Page 59 of Show Off

“Dal?” A voice in the distance calls out.

He winces beneath me.Korain, he mouths, and I wince, too.

“You out here, joka?” Footsteps crunch gravel and I hold my breath.

Dal’s hand slides between us and I deliberately don’t look down. The least I can offer is privacy as he tucks himself back into his shorts. I’m not sure what he’s done with the condom, but I snatch up the wrapper and hurriedly slide off his lap.

“Dal?” Our mood killer makes his way to the car. “I don’t mean to bother you, but?—”

“What?” His bark makes me jump as I smooth down my hair, trying to look like I wasn’t two seconds from bliss.

Outside the car, Korain clears his throat. “Something’s wrong with Ji-Hoon.”

CHAPTER8

CONFESSIONAL 1142.5

Yang, Dal (Head Chef, Serenade: Juniper Ridge)

I don’t like talking about that day.

Because I don’t, all right?

[long sigh]

Yeah, the aftermath of the accident sucked. I hardly had a scratch, but here’s my brother with his whole life upended and my parents?—

[stops to stare at ceiling]

It changed the makeup of our family. No mother, no father, and suddenly the younger brother becomes the older brother. Things shift. Stuff like that rocks everyone’s world, and not the fun kind of rocking.

Not a car parked on lover’s lane, but a fucking lifeboat stuck on a tidal wave. Also, the boat’s on fire.

* * *

“He’s asleep.” I close Ji-Hoon’s door and turn to my uncle. “Everything’s fine.”

“Thank God.” Uncle Korain’s shoulders slump, and Mouse ambles over to nose his hand. “I panicked when I saw him like that.”

Like that.

He means swearing and hurling pinecones at the side of the house. It’s the sort of thing I’d do on a normal Tuesday night just to blow off steam, but not cheerful Ji-Hoon.

“UTIs can make him a little bonkers.” I grab a bottle of wine off the counter and catch my uncle’s eye. When he nods, I get down two glasses. “One of those inconvenient side effects of paraplegia. Urinary Tract Infections? Kind of a pain in the ass.”

“I don’t think the ass is what hurts.” Korain doesn’t smile. “That was frightening.”

“It can be.”

I uncork the wine as he rubs Mouse’s ears. With my big dog leaning against his thigh, Korain looks just like my father. The floor tilts beneath me as I pour the wine.

“He’s fine now,” I assure him. “He was cracking jokes like always when I said goodnight just now.”

“That’s good.”

As I pick up the glasses, my uncle loads a tray with Korean treats he brought. Spicy Turtle Chips get piled next to shrimp crackers, which sit beside a big mound of honey butter chips. We assemble our midnight snack without speaking, the two of us working together like we did when I still used a step-stool to reach the counter.

“Lana seems sweet.” He’s trying for casual, but I hear the question in his voice. “It’s been a while since you had a girlfriend.”

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