and sour, but the worse of it is the ingredients. The ingredients floated upward to the surface looking overly cooked. Uncut bitter melons, hugely uneven sliced radishes, diced onions, something that looks like a red bell pepper, ten ghost peppers, eight slimy non-properly scaled fishes maybe a few other ingredients only known to be named by the heavens that dwells at the bottom of this dark sea of mysteriousness. I could can taste the salt as well. *Bleh* Meracle’s mother clearly just plopped ingredients in with the intentions of making others suffer!’ Even a drop of that soup was enough to take out a normal person because the person would try to choke himself before the full taste could go down.

Jin face twisted into a look of both amazement and disgust. Within his stomach, the drop that went down made insides uncomfortable in many different ways. ‘I-Is she trying to kill everyone!? I will congratulate her because even this will be enough to take out Leviathan and he is considered to have a strong stomach.’

Meracle also came up to see why Jin’s face looked like he just saw death. Once she saw that the dish her mother was making was soup, Meracle shrank back and blushed. “T-That bad Jin?

“Eh? … Can I say that it can knock out a bear? Forget the taste of the soup…. in fact, I think the bear will actually want to be knocked out once it has a whiff of this beautiful fragrance. Ha ha!” Jin turned to Ania to ask, “Ania, is your mother doing this on purpose? Please tell me she is.”

“She is” Ania replied.

“*Phew*” Jin lets out a sigh of relief. “Then, can we dump this thing? It could really kill someone.”

“I don’t know. She might let us throw it away. Heh heh…” Ania took a look at the pot once more and her stomach lurched. “Actually, I just said she did it on purpose because you asked.”

“… I’m beginning to feel sick both in mind and body” Jin was not lying either. The smell was getting far too foul to be in the kitchen and everyone within the kitchen was starting to feel sick. ‘I also don’t know what to do with the illogical family of worshippers. This… abomination is something that even angels would turn away from.’

While at the entrance….

The mother, father, and Ophelia were still giving the blue haired debt collector a check up. They informed him that the other blue haired man arrived.

“What!? He’s here!? My imposter!? Where is he!?” a sudden burst of rage came from the blue haired man at the entrance. He furiously ran into the house to find Jin. When he caught sight of him in the kitchen he shrieked in a high pitched voice. “Ah!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOW I GOT YOU!!!!”

Though he was covered in castings, the blue haired debt collector could still fly through the living room to bum rush Jin who was in the kitchen. Half way running, the debt collector had a feeling of familiarity. ‘Huh? Did I meet this guy somewhere before?’

It wasn’t until Jin turned around to reveal his face that the blue haired debt collector was able to recall the moments of hell he experienced not too long ago. ‘GEH! WHY IS HE HERE!?’

The blue haired debt collector tried to stop running, but his castings made running a lot harder to stop that he slid on the recently mopped floor.

“He is going to slip on the mop. There is a fifty percent chance that he will fall backwards and hit his head… There is also a seventy five percent chance that he will fall forward if he is stupid enough to lean the wrong way or is afraid to fall… Only a small twenty five percent chance that he will be able to stop in time…” Jin muttered flatly. “Even if he does not slip on the mop on the floor, he will still most likely hit the ladle that was left in the pot of soup… He could either choke or swallow. Depending if he breathe it in first or fall face first into the soup…. He is going to die if he swallows the soup… if he chokes and die solely on the aroma, then all my efforts will be in vain….” In Jin’s eyes, the blue haired debt collector was moving in slow motion while he was examining every possible ending that could have happened at that moment.

Jin pushed both Ania and Meracle to the side and stepped sideways to avoid collision with the blue haired man. Just as Jin predicted, the blue haired debt collector slip on the mop. The blue haired debt collector did not want to fall backwards so he staggered to reposition himself. The debt collector’s arms were flailing about, trying to find balance.

“!!!!! Darius!” Ophelia scream and flew across the living room. She jumped over sofas, tables, and people just to get to her lover in time.

*THUD!*

Sadly, she did not get there in time. Her boyfriend, the blue haired debt collector Darius, fell hitting the back of his head and received a concussion. So what did Ophelia do? She overreacted and dramatized everything. “!!! WHY DIDN’T ANY OF YOU HELP HIM? He *Sniff* He just got back! He needs to wake up! He can’t leave me now!”

Jin stared down at the unfortunate man named Darius with emotionless eyes. ‘So you want me to help him by acting over dramatic eh? Fine. I’ll make sure his soul shall be anchored to his tormented body.’ Jin went over to take the ladle from the otherworldly soup, dip it slightly just to get a small amount of soup, and drop it down the blue haired debt collector’s throat. Then, Jin began to chant prophetic words, “O Holy spirit of the heavens above. Bring back his poor tortured soul to the one he loves so he can give her peace! Bring him back! Bring him back! Bring him back to her so that he will be howling her name out of love! Let there be light! Let there be love! Let the miracle of the heavens descend upon this man’s body to bring him back screaming!”

Meracle and the entire family watched his acting with a feeling of horror. Not only was Jin using the name of the heavens, he was being… a little blasphemous.

Within seconds, just as how Jin predicted, the blue haired debt collector named Darius regained conscious and came back screaming in terror for the next five to ten minutes with repeated sounds of, “OOOOOO FFFFFFFFFF EEEEEEEEE LLLLLLEEEEEEEEEE AAAAAHHHHH!!!” Darius calmed down after a few more screams.

“Ha ha ha ha! WELCOME BACK MY CHILD! YOU HAVE BEEN BLESSED BY THE HEAVENS AND BROUGHT BACK TO SEE YOUR LOVER ONCE MORE!” Jin laughed heartily.

“AAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!” Darius screamed in terror once more now that he saw Jin’s face up close. “B-B-B-B”

“OH HEAVENS! IT SEEMS LIKE THE UNHOLY DEMONS HAVE GOTTEN A HOLD OF YOUR POOR SOUL! TIME FOR EXORCISM!” Jin turned right back around to get a big spoonful of soup from the deadly concoction made by Meracle’s mother. With little hesitation, Jin fed Darius the spoonful and smeared it all around the man’s mouth!

Again, the hell that Darius was put through just seconds ago, was about to be relived but worse.

*SLAP!* SLAP!* SLAP!* SLAP!* SLAP!* SLAP!* SLAP!* SLAP!* SLAP!*

Jin went full salvo on Darius. Slaps could be heard resounding through the house like beating drums with red and purple cheeks as evidences. “BEGONE DEMON! BEGONE! BEGONE! BEGONE DEMON! LEAVE HIS POOR SOUL ALONE!”

Ophelia already knew what Jin was trying to do. She went to her father’s draw to get a revolver and aimed at Jin. “GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM BEFORE I BLOW-”

“THAT’S RIGHT! BLOW HIM! GIVE HIM ONE GOOD BLOW AND THE DEMON SHALL LEAVE HIS BODY! PURIFY HIS TAINTED LOWER REGION!” Jin held Darius’ unconscious body high and used it as a meat shield. “GO! DO IT! DOOOOOOOOOOO IT! BLOW HIM ALL THE WAY UP TO HIGH HEAVEN!”

Meracle and Ania, and many of the family who were watching were either dying of laughter or fuming with rage. Of course both Meracle and Ania were laughing. So were the other girls. Aria and the mother unexpectedly let out a giggle at the comical sight. The only ones that did not laugh were the father and Ophelia.

“Y-Y-YOU!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!” Ophelia tossed the gun up and snatched her lover back.

The gun was still up high in the air and was about to land in the demonic soup.

“AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! DON’T LET IT DROP INTO THE SOUP! IT’S A LIMITED EDITION MINTED PREMIUM SILVERINE COLT 99 SEVEN BULLET REVOLVER!” Meracle’s father wanted to go catch the gun himself. But there were too many people in the way.

‘*SIGH* … Gotta get the gun…’ Jin reached for a ladle within the nearby cooking utensil holder. He extends his hand with ladle in hand and used the ladle like a lacrosse stick to catch the revolver in mid-air just centimeters before falling into the horrid soup. Jin handed the gun back to the father in a quick manner and went back to standing next to Meracle.

The father glared at Jin, then Meracle, afterward is Darius in Ophelia’s arm and then back to Jin. “*Sigh*… Let’s wait till Darius gets back up. Every single one of you are causing me to have a big headache…”

15 minutes later… a lot of things happened. Current time: 6:30 pm.

While Darius was still out cold, the father interviewed Jin alone.

“… DO you know our current circumstances with our daughter Meracle?”

“No sir.”

“Then, do you know anything about our daughter?”

“No sir. I’ve only been with her for a short while so I can’t say I know anything.”

“… Do you know why she… is not considered a part of our family?”

“No. But I would like to know to help the family become whole again.”

“BOY! ALWAYS ANSWER WITH SIR!”

“Yes sir.”

“Good. Now, one last question, how do you plan on making our family whole again?”

“By resolving matters peacefully with a lot of affections and working hard to ensure both sides are happy.”

The father looked meaningfully at Jin for a minute. ‘…. This boy is not bad. The only shame is that I don’t trust him because he chose to hide his name when he first met us. Now, I don’t know whether to trust his words…’

Jin read the father’s facial expression and smiled. “You don’t have to trust me sir.”

“!?”

Jin nodded a bit. “You don’t have to trust me sir because trust is something I’d have to earn.”

“Oh? Then, show me, how can you earn my trust as of this moment?”

At this moment, Jin’s face brighten up and opened one of the duffle bags. He pulled out a wooden box tied with a red string and handed it over to the father.

‘Hm? What’s this boy planning?’ The father untied the red string and opens the box within. His eyes shone with astonishment when he laid his eyes on the content inside. ‘I-Is this!? A Vintage Chateau Laurian?’

“Heh heh… I don’t know much about wine. But the person I bought it from said that it was preserved for thirty years and tastes great.”

The father’s hand trembled with excitement. “*Gulp* Boy. Where did you get it?”

“Huh? I just ordered it online. A man by the name TheDrunkard was selling this for three hundred online for bidding. But I bargained it down to fifty bucks. Ha ha…”

“… He sold you a Vintage Chateau Laura for fifty? Are you sure you did not get ripped off?”

“Eh… If you don’t like the wine, I can take it back with-”

“NO!”

“EH? What’s wrong? Did I say something to offend you sir?”

“No. Just… a waste of precious wine.”

“Uh… okay sir…” Jin did not even know what was going on. “I could exchange it sir. I got a few more in here.” Jin opens the duffle bag to show a few more wooden boxes with red strings tied around them. “Each and every one of these are good wine or so. I’ve read peoples’ ratings on each one and they all are about thirty years old.”

The father snatched the bag away from Jin and opens each boxes with care. “An old wine named Barbatos? The Red Lily’s Kiss? Blue tears? Even I cannot buy these! Where in the world did the kid find such great wines?” The father drooled a little.

“Uh… If these are no good sir. I can take them back and find a better one.” Jin suggested as he reached for the duffle bag in the father’s hand.

‘!!! I can’t let him get these!’ The father quickly made an excuse. “*Cough* If you bring wine, then you must also drink the wine son. Don’t you know it’s common courtesy to greet your father in law by sharing a glass?”

“!!! Does this mean you approve of me sir!?”

The father dryly coughs in embarrassment. “*COUGH* I uh… don’t approve of you yet. But… I think you can become a potential son in law if you are able to make our family whole again.” This was a lie that the father made up on the spot.

Jin already knew the father’s intentions. He saw right through him. ‘Oh ho ho… You’ve taken the bait and want to run away? In your dreams! Now that I have you where I want you, I’m going to make sure you accept her! But first, acting time!’

“Why don’t you introduce yourself son? What’s your real name? Tell me more about yourself so that we can build a relationship based on trust.” Was the words coming out of the father’s mouth. But on the inside, what those words really mean was, ‘Tell me more about you so that I can eradicate you even faster by abusing my power as an ex-general. I don’t give two sh*ts about you. All I want are these wines and that’s that!’

Jin took back the bottles of wine along with the duffle bag from the father. “I think, we can wait until Darius wake back up right? After all, I need to not only earn your trust, but Meracle’s mother’s trust as well. So why don’t we wait for everyone to gather?”

‘F*ck! Now there will be less wine for me! I have to stop this mad kid!’ The father already knew that his wife was a wine lover as well. The most dangerous part about his wife is that she drinks two bottles faster than he can drink one cup! “No son. I think that we should keep these things between men. Hum? You know, bonding between males?”

“But this is a family meeting! I also need to get two people’s approval. Not just one sir. With all due respect.”

“But I said that it is fine if we bond first. It would be more beneficial if we do.”

“Hmmm…. Meracle!” Jin shouted.

“!!! What are you doing you crazy fool!?”

“If we are going to bond, I want Meracle to also be a part of it sir.”

“!!! I just said that it is male bonding! There cannot be room for females! Especially females!”

With that slip of tongue, Jin caught onto everything. ‘So… you don’t want females to drink these precious wine eh? Too late! You just fell for my trap!’

“But sir!-“

“*BANG!* ONLY! BETWEEN! MEN! GOT THAT!?”

“… Yes sir.”

‘Heh… He’s actually docile. Too weak and easy to control.’ The father smirked and shook his head. “Good. Now pour me a glass from one of these bottles.”

Jin did what he was told and gave the father a glass of wine from the first bottle he handed.

The father slowly enjoyed the thirty year old wine by taking sips every few seconds and would also often ask Jin for a refill.

‘…. The alcohol content of the Laurian is ninety eight percent proof! Why isn’t this guy drunk yet!? The hell?’ Jin looked at the empty Laurian in his hand. Indeed it was a thirty years old and of course Jin bargained it for fifty bucks. But he also had to pay a slightly large price because the person who he bought it from liked food a lot that could go with wine. So Jin spent a lot of time making different kinds of dishes. The hard part was that TheDrunkard actually had high class taste so finding the right pleasing combination was difficult. ‘Gotta break out the big one now…’

“*Burp* Hic* Hey. Boy. Bring me another one. This one is pretty good stuff.”

“Yes sir~” Jin, doing as he was told, brought out the 2nd strongest bottle that was one hundred and fifty percent proof. That was 75 percent alcohol right there! ‘… If he can stand this, then I will applaud this man.’

“Hm? Isn’t that La Muerte? I’ve been dreaming to drink this bottle!” The father was overly excited and passed the glass to Jin for a test drink. “Only half! I can’t handle a full glass now that I’m kinda tipsy.”

‘This man is red as a tomato and still wants half a glass? Does he want to die?’ Jin did not even pour half a glass. More like one tenth and handed it back.

“*Che* Stingy.” The father grumbled and downed the alcohol. When the alcohol entered the father’s stomach, his world spun round and round through his own point of view. His eyes cannot even focus on what was in front of him, his body loss strength, and he soon passed out from over drinking.

‘Oh… That’s going to be one big hang over once this meeting is done. Welp, now he can’t blame me for not trying to get his approval. But let’s see if I can still extract information.’ Jin quickly packs away the alcohol and went over to the father’s side. ‘Hmmm… it is said that the brain is still active even when asleep. Voice would not matter because it is how the brain takes the voice and manipulates it to how it sees fit. So all I have to do is say the right magical words and he would wake up or mutters some secrets like a hypnotized fool.’

“Hey Dad~ Meracle is home.” Jin whispers.

The father’s face twisted from a happily drunk baby to an angry old man. “F*CK DAT H*E!”

“…. She wanted to apologize for the trouble she has caused for you dad~ Why don’t you let her in so the two of you can talk?~” Jin continues to say in a sweet voice.

“Well she can kiss my ass! I’m not letting that stupid daughter nor her new boyfriend come near my house!” The father was still asleep and shouting violent things.

“But dad~ Why do you have to be so mean?~ It was only one little mistake dad~” Jin was just trying out different words for the sake of probing. “She did not mean to make you mad~ She just wanted your attention~”

“Nggghhh *mumbles*mumbles* Well she broke the statue of the savior! How can I not be mad!? I bought that small statue for five thousand D and she broke it so easily! How can I forgive her!? *Mumbles*Mumbles*Grumbles*”

‘??? You bought a statue for 5k? Man… I would’ve broke that statue as well! Mostly because you were ripped off for just something small as a statue of the savior.’ Jin was so angry that the father caused an incident over an over priced statue. “But is that why you kick her out dad?~”

“My god Ania! I told you before! I kicked her out because…*grumbles*grumbles*”

“Huh? Kick Meracle out for what dad?” This time, it was the real Ania talking. Behind her, was Meracle, the mother, Aira, Ophelia and Darius. The children were forced to go upstairs.

Jin nearly died from shock. He was expecting Meracle to listen in on the conversation. But he definitely did not expect Ania to come and speak out along with other people accompanying Ania.

“Because that dumb little girl let that ugly kid steal my gun six years ago and not too long ago, she let that Jason kid influence her to the point of burning the newest testament we bought from church and let some random person come up and piss on the holy statue before it broke!” The father angrily replies.

Upon hearing this, Jin turned to the other family members. “What the? You guys kicked her for something so small?”

Ania sighed. “*Sigh* Religion. Big thing Jin. We joined a big name religion about twenty years ago because the people of the church started to demonstrate miracles. That’s what our dad told us. We are trying to change it after father kicked Meracle out. Even our mom wanted to change because she also believe that we over valued religion too much now.”

The mother glared at her husband for saying such harsh words about her daughter. Though she had some hate for her daughter for many other reasons besides religious reasons, she still loved Meracle. But the thing she was most angered about at the moment is that her husband clearly tried to keep her away from the wine Jin brought. ‘… How dare you try to keep all these good wine to yourself!’

The mother went to the kitchen, took a glass, poured a liter of horrible soup into the glass and brought it back to her husband. “Wake up dear. We still have to evaluate them. Here. Drink some water to get yourself sobered up.”

The father unconsciously took the glass, said, “thank you dear’ and drank a mouthful. ‘…. Why does it… !!!!’

The father could feel his stomach convulsing violently and ran straight to the bathroom. *BLERGH!!!!!!!!!!!!* He immediately threw up whatever drank within the past ten minutes including the wine he drank.

“… I’ll evaluate the two of you now instead of him” The mother said with a serious face. She lifted up the half full glass to Jin’s and Darius’ fearful eyes to show that there were still more to be ingested. “You two won’t mind right?”

The two of them shook their head from side to side rapidly in fear.

“Good. Follow me. Oh and your name is Jin right? Be a dear and leave some wine for me.”

“Uh… okay miss-“

“STRAIGHTEN UP AND CALL ME MA’AM!”

Her words instantly got Jin to fix his trembling body. “YES MA’AM!”

‘Yesh… She sure got one big attitude. I’m not even sure if I should stay any longer to prove my worth as a better boyfriend. She might kill me faster and in a more horrible way than the father might.’ I thought to myself. ‘But the day is far from over. My plans are still in motion.’