Free Dirty Secret by Rhys Ford

burnt out from the back flash.
    A thin-faced Korean woman wearing a gold silk sheath hurried over to Jae, touching his arm lightly as she spoke to him in whispers. She was that made-up pretty where I couldn’t tell how old she was: older than her twenties, but hovering somewhere ahead of fifty. Her high heels brought her up to Jae’s shoulder and looked painful, but she glided on them, as if walking on giraffe legs was something she did every day. Scarlet wore those kinds of shoes. I could never be a woman. My feet screamed in agony just looking at them. Jae cocked his head as he listened to her, and nodded, bowing slightly before she gave us both a smile and scurried away to greet people coming down the walkway.
    “Mother of the bride?” I joined him, hazarding a guess at her identity. She was quickly surveying the area, smiling softly at people when she made eye contact.
    “Her name is Choi Eun-hee,” Jae said, steadying himself as he took a few shots of a young couple near one of the tables. The woman was touching the flower arrangement on the table, running her finger over a rose petal and conferring with the man holding her arm. “Yes, mother of the bride. She wanted to remind us to eat. I told her we will once the dancing starts.”
    “Did she remarry?” Jae looked up at me, frowning in confusion. “Her last name is Choi? Not Kwon?”
    “Korean women don’t normally take their husbands’ last names, remember?” He returned to stalking the guests, and I had to stretch my legs to keep up with him. “You can call her Mrs. Kwon, but Dr. Choi would be better.”
    I was going to ask what she was a doctor of, but the irritated gleam in Jae’s eye reminded me he was working. I was going to have to keep track of the players. These people were connected to Dae-Hoon, either through blood, sex, or in a day or so, marriage.
    Shin-Cho spotted me and came over, giving Jae a small polite bow before greeting me. The mark on his cheek was barely visible, but his eyes were as troubled as they’d been when he’d left my house. As Jae messed with some of his equipment, he sidled up to me.
    “My brother will be here later. I’ve told him about you helping with our father,” Shin-Cho said quietly. “He’d like to meet you.”
    “Sure,” I agreed. From where I stood, David seemed like one of the few sane people in the family. Although I could have been prejudiced, because he’d chosen to support his brother rather than turn his back on him.
    “There, at the top of the stairs,” Shin-Cho hissed. “ That is Sang-Min.”
    A tall, middle-aged Korean man with a practiced smile descended the stairs and touched Dr. Choi’s shoulder. I turned just enough to study his face. There was only one photo of Dae-Hoon with his then-lover, Kwon Sang-Min, and despite the passage of time, his features were easily recognizable. The good-looking, composed twentysomething young man was now a handsome, polished businessman. He scanned the crowd, waving at people mingling in the center of the patio.
    Kwon spotted Shin-Cho and nodded slowly at him. The nod was arrogant and condescending, a gesture that seemed as natural to him as breathing. A faint smirk lingered at the edge of his mouth, a mocking tease at Shin-Cho’s expense. Then his gaze stopped on Jae, and I saw a flare of intense interest flash across his face before dissolving behind a placid mask.
    Yeah, the man was gay. A man’s eyes didn’t linger on another man’s ass unless he wanted to plow it.
    I wanted to punch Kwon in the mouth. Repeatedly. Until I wiped that plastic smile off his face.
    “Cole-ah, I need a new card soon,” Jae called out to me.
    “I’ll hook up with you later, Shin-Cho. Have to get to work before Jae kills me.” I hurried over to Jae’s side. The people gathered on the patio were beginning to clap, and I turned, frozen in place. Jae took the card from my fingers, ignoring my slack-jawed stare.
    The bride, Helena Kwon, looked more like her father