Chapter 7

A few days later while Jinki and the lovely Ms BoonBoon were busy playing at home with playdoh making a mess of Eunsooks kitchen table Minho and Eunsook were busy in the butcher shop and that is when Eunsook got a surprise visit of her own.

It was a bit slow in the shop when the door opened and a very well dressed Taemin came stepping in with a box.

Minho greeted him. “Hello, sir how may I serve you today?”

“Um, hello. I’m looking for Lee Eunsook. My name is..”

“Taemin!” Eunsook saw him as she came out of the kitchen. “Minho this is Taemin.” She said running up to him as her husband spoke from over the counter. “Hello, Taemin sir. Please come in. My wife told me about you. It’s good to finally meet you.”

Taemin smiled kindly but nervously at Minho. She shook his hand. “How have you been Mr. Lee? What’s this? Have you been shopping this morning? Speaking of shopping I still have to buy a few things for my dad’s birthday.”

“My I talk to you privately?” He asked quietly.

“Yes, of course. Let’s go take a seat near the back.”

As she walked him to a table he looked around. He hadn’t been in the shop in decades. “You’ve changed it. It wasn’t a sit-in deli dinner before. It use to be a butcher shop only. Come in get meat and leave.”

“Dad changed it when he owned it. He thought it would be more friendly and nice and a better way to earn more money.”

“I like it.” He smiled softly. “It was my idea.” He chuckled.

“Oh? That’s cool.” She was excited to hear that. Means he has always thought of Taemin in some way.

“I’ve come to give you this. Please give this to him. I made them myself.”  He laughed weakly. “It’s shoes.” He paused and took a breath “ … I don’t think … I am not sure if I should come to the party.” He placed the box on the table and grabbed a tissue from his black peacoat.

“Why? It will just be us honestly. Me, Minho and Gwiboon. Not lots of people if you’re not into huge social things so nothing to be nervous about. Please come.”

“I was just too happy to see you.. I think I might have spoke to soon. And now that I thought it over…”  He looked down, and fiddled with the tissue in his hand. “I have to be honest with you because I can never lie to Hyung’s daughter. The truth is… I can’t, we made a pact. We got married and… well, it’s better this way. Jinki never told you about me. I never told my son either until your visit to my sotre. There is more to our friendship. My friendship with Jinki could be dangerous to your family…. I.. he.. we.. I do not want to hurt you or the memory of your late mother. Jinki built a family and I will not take that away. And if he is still in pain from losing his wife... ”

“You’re not taking anything away Mr. Lee.” She held his hand across the table. “It’s been a few years since mom passed. And yes he was in pain, the pain still lingers, I can see it. But..  I wasn’t going to tell you this but… I know about you.. I know what you meant to my father in the past. My father has no idea I know of you, he kept his pact with you. I found an old shoe box, it had the name of your store on it.  In it was a photo of you and my dad, had your name on it. I also saw a letter. I stopped reading once I figured out what it was.”

Taemin’s chest stared to heave, panic started to settle in. It was never to be discovered ever. “Eunsook, I’m so so sorry. Please do not be mad me or at your father, He loves you and he loved your mother very much.”

“Mr. Lee” She said softly and rubbed the back of his gloved hand, soothing him, reassuring him. “I’m fine with it Mr. Lee. It’s alright. I am not mad at all; everyone has a first love.”

“Not a gay one.” He mumbled and wiped a tear.

“Yes, they do. You’re not alone. Please do not feel shame. There are so many people like you and my father. And there is nothing wrong with it. If I had a problem with you and my father’s past would I still be here asking you to talk to my dad? You meant a lot to my father. I just thought the two of you could talk. I’m sorry for opening up something you closed. But I just wanted to help my father. Maybe I’m being selfish. I am sorry. Just know if you change your mind, I’m open to setting it up for you two to meet.”

Taemin smiled and repeated once again “you look just like him. This is so hard for me.”

She patted his hand comforting him. “I know”

“My son knows I’m gay. But I never told him about Jinki until you came. My son, Kibum. Your father picked his name, like I picked yours when we were kids.”

“Did he know your wife?”

“We knew of each other’s wives. He came to my wedding actually. Later that same day he got in the car accident and at the hospital is where he met your mother. She was a nurse at the time. I approved of her right away for Jinki. I came to his wedding too. But he never knew of my son and I never knew of you because after a little while of being married we vowed to never speak to each other again so our marriages could work. It wouldn’t be fair to the women in our lives and Jinki loved his wife.  And it hurt like hell not to speak to each other but that is what people like us did back then. You give it up to fit in. To raise a family.”

“Then how did you pick my name?”

Taemin chuckled. “Well, do you remember your grandparents’ house? It was on a huge plot of land. Behind the house was a forrest right?”

“Yeah.”

“I lived on the other side of the Forrest, directly behind Jinki’s house. If you walk all the way to the middle of that forrest its where our parent's property lines meet and if you go there you’ll see a tree house. Ever find it when you played in the woods as a kid when visiting your grandparents?”

“No.”

“Right. Our secret hinding place.” He smiled warmly and hapily knowing it was never discovered. “We had built it ourselves when we were super little.  And we use to spend lots of time in there. So anyways that is where we came up with your name.  Jinki brought up the topic of children. He loved kids.  I said to him, well maybe someone will abandon twin babies on our doorstep and we can take ‘em and raise them. Jinki said if we had a boy and a girl what would I name them. I said our girl should be named Eunsook; promise me you’ll name her that. He agreed, he always wanted a girl. Well, then he said our boy, let’s name him Kibum. And we made a promise that is what we’d name our children.  I kept my promise and I see he did the same. I always wondered if he had. I’m so happy he did. And you are a beautiful lady. I know Jinki must be so proud of you.”

“Do you have any grandchildren?”

Taemin laughed “No, I don’t. My son won’t settle down. Oh gosh, I sound like my father. Ironic isn’t? You can’t escape it. ”

Eunsook chuckled. “Just the other day I chocolate off Gwiboon’s face, I’ve turned into my mother. You’re right, can’t escape it.” They shared a laugh.

“So what happens now?” He said as the giggles faded.

“Would you like to meet my father? Catch up on life? Give him back his old friend? Get him socializing again? Bring a smile to his face? He is stuck between generations Gwiboon’s and mine.  Although very cute, Gwiboon can’t be his only friend.  He needs adult conversations, not only conversations about which cartoon is the coolest with her or the things my husband, Minho, and I talk about. We might be too young to get something’s he is into and vice versa. I’m not saying you have to date him or anything, but if you do, just know Me and Minho will approve. So don’t fear. Meet and see what happens. Just be yourself, years ago you were never allowed to be yourself and now you can. ”

Taemin took a long time to think about it; she waited patiently. There was a peaceful silence …. She had a point. It’s now or never. Eventually he spoke up softly “Well, I’m not married anymore, Jinki’s single. My parents have passed away and can’t tell me no anymore. And since you have no objections. Yes, I think I would like to meet him. I’m really nervous but I think I would like to see him at least once. To catch up on all the years we missed.”

“How bout this… why not meet before the birthday. So you can privately talk. Without me and my kid and husband around. Does that sound better?”

45 years was long enough to be without Jinki, he didn’t want to let the opportunity slip through his fingers. Nothing could stop him this time. He felt a sudden rush of bravery and before he could change his mind again, he answered with “I know the perfect restaurant. I’ll book it, you just bring my hyung.”

“Deal.”

“Thank you Eunsook for everything. You little snoop.” he .

“I… I didn’t read the letters though. I stopped once I figure out they were love letters” She lied and he knew it.

“I won’t tell your father you read our stuff. I am good at keeping secrets. Held one for 45 years. I’m a pro.”

She was speechless; her cheeks blushed from embarrassment of being found out. “ok, but I didn’t’ read all of them.” She confessed.

Taemin smirked kindly “Thank you Eunsook. I missed him very much. I really want my friend back. Thank you for finding me and giving me this second chance at a friendship with my hyung.” The older man wiped his eyes that started to get misty again then took a deep nervous breath. “I’ll call you once I got the reservation ok?”

“Ok Mr. Lee. And thank you too. You’re welcome, it is my pleasure. And don’t forget your present. You can give it to him yourself.” she handed it back to him; they shared a warm smile.

………………….

Taemin left with his present, feeling better about the situation. Eunsook filled her husband in on the new plan and how everything was in the open with Taemin meanwhile Taemin had made his way back to his shoe shop. The door chimed as he entered the shoe store, walking in very bubbly. “Kibum! I’m back!”

“Hey dad. How’d it go?”

“I have a date.”

“A date? Thought it was just a birthday party?” He smirked.

“I’ll see him for his birthday but we are meeting before that too… It will be the first time we’ve seen each other in decades. I’m nervous but really excited. His daughter is sitting us up. He won’t know its me he is going to meet. He thinks he is going to go on a date with his daughter and ta-da I’ll be there. It’s my plan. Eunsook says he has been so down lately and I cannot sit by while Jinki’s heart needs mending. He might not become my boyfriend, it depends on him. If we don’t date I promise I will be cool with that. As long as I get my best friend back into my life and make him smile again. Then I can die a happy man. We both need closure and the only way to do that and move on is if we meet again. Thus a dinner date to reunite and discuss.”

“Why did you break up anyway? He dump you or something? Or is it because you fell for mom?”

“We talked about it for a long time, hours when it happened. We didn’t call it breaking up even though it was what we were doing. And it’s your grandpa’s fault. I didn’t just figure out I was gay while married to your mom. I had always known since I was like 10 or something. As you know I did feel something for Mom eventually. A different kind of love but it was not the same I felt for Jinki. And you know I tried to make it work, really I did. I did care for her deeply and eventually the deeper loving way but it was too late. And it still wasn’t like how I loved Jinki. It hurt when my wife cheated on me so I know it was love although a different kind. Jinki and I both really wanted to make our wives and families happy and love them, we did our best.  We both think cheating is the most horrible thing ever and we promised we’d never do it. Your mom though, I understand why she cheated on me, I never would have done that to her though… I couldn’t take it anymore after mom cheated on me so well you know how that went, mom and I set each other free. We couldn’t give each other what the other truly needed, emotionally or intimately. But we both got you out of it so it was a win really even though Mom got Kai and I got nothing because Jinki was married to his wife already and I am not a home wrecker. This is why Jinki and I left each other and made the pact because 1. We never wanted to be tempted into cheating on our wives and 2. So we could have family/ kids.  We did it, I got an awesome son. He got a fantastic daughter and granddaughter. We did it, now why can’t we get back together? He should be ok with it, I think. … oh man my stomach is flipping again.”

“aww, dad you got butterflies.”

“Don’t tease me.”

“I’m happy you are finally finding happiness dad. I got your back 100% And Kai is a douche. So Jinki better not be a douche.”

“Hahahaha don’t say that about your stepfather. But yes he is a , don’t tell mom I said that.”

Kibum chuckled “I won’t”

Taemin beamed. “And Jinki is an angle just so you know. I better call Eunsook.”…..

Taemin called the restaurant first and made the reservations then called Eunsook to tell her the date and time and where to meet: By the end of the day everything was set in motion…. And for Jinki’s long lost love, the weekend couldn’t get here fast enough.