Chapter 2 : Dementors and Patronuses

Breaking up is like having your soul sucked by dementors. The experience will continue to suck the life out of you until you find a thought happy enough to conjure a patronus that is strong enough to protect you. Not all love stories are as grim as mine. I find it nicer when the problem doesn't lie on the people who are actually in love but the circumstances and people around them. Take Jiao Hua and Joseph for example. They are perfectly compatible with each other- Well that is, if you don't take into consideration Jiao's conservative Chinese family and Joseph's rebel background, everything would have been perfect.

Jiao Hua is a gay Chinese man who is in a secret relationship with big man Joseph. I have been considering Jiao as a woman for a long time now because that is what he wishes. Therefore, from the very start, I have always referred to him as "her."

Jiao tried to open up to his parents about Joseph by referring to him as "Joanna." His parents were quite happy with it until the time they actually asked about his age. Joseph was 28 years old and Jiao was 19 during that time. A nine year age gap was hell bad according to popular Chinese belief. They said that it will bring their relationship bad luck. Without even trying to know "Joanna," they disapproved of the relationship and asked Jiao never to see "her" again.

Of course they didn't let that ruin what they had. They dated in secret. They are occasionally caught by Jiao's evil butler- whom I'm assuming to be a part of the Chinese mafia because of his many connections.

One more thing about Joseph was- he was actually married before to a woman. Because he is a buff rebel and a former juvenile delinquent, and Jiao's butler automatically dismisses him- even if he thought that they were only friends. The butler, "manang," Was convinced that Joseph was a bad influence to Jiao- partly because Jiao told him that Joseph was the one who introduced him to Joanna. His parents also hate Joseph. They also made Jiao swear never to meet him again. Its kinda weird for me since I know that they are trying to ban the same people out of their son's life. Well at least their story is not tragic and boring. I'll give them that.