chapter one:
- fly into san fran
- group shenanigans
- backstory. context
- norcal anxiety
- being closeted
- what riku does and does not owe his parents
- what he owes sion
- what he owes himself. unimportant (FOR NOW!!!!)
- being in love with sion
- car to wherever they live
- RESEARCH
- not carmel (not that rich) but somewhere near big sur, perhaps
- kids taking in the sights of america
- ryo wants a tattoo
- sakuya: will we see any guns?
- meeting the parents
- parental approval
- DINNER
- soft onri. fall asleep together
chapter two:
- wake up by sakuya in the same bed (oops)
- breakfast
- mom is holding daeyoung hostage with korean food
- talking
- introspection
- the club…..
- RESEARCH SANTA CRUZ
- shows them around town …….
- the beach????
- the wharf
- board walk
- shops……
- lunch,… burger again
- goes to club
- meet riku coach
- meet old riku mentees
- tennis
- injury/healing stuff
- water break
- doting sion
- everyone immediately clocks that sion is his boyfriend
- the kids are like IS THAT UR BF
- riku realizes everyone knew he was gay
- u know ur ex? he works here! uh oh
- the kids… tennis…. theyre bad….
- going back home
- lovey times/family times
- fade to black horny times…
- thigh fucking… etc
chapter three:
- onri talking
- wake up in the same bed again UGH
- morning shenanigans
- club
- ex confrontation (so ur the replacement…. sorry no english)
- talk w sion and riku about ex
- fade to black thigh fucking
- riku calls yushi
- korean dinner????
- doubts
chap four:
- ?????
chap five:
- we’re ur lil secret
- riku keeps this a secret from sion and is stressed
- the redwoods???
- nightmare time :)
- riku overhears daeyoung and sion arguing in korean bc of wahtever
- riku calls out jagi for sion. his mom answers. panics but remembers his mom doesnt know korean
chap six:
- stress. stress
- scene where sion holds him in their sleep
- sion: baby, please, talk to me. riku goes i dont know, i dont know
- goes to club.. stress
chap seven:
- ????
- fight with sion
- im going to do it / you dont have to / im GOING TO
- sion vs riku play tennis in front of rikus parents. riku hurts his knee. gay things. but his parents just smile like they know something he doesnt
- tragedy strikes????
chap eight:
- surgery, maybe. ughhhhh idk
- riku inner turmoil
chap nine:
- “howd you know” “you called him jagi” “your mother has been watching a lot of kdramas”
- talk with his parents
- forgiveness
- healing
- san fran + headsing home
chap ten:
- true epilogue
“And Sion is…” Riku trails off. “He’s being Sion.”
“Supportive? Level Headed? Not the slightest bit worried?” Yushi offers.
Riku sighs. “Exactly.”
It’s maybe 2 AM and Riku is still deep in thought, still in his own purgatory of thinking, when two strong arms wrap around his waist and haul him in closer.
“Jagi-yah,” Sion’s voice comes sleepily, only half-awake and fading. “Why are you all the way over there?”
Riku gulps. Sion doesn’t even stay awake for an answer, just noses in behind Riku’s ear and nods off, fading into soft snores again. Riku’s heart pounds, full of uncertainty, because there is no doubt that this man loves him. Absolutely none.
But is Riku worthy of loving him back?
Riku blinks. He turns to Sion.
“Did you-“
“Obviously not,” Sion says. He’s looking at his plate, face pink.
Riku turns to Daeyoung, who has his hands up in surrender before Riku can even open his mouth.
“Not me.”
His father smiles. “They say it a lot in the k-dramas, Riku,” he says. “Your mom watches them everyday.”
(low key this scene is me projecting by writing an accepting asian american mom but fuck it we ball and break generational curses)
you know what your dad said when he saw sion-kun? he said wow, honey, you don’t even look at me like that. that boy’s face lights up when you walk into a room, riku. seriously.
you know, a few months back, right before you went to korea, your aunt told me about a boy who had shown up, asking for you. she told me about how you ran out on him, and he looked upset when he left. i thought wow, riku must have met a bad guy. he made him cry! my poor riku-chan.
but then she tells me, later, about the same boy. he had shown up with flowers, and she watched you answer the door and shut it in his face. riku-chan was bright red, she said. i’ve never seen him make that expression before. ryo told her that the boy was his tennis coach. and she said, right, i remember riku going with them to the lessons even after he worked a whole night. he’d get up at 7 and go to them. and we talked about how odd that was, since you hated tennis so much. and yet, here’s this boy! this coach! and thats when i realized, ah. my riku chan must have found the one, huh. the one who made him fall back in love with tennis again.
i was never going to ask you first, honey, because how could i? after everything that happened to you? we just wanted you to be happy, before anything. i thought that youd come to me when you were ready. and it was also okay if you were never ready. you were a sensitive child, you know, and after the injury you were like a time bomb. always waiting for a reason to go off, to run away. i thought that as long as there’s a boy out there who is making my riku happy, there is no need to push.
honestly, who cares what your dad and i think of sion? have you ever listened to us? no, you stubborn boy, you never did. i remember the guys you brought over in high school. all of them were impolite! but you never cared, you said they were your friends. said they treated you well. and they didnt, did they? they didnt! i remember you crying! and then you bring sion-kun, who worships the ground you walk on. how could i see anything other than how he loves you, riku? how could i want any more than that?
he’s polite. he’s in grad school, honey, that is every asian mom’s dream. here is a boy calling you pet names in my house, and he has stars in his eyes when you smile at him! honestly! it’s my dream come true, riku, to see you happy. i would never in a million years ask you to sacrifice your happiness for us. never.
we came to this country for you. we put you in those lessons and saw you blossom. when you got hurt, i was so scared. so angry at you, so angry with myself for letting it ever get that far. but then what if i had never let you pursue tennis all those years ago? how could i have clipped your wings and denied you that? your father and i held each other when you started therapy a few months ago. we cheered so hard, of course, not to your face. our boy, we said. our boy is healing, our boy is finally healing.
there is not a part of you that i dont love. why should i not love sion the same? i see the way you and him look after those kids, you know. keeping ryo-chan in line and everything. your father said ah, do you think we’ll end up with grandkids? it seems like they’re interested in parenting. ah, stop blushing. thats the kind of thing all parents say.
sion-kun is the only other person in the world who loves you as much as we love you, honey. i want to do whatever you’ll let me do. i want what you let me have. of course i want his number! i want to ask him for pictures of you, videos, everything. we talked for an hour, the other day, about how you were doing. he said that you were having less nightmares. i didnt ask how he knew that. i dont think he realized it himself. all he wanted to do was talk about you. and all i wanted to do was listen. hear about your life, hear about the people who love you. i want my life to be full of that, riku. you and the people you love.
you are my only son, my only child, who i have crossed oceans and continents for. every parents wants to give their child the world, of course. i dont think i ever managed to do quite that. but i think i tried my best and sion-kun is picking up my slack.
you smile so much now, riku, ive never seen you smile this much. not since you were a kid. i know why you are smiling. i know that its because of that boy. all i want is to see you smile, riku-chan. as your mother, how could i ever want anything besides that?
god, you are such a silly boy, do you know that? worrying so much over nothing. so anxious! you’ve brought your boyfriend to a foreign country and you’re worried about what your parents think? honestly, riku!