NeoNara || TXT || taebin || yeonkai

2016: Friday, Part One

2016, DAY ONE
Friday, August 13, 2016 5:45 AM

Choi Donghoon arrives early in the morning to Soobin's apartment in Inwood.

Soobin has done his best to mitigate some serious damage control over the past few nights in New York. Taehyun and his parents are all in Albany, and they are all painfully aware of the situation going on with Soobin's father. They've agreed to help as much as they can, but while Soobin knows that Melinda Rhodes is made of steel, he's not sure how she will match up against his father.

Any time Soobin has tried to talk to his father about Taehyun, he has been shut down. Choi Donghoon does not want to hear anything about Soobin's supposed boyfriend. He would rather pretend this "Taehyun Rhodes" from an unknown last name and clan does not exist. So Soobin has followed suit, and he has not talked about Taehyun once.

Soobin doesn't know much about his father's plans for NeoNara, other than he has reserved a room at the hotel, and Soobin is halfway betting on him forcing Soobin to stay with him. In addition, Soobin knows that, even if his father controls his Friday, Soobin still has an appointment to keep on Saturday. Donghoon would never be late or miss an important meeting, and Soobin has made it clear that this show has the same importance. He will be there at noon to play the free set. After that? Soobin has no clue.

So all he can do is follow along when his dad arrives, then calls a livery cab to get to Penn Station. They sit in silence, and when they arrive at Penn Station, Donghoon checks their virtual tickets and then opens up Soobin's luggage, smack dab in the middle of Amtrak's ticketed customer section. He throws out a pair of socks for being too threadbare, and a random lip gloss he finds, before shoving everything else back in.

Thankfully Soobin had packed super light, and in a way that he knew his father would approve of. No t-shirts, not even from NeoNara or WOIH, no shorts, no athletic shoes. Only button down shirts and pressed pants, with simple shoes that will need to be upkept after trapsing in the grass all day. Thankfully, Soobin's King Solomon concert black clothing fits with this theme, and the black shirt and pants go unnoticed.

The Amtrak ride to Albany is the longest three hours Soobin has ever spent in his life. His father does not talk to him, but merely pulls out his iPad and begins to read an online Korean paper, as soon as he sits down. Soobin pulls out his phone and gets about two minutes into texting Taehyun's mother before his father hands him a Korean book on finance. So Soobin opens it, and he reads it incredibly slowly, and he wishes that his father wasn't holding the rest of his family and his life in Korea hostage like this.

He wants to go home. He wants to see his family. But the last thing he wants is his father to control his life like this.

When the train pulls into Rensselaer, Soobin feels much better already. The welcome scenery of Albany is all around him, and he's been taking the train back and forth for a while, since Taehyun is often stuck in Albany for his treatments. Albany feels normal; it even kind of feels like home. This pit of growing despair in Soobin's stomach, however, also seems normal. Why can't there just be a quiet NeoNara where there's not a threat of doom or pain?

He just hopes that this isn't his last NeoNara. That somehow, his father will watch the set on Saturday, and perhaps not be moved to let Soobin stay, but understand that Soobin has a work obligation and needs to remain for now. There are still at least two years before Soobin has to return, and Taehyun needs his help now.

And all Soobin can do is try and be one step ahead of his father at all times.

"We will call a taxi shortly," Donghoon says as he departs the train. Soobin follows behind, trying not to smirk. "I presume that you have the address --"