The Kim Family Tetralogy

18

"Could you not stomp on my toes every time we do that?" Jimin asked, sourly.
"Could you not drop me on your toes every time you put me down, then?" Soonyi snarled back.
"Ok." the director sighed exasperated, "Everyone out!" he forcefully caught Jimin and Soonyi and pulled them back, "Except, the two of you."
He waited 'til everyone else was out of the room, "Ok. What's going on? Did you break up or something?"
Jimin huffed, sarcastically, looking down on his feet and Soonyi was silent.
"Talk to me." the director threatened, "Or I'll replace you with your understudies tonight."
They were in Shanghai.
And Jimin's peeps were coming tonight.
He really wished they weren't.
But.
They were.
Yey.

"Talk." the director again prompted.
"It's complicated." Soonyi sighed.
"It's not complicated." Jimin snorted.
"It's. Complicated." Soonyi bit off the words.
"It's not complicated! I can't belive you didn't tell me!" Jimin yelled, for the umpteenth time since yesterday.
"Tell you what?" the director felt like he was pulling teeth out of them or something.
"THAT I HAVE A SON! A KID! A FUCKING FIVE-YEAR-OLD-SON SHE NEVER TOLD ME ABOUT!"
"Oh." The director said, a bit, startled.
Was not expecting that.
He'd had his stars go through everything under the sun, obviously, since he was old in the game, but.
"I DIDN'T TELL YOU ABOUT HIM BECAUSE I COULDN'T!" Soonyi tried to will Jimin to understand.
"BUT HOW COULD YOU FUCKING NOT TELL ME FOR FUCKING FIVE YEARS? WE'VE. THE LAST TWO AT LEAST?!" Jimin threw his arms in the air, and turned around, "I've, we've, I FUCKING LOVE YOU AND, I, can't, I'm," Jimin thought he was fucking going to throw up!
How could she keep this from him?
She was the, one, person, he, they, they were so close and she didn't?
"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!" Soonyi hollered, "AND, I, MY SON, HE'S THE FUCKING MOST IMPORTANT THING IN MY LIFE, JIMIN! I'M SORRY, BUT HE IS! AND, I," she sighed, "It's complicated."
"IT'S NOT COMPLICATED!" Jimin shouted, "YOU JUST PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL AND SAY, 'OH, HI JIMIN! I'M SORRY BUT I COULDN'T GO THROUGH WITH THE ABORTION I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO ACCOMPANY ME TO!"
Soonyi flinched, like he'd slapped her, but then found her footing again an leaned into him, "YOU DIDN'T WANT ME! YOU DIDN'T WANT THE CHILD! I DIDN'T THINK I WOULD EVER SEE YOU AGAIN AND I'VE RAISED HIM ON MY OWN! HE'S MINE, NOT YOURS! And I didn't know I would fall in love with you again, and, I'M GOING TO FUCKING PROTECT HIM FROM ANYTHING! DON'T YOU GET IT?"
"So you were just not ever going to tell me?" Jimin asked, devastated, "Just keep fucking me, being more to me than anyone has ever been, and just not tell me?"
Soonyi was looking away, on the brink of tears, he saw, but, how could she not understand this? They got eachother.
But now?
No. He didn't get her.

They'd been coming back to the hotel after a full day of practise, laughing, being in love, when a small child broke loose from the woman he was with in the foyer, hurling himself onto Soonyi, crying, "MOMMY!"
And Jimin was ripped from the surface of the earth and thrown out into an unfamilliar, vast, tornado of disbelief and certainty mixed together in a slurry of confusion.
He saw himself.
Him. Self.
As a child.
Hugging Soonyi.
The love of his fucking life.
Who'd gotten down on her knees, hugging Jimin past, right there, on the floor.
"Parker!" Soonyi said, "I'm so happy to see you! What are you doing here?"
Jimin stood with his mouth open.
Stunned.
"I'm sorry," the woman the child had been with said, "but he misses you awfully and, wouldn't stop crying since you left, and schools out for the summer and, I didn't realise..." the woman looked at Jimin, with a slight flush on her cheeks.
Soonyi stood up with the kid in her arms, "Jimin, this is my son, Parker, and Mrs O'Brien, my brother's mother-in-law, who's been looking after Parker for a couple of weeks, have you had fun, sweetheart?" she looked at the child who nodded.
"Ergml, nice to meet you, Mrs O'Brien." Jimin tried to get his brain to function properly and stretched his hand out for her to take, "I'm Jimin Park." he introduced himself the western way, "And you too, Parker." he said, insinuatingly and turned to the child, trying, honestly trying, to school his features, but the boy seemed too shy to look at him anyway.
"Excuse me for a second." Soonyi said and walked off with their son in her arms, "We have to," Jimin heard her mumble to Mrs O'Brien who answered, "Yes. I understand. We'll have some fun on our own 'til mommy's done working, won't we Parker?"

He had to sit down.
Lucky for Jimin, a couple of lounge chairs were situated a couple of steps to his left and he managed to relocate to them before his legs gave out from under him.
He just sat there.
Gaping.
Repeating the same thought over and over again in his head, 'I have a son.'.
Sounded insane.
Ridiculous.
Untrue.
Ridiculous.
Untrue.
Ridiculous.
'I have a son.'
Nothing seemed to compute right now.
'I have a son.'
"Jimin." Soonyi touched his arm, sitting down next to him.
"I have a son." he said.
"Yes." she answered.
"I have a son." he couldn't, what, how, why, man!
"I'm sorry you had to find out like this." Soonyi apologised.
"You're sorry?! I have a son!"
How could she not tell him?!
"Does he know?" he wanted to know.
"No." Soonyi shook her head, "And I'd like to keep it like that, for now, if that's ok with you?"
"None of this is ok with me." Jimin muttered.
"You have to promise you won't say anything to him or you will never see him again in your life!" Soonyi hissed.
"WTF?" Jimin stood up.
"Promise." Soonyi hissed again, looking stern.
"I don't know if I can make that promise right now." Jimin confessed, utterly, utterly, shook, woeful and actually, bereaved.
"Then, I've got nothing more to say to you right now." Soonyi said, stood up, and left.
Jimin had to sit down again.
WTF was going on right now?
How, what, Jesus!
Halp!

Jimin was more enraged than he'd been his entire life, he realised.
He didn't care Soonyi was about to cry.
He didn't care their director was silently watching them.
He wanted to shake some sense into her!
Make her realise, what, "GAAAH, I'M SO FUCKING DISAPPOINTED!"
He was.
Angry.
Hurt.
Bamboozled.
Made a fool.
Broken hearted.
"You say you love me," Jimin said, voice breaking, "but how can I trust that, when you keep something like this from me for so long?" he angrily wiped at his eyes, "Was everything a lie?"
"NO! I LOVE YOU, YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE! BUT MY SON IS, YOU'RE NOT IMPORTANT IN THIS! I'M NOT IMPORTANT IN THIS! HE, IS!" Soonyi cried, distraught.
"AND I GET THAT! BUT JESUS FUCK, SOONYI! I CAN'T, FUCKING, BELIEVE!"
Her eyes darkened, "LIKE YOU'RE A WONDER OF TRUTH AND STRAIGHT-SHOOTING-STAND-UPNESS ALL THE TIME! ASSHOLE!"
"AND I HAVE TO PROMISE NOT TO," Jimin gagged, feeling bile raise up at the back of his throat, "WHAT'S YOUR PROMISE THEN? KEEP STRINGING ME ALONG? NEVER LETTING ME HAVE A CHANCE TO GET TO KNOW HIM?"
"You won't know him if I can't trust you." Soonyi said, icily.
"YOU TRUST ME? I DON'T TRUST YOU, YOU FUCKING SLUT!"
"I'M A SLUT, YOU WHORING FUCKING CHLAMYDIA RIDDEN CUM BUCKET?!"

"Ok." the director suddenly rejoined the conversation, "I get that you're both hurting." he sighed, and made a silent promise to do something easier next life, like wrangel cats or something, "And obviously it's gonna take some time for you to work things out. But, I have no doubt you two will find a solution to this mess, someday." he sighed again, "But until then, you have to act like the actors you are and make this work. And by this I mean the performance and nothing else, so we're clear. Use these feelings in the dance. Dance it out, 'cause honestly, you both suck at talking. And I'm not interpreting for you. This is a personal issue. Between the two of you. Keep it that way, or you're both fired." he left them.
Jimin opened his mouth to say something, "Don't talk to me." Soonyi held up a hand and walked out on him, still furious.

Jimin folded himself down on the floor, crosslegged, and almost hit his head on the hardwood flooring.
"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." he chanted, banging his head on the floor.
On purpose this time.
What the hell was he going to do?