Family Ties Part. 1

As Kai was packing up to leave work his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out to see Dana's name on the caller ID, and his stomach knotted. "Hello.", he answered, trying to sound as normal as possible.

"Hi, my lawyer say's he still hasn't received any paperwork from you, why haven't you sent it back yet?" said Dana.

Kai's stomach knotted again as Dana spoke, he honestly couldn't answer her question. He had stared at the envelope plenty of times, but left it sitting on the coffee table anyway, truly, what was he waiting for? Why couldn't he sign the divorce papers and be done with it?

"I've been busy, I'll get it done." Kai swallowed, finally managing to speak.

"The sooner you sign it, the sooner we can get on with our lives. Take care of yourself." Said Dana, her voice cracking on the other end of the line and she hung up.

Kai sat at his desk twiddling his thumbs, looking for answers himself. He didn't know why he hadn't signed the divorce papers yet. Maybe it was that if he signed the papers, everything would truly be over, but they had been separated for months now, shouldn't it be easy?

"Kai!" a hand loudly slapped the desk bringing Kai back to reality.

"Huh?" Kai said surprised.

"I've called you like three times my guy, where's your head at? Anyway, we're good friends right? Can I burrow your charcoal pencils this weekend? I seemed to have misplaced mine and the ones I've ordered aren't gonna be here until next week." Said Kai's coworker John leaning over on his elbow extremely close to Kai's face.

Kai raised his eyebrows as a smirk made its way onto his face, "Are we that close?"

A nervous smile made it's way across John's face, "oh come on, whatever you need I got you. You need a wingman, a date, a shoulder to cry? A drawling pad to borrow, you can most certainly count on me." Said John with a proud smile on his face.

"I think I got all that covered, borrow mine." Said a random voice coming from the side of them. Kai and John looked over to see Jinn standing there, his arms crossed, and his brows furrowed. Kai brought his hand to his forehead, covering his eyes feeling annoyed. Jinn certainly didn't mind letting people know they were dating, even if he didn't directly say anything about it, he often dropped subtle hints if someone got to close or seemed as if they were being a little too friendly with Kai at work.

"Really? Thanks, I appreciate you more than you know." John said nervously, following Jinn away to his office.

"Annoying as fuck.", Kai whispered under his breath and let out a heavy exhale as he packed up his things. Kai got up from his desk, leaned over to clock out and when he turned around Brandon was standing there.

"Jesus!" Kai yelled, surprised that Brandon had managed to sneak up on him without him noticing.

"I'm sorry Mr. Pak, I didn't mean to startle you." Said Brandon chuckling.

"Please call me Kai, what can I do you for?" said Kai, rolling his eyes.

"I got you a matcha latte on my break, I just thought you might be thirsty."

A smile made its way onto Kai's face, "how sweet of you to think of me, thank you." Said Kai accepting the latte.

Brandon smiled, "No problem Mr….uh…Kai, see you next week." Said Brandon smiling and quickly turning to leave before Kai could say anything.

Kai raised an eyebrow shaking his head and when he turned around Jinn was standing there again. "I sure do hope you enjoy your latte Mr. Pak." Jinn said teasing, making his voice higher than usual.

Kai rolled his eyes, brushing past Jinn, not bothering to deal with him now. Making his way to his car, Kai got in and drove home.

After Kai got home, he placed his things down, going into his room to pack a bag even though he was unwilling. Kai sighed, he didn't even clearly remember agreeing to go, but he was going because Jinn wanted him to, being a good boyfriend was hard work.

A knock sounded on the door and Kai went to answer it, "You ready?" said Jinn with a smile on his face, dimples present.

"Not yet." Said Kai nonchalantly, backing up to let Jinn in. He turned around to go back to his room when Jinn suddenly wrapped his arms around his waist, turning Kai around so that they were face to face.

"Are you seriously mad at me? Don't be mad." Said Jinn leaning in for a kiss, but Kai turned his head away. Jinn frowned, although he didn't let go of Kai.

"I'm annoyed with you; you only think about yourself." Said Kai removing Jinn's hands and walking toward his room.

"I'm not just thinking about myself; I care about you and I want people to know you're not up for grabs." Said Jinn following behind Kai.

Kai hissed under his breath as he entered his room, "If anybody wanted me, they would've said so before you even started working there, you're being ridiculous." Said Kai shoving clothes into his bag roughly.

Jinn suddenly grabbed Kai's hand spinning him around, "See that? Like I said, oblivious. You don't see the way people look at you."

Kai attempted to yank his arm away, but Jinn held on tight, "What has it got to do with you? I'm a grown man. I can take…" said Kai, but Jinn cut him off.

"Why are you so damn mad? Do I annoy you that much?" said Jinn.

Kai and Jinn glared at each other for a moment, "Don't fucking cut me off, I hate when you do that!" Kai raised his voice; Jinn could hear the anger growing in Kai's voice, so he let go of his arm.

"What's wrong with you? Are you that stressed about coming with me to my parent's house? If you don't want to go just say so." said Jinn, speaking in a calm voice now.

Kai lowered his head, placing it on Jinn's chest and sighed heavily, "It's not that..I....I'm sorry."

Jinn wrapped his arms around Kai, embracing him tight, "you gotta stop keeping me in the dark Kai, we're partners, aren't we?"

Kai grabbed Jinn by the sleeves, gripping them tight in his hands. He then lifted his head to look at Jinn, a sort of sad and worried look on his face. As Kai felt his eyes water, he looked down. "I just really don't want to talk about it right now, can you accept that?"

Jinn shook his head and sighed. He then gently removed Kai's hands from his sleeves, kissing him on the forehead. "I'll give you some space." he said backing away and exiting the room.

Jinn walked into the living room, plopping himself on the couch, he was beyond frustrated. Kai had a bad habit of holding things in and when he exploded things usually ended badly. Jinn lowered his head, while looking down he happened to notice the golden envelope still sitting on the table. It had just been sitting there collecting dust, why was it still there? Jinn understood that this was a touchy subject so he was always careful not to impose, but they had been together for a while now, why couldn't Kai just get this over with?

Just as he was about to pick up the envelope Kai walked in and Jinn closed his hand into a fist. "Ready?" Kai said not realizing Jinn had nearly touched the envelope. Jinn stood up and nodded, the two of them exiting the apartment and getting into Jinn's car. Jinn put the key in the ignition, put the car in drive and pulled off.

The two had been riding in the car for a few minutes and neither one of them had said anything, the atmosphere was dense, and Kai felt it the heaviest. He could feel that Jinn was upset with him, not that he didn't have a right to be.

Kai exhaled heavily, squeezed his eyes shut and blurted out, "I haven't signed the divorce papers yet."

Jinn's lips parted, surprised by Kai's sudden statement. He wanted to smile but found that it wasn't appropriate for the situation at the moment. Kai had struggled to open up about things with Dana these past few months, so this was major progress. "You're struggling." Said Jinn.

Kai sighed heavily again, "I am."

"I will never force you to talk about it, I just need you to remember that I'm on your side." Said Jinn reaching over to grab Kai's hand. Kai grabbed Jinn's hand back, the two of them interlocking their fingers. Although Kai's mind was in shambles at the moment, having Jinn by his side gave him a peace of mind.

After about a forty-five-minute drive, the two had finally arrived at Jinn's parents house.

"Holy shit! You're rich! Why the hell did you ever move out?" said Kai as he marveled at the white pillared house that could best be described as a small mansion.

Jinn chuckled shaking his head, "I'm not rich, my parents are and believe me babe, that is a long ass story. Come on, let's get this over with." The two got out of the car, grabbing their bags and made their way to the massive house.

Jinn knocked on the door and a moment later, a woman with strawberry blonde hair opened the door, she was the woman from the picture, Jinn's Mom. "My boy!" she said excitedly as she hugged Jinn tight.

"It's good to see you Mom." Said Jinn hugging her back.

Jinn's mom placed her hand on her son's face and leaned over past him to get a look at the person her son had brought with him and her face expression changed.

Jinn moved aside and nervously spoke, "uhh…Mmom this is Kai." It made Kai uncomfortable to see Jinn so nervous, that wasn't something he saw often. Kai exhaled softly, held out his hand and suddenly allowed a pretty smile onto his face, "Nice to meet you Mrs. Wilkins."

Mrs. Wilkins let a smirk onto her face, one dimple making an appearance, "We shall see." She said turning around making her way back into the house. Feeling awkward that Mrs. Wilkins declined his friendly gesture, Kai brought the corners of his mouth tight and began shaking the air as if an imaginary person had accepted his handshake. As they walked in Jinn looked at Kai with a pained expression, mouthing the word "sorry." Kai quickly raised his hand and shook his head, letting Jinn know that it was no big deal.

The three walked into a grand living room, the ceilings high, with alabaster pillars holding it up. The windows looked larger on the inside than they did on the outside and there was nothing but glass and priceless things everywhere.

"Wow." Kai thought to himself.

"Robert, Art, Jenna! Jinn is home!" Mrs. Wilkins yelled up the stairs. Not long after she called, an older man came down the stairs, he was Jinn's Father, the two of them with the same eyes.

"Ahh, my son!" said Mr. Wilkins coming down the stairs, grabbing his son roughly and hugging him tight, Jinn too held his Father tight.

"You don't come see your old man enough, that's gonna have to change." Said Mr. Wilkins. Jinn finally smiled, revealing his dimples, he was definitely more comfortable with his Father than his Mother.

"Dad, this is Kai." Said Jinn, putting his hand out toward Kai, seeming prouder this time. Mr. Wilkins walked over with a smile, putting his hand out toward Kai, "it's so nice to finally meet you young man. Yes I see Jinn, he is quite handsome."

Kai accepted Mr. Wilkins handshake, a bashful smile making it's way onto his face. He was definitely feeling somewhat surprised to hear that come out of Mr. Wilkins mouth, Jinn had obviously told his Father about him.

While they shook hands, another two people made their way down the stairs with huge smiles on their faces. One was a guy; he was someone who was also in the picture at Jinn's apartment. His hair wasn't strawberry blonde, but he indeed favored Jinn. The other was a girl, with long brown hair and piercing blue eyes like her Father and brother, gorgeous was an understatement when it came to the people in this family.

"Little brother." The guy said loudly shaking Jinn's hand and pulling him in for a one-handed hug.

"Jinn!" said Jenna also hugging Jinn.

"Good to see you Art and sis. Kai these are my siblings, Arthur my older brother and Jenna my twin.", said Jinn looking at Kai.

"Oh! You are pretty! Nice to meet you!" said Jenna with a smile on her face and Jinn closed his eyes for a moment, feeling quite embarrassed until he noticed Art approaching Kai.

Art's muscular and tall frame stood before Kai, towering over him with a smirk on his face, as the two made eye contact. "Well, well, it's been a while since you brought someone home with you Jinn, let's see how long this one last."

"You guys have been asking Jinn for years when is he gonna bring someone home and now that he has, don't patronize the guy." Said Jenna, defending her twin.

"A nice young lady would've sufficed." Jinn's Mom added rudely.

"Mom!" Jinn shouted.

"Enough!" said Mr. Wilkins raising his voice for a moment. "Why don't we all have some of the pie that your Mother made."

"It's been a long work week and we're both tired so no thank you." Said Jinn grabbing Kai's hand and leading him upstairs. Kai glanced behind him for a moment as he followed Jinn upstairs, the family of four looking up the steps as they left.

When they got to the room Jinn was quiet, quieter than he had ever been, he was definitely bothered by what had just happened downstairs. Kai was beginning to see why Jinn wanted company this weekend, however it seemed like having him there was going to cause more harm than good.