14 Chapter 14

Lorelei turned to Amari while Sam was putting their drinks on the table. "What could've been the reason to make him leave so early?" Lorelei asked. "I mean I just got here, you know."

"Girl, it's not 'early,' you're just late," replied Amari after sipping her frappe.

Sam was munching his croffle and pointed his fork at Lorelei, "Don't you think he left because he doesn't like to be around you?"

"Hey, we don't hate each other that much!" Lorelei defended, "Maybe." She pouted after saying.

Amari leaned closer to the table, "Did you see his face while talking on the phone earlier? He looked problematic!"

"Hmm," Lorelei paused, "I don't know about that though. I kinda overheard them and it looked like he was talking to a woman."

Sam was now sipping his iced tea, "Maybe it's his girlfriend?" The two turned to him at the same time. "What? It's not impossible," he shrugged. "I mean, just look at his face. What's impossible is him NOT HAVING a girlfriend," Sam added.

"Oh, well whatever." Lorelei stretched her arms in front and popped her fingers, preparing herself to do the rest of her task, "Let's just get this done so we can chill right after."

---

Jace went to the train station as soon as he left the cafe. He bought tickets on the earliest trip to his hometown which is just the next city. Luckily, his train's departure was scheduled in 20 minutes.

He really didn't have to rush to their home if it was just a minor thing, but this time, it was an emergency. Jace was always the one taking care of his cats back then when he was still not living in his apartment, and his mom only looks after them whenever he's not around. This time, however, was the first time his cat got sick without him home. His mom doesn't know a thing about handling matters of his dearest children so he really needed to be there as soon as possible.

Jace stood up from the chair when it was time to leave. He entered the train and chose to sit on the nearest seat to the doors. It only took him an hour to arrive at his destination. He managed to find the nearest bus stop and rode a bus to their neighborhood.

"Mom, I'm home," he said as he entered their house. Their house was just big enough for a small family. It wasn't fancy or anything but it was clean, and the overall design of their home was minimalistic.

His cats greeted him with their loud 'meows' as he wore his slippers. "How are my babies? Did you miss your dad?" he said in baby talk and crouched. Jace petted their heads, "Aw, I missed you too. Have you eaten your snacks?"

"What about my Mango?" this time he gave Mango a soft chin-scratch.

Jace has a total of five cats: Mango, Nori, Sunny, Honey, and Coffee. Mango was a male orange tabby cat, and he was the oldest among the five. He was adopted when Jace was in middle school. Mango was then followed by Nori, a female black cat. The two had three kittens: Sunny and Honey who were orange tabby cats like Mango, and Coffee who's a black cat like Nori. Jace treated his cats so dearly that he even spent almost all of his allowance during high school just to buy treats for them.

"Darling, you're home early!" a woman who looked like in her late thirties or early forties greeted him with a hug.

Jace hugged her back and swayed her lightly from side to side, "As I should, Miss Ivy. Who knows what will happen to Mango if I went home late." Jace sometimes calls his mom 'Miss Ivy' just because his mom wanted to feel 'young.'

"Hey, I've been taking good care of your children! I think I can even surpass your skills now," she pulled out of their hug and crossed her arms in front of Jace.

"Really, huh?" Jace crossed his arms as well and chuckled at his mother's remark, "You don't even know how to give Mango his medicine."

"Well, minus that!" his mom defended.

Jace just shook his head while laughing, "Fine, fine. Where are his meds? I should give it to him now."

"Oh, wait a sec!" his mom rushed to the kitchen to fetch Mango's medicine. She immediately came back with a bottle of liquid medicine and a syringe. "Here it is!" she handed it then to Jace.

Jace picked Mango up and placed him on his lap. He filled the syringe with the required amount of medicine and gently held the cat's head. Slowly, he squirted the medicine into Mango's mouth, and just like that, he made the cat drink its medicine.

"How do you make it look so easy?" his mom asked after Mango ran away from Jace.

Jace shrugged, "Years of practice, maybe." He called the other cats right after and fed them treats.

His mom gave him a warm smile, "Do you want some fruit? Your dad bought a lot yesterday."

Jace smiled back, "I'll prepare it." He stood up but landed back on the couch as his mom stopped him from standing.

"Just sit and rest. I'm pretty sure you're tired, plus you haven't been home for weeks! I miss preparing food for my son," Jace's mom pouted.

Jace chuckled, "Fine, whatever you say, Miss Ivy." His mom scurried off to the kitchen to slice some fruit for Jace.

Jace continued feeding his cats with treats and stroked their head whenever he got the chance.

"Ah, right. What do you want me to cook for dinner tonight?" Jace's mom yelled from the kitchen.

"Don't sweat it! I'll do the cooking later!" Jace replied in a loud voice.

It was almost dusk when Jace decided to cook dinner. He opened the fridge to prepare the ingredients. He was planning to make some kimchi stew, but then he noticed that they were out of leeks and some other ingredients. He figured he should buy those and some groceries along the way too.

"Mom, I'll be heading out for a bit! We're out of leeks," Jace said while wearing his shoes. He went out of their house and proceeded to the nearest supermarket in their neighborhood.

Upon arriving, he grabbed a cart and went on to grab some groceries. While picking some beef in the meat section, his phone vibrated because of a notification. He paused a bit to check who messaged him, and it was Lorelei.

Lorelei: [Jacey, send your part by tonight just to check and revise some parts if needed. Thanks!]

Jace read the message but didn't bother sending a reply. He thought he should get things done first for their dinner and just take care of school-related stuff after. He went home immediately and cooked their dinner.

After eating with his family, he washed the dishes and took a warm bath right after. He felt so tired today although he didn't do much. He slumped on his bed and dozed off to sleep, completely forgetting to send Lorelei a reply.