Driving early through the hot Wednesday morning, the sunlight bothered Jin a lot despite having his sunglasses on, he was never a summer person.
But the sun wasn't the only thing bothering him, the wind did some damage too, Jin had to tie his hair since the air was was blowing through it.
Earlier this morning, Nikolai wanted to take the convertible car instead of his dark tinted one, and Jin could only say yes since despite the slight wind, the weather was perfect for driving a convertible.
The ride however was far from perfect, and seeing how quiet things got, "Isn't it disrespectful to call her Kimberly when her name is Norma? I've noticed that everyone else called her by 'Kelly' except for you and director Cliff." Jin suddenly asked Nikolai beside him.
"Oh, she allows people close to her to call her Kimberly, and I'm honored that I'm included amongst those people." Nikolai replied as he stared from his side.
"So you're close with her?"
"Yeah Jin, we're close... she's a good person, and we began our career in somewhat similar ways...Aaaaaand She's 100% into girls so no need to get jealous."
"I'm not jealous! definitely not jealous of a girl Niko!" Jin replied a little embarrassed.
Nikolai giggled at first, but then he stopped, "Your mother's name was Lily, right?"
There was a sudden shift in Jin's voice "Yeah, Lily-Mae Harrison."
"Harrison...When did she die?" Nikolai asked out of nowhere, "Huh?! how..." Jin was confused, he thought Nikolai had no idea.
"Honestly, how stupid you think I am? I am stupid but I have limits...i was with you when you picked up your sister from the airport.
And you said 'I never lived in Korea before, when I met my dad in my mom's funeral, I thought that he came to take me there...I had high hopes of living a life with a bigger family, especially when I met you there, my half sister.'
Isn't that what you said?" Nikolai asked.
"If you remembered what we talked about, then why did you pretend that you don't know she's dead?" Jin asked.
"I didn't pretend...I just remembered because we're driving a very familiar road for me.
Jin...I'm sorry, for your loss and my...well, lack of compassion earlier." Nikolai replied.
"She's buried in the same cemetery as Julian...that's why it's familiar to you, isn't it."
"Yeah...when did she die?"
"The same day as Julian's funeral." Jin responded.
Nikolai turned to face him with wide eyes, "Same?! how?" he asked, but after thinking, "You don't have to tell me... it's okay." he added.
"I want to tell you Niko...from now on I'll try to answer your questions, and you do the same for me." Jin said, "I guess that's only fair." Nikolai replied in agreement.
"Thanks...as for how she passed away, it all happened in an unexpected way.
That day, I asked my mom to come with me to Julian's funeral, but she couldn't because she needed to work a shift at a restaurant, and she promised that she'll come pick me up afterwards but she never did, and I couldn't contact her because just my bad luck that day, I didn't carry my phone with me when I left.
When I came back home from the funeral, I found a police officer waiting for me at my house...she told me what happened and took me to identify her." Jin explained.
Nikolai stared at him, he saw that Jin was doing his best pretending to be calm, and he wished Jin would just drop the act.
"She died, after falling down from the top of the stairs, shortly after she came back up from bringing some supplies from the storage room...my mom fell down." Jin added.
"Goodness...I'm Sorry for what happened! this must've been one tragic accident." Nikolai said.
"It wasn't an accident, my mom was killed." Jin replied chilling Nikolai to the bone.
"Killed?! by whom?!" Nikolai asked, "There was this CCTV footage, despite being of absolute low quality and it didn't show a clear image nor record audio...it showed the moment when my mom got pushed, her attacker was another woman." Jin replied calmly.
"Another woman?!"
"Presumably, the other woman was wearing a mini skirt with a jersey and a cap, unlike my mom she had her back facing the camera, and her face was never caught on the screen.
It wasn't clear but it seems like she was arguing with my mom about something, and my mom was standing on top of the stairs, with her back to the void.
That woman then suddenly pushed my mom and she fell down the stairs...I don't think that woman meant to kill my mom because she went downstairs where my mom's body was found later...the woman probably checked on her first before she made a run for it." Jin replied.
"What did the police say about it?!" Nikolai asked, "After ruling it as a murder, the police tried to look for the other woman with the little information they had, but they failed.
They questioned me if there is anybody who could possibly fit the profile of my mother's attacker, and at that time I couldn't think of anyone who might hurt her...my mom was a nice person, she was loved by everyone!" Jin said.
"Maybe not an enemy, it could be a friend, someone close to her! you said that woman didn't mean to attack your mom." Nikolai said, "Maybe, but then...it was uncomfortable to think that someone close to my mom would do this to her." Jin replied.
"Was there any other clues? to the woman's identity?" Nikolai asked, "Evidence told them that the woman was possibly in her 20s at the time of the murder.
CCTV footage shows her smoking, also the mystery woman left some DNA behind...a single hair strand." Jin replied.
"Seems like Police couldn't find your mother's killer, so it's a cold case now? what about witnesses? it's a restaurant after all!" Nikolai said, "Yeah, what helped the killer get away, was the fact that no one other than my mother saw her coming in or coming out of the restaurant...as if she was a ghost.
They think she came through the back door, instead of walking into restaurant like a customer would do." Jin explained.
"To think in this day and age, people still get away with murder...what about you Jin, are you sure you don't know anybody who could've done this?"
"I thought about Mom's female coworkers at that time, but I checked all of them out.
None of them could have done it, I even spoke with her creepy boss who was trying to take my mom on a date despite her disagreement, despite him being a man.
however, recently I have found a suspect, although just suspecting her makes me feel uncomfortable."
"Honestly, I don't know what to do if I were you, I mean I don't want to sound heartless, but I really don't think I'll hold up like you did Jin."
"I'm not holding up very well, one day after my mom's funeral I forgot she died, I woke up like usual and I tried to make breakfast for us, but when she didn't join me at the table...I kept looking for her everywhere wondering where is she...until reality hit me." Jin said, there was a crack in his voice that Nikolai couldn't ignore.
At first it seemed to Nikolai that fate has punished Jin way too much, but then he thought, does Jin even deserve any of this?
So, "Jin, could you stop the car?" Nikolai asked.
"Why?"
"Just do as I say... pull over please."
"Okay." Jin replied, he parked the car on the side of the road, and watched as Nikolai existed the vehicle.
"What Are you doing?" Jin was confused when Nikolai walked around and to his side of the car, he opened Jin's door and asked him to step out.
When Jin climbed out of the car, he was taken by surprise when Nikolai grabbed him by the collar and brought his face down to his level.
Barely given any time to process the situation, their lips met together and Instead of stopping Nikolai, Jin just kissed him back.
...Half an hour Later...
"That was Director Cliff...He said today's filming is cancelled, Apparently my gay bestie had a sudden emergency and she can't come to the set." Nikolai said after coming back from taking his call.
Jin was crouched besides his mother's grave when he lifted his head, "Is there anywhere you want to go then? or should I drive you home?" he asked Nikolai.
"IDK...I passed by Julian's grave, I used to think it was strange that someone's been leaving flowers on his grave other than me, and I knew from asking his uncle, that it wasn't from him either.
but after meeting Cyrus the other day, it feels nice to know I'm not the only one leaving Julian something." Nikolai said smiling a little, "So I thought... maybe Julian wouldn't need my flowers, at least not this time." He added placing the bouquet of flowers on Lily's grave.
"The night you broke up with me, I told my mom everything that happened, since she too was unaware of anything.
She scolded me so bad about you, told me that I should do everything I can to win you back or at least have your forgiveness." Jin replied chuckling, "I bet she'll be proud of me now, if she lived." he added.
"She was okay with you being gay?" Nikolai asked, "I came out to her after she discovered i was dating you...*giggles* she said 'I fucking knew you shitbox, I'm your mom, I noticed how you always gawked at the hot guys whenever we're watching TV.' and then Mom said she's got nothing against it, and that she loves me no matter what." Jin replied.
Sitting next to Jin "Damn! that's a cool mom right there.
Mine also knew before I even got the chance to tell her or dad, but she was the one who brought the talk to the table.
She said something like 'Son, your father and I hope that we can ask you something, a little personal.' and then straight up asked if I'm gay." Nikolai said chuckling.
"Sounds like a cool mom too...did she contact you about the news, of us dating?" Jin asked, "I actually temporary blocked her and my father... because of this." Nikolai replied.
Confused, "Why would you do that?" Jin asked, Nikolai's smile faded already "Because they know who you are Jin...because they know you as the reason why I tried to kill myself, and they want to punish you for it, especially my dad." He replied.
"Can I go meet them?" Jin asked, Nikolai gave him a you-must-be-kidding-me look "Chutiya?! didn't I just tell you my folks want your ass dead?! why do you want to see them?!" He asked.
"Even if this relationship is fake...I still want to apologize for the past, since I never got the chance to do so.
Plus, I feel bad that you had to block your parents for my sake, and I bet they're worried sick about you." Jin explained, he gave Nikolai a puppy eyes look.
And unable to resist a bulky man with a baby face begging him with his puppy like eyes, "Ahhh you're really a crazy motherfucker, well okay! we'll go see my parents today! since we have time anyways." Nikolai replied in defeat.
"Awesome! I mean, very well... Niko." Jin sheepishly replied with a smile.
"But just so you know, I'm not responsible for anything that might happen for you there, and the moment I hint at you to leave, we'll leave...Understood?" Nikolai said firmly.
"Understood!" Jin replied.