Previously on It's Just Another Love Story: Jong-in observed the party with a soft drink in hand. “Jong-in?” Tiffany asked, looking at his side profile.  She admired how good-looking Jong-in was and how humble he always was. “Hmm?” he muttered, without turning his head. Jong-in was still watching D.O. and Jamie talking. He was uneasy, yet he didn’t know why. It was just D.O. and Jamie talking.

“Thank you” Tiffany said sweetly, “For being here with me…”

Chapter 26 – Tao and Jong-in

“Son?” Tao asked, shaking Jong-in a little, “Are you awake? I’ve got something to tell you.” Jong-in slowly opened his eyes to see his excited father smiling from ear to ear like a happy fan-girl. “What’s going on, dad?” Jong-in asked, surprised his dad was smiling like a happy kid. “Your mother is sleeping right now. Quite heavily I must add.” Tao said, this time whispering as if his wife would hear him. Jong-in looked at the clock. “Dad, it’s 4 am in the morning, of course she’s still asleep” Jong-in said, rubbing his eyes. Tao immediately stood up. “I want to take care of her today.”

Jong-in lazily passed the eggs to his dad. Tao began making scrambled eggs while Jong-in started on the toast. “Dad?” Jong-in started. “Yes, son?” Tao replied, without looking away from the scrambled eggs he was making. “Why are you doing this all of a sudden? Mom doesn’t seem upset or anything. She’s always happy” Jong-in asked in curiosity. “Son, you’re really dumb!” Tao bluntly said. Jong-in gave a short chuckle.

“It’s because I love her” he said after a pause. “She knows that” Jong-in said, suddenly his head filled with the night’s before images. “I know. But, she needs to be reminded of what she already knows.” Tao replied. With that, the two continued making breakfast.

“Dad?” Jong-in whispered. “Yes, son?” Tao whispered back, concentrated on not making the food fall. Jong-in sighed softly then said, “You inspire me. I admire you. A lot, dad. I admire you and mom.” Tao broke into a small smile and stopped walking. He turned to his son. “I admire you, too, son. You’re my inspiration right now. You remind me of how much I love your mother. You are a good boy,” Tao said softly, “Let’s hang out tomorrow, just the two of us, okay?” Jong-in smiled widely and nodded.

The two entered the room to see Michelle sleeping soundly. Tao looked at Jong-in with a smile. They both walked inside slowly, trying to make the least sound possible. Jong-in placed 2 small breakfast-in-bed tables beside his mother. The two made their way to the other side of the bed where the mother was facing.

Tao kissed her on the forehead. Michelle blinked a couple of times. She finally woke up and saw the two looking at her with a puppy smile. She chuckled softly and sat up. “What are you both doing?” Michelle asked lazily. Both Tao and Jong-in pointed behind her. She turned around to see lots of food. She laughed and replied, “What is this all of a sudden?” She turned around and instantaneously, Tao and Jong-in stayed on both sides. Jong-in enjoyed having breakfast with his parents, but it felt special that day.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Sehun asked monotonically. “Yeah, guys! Why do you insist I’m not?” Jong-in replied, lying on his bed staring at the ceiling with his phone on loudspeaker beside him. “Well, because you weren’t last night” D.O. said, “You’re okay now because you had a great breakfast with your parents, plus, you’re hanging out with your dad tomorrow. But last night, you were not okay.”

Jong-in sighed. “Guys, I am. Trust me. I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be? I mean, Tiffany was really nice and she hung out with me. She said I was cool and fun to be with. To be honest, no girl has said that about me, so, I had a good time yesterday.” Jong-in said, without stopping to breathe. D.O. and Sehun sighed in unison.

Jong-in sat up and his stereo as it played ‘Mad’ by Ne-Yo, immediately. “Is that how you feel now, Jong-in?” D.O. broke out. “No, guys, come on.” Jong-in said calmly, lying back down. There was a brief pause. “Okay” D.O. said, “I have to go. Talk to you bums later” Sehun laughed monotonically, “Call if you need us, Jong-in” Jong-in broke into a smile. “I will.”

After the two hung up, Jong-in closed his. He listened to the song for a while as it soaked into his head. He then subconsciously sang along. “So both of us are mad for nothing, nothing, nothing… But we won’t let it go for nothing, nothing, this should be nothing to a love what we got, oh baby I know sometimes it’s going to rain. But, baby, can we up now? ‘Cause I can’t sleep through the pain, can’t sleep through the pain” he sang slowly, then started to say it rather than sing, “Girl, I don’t want to go to bed, mad at you, and I don’t want you to go bed, mad at me. No, I don’t want to go to bed, mad at you, and I don’t want you to go to bed, mad at me…”

At that moment, Jong-in’s phone started ringing. “What do those two want now?” Jong-in sighed. He picked up his phone to see Jamie calling him. He stared at the screen for a few seconds. He grabbed the remote and lowered the stereo down. I wonder why she’s calling he thought. He took in a quick, deep breath. He clicked answer. “Hello?” he said. “Jong-in?” Jamie said softly, “Hey.”