Page 49 of Show Off

He lets out a long, shaky breath. “They were tucked in a box of your parents’ things. I’m not sure where they came from. Maybe that file cabinet he kept in the basement?”

I vaguely remember the cabinet. Ji-Hoon and I left so much behind when we moved to New York. “All right.”

“I didn’t find the papers until recently,” he continues. “Everything was all ajumble, and they were mixed in with documents for the business. Patents. Sauce recipes, that sort of thing.”

I don’t know why he’s telling me this. “You found medical records,” I confirm. “That belonged to my father.”

“Yes.” He looks down at his lap, stroking Mouse’s ears like the script for his next words got tucked in her collar. When he drags his gaze back to mine, there’s an ache in his eyes that I haven’t seen since that day in the hospital. Since the doctor came in and told us my dad wouldn’t ever wake up.

“Your father had Parkinson’s.”

I stare at Korain, not comprehending. “What?”

“Parkinson’s.” He draws a deep breath. “It’s a disease that occurs when brain cells that make dopamine stop working or die, and it causes tremors and stiffness and?—”

“I know what Parkinson’s is.” Even as I say it, I realize I didn’t know some of that. “That makes no sense.”

“Why not?”

For a million reasons, not the least of which I never saw my dad sick a day in his life. “That’s an old person’s disease. Dad was barely forty when he died.”

“Michael J. Fox—the American actor?” Korain waits for me to nod before continuing. “He was diagnosed at twenty-nine. Maybe your dad thought the doctors made a mistake. We’ll never know.”

“Wait.” I’m struggling to wrap my head around this. “He didn’t tell you?”

He shakes his head slowly, grief creasing his brow. “I didn’t have a clue.”

That doesn’t seem possible. “You guys were brothers. Twins. You ran a business together, for God’s sake.”

Korain releases a ragged breath. “Your father seemed distant that last year. I don’t know why he didn’t share with me, but he didn’t. Maybe he thought the doctors were wrong.” He draws another deep breath. “I’m not sure your mother knew.”

“Hold on.” None of this tracks. “Why are you telling me now?”

He searches my eyes like he’s waiting for me to get it. To reach some conclusion he’s arrived at all on his own.

“The report in his file said he shouldn’t be driving,” he says as my brain begins buzzing. “Your father’s physician contacted KoROAD.”

“The agency in charge of Korean driver’s licenses.” The tingle builds in the back of my brain.

“Yes.” Korain watches my face as he strokes Mouse’s head. “He declared your dad a medically unfit driver.”

“I don’t understand.” I know as I say it that’s not true. In the back of my mind, I already get it.

“You didn’t cause the accident, Dal. Neither did your brother.” His eyes fill with kindness as he catches my hand. “Your father did.”

CHAPTER7

CONFESSIONAL 1131

Judson, Lana (Public Relations Director: Juniper Ridge)

Never lose your cool. That’s PR 101, right?

You’re like a duck paddling wildly under the water’s surface, but on top? Smooth as can be, just cruising along the shimmery glass like?—

[dramatic eyeroll]

Stop quacking, Cooper. I mean it.

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