Previously on It's Just Another Love Story: Jong-in walked with D.O. towards Jong-in’s house. “It’s not like that, okay?” Jong-in said. “Yeah!” his two twin sisters said. “You’re just siding with Jong-in because you have a kiddy crush on him!” D.O. said laughing. The two girls blushed and giggled among themselves. “The point is, you obviously have some kind of spark with her.” Jong-in instantly blushed. “I don’t! Get that in your head.” Jong-in said a little too violently. “Okay okay, Mr. Ants in his pants! No need to get irritated.” D.O. said playfully. “Besides,” Jong-in muttered, “I have these two!” He patted Aly and Ann on the head. The two girls just giggled with joy.

***

Chapter 23: A Date!

“What did you just ask me?” Jong-in asked, confused as ever. Tiffany gave him a warm smile. “I was thinking, maybe, you know, if you were free, that we could hang out some time.” Jong-in hadn’t had a clue of what to say. He just stood there confused. “Um, sure” he naively said, “Let’s hang out some time!” Tiffany’s face brightened. “Great! Byunghee’s parents aren’t in town so he planned a house party tomorrow night. I heard MBLAQ was going to play songs they’ve created themselves for the guests and have all this musical fun so I think it’s going to be so much fun,” Tiffany said, “I was hoping you would come with me!”

Jong-in really didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t really keen on going to Key’s place. Sure, he was in great terms with Byunghee, but Jong-in and Key always had unexplainable cold air between them. Before Jong-in could reply, Key appeared. “Have you gotten a date yet, Tiff?” he asked, teasingly. Tiffany hid her face, blushing, whispering loud enough for Jong-in to hear. “I’m working on it, Key, stop disturbing!” Key looked at Jong-in then back at Tiffany,giving her a quick nod. Tiffany went on, “Have you gotten a date yet?”

Key’s face brightened like Jong-in has never seen before. Tiffany giggled and whispered again, still audible for Jong-in, “So, you asked Jamie to go with you already? She said yes?” Key, for the first time that Jong-in has ever been with him, blushes with a nod. Tiffany claps with joy, watching Key shyly walk back inside their homeroom.

“So, Jong-in,” Tiffany asked, facing him shyly, “Will you-” “Tiffany hold on” Jong-in interrupted. Jong-in took in a deep breath. In his head, he imagined Key asking Jamie to be his date for the party and her saying yes. For some reason, Jong-in was infuriated by that thought. “I’m the guy,” Jong-in said, “I should ask you. Anyways, Byunghee-hyung asked me this morning and I wasn’t sure yet if I should go. I’m glad you brought it up.”

Tiffany’s face lit up. She gave Jong-in a very bright smile. “So, Miss Tiffany,” he asked playfully, causing her to giggle a bit, “Will you be my date for the party?” Tiffany nodded, “Yes!” Jong-in smiled. “Great! I don’t have my driver’s license so I can’t-” “I have a driver; don’t worry about it, Jong-in. Besides, I’m just really happy you’re coming with me.”

“You did what? She what? What!? Are you crazy?” D.O. asked, sounding half annoyed, half shocked. “What’s the big deal?” Jong-in said, trying to talk on the phone with one hand and cook in the other, “It’s not like I have a girlfriend or whatever!” “Yeah, but still!” Sehun said, butting in all of a sudden, “And Jamie? Why is she going with Key? What is going on?” Sehun asked, his monotonic voice replaced with an emotional rant.

“Guys, why are you treating this like I’m Jamie’s boyfriend and you guys are her bodyguard best friends?” Jong-in blurted out. The two stayed quiet. It seemed like an unnecessary pause. “Guys…” Jong-in muttered, slowly realizing what had come to this point. Jong-in muttered a loud, “No!” “Yes!” D.O. swiftly replied, “What the hell is wrong with you?” “I don’t like her that way, I thought we’ve established that yesterday!” Jong-in asked, annoyed.

“You should watch yourself when you’re around her. You’re so different yet still the same.” Sehun said, calmly. “Guys, we’ve talked about this yesterday. I told you. Please, drop it okay?” Jong-in said, trying to be calm like Sehun. “Okay” D.O. managed to say, “Fine. We’ll drop it.” Sehun only managed to sigh. Jong-in didn’t understand why his friends were acting so strangely.

After the call, Jong-in ate the little snack he made. He was completely alone in the house. He didn’t know why but he felt empty. Jong-in quickly finished eating and placed the utensils in the dishwasher. Jong-in made his way to his room then lay on the bed with a big sigh.

Ding Dong. Ding Dong. Jong-in woke up suddenly. He ran downstairs to the front door to see his parents. “Hey son!” his father boomed. “Hey dad, hey mom!” Jong-in replied, grabbing the bags of groceries from his mother. “I’m sorry it took us so long, Jong-in, sweety” his mother said, slowly handing him the bags. He shook his head, “It’s okay mom. By the way, there’s a party tomorrow at a friend’s house. Can I go?” His dad instantly said a yes. His mom thought for a while. “Whose party?” she asked. “A friend’s. Tiffany invited me.” He replied, careful not to accidentally get Byunghee in trouble with his friends.

His mother continued to think. Jong-in followed his parents to the kitchen waiting for his mother’s reply. "Don’t do anything reckless” she replied. He smiled and hugged her after placing the groceries on the table. “Thanks mom!”