64: :

:

Being given a menu by Na-Yung's mother, he was looking through it to know what he was going to order when something caught his eyes. 2

"Pizza!" He exclaimed.

Surprised by the sudden outburst, Na-Yung mother looked at him with wide eyes while his friend laughed out loud. She had noticed that Nathaniel had a curious love for pizza and could not resist to order one when there were some on the menu. They ate together between classes a few times and each time it was the same thing. They were in one of the best five star hotels in the city, he could order the best food and dishes yet the only thing that attracted his eyes was pizza. She could not help but shake her head in amusement.

"Alright, I will make the order right away. It will not take long to have it prepared and brought up so get ready."

"Thank you." Nathaniel answered almost sheepishly, giving back the menu.

True to her word dinner came quickly and the father of Na-Yung came not long after that. Looking at him Nathaniel was curious to know what he was like. He was a forty something year old man around 5"7". He had surprisingly delicate features and Nathaniel could see that Na-Yung inherited her mouth from him. He had short brown hair and was wearing an Armani black suit.

Seeing that he was being scrutinized, Na-Yungs father reciprocated the attention with a light smile. Nathaniel was surprised to see him showing amusement contrary to his wife who was stone faced.

"Nathaniel? Glad to meet you. I'm In-Su Kim, the father of Na-Yung. You also met my sweet wife Eun-Mi, I presume." He said in fluent english, coming to shake his hand.

Nathaniel could spy his wife who narrowed her eyes at that. She did not seem to like being called 'sweet' in front of a stranger but she did not say anything.

"Yes I have, glad to meet you too. I'm Nathaniel Lyndon." Accepting the handshake.

Nathaniel was kind of surprised by the father of Na-Yung. He was displaying his emotions openly and he had a kind demeanor. Curious, he started to look at his soul and found out that he had a sparkling blue soul. That made him relax a little.

"Good, come eat with us. The dishes have all arrived."

Taking place around the table, the mother and father pair both took the extremities of the table, leaving him and Na-Yung to sit on each side of the table. Looking at the delicate food they had chosen, anybody would have felt awkward with a vulgar pizza but not Nathaniel. It wasn't that he had thick skin, he just did not give a damn about people's view of him, he will enjoy his pizza without a care in the world.

After a few civilities, Eun-Ni started to ask a few questions to Nathaniel, making her daughter frown.

"So Nathaniel, what is it that your parents do?"

"My mothers are respectively a prosecutor for the DA office here in NY and a director in my family company."

"Excuse me but mothers?"

"Yes, my mothers are lesbians." He said with a slight smile.

Na-Yung already knew that he had two mothers and she was okay with that so he concentrated his attention on her parents. Her father did seem to be okay with that but the expression on Eun-Ni face gave him all the information he needed on her opinion on homosexuality. Even if she tried to hide it as it would not be proper to show disgust in front of her guest, the slight wrinkling of her nose and the contraction of her jaw was speaking volumes.

"Your family company?" In-Su picked up.

"Yes, my grandfather is the founder and CEO of Universal Lyndon Records."

"I knew your name was familiar to me." He said, nodding.

"What are you talking about?" His wife asked him.

"The Universal Lyndon Records is one of the biggest music labels in the US."

"Oh, I see." Eun-Ni said simply but he could see her attitude improving significantly toward him.

Knowing what he knew now, since they were from a very wealthy family, she felt better about her daughter being friends with someone from the same background. Money and status were really important in their circle and now that she knew he was coming from a similar one, she would start to treat him more respectfully. Thinking about the fact that she did not even introduce herself when they met made her feel regretful. She hoped that he would not resent her about it.

"You did not tell me that your family was wealthy." Na-Yung said feeling wronged.

"You did not either." He said in a serene tone, looking at her evenly.

Realizing that he was reproching her on the same exact thing that she did, she blushed guiltily, averting her eyes.

"How do you know that we are?" Her father asked.

Not responding, he simply made a show to look at him, his suit and then their surrounding. Understanding what Nathaniel was saying, he laughed a little.

"Point taken. Why did you hide your family background to my daughter?"

"My grandfather's accomplishments are not my own. Your family does not define you, you are defining yourself." He spoke truthfully.

Looking around, he could see that the Kim family reacted very differently to his words. Eun-Ni frowned, clearly disagreeing. Na-Yung nodded a couple of times which did not surprise him. She was a strong woman who wanted to succeed with or without her family support. The expression on In-Su's face was contemplative, he seemed to be deep in thought.

"I can relate to that, to a certain extent." He finally answered.

After that, he steered the conversation on more light topics and dinner passed quite nicely. He was going back to the room with Na-Yung to keep working when he suddenly stopped. Looking around him, he could hear the sound of the tv in the living room, but beside that, the night was silent, too silent. There was a heaviness in the air around them that he could feel all the way through his bones. It was a sign that he learned to recognize after decades of war.

Fishing out his secure phone, he sent a simple text to Amal.

'They are here.'

pqdm.com