Friendships Desires and Secrets

Candy Sweet and Trouble Sour

Christmas had gone off with only one hitch, the tension between Yoongi and his father was palpable. Mrs. Min had been happy to see her son with someone. Tara and Mrs. Min spoke at length after initial introductions. Yoongi had bought an LV sweater for his mother and a certificate for the hardware store he loved, for his father. Tara had brought whiskey for him and a fruit basket for her with a beautiful melon in sponge wrap at its center. The night had gone relatively smoothly. At one point, after the men were about halfway through the second bottle they opened, Tara noticed their voices becoming more tense and louder. 

She heard Yoongi say things like "Idol" and "Still not enough" and the louder they got the more nervous Mrs. Min seemed. She could hear Yoongi's brother trying to shush them both, but it was having little effect. Tara was listening to the men in the next room and the women's conversations around her and was keeping up with the stream of both until she heard "does she know" followed by a word she didn't recognize. "Yangseongaeja" She couldn't stand anymore and wanted to take Yoongi away from whatever was going on in the next room.

When she flung open the door, Yoongi was on a couch with his head in his hands, his father was standing behind the chair his brother was sitting in and was gripping it with white knuckled force. He was apoplectic and so red he seemed he was almost puce. Tara knew there was no talking to him and just wanted to remove her love before things escalated. She went to him and knelt before him, tucking her skirt under her knee. 

"Let's just go babe." She said in English, stroking the back of his calves. He raised his head slowly and she saw tears there. Her fury soared. She pulled him up from the couch as she stood, a full inch taller than him in her boots, and locked her fingers in his, squeezing with reassurance.

"First, the shame you bring to us, and now you are letting this woman drag you around like a mare."

"How dare you?" Tara seethed. "Your son is the sweetest person I've ever met. He never raises his voice in anger, never puts anyone down. You have no right to treat him like this."

"Jagiya, please. It's fine." Yoongi tried to distract her. It would have been easier to stop an avalanche. 

"You don't know him, woman. His sickness. His perversion."

"Oppa please," Yoongi's brother tried to calm him. "There are many people now who are this way. He isn't a shame to our family. Look at the nice girl he's-"

"Be quiet!" Their father barked. "Stop throwing in with him. He's always been lazy, chasing dreams, making a mockery of the family name. School and work, trashed. We fought for our freedom, fought and suffered to escape tyranny. He dishonors this family. Money can not cover his shame." He stepped forward and drew away to back-hand his son.

She knew it would make things worse, but Tara stepped in between father and son, toe to toe with the man before her. Her soft brown eyes darkened to near black as she glared him down, daring him to strike. A mongoose and a viper. Her palm twitched and itched to smack sense into the old man. Yoongi finally just pulled her away from the stand-off and out of the room. She bowed to the women who tried to hide their stunned looks with passivity, as they made their quick departure.

He said nothing all the way to the car. She snatched his keys and got in the driver side. He was too defeated to be stunned. Once the snow was melted off the SUV, Tara spoke. "What does yangseongaeja mean?"

He sniffed loudly, looking out the window. His voice was barely a whisper when he replied, "Look it up."

They drove the entire 284 kilometers in just over three hours, neither of them speaking a word. She got him up to his apartment and seeing him safely inside, she tossed his keys down and turned to leave.