Morning sunlight slipped through the curtains of Rai Tenzin's small guesthouse. He lay sprawled across the bed, half-asleep, while the TV replayed the finale of A Hundred Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really Love You.
Then suddenly, his phone buzzed.
An unknown number flashed on the screen.
"Son… this is your mother number 48. We live in Cambodia. Your father had ten wives here. Come visit us before they start fighting again."
Rai Tenzin blinked once… then twice.
"Wait… what?"
He read the message again slowly, then stared blankly at the ceiling.
"DAD HAD TEN WIVES IN ONE COUNTRY!?" he screamed, jumping up from the bed.
The contact name on his phone automatically updated to: Mom Cambodia #48.
"Oh no… oh no no no no! Dad wasn't a normal man… he was the final boss of love! He didn't chase dreams—he married them!" Rai Tenzin shouted, holding his head dramatically.
A sudden imaginary flashback appeared in his mind — his father wearing sunglasses and a Hawaiian shirt, surrounded by laughing women under palm trees.
"Son… if you truly wish to have 100 wives… start where your father left off…" the imaginary voice echoed.
"Why did you leave me this romantic curse, old man!?" Rai Tenzin yelled toward the ceiling.
A few hours later, he stood nervously in front of a cozy Cambodian wooden house. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door.
The door slowly opened.
A graceful woman in her forties stood there, wearing a traditional silk outfit with a calm but sharp smile. Behind her peeked a young girl, around thirteen, observing him curiously.
"So… you're Rai Tenzin," the woman said. "You look just like your father. Same foolish eyes."
"Stupid eyes?!" Rai Tenzin reacted instantly.
"The kind that make women fall… and regret it later," she added calmly.
"I'm genetically doomed…" he whispered in horror.
The young girl giggled.
"Uncle Rai, Mom said you're the 'next generation of chaos,'" she said playfully.
Rai Tenzin froze. "Uncle? Wait… you're my sister!?"
Later that afternoon, Rai Tenzin found himself sitting at a long dining table, completely overwhelmed. On one side sat ten Cambodian moms, and beside each of them sat one child — some teenagers, some younger — all his half-siblings.
His eyes moved from one person to another as his brain struggled to process everything.
"This isn't a family reunion… this is an anime crossover episode," he muttered under his breath.
Each mom had her own overwhelming presence. One carried herself like a queen, another looked ready to start a fight at any moment, one kept humming like a pop idol, while another corrected people's grammar mid-sentence. One calmly handled business calls, another meditated silently, one wore matching K-pop outfits with her daughter, another acted overly dramatic, one played games while eating, and the last one… just sat quietly, watching him with a dangerous smile.
"Boy! You want to eat? Help in the kitchen!" one of them suddenly shouted.
"Yes, ma'am!" Rai Tenzin responded instantly, grabbing a rice bowl and rushing like a soldier into battle.
The kids burst out laughing as they watched him struggle.
As the chaos continued, the quiet and dangerous-looking mom slowly placed her knife down and looked directly at him.
"So, you're his son," she said calmly. "Tell me… are you planning to have more wives than your father?"
Rai Tenzin froze. Sweat rolled down his face.
"Uhh… only a hundred," he said nervously. "I'm being humble…"
For a second, everything went silent.
Then suddenly—
The entire room exploded in laughter.
"Just a hundred!? That's nothing!" one of the moms said while wiping tears of laughter.
"You should start with just one wife first!" one of the girls teased him.
Rai Tenzin slowly sat down, completely defeated inside.
"They're right… I can't even survive ten moms and ten kids at once…" he thought.
That night, he sat quietly near the reflection pool close to Angkor Wat. The temple shined under the moonlight, calm and timeless, completely opposite to the chaos he had just experienced.
He looked up at the sky, exhaling slowly.
"Ten moms… ten siblings… all completely different… but somehow connected," he said softly.
A small smile appeared on his face.
"Dad really was insane…"
He clenched his fist, his usual determination returning.
"But maybe… that's not such a bad thing."
Standing up, he looked at the glowing temple one last time.
"Alright, Cambodia is done. Next stop… Thailand. Let's see what kind of chaos is waiting for me there."
With that, Rai Tenzin walked forward into the night, carrying both his father's ridiculous legacy and his own unpredictable future.