Immovable (adj.)

-   Nothing’s happened today. Nothing at all. And if something did, I refuse to accept it. I cannot accept things I do not understand.

Newton’s Third Law of Motion is essentially the law of pairs. For every force exerted there is another force that equals and opposes it.  Neither force can exist without each other; it does not matter which force is the action or reaction. They are one interaction and must be seen as such.

They say there are two opposing forces that shape life – action and immobility. Action is when you do something about your life; it is about making choices and acting on them. On one hand, immobility is akin to something like letting life make the choices for you and doing nothing but react to it. The truth is those two seemingly contrasting forces are one in the same. We live our lives making all these difficult choices and acting on them. We struggle and claw our way into achieving what we want. We take action, good or bad, to seize our desired goal. But there are times when things happen when you don’t expect them to be. In essence, life happens, and we learn to thread it because it is what must be done.

When life happens, our only choice is to let it happen. We buckle up and wish that whatever choices we’ve made beforehand would be enough to absolve us in case the ride crashes.

And my ride has finally crashed… literally.

***

My father entered first, followed closely by my still shaken mother. I see them supporting each other, trying to take refuge to each other’s warmth as the cold brazens.

“What do you want sweetie?” my mother asked me. I was taken aback by her use of a pet word, something she hasn’t done to me since I turned 10. I would have scowled at her for using that by I acquiesced.

Seeing as this day would be a long day of talks and decision making, I went straight for the kill. “Mother, what would happen to your family’s business?”

She looked hesitant to answer first, but eventually found a way to say whatever it is that needs to be said. “Well, now that my brother is… gone… I guess Kai would be the one inheriting the family business.”

Kai? Of course that makes sense. Since my uncle has declared him his son, it would only be logical to assume that he would be the heir to the family business.

“Kai is not coming back.” I whispered.

My mother scooted closer to me, “What did you say?”

“I said Kai is not coming back. He’s… he’s gone.”

“Oh sweetie,” she reached out to touch my hand, “do not lose hope yet, the rescuers and the police say that there’s a great chance he’d be found alive,” she said confidently.

I, however, knew better. “I’m not being pessimistic. He’s gone for good, and his body would never be found…. There is something you two should know.”

And so I told them the truth. The truth that Kai was my son and not Taesun’s, that he came from the future to help me meet Minho, that Uncle Taesun helped us