seoul boy~ minsung

t w o

his grandfather who hardly said anything, stepped out of the car. "hello jenna"

"its good to see you sam." the woman gave his grandfather a kiss on the cheek, then turnd to give his grandmother a big hug. "lucy! didnt i say dont bring a thing but yourselves ?" she added when lucy turned and took a basket from the car.

"i couldnt help it. its cherry pie."

"we sure wont turn that down. and this is Minho?" jenna held out a hand as she would to an adult. "welcome"

"thank you"

she dropped a hand on his shoulder. "lets go on in. jisung's been looking forward to meeting you, minho. hes finishing up his chores with his dad, but they'll be right along. how about some lemonade? i bet your thirsty after the drive."

"um. i guess. may i use the bathroom?"

"sure we have one right in the house" she laughed when she said it, with a teasing look in her dark eyes that made the back of his neck hot.

it was like she knew he'd been thinking how old and dumpy everything looked.

she led him through, past a big living room, then a smaller one, and into a kitchen that smelled alot like his grandmothers.

home cooking.

"theres a washroom right through there" she gave his shoulder a careless pat which added to the heat on the back of his neck "why dont we have that lemonade out on the back porch and visit awhile ?" she said to his grandparents.

his mother would have called it a powder room. he relieved himself with some gratitude, then washed his hands at the tiny sink fixed in the corner. beside it pale blue towels with a little pink rose hung on a rod.

at home, he mused, the powder room was twice as big, and fancy soaps sat in a crystal dish from tiffany. the towels were alot softer too and monogrammed.

stalling,he poked a finger at the petals of some white daisies standing in a skinny wood pot thing on the sink.

at home there wouldve been roses probably. he hadnt really noticed that kind of thing until now.

he was thirsty. he wished he could take a gallon of lemonade, maybe a bag of cheetos, and stretch out in the back of the car with his nintendo switch. anything would be better than being forced to sit with a bunch of strange people on the porch of some old farmhouse for probably hours.

he could still hear them talking and fooling around in the kitchen, and wondered how long he could stall before going back out.

he peeked out the little window, decided it was the same shit. paddocks and corrals,barns and silos, dumb farm animals,weird-looking equipment.

it wasnt as if he'd wanted to go to italy and walk around looking at old stuff, but at least if his parents had taken him,there might be pizza.

the boy came out of the barn. he had dark hair like the hippie woman, so he figured it had to be jisung. he wore overalls over a blue jumper with hightop trainers.

he looked scruffy and stupid, and he immediately disliked him.

a moment later a man came out behind him. his hair was yellow, and worn in a long tail that enforced the hippie conclusion. he said something to the boy that made him life and shake his had. whatever it was had him starting to run, but the man caught him

minho could hear him squeal with laughter as the man tossed him in the air.

had his father ever chased him ? minho wondered, ever tosses him in the air, then swung him in giddy circles?

not that he could remember. he and his father had discussions when there time. and time, minho knew, was always in short supply.

country bumpkins had nothing but time, minho thought. they werent under demands of business like a corporate lawyer of his fathers repute. they werent third generation lees like his father, with the responsibilities that came with the name.

so they could toss their kids around all day.

because it made something hurt in his stomach to watch, he turned away from the window. with no other choice , he went out to be tortured for the rest of the day.