Page 66 of Damian & Jun, Episodes 13-16
Damian started to change his shirt. Sahyuk watched both of them uneasily.
Jun shucked his jeans. “Go on, time’s running out, Sahyuk.”
“That’s not how you speak to your father,” Sahyuk snapped.
Jun quirked up an eyebrow, standing in nothing but his compression underwear. “You’re not my father. You told me that yourself. Never came back and gave me your name, did you?” He reached for the pants for his first costume.
Sahyuk blinked at him. “I let you keep the stupid bear.”
“And my sisters, and your wife, evidently.” Jun glared at Bak and pulled on his shirt. There wasn’t much more to the costume except his hair and makeup, besides the belts. They were performing the entire new album. Which meant Raw was the first song of the first set. They were wearing slightly more glamorous versions of what they’d worn in the music video. Jun started putting on the first belt, threading it through the loops of his pants.
“You took the house. They’re your problem.”
Jun had to run that through his head twice to find the logical jump in Sahyuk’s madness. “Funny how all your progeny become someone else’s problem.”
Sahyuk stood up, pointing the gun at Jun. Damian edged around the room. They were all one stupid choice away from Damian doing something heroic and tragic. Because he would. And Jun loved him for it, but today was not the day.
They’d come too far. Damian had rescued him once, twice, more times than he could easily divide and count. This was Jun’s turn. And he was just the right level of unhinged to do it. He stepped right in front of the gun, mentally promising Damian all the whipping and spankings he needed to hand out to feel like Jun was punished enough for taking this risk.
“Shoot, and Jamal will have a bullet in your head before you say whatever you need to say.”
“Give it back.”
“Give what back, dad?” Jun raised an eyebrow. He jerked the belt closed and reached for the second one. “Everything you put in my name? The house in California? The properties in Texas? Your mistress’s condo in Melbourne? SP4700Y? I can’t. The courts are overseeing every move I make. I’m barely allowed to pull funds for business expenses. Not till the trial is finished.”
“Tell them you lied.”
“Then I go to prison for perjury, if they believe me. They used a polygraph, you know.”
“Those can be faked.”
“Maybe, if you’re trained. I’m not.” Jun turned around, looking at his father in the mirror. He broke out his makeup. The eyeliner was going to be particularly vicious this time. He could barely feel his hands as he started to prime his skin. He didn’t feel real right then. Nothing felt real. He wasn’t doing this. He was dreaming this. “Da, cover your ears and close your eyes.”
Sahyuk looked between the two of them. Damian was already dressed. He glared at Jun.
“Just do it, Da. I don’t want you to hear this. I’m protecting you.”
Damian glared and slowly did as Jun asked. Jun’s heart thumped in his chest. Could he have made a harder request from a primal hunter? Could he have asked for more trust?
Probably not.
I’m sorry. I’m sorry. We’re dreaming. All of this isn’t real. We’re dreaming.
Jun turned towards Sahyuk, mentally starting a timer in his head for the first layer of makeup to set. “Let’s not lie, dad. You’re Merchari. I have a deal with the Merchari. So why are you here?”
“You took what was mine.”
“You took my identity and my income.”
“You wouldn’t have had anything if I hadn’t given you the opportunity. Introducing you to Bak Gyeong was the best thing that ever happened to you. I’m your father. You owe me.”
Jun shook his head. “You sold me, dad. Tore up my birthright, told me I didn’t belong in the only country I’d ever known, and then you left. We’re nothing. I learned to live without you. The only thing between us is my deal with the Merchari. You’re Merchari, I’m a debt account. That’s it.”
Sahyuk gaped. “You…ungrateful…”
Jun glanced at the clock. He was running out of time. And Sahyuk might just be crazy enough to shoot if someone did barge in looking for them. Jamal certainly would when he saw the gun.
He went back to the mirror, finishing his face, making eye contact with his father over his shoulder. “Did they tell you that Gyeong sold me, dad? For sex?”
