were forced to spend most of graduation day together.

It was bloody chaos.

The entire eighth floor descended at seven in the morning—so painfully early—for one of our last breakfasts together in the cafeteria before we all moved out at the end of the week. Jake cried as he made a toast with his chocolate milk.

"Boo," Viv had joked, using her signature humour to dry his tears. "Don't act like you aren't going to live it up in Germany the whole summer."

Then she, Riley and I spent about two hours applying our makeup with painstaking care and slipping into stylish midi dresses. Between the three of us, I think our eyeliner was redone about fifteen times until they were meticulously symmetrical.

At midday, Quen and I walked hand in hand to meet our families. Our friends followed us, heading to the Quad where crowds of seniors and their loved ones were gathered, angling for shade under the nearest trees.

Quen's parents and grandmother were the only ones who came to cheer him on, sitting side by side on a bench underneath an oak tree. They were calm and patient.

Gathered around a neighbouring bench, Pippa wailed in Mom's arms. Dad and Wenghao laughed together over something on Dad's phone screen. Kevin and Olly were ganging up on Tommy for not messaging the family WeChat enough.

The juxtoposition was stark. I shivered in the heat.

"Here we go," I muttered, squeezing Quen's hand tightly. His fingers tightened around mine in response.

"Here we go," Quen echoed.

By now, I'd broken the news online that yes, I had a boyfriend now, and fielded my parents' curious questions. They liked the sound of Quen on paper, but I still issued a warning to both parties to be on their best behaviour.

"Hi, guys," I called as I approached my family, and Viv, Riley and the Jays split off to greet their own.

Quen went to hug his mother, drawing her over until we were one big cluster of reuniting relatives. It was a bit claustrophobic, if I was being honest, but I could grin and bear it for today.

I hugged Quen's mom and waved to his dad. "I'm so happy to see you again! How have you been?"

After the greetings and introductions were made, I finally tugged Mom over to talk to Quen. We had officially called twice since the Christmas Catastrophe.

The first time she reminded me to change my mailing address back to the apartment, once I left Halston. The second time, she asked me to start ferrying my winter clothes home in increments so there would be less to take on move-out day.

Each time in farewell, she told me to leave my windows open. Which was her way of saying she loved me.

Quen hadn't been nervous to meet her. Like the amazing boyfriend he was, he'd prepared exactly what he was going to say to get Mom to like him.

"Hello, Mrs. Ming," he smiled. "It's so nice to finally meet you." He extended a hand and tipped his head slightly.

Mom shook Quen's hand politely, eyes skimming up and down his frame. She was always great at being friendly to everyone—guess that's where I got it—but I wanted more than superficial civility. I wanted her to really, really enjoy Quen's presence in my life. I wanted her to be proud of me.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Quentin."

But before Quen had a chance to say more, she turned her head to me. Not abruptly enough to be rude, but enough to make me her sole focus of the day. "讓我們拍照. Then we can meet our reservation."

Determined to make our yum cha reservation, Mom breezed over to Kevin, who'd brought his Canon camera. She corralled everyone into a picturesque formation. Group pictures first, it'd seem. Then doubles with every single family member. Then some with all the siblings. Then every style of frame imaginable for the single shots.

Not to mention all my dear friends that I'd made over the years, who deserved their own feature on digital film. It was like shuffling through a carousel of people, realising that somehow—despite my introversion—I'd struck gold with my found family. I saw Viv and Riley briefly, the Tanners with the Olsens, and even Callum swung by to catch up with Quen.

For the umpteenth time, gratitude struck me for choosing Halston over any NYC colleges, whose campuses had to grow in the cracks in the concrete. Halston University was small, tight-knit, cradling golden memories in the boughs of its oak trees and the cracks in its redbricks. And it brought me to Quen.

"I'm so sorry," I said to Quen after we finally caught a second alone.

Kevin's generosity had spilt over to the Chengs. Now had a growing collection of photographs in the Canon, too. I'd have to make a Google Drive for it later.

"Mom wasn't ignoring you. She will warm up to you, I promise."

"I know. Don't worry about it," Quen assured me, reaffirming that I was the only one stressing out today. Raising my hand to his lips, he placed a soft kiss on my wrist, brown eyes glinting warmly.

"We have all the time in the world."

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

"ZeCon is a great company," Tommy enthused after bite of 餃子. "It's super impressive that you're interning there."

The Chengs and the Mings had booked the largest private room in Halston's foremost Chinese restaurant, the lazy susan piled high with fried delicacies. I loved yum cha. It was all my favourite parts of mealtimes and being with my family on steroids. Plus, there was an endless flow of tea.

I was thankful to be donning my graduation robes after this late lunch, ready for the evening ceremony, because I would absolutely look slightly pregnant walking across the stage with my food baby. Dumplings, man. Who could say no?

"It's unpaid," Quen dismissed modestly, conveniently sitting all the way across from me. One hundred and eighty degrees separation—but I couldn't tell if Mom had planned it. "I just need some experience before entering grad roles."

"ZeCon has pretty good rates of taking interns on," Tommy continued. His tone was light and conversational but I knew he was trying his best to help win Mom over.

"Hopefully."

Quen rose wordlessly, for his third time in half an hour, to make a round of the table with the teapot, refilling everyone's cups.

Olly gave me a subtle thumbs-up, also rooting for us. Despite the initial anxiety of my day—a lot of which could be attributed to how I expected my mother to react, this high-strung perception of her that didn't fully translate to real life—I was so happy. I felt so loved.

Quen also seemed pleased with the way the day had developed thus far, if his warm smiles and flowing conversation with my siblings proved anything. Everyone at the table had been brought together to celebrate. They all wanted the best for us, and the best for our futures. And, with Quen's dad and my dad laughing boisterously and speaking rapidfire Mandarin to each other—well-posed to become besties—it was hard to concentrate on would-bes and what-ifs.

However, the fathers turned on each other when the meal finished.

"你在說什麼?" Dad exclaimed outrageously, his cheeks ruddy from all the hot tea. "You're not going to pay. Look at how many of us there are," he complained, sweeping a hand over my extensive family.

Quen's father swatted Dad's hand away, reaching for the EFTPOS terminal with his card poised and ready. "Don't be silly, you made the reservation."

"你在新年照顧我女兒," Dad protested, shouldering Quen's dad away.

"有時間, 我們會送Quen到你家吃晚飯!"

The undergrad manning the register looked at the heated exchange with growing concern, unsure whether to intervene or not. Quen and I exchanged apologetic expressions with him as our fathers battled it out. Maybe I'd been worrying about Mom too much and forgotten to fret over Dad and his prideful habits. Like picking up the check every time.

Eventually, Dad extended his hand over Quen's father's obstructing arm, getting his card just close enough to the terminal to trigger the contactless payment. They burst into laughter when the machine beeped in approval.

"Next time, then," Quen's father chuckled, clapping Dad on the back.

"Like hell."

Adorable.

As we migrated to the conference centre, following the stream of seniors making a similar journey, I fell back to walk alongside Mom. The pathways were only big enough for two people to walk side by side, and Quen readily found himself bantering with Kevin.

"How are you feeling?" I asked her.

"I'm supposed to be asking that," she chuckled, turning an emotional gaze to me.

She looked at me a second too long, her eyes—my eyes—shining bright. The air shifted and I held my breath.

"飛鴻..." she began, taking a deep inhale. "I am glad that you are my daughter. Not someone else. I'm proud of you."

And for a woman who'd never expressed love verbally, who spoke in jars of tea and extra layers of clothing and nagging phone calls, I recognised the huge chasm she'd just crossed. The great leap of her own Mom had just made.

And for a daughter who'd fretted about being too much or being too little, who never wanted to disappoint her parents, that meant the world. Mom wouldn't prefer an accomplished, beauty pageant-winning doctor over the real me.

She wanted me. She loved me. She wouldn't change me, and I wouldn't have traded her for anything.

I took her hand and squeezed it tight. "I'm glad you're my mom."

"Also," she said, returning my tight grip. She glanced in Quen's direction, where he and Kevin were laughing together. A firm nod.

And that was it.

That was the most we spoke of it, as I hugged my girlfriends one last time as university students. As I organised myself alphabetically in the conference hall. As I strode across the stage when time called for the M surnames.

That was it, as I heard my floormates and siblings hooting for me— Viv and Kevin the loudest. As I caught Quen's proud eye in the crowd and felt my stomach melt a little.

This was all I needed.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

This brings us to the end of Nightlife. Thank you endlessly for reading Krista and Quen's tale.

I love all my books for different reasons, and Nightlife will always have a special place in my heart. It's my ode, my love letter, and my words of comfort to immigrants of any generation, of any culture. It can be so hard reconciling our roots with our wings, so I hope this story acts as a warm hug, a safe space, as we try to navigate our two worlds.

Plus, I got to fangirl endlessly about STEM throughout the chapters. A definite perk of writing Nightlife. XD

As you may know already, I have several other books spanning this universe in the contemporary genre. I hope you check them out and follow me on Wattpad and social media for updates about them!

I'm currently publishing Viv and Jamie's spin-off which is... heh... not as PG as Nightlife. ;)

See you in the next story,

Aimee x