A PLACE I CALL HOME
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My mom is a housewife who loves to watch TV and spends her free time at home, watching TVXQ music videos every day. She was practically a big fan of them as well! Silly me, I should’ve known this would happen if I planned to bring any TVXQ members home with me. She screams at me when I watch TVXQ videos instead of studying, not bothering to admit that she’s a fan of them too. When she fainted like this, I just had to laugh at her silliness! She loves them, I knew it!
“Yes, she’s fine. She was just surprised...” I laughed at my own answer. Surprised was not even the perfect word. Overwhelmed would have been more precise. I fantasized about what would happen if Jaejoong appeared at our door. I swear she’d get a heart attack! Sometimes I wonder if she loved Jaejoong more than my dad...
“We’ll wait for my dad to come home, and he’ll decide whether you both can stay here or not.”
“Okay... But are you sure your mom’s fine?”
“Yes, she loves you! She loves TVXQ too, you know. All the women in our household love TVXQ! My big sister, younger sister and I included.”
“What? Really?” He smiled, surprised. I saw his pride inflating ten folds.
“Yes, you are lucky my sisters don’t live here right now. They lives somewhere else. Or else, you’ll feel like wanting to run away again! We’ll all stick to you like some crazy fan girls!” I diverted my eyes to Ayden who had been fanning my mom non-stop with some pieces of paper.
“Haha, that’ll be inconvenient.”
“Things might get even more out of control if you were Jaejoong... They’ll turn out to be some crazy stalkers! They love Jaejoong the most! My little sis even bids Jaejoong’s poster goodnight before she sleeps every night!”
“Ahaha! I wish Jaejoong-hyung was here...”
“Missing him?”
“Yes, I miss all of them.”
“You can go back to them if you want to.”
“Not yet, it’s not the right time yet...”
“I always thought that if you were gay, you would definitely fall for Jaejoong.” I didn’t know what I was thinking, but I just spoke my thoughts. For a few moments, Yoochun stayed in silence. I waited for his defensive reply; he always replied defensively...
There was no reply from Yoochun. He seemed to be lost in a deep thought, and then, the realization hit me suddenly. Oh no... Did Yoochun actually loves Jaejoong?
“Are you...”
“No. Stop this nonsense. I don’t want to talk about it.”
Oh My God! He really fell for Jaejoong?! No!!!
“Grandma, are you awake?” I heard Ayden talk softly to my mom. Her eyes were still closed, and she replied him,
“Ayden, don’t tell me your daddy is Park Yoochun…” Yoochun and I laughed at my mom’s silly request..
“Okay, I will not tell you that Park Yoochun is my daddy, promise.” We burst into laughter again when we saw my mom’s eyebrows twitch at Ayden’s answer.
“Don’t tell me Miss Elle is your mom…” I rolled my eyes at my mom’s comment. She thought I was actually hiding an out of wedlock son out there? She’s impossible! I have to stop her from watching too many soap operas!
“No, she’s not, Grandma… But I wish she was. I don’t have a mommy. Miss Elle has you as her mommy, so if she becomes my mommy, I’ll have two mommies!” My mom’s eyes snapped open, and our jaws dropped at Ayden’s boldness.
“If Elle becomes your mom, I’ll be your grandma.” My mum ruffled Ayden’s dark hair, and I saw her soft look upon Ayden.
“Just like my daddy’s mom? I call her grandma too, and Jaejoong’s mom... Junsu’s mom... Yunho’s mom... Changmin-hyung’s mom too.” Ayden seemed to be excited over other’s moms who he calls grandma. I heard Yoochun chuckle deeply.
“Yes, Ayden.” My mom patted Ayden’s head. I turned my gaze to Yoochun who was smiling peacefully, and when our gaze met, Yoochun put his right hand around my back, his palm rested on my right shoulder, pulling me closer to him. I couldn’t help but smile at his affectionate display.
“Ayden’s right, you smell nice—“I elbowed him right at his right rib to stop him from making any further stupid comments about me. He yelped, but chuckled again. I perfectly felt his chin on the top of my head.
“Young man, you are out of your right mind if you think you can do that to my daughter in my house!”
My mom’s high pitch voice scolded him. She’s the conservative type; my dad too.
I pushed Yoochun’s body away from me and saw him scratch the back of his head, giving my mom an apologetic look while smiling innocently.
“I’m sorry.”
“You should be.” My mum scoffed at him.
“Grandma, can I eat this?” Ayden was hugging the coconut again.
“Ayden... Aw... You are so adorable!!” My mom picked Ayden up and took him outside to peel the coconut.
“Now, since my mom is definitely in love with Ayden, I think you might have my dad’s approval.” I saw Yoochun cock his brows.
“My dad listens to my mom.” With that, he chuckled.
“But he is the best dad ever!”
“I bet he is...” Yoochun smiled knowingly.
I looked at the silent Yoochun beside me. “Want to join them? I bet my mom can serve us some refreshing coconut juice.”
“I think you should tell your mom that I’m gay.” He looked back at me seriously.
“What? Are you turning gay again?”
“Nope.”
“Then, what’s with all the fuss?” Yoochun was quite impossible to understand. One minute he’ll kill me if I even utter about him being gay, and the next minute he himself suggests that I should tell my mom he’s gay. Something was seriously wrong with him!
“I just want her to let me hug you.” He smiled mischievously; the kind that makes my inner gut roll from the urge of wanting to punch him straight in his nose for his talent to be absurd at the wrong time and place.
“That’ll never happen. Gay or not, you are still a guy to her, plus, you have a son, remember?” I pushed his right hand from looping my left elbow.
“In Korea, hugging is a normal thing between a boy and girl.”
“And where are we again, Yoochun-sshi?” Man, he’s stubborn and ignorant!
“Ahaha! Okay! You win!” He managed to loop his right arm around my left elbow.
“Yoochun...!” I tried to push his looped arm from my elbow.
“Elle, stay still, I want to tell you something.” His eyes were still gleaming with the same mischief.
“What?”
“I think I’ve made a right decision to come here.”
“And why is that?”
“Because I met you.”
“Stop it. I hate it when people say mellow things like that.”
“I don’t care if you hate me for it, but it’s true.” He smiled genuinely.
“Even without that, I think I already started to hate you.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Really, Elle?”
“Really, Yoochun.”
“You can’t hate me.”
“And why is that? Don’t give me Ayden’s type of answer.”
“Ahahaha! Okay... Because you’re my fan, you’ll love me no matter what, right?”
“I don't like you now, always full of yourself.”
“I deserve to be full of myself. I’m heavenly talented, sexy as hell, filthy rich and I’m perfect.” He said that without even feeling guilty that he might make me vomit non-stop for the next 48 hours! I knew he was just trying to joke around. Deep down, I do admit that he is quite the perfect package for a guy.
“You might get yourself killed. People will definitely find a self-pompous prick like you a hateful person.”
“Jealousy could kill, you know.”
“They are not jealous, they just hate you!” I chuckled.
“They hate me because they are jealous of me.”
“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes to show him my annoyance.
“Elle…” He put his head on my shoulder, sighing deeply. Its funny how i could let a stranger stay close to me this way.
“What is it?”
“Nothing, you smell nice.”
“Shut up, pervert!” He laughed loudly at my comment.
“You sure are a lonely boy.” I sighed.
“Yes, I am, Elle... And I think it’s killing me.” He sighed again. I looked at his lonely and silent face resting on my left shoulder. Something was clenching my heart again—the price of fame.
“Yoochun-sshi…”
“Hmm?”
“Promise me something, will you?” I felt his head shifting on my shoulder, and I consider that as a yes.
“Promise me that you’ll never let Ayden feel this way. Don’t let him feel like he’s alone...”
“I can’t promise you that.”
“Why not?”
“Ever since I entered entertainment industry, I had to let go of all my privacy, my freedom, and my life to the public. I can’t always be there for Ayden, unless the public stops having any interest in my life. As long as I’m the public’s interest, I can’t promise you that.“” I understood his point.
“But aren’t you doing music because you love it? It’s your passion, right? So why must you prioritize the public? Why can’t you just do whatever you want and stay with Ayden? There are so many artists out there who have a family and children…”
“Yes, music is my passion, but I’m nothing without the public, the fans, the paparazzi... I can’t risk Ayden’s freedom for my success. I’m still trying to figure out what I should do and the best thing for both of us. Plus, you have to understand that the fans are not going to compromise and understand if they knew that Ayden is actually my biological son...”
“You have to figure it out ASAP Yoochun-sshi, before you lose Ayden in this stupid battle. You should know that life’s not always about you. It’s about those who revolve around you.”
“You might think of me as a selfish bastard, but you never stood in my shoes. I didn’t even know I had a son until last winter. I’m only 23; I had so many plans, and having a child was not one of them, not at the moment of course. Ayden changed everything. I have to figure out everything. I don’t even know what I want right now...”
“Yes, I’m not you. My life is not as complicated as yours. I just want you to hang in there and do whatever you believe is right. I hope Ayden will not be left behind. Wanted or not, he is your son, so don’t hurt him.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do; save him from my messy life.” He seemed so helpless.
“Your life is not messy; you just haven’t ruled it out.” He chuckled at my comment.
“Yes, so in order to do that, I need some time away from the chaos.”
We stayed in silence for a while as he rested his head back on my shoulder, sighing deeply.
“I know another thing that can help!” I gave him my brightest smile, hoping that it would cheer him up.
“What?”
“My mom’s homemade ice cream!” I dragged him into the kitchen, getting a tub of homemade ice cream that I knew my mom would make for me every Saturday from the freezer.
“Your mom knows how to make ice cream? Wow!” Yoochun took the small spoon I handed to him and started to dig into the chocolate ice cream. I loved how his expression turned so bright and happy.
“This might not taste as great as your Gelato, but my mom made me this since I was a kid every Saturday; I love it!” I joined him in digging into the ice cream right from the round tub, and then I ran back to the fridge to get a Hershey bottle of melted chocolate, squeezing it on top of the ice cream. Yoochun smiled happily at the sight of the melted chocolate.
“You love chocolate?” He asked after treating himself to a spoonful of ice cream covered with Hershey’s.
“Chocolate, strawberry, raspberry, mint... Um... Vanilla...Yam... I don’t know, as long as it’s ice cream, I will never have a second thought; I’ll eat them all!” We laughed at the silliness of my ice cream obsession.
“I love ice cream too. That’s why I opened the Gelato House.”
“Really? I thought you opened it to show off the fact that you have money!” I said that with a joking tone, though I displayed a serious face. He pouted, punching my left shoulder playfully.
“That’s one of the reasons, but still, I opened it for my mom. I wanted her to be close to me. She kept on saying she had nothing to do in Korea and wanted to go back to the US.”
“You’re evil, you know that? Tying down your mom with an ice cream shop is a genius move! Haha!”
“It is... Hahaha!” He laughed funnily, his eyes gleaming with happiness. I loved it when he laughed--It’s infectious!
“Elle, do you have any other siblings?”
“What now? A self introductory session?” I chuckled.
“Come on; tell me more about yourself. I know nothing about you.”
“I’ve told you before about my big and little sister. My older sister is married, so she lives somewhere else with her family. As for my Jaejoong addicted little sis, she’s a student. She only comes back home once or twice a month. I have another little brother who’s studying overseas, and my youngest brother lives here with us. He’s just 15.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know. He’s in his brooding hormonal angst teenage state. He always goes out with his friends, but I believe he’s with them studying since there’re upcoming exams.”
“Why don’t you live alone and be independent?”
“Umm... isn’t it obvious? To save money! Living with my parents, I can use my extra money for shoes and clothes! Hahaha.”
“You just started working, right?”
“Yes, and my salary sucks. You are 23 and you earn millions every month! I, on the other hand, only earn two thousand plus a month.” I sighed. I heard Yoochun chuckle at my complaints.
“At least you have your freedom, Elle.” I was deadpanned at that; he was absolutely right.
“Elle, care to explain everything to me?” I heard a deep voice behind me. Slowly, I and Yoochun turned around to see my dad; furious. I saw my mom and Ayden at the kitchen door. Apparently, my dad had already met Ayden.
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To be continued...
One of my all time fave song, composed by the love of my life <3
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