The One Thing We Can All Collectively Agree On

[BlizzardeyeWonder]

Somehow, Dad was able to stare disappointedly at Chen and Meilin at the same time without going cross-eyed. Or maybe he was only staring at one of them and the other was just absorbing the feeling, or something like that.

On the dining table between the two parties was Dad's phone. He reached out and tapped it.

"Chen, what made you think what you did was acceptable?"

Chen looked down at his hands resting in his lap, not speaking as he sunk into the seat. Meilin looked to him anxiously- it was unlikely Dad would let either of them go before he got an answer.

At last, Chen spoke up.

"The other guy made Meilin cry."

Dad furrowed his brow. "Did that make using my phone to send him threatening messages okay?"

There was another long period of silence before Chen quietly answered "No."

Dad sighed, as he turned to Meilin.

"So... neither I nor your mother appreciated you having a boyfriend behind our backs," he began. "We talked about this, and we agreed that this isn't a good time in your life to have these sorts of relationships-"

"Well, you didn't ask me!" Meilin interjected.

"I wasn't finished!"

Meilin fell silent.

"We're not saying you're not allowed to have crushes, but I think- we think- you should wait until you're older, so you can deal with..." Dad seemed to wince a bit. "...this, better."

"I did deal with it," Meilin argued. "I was over it when Chen did the-"

"No you weren't!" Chen jumped in. "The night before you-"

"You can't prove that!"

"Can too!"

"What, you were spying on me?!"

"ENOUGH!"

The two children shut their mouths and looked to Dad, whose expression seemed to twitch with frustration, before suddenly softening again. He cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry for raising my voice. I... think we should have this discussion when things have cooled down a bit."

Meilin slowly nodded. Chen looked back down. Dad got up, and picked up his phone.

"In the meantime, I'll be changing the password for this thing. Chen, no video games for three days. Meilin, you need to talk with me and Mom later," and with that, he left the room.

Meilin broke the uncomfortable silence that hung in the room.

"You didn't need to do that."

"Why not?" Chen asked. Meilin wondered if it was anger that made his voice quiver a bit.

"What were you even trying to do?" she shot back with a question of her own. "It was done- over with."

Chen looked up. "Just like that? After he made you cry?"

"At first- it's okay now," Meilin said, more reassuringly. "I forgave him-"

"You WHAT?" Chen cried out.

"Wha- what do you MEAN, what?!" She supposed that was the wrong move, being reassuring. "Am I just supposed to stay mad at him forever?"

"YES!" Chen retorted.

"That wouldn't do anything good!" Maybe her voice took on a somewhat scolding tone- it wasn't entirely undeserved, was it? Even if Ben did something wrong, Chen did too.

"Forgiving won't either! He'd be getting away with it!"

Okay, Meilin took exception to that. "He did NOT get away with it! I broke up with him, didn't I?"

"That's not enough," Chen replied, a coldness entering his voice. "I- I wanted him to cry like he made you cry."

"That- that's just more people crying, that doesn't solve anything!"

Chen simply stared on at her, fire in his eyes. It wasn't directed at her, but it felt uncomfortable to look at all the same.

Meilin rested an elbow on the table, and put her head on the palm of her hand.

"You know what? Dad's right. We need to cool down a bit."