Not long after, Robin starts posting pictures of himself and Oliver on Facebook, where multiple family and friends follow him, including his parents.

It takes a few weeks of his parents giving him looks and avoiding the topic before they say anything.

His father makes the first comment, having stayed up late in the kitchen when Robin returns from work one day.

“Your boyfriend has won awards,” his father says awkwardly. “That’s very good. None of my friends’ children have a boyfriend or girlfriend who is that famous.”

“Yes, dad,” Robin says. “My boyfriend has written a lot of popular songs, and his name is in the production team on a lot of Australian music.”

“Good.” His father nods decisively. “Are you hungry? Your mum made beef stew and mapo tofu. Should I heat it up for you?”

“That’s fine, dad. I’ll microwave it.”

“Right. Well. I’m going to bed.”

Meanwhile, his mother catches him in the morning as she presides over breakfast.

“Remember, I won’t have dinner tonight at home,” Robin reminds her.

Previously, she would make a face, nod and quickly move on, but today, she says, “...To see your boyfriend, correct?”

“Yes, he has an apartment in the city.”

“Is he very busy?”

“Sometimes busy, sometimes not so much.”

“Is he handsome? Rich?”

Robin smiles. “He’s handsome, and definitely not poor.”

“Are you the boy or the girl in the relationship?”

Robin’s smile grows a little colder. “Mum, we are both men. There is no girl in the relationship.”

His mum gets flustered. “You know, the person who acts as the woman—”

“Mum. I don’t want to hear about how you and dad made me and Lark. So I won’t tell you what Oliver and I do.”

“Then who’s taller?”

“We’re about the same height. If you really want to see, you’ll need to meet him.”

“Of course, of course. How is the food?”

Robin accepts her change of topic.

His parents will never say something explicit as “we will support you” or “we do not mind that you are gay.” It’s not in their culture.

They had known inexplicitly that he was gay before he actually told them. The fact they have voluntarily talked about his boyfriend means that they’re on the road to acceptance, even if that acceptance is currently somewhat conditional on how successful Oliver is.

Nevertheless, it’s an acknowledgment about an important part of who Robin is. Robin finally feels seen. Tension that he has carried in his heart for so long is finally easing.

And maybe, one day in the future, he might bring Oliver to meet his parents, and it will be good.