The Model Father

Chapter 9

“Hey! Where are you going?”

 Jun barely heard the woman as he left her alone on the dance floor. Shun and Mao nearly jumped when Jun suddenly appeared, the strobe lights creating weird shadows on his face deepening his scowl. Mao blinked in confusion at how Jun looked slightly annoyed. Shun just grinned at him.

“Hey, Mao,” Shun said loudly so they could hear him over the music. “Do you mind if you dance with my friend Jun for a while? I need to do something.” He smiled at her wide-eyed look and slapped Jun on the shoulder as he left. They both stood there for a moment until Mao cleared her throat. Jun shifted.

“Um, do you mind if–”

“No.” Mao shook her head. They started moving to the beat of the music.

***

Shun made his way up the VIP lounge and was met with curious glances from his friends. They were all lined up at the railing: Nari, Yamapi, and Toma. They could clearly see the dance floor. He looked at them, puzzled.

“Why did you dance with her in the first place?” Toma asked, nodding his head to the direction of the dancing crowd. Shun walked over to stand next to him. He could see Jun and Mao dancing, obviously still awkward with each other.

“I saw Nari eyeing her earlier. I couldn’t let him take her away from Jun,” Shun shrugged. He lit up a cigarette, inhaling before he continued. “I don’t want World War III on our hands.” Grayish smoke floated out his mouth as he talked.

Nari clicked his tongue at him, adding a glare for effect. Toma and Yamapi chuckled.

“I want a girl,” Yamapi suddenly whined. The others glanced at him sideways. This was out of character for Yamapi. He looked at his friends’ wonder, and shrugged. “Well, I do.”

“That bartender seems to like you,” came a voice from the other end. They then all turned to look at that random bit’s speaker, too. Nari shrugged. “So I can be a bit observant.”

“It’s not that we think you’re not observant,” Toma piped up. “It’s the fact that you actually care enough to observe.”

“Do you want me to flip you over this railing right now?” Nari growled. Toma shoved his face closer and growled back. Yamapi, who was sandwiched between them, put his hands on each of their faces and shoved them aside.

“Down, boys. This isn’t a fight club,” he said casually. A sudden ruckus by the bar turned their attention. Two grown men were beating each other up as club bouncers tried to separate them. Yamapi sighed. “Obviously those two think otherwise.” He hurried down the steps and moved towards the fight scene. Most of the patrons looked at the new entertainment.

***

“So that’s how we became friends,” Jun shrugged as he finished explaining how he knew Shun.

“All because you two liked the same girl?” Mao gaped at him. Jun’s description of his ex-girlfriend who had cheated on him with Shun awed her. She couldn’t even imagine herself having two boyfriends.

Jun shrugged again. “Like I said, we didn’t know each other until we found out she was playing us both. We both hate her now.”

Mao giggled. “And you both are secretly in love with each other.” She puckered her lips at him and made a kissing noise.

Somebody suddenly bumped into her, knocking her forward on Jun’s chest. The guy didn’t even bother to apologize as he hurried to see a fight that had just broken out. Mao slowly looked up at Jun. He was looking down at her, a small smile on his face. She quickly stood upright, tucking her hair behind her ear nervously.

“S-sorry,” she said, turning around to make a run for it. Jun caught her arm and pulled her into a kiss. Mao tried to push him away, but she found herself giving in and kissing him back. Running his fingers through her loose curls, Jun deepened the kiss. Mao suddenly pushed him off, shocking Jun.

“I-I’m sorry. I can’t,” she stammered, barely looking at him.

“What? You don’t feel the same?” Jun said, hurt. He grasped both of her arms to make her stay.

“Kevin…”

“He’s only eight, too young for you,” Jun joked. Mao glared at him.

“I meant, he’s my charge and you’re his guardian,” she seethed. “I can’t date my charges’ guardians.”

“Why? Is that a CPS rule or something?”

“Not really, though I’ve crossed the line between personal and work relationships,” Mao sighed and wriggled out of Jun’s grasp. “Sorry, Mr. Matsumoto.”

“You called me Jun earlier.” Jun’s voice became softer.

“What?”

“You called me Jun earlier,” he said loudly this time. “Doesn’t that mean anything?”

Mao bit her lip and shook her head. Without another word, she fled from the dance floor and was swallowed up by the sea of people.

Oblivious to their argument, the people on the dance floor continued swaying to the fast rhythm of the music. The strobe lights overhead flashed in time in random parts of the club. The smoke of lights and cigarettes mingled in the air, and Jun stood frozen there on the floor, still staring at the spot where Mao had been.

***

Kevin, already in his pajamas, sat in front of his laptop computer – a Sony Vaio Jun had bought him a few days ago. He clicked on a link the search engine had listed. Typing “where can I find my mom?” in the search box ran a lot of links related to it. The site was a forum, with someone having asked people to find her mother at the top of the page. Other forum members had replied, giving her additional tips for her search. Someone commented to type “people search” in the search engine.

Kevin went back to the main page and was about to type the phrase when he heard Jun walk in, and greet Auntie Em in the living room. Quickly, Kevin closed the browser window and went back to playing WoW. A knock on the door sounded a moment later.

“Hey, buddy, time to go to sleep. It’s way past your bedtime,” Jun said cheerfully. Kevin turned around and smiled at him. Shutting his laptop, he obediently went to bed as Jun tucked him in.

“G’night, Uncle Jun,” Kevin said as he settled between his baseball-themed covers.

“Night, bud,” Jun replied, bending down to kiss him on the forehead. “See ya in the morning.”

Jun straightened up and left the room, switching off the lights on his way out.

Kevin shifted on his side to face the wall. He loved his Uncle Jun, and that was why he needed to find his mother fast. He couldn’t bear being a burden on his favorite uncle any longer. With that determination, he made a mental note to do the people search someone had suggested on the forum.