69: Get Hit?

Inho sat on the edge of a booth and leaned his head against the leather. He’d popped by the restaurant to tell Nathan he could start work again next week, but it was really just an excuse to hang out with Jasmine. Inho was lonely.

Not responding to Stephen’s texts meant spending Sunday and most of Monday alone, and by evening, he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Well?” Jasmine asked, lifting a chair onto a table to sweep underneath, “What happened with the boy?”

“Ugh. Why do you always know?”

“It’s always dating troubles with you when you’re moody. You think I don’t remember the Jamie debacle in September?”

Inho sulked. “We had a fight. A big one.”

Jasmine straightened up and faced him, “What happened? Is it over?”

“No. Not yet, and I don’t want it to be, it’s just…”

Inho gave her the rundown of the night at Chris’ apartment. After a while, Nathan came to join them cleaning up. Inho grabbed a rag as well and wiped tables while he finished his story.

When he got to Chris’ cheating revelation at the end, Jasmine grimaced, “That’s fucking messy. You know what they say about cheaters. Once a cheater, always a cheater.”

Nathan frowned, “I don’t know, you don’t know the circumstances with that yet, and it was in his early twenties?”

“Not much younger than me, though,” Inho sighed.

“That’s true,” Nathan hummed a moment before continuing, “You like this guy right?”

“Yeah,” Inho said, worried, “Why? You sound doubtful.”

“Well, the cheating is probably resolved a long time ago, but his friends still sound like assholes. And that’s um, pretty representative of a person’s character. The company he keeps and everything.”

Inho’s shoulders slumped, he’d thought the same.

“If you have to wonder if it’s good enough, it probably isn’t,” Jasmine nodded sagely, “And, I don’t agree that the cheating thing isn’t a big deal,” her eyes darted at Nathan, then pointedly down at the table she was cleaning, “Did you talk to him about it yet?”

“Not yet. I’ve kinda been dodging his calls. I don’t feel ready to talk yet. I’m scared I’ll just lose it and scream at him and...poof,” he spread his fingers wide, “That would just be it.”

“I think things will be more clear once you’ve talked to him, though. You’ve got a lot going on, and at the very least you should talk it through.”

“Yeah, Nate, you’re right,” Inho pinched the bridge of his nose, “I just wanted him to take my side and now, I’m mad but….I’m scared, too. He’s just so much older and smarter than me, I really like him, and I’m scared that I’m...not good enough.”

“Shut up with that,” Jasmine pointed at him, “You’re a perfect darling catch and he’s fucking lucky to have you.” She shoved another chair aside, “I don’t know about that guy, Inho. I don’t like how he makes you feel”

“No! He’s good, it’s not like that! I just...It’s me. I’m insecure. I just need some time. I just need to figure things out.”

“That’s fair, baby,” Jasmine squeezed his shoulders as she passed behind him to grab the mop, “Take all the time you need.”

“Yes, if he doesn’t give you space when you need to cool down then–”

The bell on the door tinkled and they all turned to look.

Stephen stood in the entryway, his eyes found Inho immediately and he smiled. He was perfectly composed and handsome as always. Inho’s chest constricted, pleasure at seeing him warred with frustration and annoyance. He turned his back and scrubbed the table harder.

“Excuse me, sir, we’re closed,” Nathan’s voice was stern and unfriendly. Inho froze, he knew Nathan recognized Stephen.

Stephen ignored Nathan completely and took a step forward, “Inho, I tried your place. You weren’t home so, I thought you might be here.”

Nathan moved to block Stephen’s path, “It doesn’t look like he wants to talk to you.”

Stephen’s eyes flicked over Nathan briefly, head to toe, in an instant he was judged and found lacking, “Listen Man-bun, this doesn’t concern you.”

“What?” Nathan’s hand shot up to his close-cropped hair, “I don’t have a–”

“Is there a reason you’re interfering with me and my boyfriend? Are we about to have a problem?” Stephen’s voice was hostile, but he wore a thousand-watt smile, it was so big that his eyes crinkled in the corners, and his eyebrows lifted in polite inquisition.

Nathan rolled his shoulders back, straightening his posture to match Stephen’s. He took a step closer so their chests almost touched. Nathan was an inch or so taller, and he used the closeness to look down, “Inho is my employee and my friend, and he doesn’t want to talk–”

“Wooooow stop measuring your dicks,” Jasmine drawled, interrupting, “Let Inho say what he wants to do, huh?”

All of them turned their focus on Inho who was clutching the rag to his chest now, observing.

“I, yeah, Nate don’t fight, it’s okay,” he unclenched his jaw, “We do need to talk. I’ll go,” He turned a flat look on Stephen, “Wait outside. I’ll grab my stuff.”

Stephen gave a curt nod and exited as if the others weren’t even there.

When Inho left, he found Stephen parked illegally out front, pulled up onto the wet sidewalk in the rain.

“You can’t park here,” he said as he sank into the passenger seat, and stared straight ahead.

“I know, I got a ticket while I was in there...I didn’t want you to have to walk in the rain.”

Inho chewed his lip, “I wasn’t ready to talk. You don’t have to come fight my boss about it.”

“Yeah,” Stephen started the car and pulled out, “That was dumb. I’m sorry, I missed you and I wasn’t thinking clearly. Can we go for a drive and talk?”

“Alright.”