@jojigja asked: “Just as a flower does not choose its color, we are not responsible for what we have come to be.” / Jae
His stomach twists violently. There’s the feeling of he’s going to be sick and he might throw up right then and there on the checkered floor of the In N Out. He doesn’t though but the sense of unease is heavy in the pit of his stomach and he’ll soon realize that it’s not going away anytime soon in the upcoming weeks. Jiang twists a fry back and forth between his forefinger and thumb. Not eating, he can’t eat after the news Jaehyuk has sprung on him so he sits and lets what it all means sink in.
His father is dead.
Jiang licks the salt off his finger tips then picks up a new fry as he fixes Jaehyuk with a glassy stare and picks a point on his face to focus on: faint scars from shaving nicks and perhaps teenage acne. God, Jiang is so out of it as he leans back in his seat and tries to still the churning of his stomach by taking a sip of his drink. It’s tea but even after spending four months in NYC he’s not entirely convinced Americans quite grasp the concept that tea isn’t supposed to be… well… this. Jaehyuk is patient, waits him out before he opens his mouth and already Jiang knows what he’s going to say. He’ll ask him to come home, exchange the trees and urban cowboys for another set of skyscrapers and familiar faces that is home. And Jiang will say a new variation of what he always says. He’ll think about it. He’ll consider it. After he finishes up his degree lets wait and see what happens.
Only now he’s out of time to do any of those things. He has no choice. It’s time to go home.
