Chapter 110 (1/1)
[Friday - Evening (Still San’s Birthday)] Jeonghan stretches after a long day at the convenient store. He sighed and cracked his neck as he took off his apron in the staff room. He looks at himself in the mirror and invisions himself having that bob cut and looking seven years younger. "It really feels like back then," Jeonghan looked down at the floor, "except this time, I'm not dating an asshole." He smirked and left the room. He waved to his boss and left the store. He walked casually to the cafe that wasn't too far from the store. There were still ten minutes left for the cafe to be open, so he didn't even think twice about sitting down at the counter. "Long day at work?" Joshua asked, taking a cake out of the display case. "Not too bad," Jeonghan shrugged, "I just wanted to see how my boys are doing." He smiled. Joshua chuckled. "Well this cake is going in the trash, do you want any of it?" He asked. "Sure, I'll take a slice." Jeonghan agreed and took out his wallet. He put his credit card on the counter. Joshua chuckled and picked it up to slide it against the card reader. "Cheol's gonna get upset you used the card for a nonemergency." He commented. "Ehh, I'll worry about that when it happens." Jeonghan said. He looked around and frowned a bit. "Where's Ren?" He asked. "Oh," Joshua gave the card back to Jeonghan, "Mingyu found where Minhyun lives. So he went out to meet him." He informed. Jeonghan raised an eyebrow while picking up the fork Joshua handed to him. "Really? Doesn't he have work today?" He asked. "He does.. but he was just so excited to meet him." Joshua said. "So it's just been me and Woohyun today. He helped out with the machine orders since he doesn't have too much paperwork today." He explained, looking around to see if customers need anything.
Jeonghan hummed and put a fist on his cheek. "Something wrong?" Joshua asked, noticing Jeonghan's eyes being lower than the ground. "Nah," Jeonghan lifted them to make eye contact with the boy, "I wouldn't be eating if there was something wrong." He said, poking at the cake while chewing what's in his mouth. Joshua folded his arms and looked around. "So you're going to Nana's place tomorrow?" He asked. "Who told you?" Jeonghan asked. "Vernon was talking about it to Dongwoo, and I happened to be walking out of the house at the time.." Joshua explained the situation. "You're really going to drive my boyfriend insane, you know that?" He asked with a slight smirk. Jeonghan nodded and put the fork down. "I won't force him to visit two, cute girls with me." He put his hand up. "If he wants to just stay home, then he'll just stay home." He shrugged. Joshua chuckled. "You're giving him a choice now? What changed?" He asked. "When he asked me why I hated him," Jeonghan said, "I don't hate him. I just wanted to spend time with him.." He sighed and looked down at the counter. "I guess not everyone is like Seungcheol, wanting to play games or to be teased." Jeonghan muttered. Joshua cleaned the counter. "Jae never grew up around people who are clingy, Jeonghan." He said. "He worked when he didn't study." He shrugged. "So what's the point if all he ever does is work and not play?" Jeonghan asked with a slight pout. Joshua chuckled. "He'll get his off time, that's what he's working for." He said. "But really, I think you hanging out with him is really helping him. So for that, I'm not going to tell him your evil plans for tomorrow." He picked up Jeonghan's empty plate. Jeonghan looked at his watch, seeing there being a few minutes left. "I hope he doesn't really think I hate him.." He muttered. "I didn't like him at first, but that's.. you know why." He gave a playful smile. Joshua sighed and nodded. "Don't worry.. He's just getting used to it all." He smiled. "Our family isn't the most normal family, you know." He said, watching people leave the cafe. "Are you ashamed of being a stork kid?" Jeonghan asked seriously. "No," Joshua answered, "but you gotta pick the right people to tell." He said, taking his apron off. Jeonghan stood up and walked around the counter when Joshua signaled him to. "I hope the other day at dinner I didn't make you too upset." He said, putting his hands together. "Talking about kids and all.." He clarified. Joshua chuckled. "Do you know what stork school always tried telling me?" He asked. "The teachers always tried to hook me up with another stork. They told me I should settle down with them and have kids." He said, leaning back against the counter. "It's not the teacher's right to do that." Jeonghan muttered. "It's not," Joshua agreed right away, "that's what they told me to do from fifteen to graduation." He said, rolling his eyes at the pathetic attempts of the teachers. Jeonghan furrowed his eyebrows. "So I reminded you of your teachers.." He mumbled. "Kinda," Joshua shrugged, "but it felt nicer hearing it from you." He smiled. "If I didn't want to pursue a career that left no time for kids, I would listen to you and have fun raising kids with you and Jae." He held Jeonghan's hand. Jeonghan gave a small smile when the other seemed cheerful. "No matter what I do, whether it's that I'm too old to be a grandpa or request grandkids, I'm always making one of you guys upset.." He sighed, watching Joshua clean the kitchen. "It's natural, Jeonghan." Joshua said. "We all do something that aggravates each other. But it's not like I can resent you, you're my dad. You're just showing you care for me." He looked back at Jeonghan. Jeonghan smirked. "I suppose it's the job of the parent to make their kid pull their hair sometimes." He said.
Joshua nodded and went to the backdoor, opening it for Jeonghan. "Sometimes it's hella annoying," He said, "but when I look back at the moments, I always laugh. Even if I was really angry at the time." He chuckled. "Can we walk home together?" Jeonghan asked. "I'd like that, Dad." He held Jeonghan's hand.
The father-son duo smile as they wave their hands back and forth while walking home. Arriving home, the two see a new vehicle in the driveway. They look at each other with raised eyebrows. "Who's car is that?" Jeonghan asked, pointing at the blue car. Joshua tried to recognize it from one of his classmates in either stork school or college, but no bells were ringing at the time. "I'm not for sure, I don't think I know anyone with a blue car." He said, walking up to the front door. "I think Cheol said something about meeting Jisoo, maybe Hoshi invited her to dinner." Jeonghan remembered the conversation they had the other night. It mostly involved Seungcheol saying that Hoshi wants to get serious with Jisoo and would like her to meet the family. Of course, Jeonghan was open to having her over whenever she was comfortable coming. "And you're not upset that Hoshi wants to get serious with Jisoo?" Joshua asked. "I'm slowly opening, up, okay?" Jeonghan chuckled. "So far, you kids have found pretty good significant others. So I'm giving Jisoo confidence too." He smiled, opening the door. There she was in the front room, wearing a long dress that goes to her ankles and sleeves that go to her elbows. Her hair was put to the side in a clamp and her makeup was definitely on point. Jeonghan didn't forget to look at the girl's nails, they were perfect. "Hello," Her voice was a bit deep, "I'm Kim Jisoo." She bowed to Jeonghan. He slightly bowed back. "I'm Yoon Jeonghan," He smiled, "it's nice to meet you. Hoshi's always talking nice things about you." He commented. The said tiger blushed a little. "Come here and sit down with me, Jisoo." He guided the girl. "Your nails are so nice, where did you have them done?" He asked, holding her hand. "Oh.. I did my nails." She answered with blushed cheeks. Jeonghan had an amazed smile. "So you design clothes and do nails," He started, "so what do you need Hoshi for? He's just working under file management." He asked with a small chuckle. Jisoo held her mouth with a laugh. "He's a very diligent worker, he'll move up in the company." She foretold. "But really, Hoshi's such a sweet tiger. I can't not like him just because his job is a little lower-paying than mine." She said with an honest smile. Jeonghan smiled proudly. "Oh really? Isn't my tiger the sweetest?" He asked, looking the boy's way. "He is," Jisoo agreed, "even dad likes having him over." Jeonghan sat back against the couch with her. "And how does Mrs. Kim think about Hoshi?" He asked. "Well," Jisoo looked away for a moment, "Mom.. went to pursue her own things. She doesn't have much time to come by and visit." She replied. "No? Has she met Hoshi?" Jeonghan asked. Jisoo nodded. "She came over that one weekend when Hoshi went to Iksan with me. She liked him." She said, looking at the parent with a small smile. "Well what's not to like about me?" Hoshi asked with a proud smile. "I can think of when you were younger, you used to shove your socks-" Jeonghan was talking before Hoshi interrupted. "Besides that!!" Hoshi laughed and covered his face.
Jisoo laughed and looked at Jeonghan. "So Hoshi's a stork kid," She brought up, "does that mean he's supposed to be marrying another stork kid? Are we breaking any laws?" She asked. "No," Jeonghan waved his hand, "they just encourage storks to be with storks, but there's no law against Hoshi falling in love with a sweet girl." Jeonghan patted her hand. Mingyu chimed in. "Dinner's ready." "Dinner's a very important time in our family, so I expect you to tell us some stories." Jeonghan stood up with her. Jisoo smiled and let the parent walk her. "I don't have too many stories to tell, Mr. Yoon." She said. "Ayy, Mr. Yoon makes me sound old." Jeonghan said. "Just call me Jeonghan." He encouraged. "I call you Mr. Yoon." Yeosang commented.
Jeonghan left Jisoo to sit next to Hoshi. "Isn't that your choice? I offered you to call me by my name." He said, taking his place next to Seungcheol. "I guess so.." He held his chin. Jeonghan smirked. "Anyway, welcome to the family, Jisoo." He looked at the girl. "Drop in whenever you want to and stay as long as you want." He gave his blessing. Seungcheol gave a proud smile. "So tell me, do you like kids?" Jeonghan asked with a devious smile, looking at the girl. Jisoo smiled. "I love my nieces and nephews, they're always so fun to play with." She replied. Seungcheol saw Jeonghan's smile shine brighter. "My dad's going through the phase of wanting grandkids," Hoshi said, "I'm sorry if he starts pestering you." He said, looking at the girl next to him. "Oh, that doesn't bother me." Jisoo waved off. "Grandma is exactly the same way, always asking for great grandkids." She laughed while tearing small pieces of her biscuit. Jeonghan saw the girl's table manners. Still talking while not eating. "Woah.. Talk about generations.." Seokmin commented. "Yup, and I'm glad my siblings have already married." Jisoo said before picking her chopsticks up. "Are you not really into having kids?" Wonwoo asked, nonchalantly looking at Jeonghan's reaction. Jisoo shrugged. "It wouldn't be too difficult to design while taking care of children." She smiled. "I could make so many cute designs for them." She clapped. Wonwoo smirked. "Well with Woozi not being able to have kids, at least Hoshi will fulfill Jeonghan's desire for grandkids." He commented. Jisoo raised her eyebrows. "Why can't Woozi have kids?" She asked, looking at the male. "Some crow logic that's hard to explain," Woozi said, "it's only like that because I'm with Yeosang, I could have kids with other people." He said, looking at the blonde casually. Jisoo hummed. "It's a little confusing.." She admitted, scratching her cheek. "Well since you and Hoshi are opposite genders, you don't have to worry about all of this stork stuff." Wonwoo said. "My girls are doing just fine." He continued.
Jeonghan had an interested eye. "Oh really.." He smirked, slightly looking at Joshua. The boy had a knowing smile and shook his head. "How's the play going, Seungkwan?" Joshua asked. "It should be finished by Friday," Seungkwan said, "I expect you all to attend." He bit into his chicken. Wonwoo roared. "Woo, my birthday. I can't wait to see an actor portrayal of Jae getting overworked." He chuckled. "And there's some romance at the end, right?" Seokmin asked with a small smile. Seungkwan nodded. "There is.. That's when Jongho will be doing the solo song you finished today, Woozi." He said. Woozi nodded and patted his lips. "Good, and he's helped the other students learn the other song?" He asked, looking at Seokmin. "That's right, it's all ready to go." Seokmin answered. Hoshi put his hands in his lap. "Jisoo," He looked at her, "would you like to go to the play next week?" He asked. "I'd love to." Jisoo replied. "Perfect," Seungkwan spoke up, "I'm not usually one to write romance, so tell me what you think about it." He instructed. "That's because you've never experienced romance before." Minghao commented as he reached to the center of the table to put another couple pieces of chicken on his plate.
Woozi lifted an eyebrow. "Well look who's talking," He started, "you haven't even dipped into the puddle of romance." He continued, cleaning some sauce off of Yeosang's cheek. "Having romance and writing it are totally different," Minghao started, "you can blindly write a romance scene or draw something breathtaking, but it won't ever be as true as the feeling, right?" He stated intelligently. Joshua looked at him with a little huff. "Alright, you win." He smirked. "Seungkwan, I'm glad you could find romance in.. Jongho." He looked at the boy. "Wish there was a little less touching involved.." Seungkwan muttered. Jeonghan put his chopsticks down. "Do I need to go kick a boy's butt?" He asked. Seungkwan widened his eyes. "No, no, no," He waved his hands, "it's fine, really." He chuckled a little. "H-how do you feel working for your mom all week now, Yeosang?" He tried to change the subject.
Yeosang shrugged. "It's pretty fun, I suppose.." He thought aloud. "Let's hope I remember those patterns I was trying to study while we were in the study room." He slightly looked at the crow and dove beside him. "Were we that much of a distraction?" Seokmin asked in a cute voice. "Yes." He said simply, not fazed by Seokmin's expression.
A little moment with Joshua and Jeonghan along with getting to know Jisoo~
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