Sorry. The answer is yes.
One does not have to bend either the Bible or science.
If you are as open-minded as you think you are and are willing to consider one of the best presentations for creation then would you please do us all a favor and read www.creationscience.com - it’s written by Dr Walt Brown, a former evolution scientist who saw the error of his ways.
Other than Genesis the other main reason YEC hold fast to 6-10k years of history is simply found in the Biblical genealogies that describe how old each father was when his son was born. Following that lineage leaves a very short history.
Lastly, how do you resovle the ideas for millions of years between creation of plants and then animals (they really do depend on each other for life) and also how could death enter the world with the sin of Adam and Eve if they were preceeded by plants and animals dieing for millions of years befre the creation of man?