Zane & Soren

8 | meeting soren kim

Soren followed Zane closely as they headed in the direction of his home, the rumble of their motorbikes fading behind them. The ride had been quiet, filled with a mix of anticipation and nerves as they sped through the familiar roads. Soren could sense the tension in Zane's posture even as he tried to put on a brave face. He was about to meet Zane's parents and his infamous little sister, Melanie — who he'd heard plenty of stories about. This wasn't simply meeting the family; this was Zane introducing him not as just a friend, but as his boyfriend. It was a big step, and the gravity of it wasn't lost to Soren. As they soon arrived, Zane smoothly pulled his motorbike into the driveway, seeing Soren pulling his in beside him shortly after. They climbed off their bikes and removed their helmets, exchanging a brief, reassuring glance before taking each other's hands. The cool afternoon air did little to calm Zane's racing heart, and his grip on Soren's hand slightly tightened. 

Walking toward the front door, Soren kept his gaze steady, offering Zane a quiet, grounding presence. Yet, Zane's anxiety was making itself known in all the subtle ways — his breathing had become noticeably staggered, his forehead had become slightly perspired, and the usually steady rhythm of his steps had a slight tremor to them. His palms felt clammy against Soren's skin, feeling that skin was perspiring, too. When they finally reached the door, Zane hesitantly hovered his hand over the handle. He could feel every rapid beat of his heart echoing in his ears.

"Hey," Soren said softly, his voice calm and reassuring as he softly squeezed Zane's hand, "we've got this. No matter what happens in there, we'll face it together, okay?"

Zane smiled and nodded as he took a deep breath, letting Soren's words wash over him. He looked up and into his boyfriend's eyes, before raising himself up onto his toes to press their lips together. The comforting feeling of this and Soren kissing him back instantly made him calm down a little, and he eventually pulled away, lowering himself back to his original height. He squeezed Soren's hand and lifted his to kiss the back of it before reaching over with his other and unlocking the front door, then opened it and walked in with Soren following closely behind and them both taking their shoes off at the door.

"Eomma?" He called out. "Eoppa? Mel?"

His father was the one to call out a loud response.

"We're in here, son!"

Zane turned his head to briefly look at Soren and saw him lean in to kiss his forehead. When he retreated, the two followed the direction of the voice and walked into the living room to find all three of them sitting on the couch watching The Lion King. Upon their arrival in the room, unlike Zane's parents, Melanie immediately turned her head to look at them and scowled slightly when her eyes trailed down their arms and saw their hands clasped together. Zane's mother, still facing the TV, turned her head slightly as she spoke.

"Zane, honey, come take a seat — you can join us in watching The Lion Ki—" She cut herself off and smiled when she laid her eyes on Soren standing beside her son, "Oh, hi! Who's this?"

His father then paused the movie and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he paused the movie and turned around to look at who his wife was talking about. As soon as he sighted their hands, he instantly began cracking his knuckles and expressed a deep scowl, much like his daughter. Like father, like daughter. All three then got up off the couch and went to stand in front of them with expectant looks on their faces. Zane immediately started sweating a little and got nervous as he knew they were expecting an introduction and explanation but had smiles on their faces.

"Um, uh... Eomma, Eoppa, Mel," He started, "I want you guys to meet Kim Soren. My boyfriend."

Both Zane's parents appeared to have a mixture of shocked yet also happy expressions on their faces after hearing what their son had just said, but Melanie appeared to be visibly upset.

"Lovely to meet you, Soren, you're a very handsome young man," His mother said, stepping forward and pulling him in for a hug, "Very good for my Zaney."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Choi-buin," Soren said, hugging her back.

After the two pulled away, it was Mr Sanderson's turn to greet him, "Good to meet you, son," He said as they shook hands, both with firm grips, "It's great to finally meet the reason for all the sudden positive changes in my boy."

"It's great to meet you too, Choi-ssi," Soren said, respectfully bowing. 

Zane looked down at his sister and noticed her upset expression.

"Mel, what's wrong?" He asked her, "Why's your face all scrunched up like that?"

She folded her arms over her chest and looked up at Soren, dodging her brother's questions to ask his new boyfriend a question of her own.

"Are you just here to hurt my brother like Jeff was, or are you legit? Because if you're not, I'll kick your ass right here right now."

Their parents immediately began scolding Melanie for her specifically harsh language, while Soren laughed at her threat and let go of Zane's hand to crouch down and look at her at eye level.

"I promise I'm only here with the best of intentions." He said sincerely, "I'm not here to hurt your brother. I wouldn't ever even dream of it."

She still had her arms folded over her chest. That wasn't enough.

"I don't believe you."

Soren then turned his head briefly to look up at Zane, who gave him a sympathetic smile and then turned to face his sister again.

"Okay, how about this," He had to quickly think of a satisfactory compromise, "if I do anything to hurt Zane in any way from this moment on, I'll let you kick my ass and no one will be allowed to try and stop you because I will have deserved it."

Melanie squinted her eyes at him and thought about his proposition for a second.

"Hm, well, I was going to do it anyway regardless of having previously obtained your permission, but okay, fine. You've got a deal."

She then extended her arm, holding her small hand out for Soren to shake, and he did, taking it in his larger one. He then turned her around as he pulled her in for a hug, wrapped his big arms around her petite body and shook her slightly, in a big-brotherly sort of way, making her giggle uncontrollably in his arms. He then let go of her and, when she was standing in front of him, facing  him with a smile on her face, reached over to twirl her long black hair with his fingers before standing up beside Zane again. He looked in front of him at Zane's parents and smiled at them as he put an arm around his waist, pulling him close.

"Well, now that we've gotten the introductions out of the way," Mrs Choi said, "Soren, if you don't have to head home right now, you're more than welcome to have a seat and enjoy the movie with us. We only just put it on, so you haven't missed much."

"Sure, I'd love to."