Really, Novan still couldn't believe that his father was home right now. He felt like he was dreaming, but the current situation was very real. To prove this, Novan even pinched his own skin. And it hurt a lot, meaning he was indeed in the real world.
But it still felt a little strange when he realized that his father had come home, without any news beforehand and without giving Novan any signal; just like that, his father had come home, surprising Novan with his sudden presence. Not only that, but his father's new car stunned Novan on the spot.
And if anyone asked Novan how he was feeling at the moment, the boy would quickly answer that he didn't know exactly what his heart was feeling. It was like a whole range of emotions were taking over his body, and Novan was at a loss to describe them.
After a quick change of clothes, Novan rushed out of his room. Then, he saw his father sitting on the sofa in the living room. For a moment, Novan was transfixed. His father was removing the slippery suit from his body, leaving a white shirt underneath.
Novan smiled before finally greeting his father when he was near the middle-aged man. Novan sat on the sofa across from his father.
Jonas, Novan's father, was observed looking at his only son's face. He smiled and said, "Novan, don't you miss me?"
A question full of surprises Novan frowned, somewhat confused by his father's sudden question. Three seconds later, Novan asked carefully, "Why did you ask like that?" Honestly, Novan was confused by Jonas' intentions.
"Yes or no?" his father asked again, making Novan frown even more.
"Of course I miss you, Dad. Wait a minute—why did you ask that? It's been a while since I've seen you, and your unexpected arrival like this makes me both happy and surprised. And you should know that I love you very much." Novan spoke fast, long, and wide. There was almost no pause. And now, Novan was out of breath from continuing to speak endlessly. The boy was increasingly focused on Jonas' face, who was also looking at him intently. "So, according to me, your question just now was very strange. You don't believe that I miss you? Do you have any doubts?"
"You could say that."
"But why?"
"Because you're not sitting next to me, why are you sitting there? If you miss me, you should be sitting next to me right now."
"Just because of that?" said Novan, a little amazed and not quite thinking. He even sighed softly.
Jonas nodded firmly, not hesitating at all. "That's the only reason."
Novan laughed a little. "Just because you're sitting across from me doesn't mean you don't miss me."
"Still, I think that if you don't like being close to me, you don't miss me, and you don't care that I came here to meet my only son."
"Okay." Novan then stood up from his seat. The boy then walked around the table, before finally landing his butt on the soft sofa, right next to Jonas, his father.
He turned his face to the right, then grinned softly, "What now? Are you satisfied? You feel better?"
Jonas smiled as he embraced Novan from the side, the man patting his son's shoulder. "Well, if it's like this, I can believe that my son, who is the most handsome in the world, misses me."
"What's the world's most handsome? You're exaggerating." Novan laughed at the end of his sentence.
"It's true, I'm not lying. You are indeed handsome, just like me, of course." Novan's laughter returned to the air, he now just nodded his head. He didn't argue with his father's words, he just said whatever his father said.
"Yes, we are both the most handsome men in the whole world! No one can beat us at all. How about now? Are you more satisfied?"
"I'm very satisfied." Jonas chuckled softly, leaving Novan with an overwhelming feeling of happiness. The boy stared at his father's face for a long time.
His father's face hadn't changed, only his sideburns looked thicker than the last time Novan had seen them, about two months ago if Novan wasn't mistaken. Yes, it seemed to be around that time. Novan didn't know for sure, he just guessed.
"Why are you staring at dad's face like that? Do you still miss me, hm?"
"I was just thinking for a while," said Novan.
"Thinking about what? About the schoolwork that's piling up? About problems with your classmates? Or about girl problems?" In his last sentence, Jonas deliberately blinked his eyes repeatedly.
"Nothing is true, all I think about is you, Dad."
"Me?" Jonas pointed at himself. "What's wrong with you?"
"I don't know, I was suddenly thinking about when I last saw my dad's face. It seems like a very long time ago. That's what was on his mind."
Guilt quickly crept up on Jonas. He swallowed and looked at his only son with eyes full of regret and sadness.
"Dad hasn't been home for a long time, has he?" Jonas said softly, "The last time I saw you and came here was three months ago."
"Approximately ninety days," Novan continued quietly. Novan thought he hadn't seen his father in two months or sixty days, but apparently it was much more than that. No wonder, Novan felt like he hadn't seen Jonas in a very long time.
"Novan." Jonas moved closer to his son, sitting closer to Novan. The middle-aged man then grasped Novan's hand, so strong, tight, and very tight.
"Novan, I'm sorry, okay?"
Novan's eyes did not blink at his father's face, which was certainly getting older as time went by. Novan was pensive, not expecting that such a sentence would come out of his father's lips.
Novan chose to remain silent this time, giving his father room to continue his sentence.
Jonas swallowed before continuing his sentence that had been paused. "Novan, I'm too busy working that I rarely come home to see you, you must be lonely at home, right? I'm sorry, I should have thought of you, you're my only son, I should have had time for you, Novan, I should have taken my time."
Novan still pressed his lips together, he didn't know what to say. This was too sudden and unpredictable. He had been given many unexpected surprises like this, making his brain go blank for a while. Novan was still staring at his father, his lips opening, then closing again. Novan tried to find the right words to say.
"Why did you say that?" Finally, this sentence came out of Novan's lips. It wasn't the right sentence, Novan was just confused about how to respond. Those were the first words that came out of his skull.
"I feel like I've lost a lot of time that I should have spent with my son." Jonas continued. "And look at you now, without even realizing it, your hair has grown up, your height has matched mine, and soon I might even lose height to you, Novan." His father smiled, but from the look in his eyes, it could be seen that he was holding a whole range of emotions. "I really didn't realize how fast time flies, and now my son is growing up so fast."
"Dad-" Novan swallowed his saliva. "You don't have to talk like that."
And Jonas didn't seem to care, he didn't hear the words that came out of his son's mouth. "See now, where's that little arm you recognize from before?" Jonas hit Novan hard on the shoulder, making him slightly wide-eyed because his father's punch was enough to make him hurt. "Since when did your arm get this big, Novan?" His father was truly amazed, watching his son's arm with a glazed look in his eyes.
By the way, Novan was currently wearing a sleeveless shirt, so of course the entire white part of his arm was very clearly visible. Yes, Novan does have a nice, ideal body. His arm muscles were very prominent, and girls who saw him would definitely like it.
"Novan works out quite often."
"Go to the gym?"
"Just once, but not often."
"That means sometimes," Jonas said later.
Novan nodded in understanding. "Yeah, something like that."
"Alright, back to the original topic. I apologize to you for everything, for all my many mistakes, and I'm sorry that I was too busy working and didn't make time for you."
Novan let out a long, harsh breath. "I don't need to apologize, it's not your fault."
"Obviously it's my fault, and I'm certainly obliged to apologize."
"You also work for me, and you use the money I earn. So, why should you apologize? You work hard, it's all for me, right?"
Jonas then fell silent, this time it was his turn to lock his mouth tightly.
"In fact, i should apologize to you for making me work tirelessly."
"Hey." Jonas put his arm around Novan. "That's my job, you don't have to apologize for it. My job is to provide for my family, and you're my son, you're my family. You should know this, right?"
"Well then, why did you apologize? Please, it's better not to continue this discussion, okay? You didn't do anything wrong, period. What you did was right, there was nothing wrong at all. I happy if you're okay; I'm happy if you're in good health. At this point, and I hope you can understand."
Jonas then immediately hugged Novan very tightly, holding his son's body very tightly. Novan was initially surprised by his father's sudden movement, but eventually he relaxed. Novan smiled slightly, slowly returning Jonas' embrace. Novan gently patted his father's broad back.
"I promise from now on I'll come home to see you more often."
"Don't push it too hard, i'm fine here. If you're too busy working, you don't need to come, just let me know via cell phone like usual."
The hug then broke. Jonas smiled at Novan and nodded, which Novan returned with a smile.
"What do you want now? Let me buy it for you, just tell me, and I'll definitely try. Tell me, do you want a new phone? Or what?"
"My phone is still worth using, and it's still good too."
"So what do you want, a play station?"
"I don't want it," Novan replied, shaking his head firmly. "Marcell also has one at home, and i often go to his house. I always play PlayStation there. So I don't think I need that stuff. Besides, i tired of playing."
"Okay, I understand. But what do you want? A new motorcycle?"
"Oh my gosh, don't overdo it; my motorcycle is still in good condition, there's no need to waste money."
"I have plenty of money."
"But I don't need a new motorcycle. Taking care of one motorcycle is enough. I'm afraid it will get damaged if I have many motorcycles. So I don't want to."
"What about a car?"
Novan almost burst out laughing. "What's wrong with you, Dad? There's a car in the garage, two in fact, and both of them are quite rare for i to use. And now you want to offer i a new car?" The boy shook his head, completely out of his mind with all the offers from his father. Novan didn't need all that stuff.
"So what do you want, Novan? How's your laptop? It's bad, right? The last time you bought a laptop seems like a long time ago. Since when, huh?"
"Almost two years ago, I think."
"There!" Novan's father snapped his fingers quickly, his face full of cheerfulness. "That means your laptop is old, it needs to be replaced."
"My laptop is already broken anyway."
"Broken?"
Novan responded with a light nod of his head. "Yes, last month it was accidentally knocked over by me, then fell. And now it's broken—well, not broken, but the laptop won't turn on."
"Good then, let's buy a new laptop for you."
"I already took it to the laptop repairman."
Jonas quickly shook his hand. "That can't guarantee anything. It'll break again, I guarantee it. Instead of spending money to fix a broken laptop, it's better to save the money, and then I'll buy a new laptop for you. Besides, your laptop is too old, Novan."
"It's not really old, it's still good, actually."
"Yeah, that was before it fell and wouldn't turn on. But now? It's broken too, right? It must not want to live anymore. Already, just obey dad and replace it with a new one. You can sell your laptop to the repairman, and you can save the money for snacks. It's up to you. Just give whatever price the laptop is offered for, it's already broken."
Novan nodded slowly and said, "Okay, if that's what I want."
"Good, let's go now."
"Right now?" Novan froze in place. "Isn't the timing awkward? It's getting late. What about later? Let's wait until the evening."
"That's fine, you can eat at the restaurant tonight? Do you want to?"
There was no reason for Novan to refuse, the boy smiled slightly as he nodded. "Yes, i would like to."
"You might as well try out my new car, so you can feel it. It will be your car too."
This time, Novan only returned his father's words with a smile. Novan knew, and was well aware, that his father was eager to make amends. Which for Novan was not a mistake, his father had done nothing wrong to him. Jonas didn't owe him anything either. As Novan had said before, he didn't feel disappointed or sad despite living alone. Novan knew that he had grown up and that his father was working hard for his own needs.
"Dad, do you want me to make coffee?"
"Coffee?"
"Or tea, maybe? Whichever you prefer."
"You want to make me coffee?"
"Yes, if you want."
"Ah, no need. I didn't want." In front of his face, Jonas waved his hand. "If you want, I can make it myself."
"It's okay, let i make it. I want to make it too, my mouth is thirsty. Do you want some?"
"Yes, I want black coffee, just a little sugar, I don't like sweets."
"Ready! Wait a minute, maximum ten minutes." Novan quickly got up from his seat, and the boy was waltzing away from his father.
Jonas' eyes did not leave the face of his favorite and only son. He didn't realize that his son had grown up so fast. Time had indeed flown by. Ever since Novan was a child, Jonas realized that he was a workaholic. He admits it. But is it too late to correct his mistakes now?