Tattooed Illusions (BxB)

T H I R T Y T W O

Appliances of stainless steel greeted Nika upon his entrance. The kitchen was twice the size of the cramped one back at his house. The backsplash was white marble; pristine and beautiful.

The countertop was draped with granite. Fluorescent lights hung from the rafters, illuminating the rings on Nika's fingers. A large, granite island sat in the middle of the kitchen with cushioned stools surrounding it.

Nika glanced over at Zeus, who sat on the stool beside him.  His brown eyes crinkled in laughter at the words his father said. Nika remembered his own father. He used to be a basketball prodigy before he lost his leg in a car accident, along with his dreams of playing in the NBA. 

Now, he spends his time chugging a bottle of whiskey as soon as he wakes up and firing insults at Nika when he comes home with less than an B. His father would've been valedictorian, which he continues to hold over his head, before his grades plummeted after his accident.

"Nik," Zeus snapped him back to reality, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I'm fine," he muttered. He fiddled with the smoked, honey ham on his plate. Zeus wasn't convinced, but he chose not to pry. He knew how much Nika hated when someone intruded on his personal life. He'll listen when he's ready. Subconsciously, he laid his hand on Nika's thigh and gave him a half smile. Tingles shot up Nika's arm at the contact. A smile adorned Zeus's face.

"Can I open my eyes yet, Ginger?" Jeong asked impatiently. Journey was leading him through a thin blanket of snow.

Against the biting air, his breath was pale. The icy frost kissed his skin, as flurries of snow clung heavily to his dark eyelashes. A red, woolen hat covered his black hair. His hands, numb to the touch, were buried in the pockets of his puffy, black jacket. 

"No, not yet," he replied. Excitement gleamed in his baby blue orbs. "Okay! Now, you can open your eyes."

A small gasp escaped his parted lips. A blue, artificial Christmas tree, strung with silver lights, stood in Journey's living room.

Instead of the usual American greeting, Meli Keuliseumaseu was scribbled onto a blue banner in the red haired boy's messy handwriting.

In the background hummed Korean Christmas music. In the doorway stood Journey's parents, both with smiles adorning  their faces. His mom had short, red hair that was pinned atop her head and light brown eyes. His father had curly, black hair and baby blue eyes that matched his son's. "It was all his idea," Journey's mom, who Jeong learned was named Allison, replied.

"I also invited your father and specifically asked him to bring your favorite Christmas dinner. I guess I could've made it myself, but I'm sure it would've tasted horrible," Journey sheepishly mumbled. He wringed his fingers together. A rosy hue colored his cheeks. "Meli Keuliseumaseu." He stumbled over the Korean greeting, although he practiced it repeatedly.

Jaehyung, who sat cross legged on the floor, refrained himself from laughing at the boy's mispronunciation of the words. He knew how hard it was to learn a language and he also knew how hard it was to be ridiculed for fucking up a word.

Jeong bit down on his bottom lip to prevent the salty tears from blurring his vision. "Meli Keuliseumaseu, love. I love you, Ginger. I love you so damn much."

Journey smiled. On his tiptoes he reached to kiss Jeong's cheek. "I love you too, Jeong."

Journey's father, Winston, smiled. He pulled his wife to him and planted a feathery kiss on her forehead. "I love you, Allison," he whispered in her ear.

She laughed. "I know that. You remind me every day."

"Well, I just want to remember it," he replied smoothly.

A knock at the door pulled their attention. With a small smile, Journey opened it. He came face to face with a pair of nearly black eyes.

Apart from the fact that gray streaks resided in his father's hair and it was brown, Jeong was a spitting image of him.

In his grasp was a tray of beef and vegetables. Behind him stood another man. The man had dark skin and light green eyes. "I hope you don't mind that I brought Stephen. I tried to call and ask you beforehand, but you wouldn't answer."

Journey gave him a sweet smile, showcasing his teeth, and took the tray from his hands. "Oh, it's perfectly fine. Jeong and Jaehyung are in the living room if you'd like to see them."

Jeong's father nodded at him. "Thank you. I'm Sung, by the way." Sung sat down beside Jeong on the tan couch that was propped against the far wall of the living room. "How have you been, Jeong?"

"Good," he gave him a smile. "I'm Jeong," he replied curtly to the man awkwardly standing beside his father.

"Oh, um, I'm Stephen."

"He's my boyfriend," Sung cut in. He smiled softly at him. Stephen shifted awkwardly on his feet, unsure of what to say.

"You know, you can sit down, right?" Winston raised an eyebrow at him.

Nodding at him, Stephen sat down beside Sung, who immediately slung his arm over his shoulder. "Jaehyung, could you play some music? You don't mind if he plays music, do you?" He gestured to the grand piano perched in the far corner.

Winston shook his head. "Is that okay with you, Jaehyung?"

Jaehyung forced a false smile onto his face. "Yeah, it's okay."

There was nothing against the man sitting beside him, but seeing his father with someone else was painful. He walked over to the piano and sat down on the cushioned bench. He let his fingers waltz across the keys. He played a soft melody his mom used to sing to him as a child. Even though tears brimmed in his chesnut orbs, he continued to play, the memory of his mom's smiling face and crinkled eyes flashing through his mind. A ghost of a smile tugged at his lips, while he reminisced of his childhood.

Sung instinctively placed a hand atop his son's. Jeong flashed him a small, tight-lipped smile. He remembered falling asleep on his mom's shoulder when he was a child, while she played the melody, her long fingers dancing across his piano keys. For a second, his mom was perched on the piano bench instead of Jaehyung, but as soon as he shook his midnight locks, his mom disappeared.