P'Chao Rocks the MeanPlan Ship

Chapter 19

Mean's POV

My mom and dad were both happily surprised to see me at the door. My mom gave me a big hug while my dad patted me on my shoulders.

"Why didn't you call so that I could have sent the driver to pick you up at the airport?" my father chided me.

"Because I wanted to surprise you guys,"  I replied, trying to smile as brightly as my parents were smiling but my heart was still hurting so I was unable to do so.

"You look tired, son," said my dad with a worried look on his face, "do you want to rest for a little bit before lunch?"

"Yes, Dad, I would like to do that, thanks," I said. 

Suddenly, I did feel very tired, both physically and emotionally.

I went upstairs to my room and plopped myself face down on my bed, not bothering to take off my clothes.

Now that I was in the privacy of my bedroom, I allowed my tears to flow freely on my pillows until I drifted off to sleep, physically and emotionally drained.

I was awakened by a knocking on my door.

"It's open!" I called out.

My mom walked in.

"Son, I cooked one of your favorite dishes for lunch," she said.

"Which one?" I asked.

"Nasi goreng," she replied, "I haven't cooked it for you in a while."

I shot up from bed. Suddenly I felt very, very hungry.

I gave my mom a big hug.

"You are the best mom in all the world!" I proclaimed excitedly and kissed her on her cheek for good measure.

Nasi goreng was one of the dishes I had tasted during a fan meet that my co-actors and I held in Indonesia. I liked it a lot and had told my mom about it.

My mom possesses very strong culinary skills. She had quickly learned how to cook it. It tasted so good the very first time that even my dad liked it as well.

"Whenever you are ready come down and join your father and me for lunch," my mom said.

"I will!" I said, "just give me a chance to shower and to put on some fresh clothes."

"Alright son, your father and I will be waiting for you downstairs," she said before leaving the room.

During lunch, my father and I talked for a while about business and how things were going for me In the Taiwan branch.

And then suddenly, without warning, my dad asked me, "How is that young man you've been going out with dealing with your absence?"

I was totally dumbstruck. I couldn't answer right away.

"I... I... which young man, Dad?" I stalled, my heart pounding against my chest.

"The young man whom Lizzie saw at your apartment," my dad replied, looking intently at me.

I'm so gonna kill Lizzie. I'm totally gonna sew up her big mouth with a shoemaker's needle and thread.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, trying to sound nonchalant. "That was just one of my co-actors in the Love By Chance series. Now that the series is over, we hang out from time to time whenever we are free."

"You must invite him to have dinner with me and you father sometime," my mom spoke up.

"I will try, Mom," I said helplessly.

"Yes, do that, son," my dad seconded my mom's suggestion, "I'm very eager to meet him."

Bloody, bloody hell! How was I going to bring him to the house when I was not even talking to him.

I thanked my mom for the delicious lunch and then excused myself from my parents' presence.

"Are you going anywhere, son?" my dad asked me just as I was standing to leave the table.

"No, Dad," I replied, "I'm thinking of using this whole day to get a proper rest and then we'll see about tomorrow."

"Alright then, son," my dad said with a wave of his hand to excuse me from his presence.

I went back upstairs to my room. I had barely shut the door when my phone started ringing.

It was a video call sound. I looked at my phone screen.

A crying P'Plan was on the screen, his eyes all red and puffy. My heart almost melted at the sight of his pleading expression.

I tapped on the red X to decline the call and instantly felt guilty.

Was I being too harsh on him? Should I have given him the chance to explain P'Chao's presence in his apartment?

I pounded on my pillows in angry indecision.

I turned on the TV in my bedroom to distract myself from my chaotic thoughts.

I was distracted for a good thirty minutes by a comedy show that I came upon on one of the channels.

Suddenly I heard a brief knock on the door.

Before I could walk to the door, it opened and my father walked in, his arms draped around the shoulder of a crying P'Plan.