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77: Cheaters Gonna Cheat
🕑 Added 2021-05-04 22:02:32 +0000 UTCInho paused from singing to catch his breath. Jasmine grinned at him, still belting along with the music. They were speeding down the highway, 20km over the speed limit, shouting along with an angry pop song. Inho took a sip of his too sweet too creamy coffee, and the song ended. Jasmine turned the volume down.
“Feeling better?”
Inho blew air into his cheeks, then out, “I was fine already.”
“Yeah right, and that’s why I’m the one driving you instead of your fancy boyfriend.”
Inho pouted. Jasmine was taking him to the university in Abbotsford to do his English competency testing. It was about an hour away, and she’d shown up at 7AM with coffee and a big box of little round donuts. He’d already eaten ten of them and he felt like puking.
He chewed his lip. Stephen had been going to take him, and he’d been looking forward to going on a long drive with him, to his calming presence reassuring him before this test. Now, instead he felt a weight in his stomach, a constant heavy worry that wouldn’t go away while they were still fighting. He was grateful to Jasmine of course, but...
“Thanks for taking me,” Inho told her, as the thought occurred to him.
“For sure,” She replied without hesitation, “Thank Nathan too for lending us his car.”
“Right, I will. Sorry, you had to get up so early, I don’t have a drivers license.”
“It’s no big deal. I don’t know if I can pick you up though, it depends on if it gets busy back at the restaurant.”
Inho shrugged, “I’ll figure something out. There’s gotta be a bus or something.”
“Well, I’ll try to come get you. Anyway, have you talked to him yet?”
“About what?” Inho didn’t really want to get back into it. Their fight felt like ages ago, and since he hadn’t heard a peep from Stephen yet, anxiety and lonliness now far outweighed anger in his mind.
“About the cheating and the douchebag friends obviously–don’t play dumb.” Jasmine rolled her eyes.
“Oh. yeah. We talked a few nights ago.”
“And?”
Inho shifted uncomfortably, it felt like a betrayal of confidence to repeat the details Stephen had shared, but he’d already revealed too much to Nathan and Jasmine the other day. “He cheated on his ex a few times.”
“I knew it! He’s always struck me as a greasy motherfucker.”
“Jas, he’s not.” Inho felt immediately defensive, “There were reasons and like...I don’t know. His ex was a bad guy too.”
Jasmine gave him a skeptical look, “Sure bud.”
“He wanted to break things off but it was messy, and he felt bad leaving.” Inho frowned, it had sounded a lot less stupid when Stephen had said it.
“Gross. And, what about his friends? He’s still close with that ex? How d’you know he’s not going to cheat on you too?”
“Well, they’re close but, not that close. I think his ex holds a grudge about the other guys. Stephen’s not cheating on me, though!” It felt weird, explaining this to a third party when he barely had it sorted out in his own mind. If he were being honest, he would probably admit that he didn’t want to face the details anymore. He just wanted things to work out.
“I dunno. I wouldn’t be able to trust him. I dated a cheater a few years ago, and guess what, he cheated on me.” Jasmine shrugged, and Inho cringed. It felt like she was poking at the edges of an open wound. “Once a cheater, always a cheater. I mean, how hard is it to not fuck someone else when you’re in a relationship?” she continued, not noticing his flinches, “You just don’t. You dont fuck them. It’s not that hard. You’ve gotta be a special kind of shitty to do that”
“I dunno, people make misakes,” Inho’s frustration was building with her blunt assertions. “What about those other guys? They probably knew he was in a relationship, are they cheaters too?”
“I mean, if they knew and did it anyway, that’s pretty dirty, but he’s the one responsible to his partner. He’s the bad guy.”
“That’s too harsh,” Inho chewed his lip, annoyed, “What about you, then?”
Jasmine glanced at him, “What about me?”
“Well, what, cuz there’s a special name on it, it’s different for you guys?”
“What are you talking about?” an edge crept into Jasmine’s voice.
“Nathan’s married. I didn’t know that when we made out, but like, you know that.”
“That’s different, his wife knows. They have an arrangement.” She jerked her head, “How do you know about that, anyway? Did he talk to you about it?”
“No.”
“‘Cause I told him not to spread it around.”
“He didn’t say anything. I saw you guys at your place, when I was high.”
Jasmine snorted.
“But yeah, if it’s not an issue, why is it a secret? It’s all the same, isn’t it? He just can’t stay with one person. And you’re part of it.” Inho didn’t even know what he was saying, he literally knew nothing about polyamory. He was just annoyed and lashing out. Jasmine froze, silent, he continued, “It’s why you’re always fighting, isn’t it? Is his wife really okay with it?”
“Fuck you, Inho,” Jasmine said at last.
Inho turned to stare out the window.
“You don’t know anything about it.” Jasmine’s voice was low but it shook a bit as if she were tearing up. He didn’t look at her, “You always rant about your drama, but you knew and never even asked me about my issues.” He swallowed hard, “And now, knowing nothing about it, you’re calling me a cheater, and Nathan too. After all he’s done for you? You ungrateful prick.”
Inho didn’t know what to say, she might be right, but now it felt too late to take it back. And what was so different anyway? She was literally just calling Stephen a cheater, saying he was probably cheating on Inho. What right did she have to say that about his boyfriend?
They sat silently for the rest of the drive. When they arrived in the school parking lot, Jasmine picked up her phone and pretended to check it. “Oh would you look at that,” she said in a flat tone, “I have to get back to the restaurant. Guess you better find your own way home.”
Inho got out of the car without answering, slammed the door and went to sign in for his exam.
