First Meetings...and Hard (1/1)

The next morning, Taehee met with Minho at a local diner. Minho smiled and stood when Taehee walked up. “Hi. I’m Choi Minho,” Minho felt stupid for not knowing what to say from there. His mind went blank. He could feel the nerves getting to him. Taehee saved him the trouble.  “I’m Lee Taehee. I’m your brother, as you now know,” Taehee flashed a smile. “So…What’s good here?” Taehee also seemed nervous, so Minho began showing him what he would usually order. They settled on an appetizer plate of nachos and both ordered one of the breakfast burritos. They sat in silence for a long while.  Minho broke the silence. “So, did you already know about me? I know that our father did.” He took a bite of the nachos that had just arrived.  Taehee sighed, then smiled. “Yes, I did. Our parents told me when I was ten that I had a brother. They also said that they could not keep you.” He knew that the reason had been for safety, with creatures to kill and a compound to protect, but he did not want to scare the young man off with the mention any of that. “Our mother died when I was fourteen…” Taehee suppressed the emotions that were threatening to take over. He took a deep breath. “It was tough, and I wish our father had changed his mind about you then," Taehee frowned. "I guess he wouldn’t have been able to, with the adoption laws, and we didn’t even know where you were, for sure. You were already adopted, at that point, correct?” Minho nodded. “Yes. I got adopted when I was four, and had a wonderful childhood, so I was not suffering. I didn’t find out I was adopted until yesterday.” He wanted to ask about their father, but wasn’t sure if Taehee wanted to talk about it. Maybe he had left, or wasn’t a good father. Either way, he felt as if it was not his business. This conversation was still awkward, and that would just add to it. Taehee answered his unsaid question. “Minho, I think I should let you know now that our father passed away two days ago.” He clinched his jaw, staring down at his plate for a long moment. He finally looked up. “He would have loved to meet you. He was a wonderful person.” Minho sighed, smiling again. “I’m sorry, Taehee…” He shook his head. “You know, I found out about you from a letter my parents left me. They died almost a month ago, so I do know how you feel. If you need to talk, I am now here. You can call me any time. I guess I looked at the letter at the right time. Otherwise, I