Somewhere Else [Damien Haas]

9. History

-/-/-

"You know, honey, this reminds me of that really fast scene in 'Parasite,' and it's much funnier because we're also Kims."

"Oh, shush. They lost the line again," Mrs. Kim tells her husband as Jade and I practice our lines in front of them. Tomorrow was the interview with the embassy agent, and Jade and I were doing... probably slightly above average on our script. Not yet convincing, that is.

"It's fine, Mrs. Kim," Jade assures her before taking a glance at her script on the table. She seems much laid-back this time around, casually smiling every other minute or so. "Maybe we should take a break, I am feeling thirsty."

When we do take a break, I continue reading through my lines, trying to casually remember the important parts that couldn't be missed. Not all lines needed to be memorized, but there were some good one-liners that Jade insisted we remembered well enough to have an impact on our interviewer. She notices me memorizing and sits next to me, drinking from her tumbler. "Take a break."

"Nah, it's fine, I'm still feeling up," I reply, highlighting some lines with a pen.

"If you say so," she says, "but part of the reason why I called for a break is because I have a call. Be right back."

Jade exits the house for a moment as the Kims get back to work with Mr. Kim helping his wife in the pet shop. Because his cab was more than destroyed in the crash, he didn't have a job of his own anymore. He said that it wasn't a problem since their kids always send them money all the way from Seattle, but he did seem a little lonely. He must really love just driving around Japan, and honestly, I'd love that job too. Japan's a great place.

On the other hand, Mrs. Kim was more than pleased to have us around. Having friends from Korea and the States brought her delight, but they didn't have visitors here in Japan. Whenever we came around, which was regularly, she was happy.

As for Jade, our friendship had significantly improved. This, of course, stems from the fact that we were friends before we dated, and not much has changed when it came to our interests. She was still enthusiastic about space and books, while I was still down for games and anime. We were different, but retaining those interests throughout the years helped us talk a bit more. And it helped me a bit more in recalling the reason why we broke up, but there were still some foggy parts of it.

"Alright," Jade says as she steps back into the house. "How about another round? And then we can head back to the hotel."

"Is there something up?" I ask, standing up with my script in my hands.

"My dad just called, he wanted to have a video call with me to see how I was doing with the whole issue," she answers, sighing. "I totally forgot to explain to him what had happened. We weren't really close."

"How's your dad anyway? And your mom?"

Jade's parents had divorced during junior year, but she never really talked about it until it was finalized. She didn't even cry about it and even said she saw it happening, but both Kendra and I knew that she was going through hell at that time. Since at that time we were already dating, I tried helping her out by letting her vent to me, having her over at our place to have dinner, and taking care of her brothers. But at least now she seems better about the whole thing, and her parents seemed to be at peace.

"They're doing okay apart, much better than when they were together," she mumbles. "Became better parents too. But of course I didn't witness much of that because I was in Cornell. At least my brothers, even with the extra transportation hassle every three days, had a good childhood. How are your parents?"

"Mom's great, just straight up living life incredibly, and I actually have a nephew now," I answer, smiling. "He's the most adorable little dude in the universe."