Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Kyle was so shocked by what Nate had said that he grabbed at his hair with both hands. His eyes looked like they might pop out of his head while his mouth was in the shape of an O.

Jason's reaction on the other hand was pretty lukewarm as he simply nodded his head "I kinda had a feeling you would say that.

You don't look anything like my mom so that scratched that off as a possibility. I'm assuming that you know about my families history so why did you come looking for me?"

Nate smiled as he stuck his hand out "Before I say anything else how about a proper introduction? My name is Nathaniel Yang but you can just call me Nate."

Jason didn't even bother to shake Nate's hand as he simply responded "My name is Jason Yang but I'm sure you knew that already.

I play basketball and I'm from Riverside. The city that my parents moved to after being forced to make a decision between aborting me or staying with their family."

Nate winced after hearing Jason say that "I know that both of your parents had it rough. I don't really know about your mom's side of the story but I kind of know about what happened with your dad. 

I'm not going to lie Jason. Our family is kind of messed up. Every family gathering the aunts and uncles always use their kids as tools to one up each other.

They talk about their children's accomplishments not because of how proud they are of their kids. But because they love to have the spotlight.

Our family isn't all that tight. We only ever see each other during the holidays. And even then no one ever invites our grandparents.

All of my uncles and aunts talk shit about grandpa and grandma for all the things that they put them through growing up.

But then they do the exact same things to their kids. The worst part is that some of the younger kids have been poisoned by their parents mentality.

A lot of our cousins think that they're better than everyone else and they use their accomplishments and accolades to push the other cousins down.

I found out about you after one of my friends that's really into basketball showed a clip of you. And the only reason why I even thought that you were my cousin was because I saw a clip of you and your parents getting interviewed."

Nat then reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. After opening his wallet up he took out photo that was clearly old and worn out.

He handed the photo to Jason. After taking a look Jason saw that it was a picture of his dad as a teenager.

His dad looked so young. His hair was much longer than it was now and he had it hanging over his shoulders.

In the photo his dad was smiling brightly as he had another young man in a tight hug in one arm while putting up a piece sign with his other hand.

Jason handed the photo back to Nate "Why do you have that?" Nate smiled as he looked at the picture. He gently held the photo in his hand.

"The reason why I hold on to this picture is because this is the happiest that I've ever seen my dad. He's the second oldest out of all the siblings.

My dad is the only one out of his siblings that doesn't treat his kids like tools. But because of that he always gets the short end of the stick whenever we have a family gathering.

Me and my sister get good grades but other than that we don't have anything else. But no matter how much his brothers and sisters put him down for having "Normal" kids he always took their comments with a smile on his face.

He's also the only one who even bothers with visiting grandma and grandpa. He would always tell us stories of how your dad was the only one who really showed him love.

He always tells us that if it wasn't for Henry that he would have ended up just like all his other siblings.

Our dad loves telling stories from his childhood but they only ever involve him and your dad. I'm guessing that's because those are the only good memories that he has.

The reason why I came looking for you is because of two things. I wanted to connect with you because we're family.

I know that our history is kind of complicated but as soon as I put two and two together I felt a connection with you.

I know that doesn't make sense considering that this is the firs time that we have even spoken but I don't know any other way to describe it.

The second reason why I came to find you is because I want my dad to be happy again. Not that he's depressed or anything.

But even though he's smiling and laughing I can tell that there's something missing. Like I said, I've never seen my dad as happy as he was in that photo.

And for someone as loving and caring as him I feel like he deserves it. I know that doing this might make things difficult and complicated for your family Jason.

And I'm sorry if this comes off as selfish. I spent days thinking about this and the more I thought about it the more I wanted to meet you."

After hearing what Nate had to say Jason's emotions became turbulent. On one hand Jason wanted to be angry.

Whenever he thought back to the night where his dad drowned his feelings away in alcohol Jason despised his dad's family.

But after hearing what Nate had to say Jason just couldn't bring himself to be angry at him. Jason began to pace back and forth.

'According to what Nate said he just wanted to meet me because he wanted to create a connection with me and make me a part of the family.

He says that he also did it to make his dad happy. Fuck! I wish he was an asshole! Things would be so much easier if he didn't seem to be such a nice guy.' 

After pacing back and forth a few times Jason walked to his bed. He looked at his bed for a second before shouting out "FUCK!"

He then proceeded to punch his bed with all his strength. He was punching his bed so hard that his hair became untied.

After punching his bed a few times Jason let out a satisfied sigh. His hair was disheveled as some of it covered his face.

He looked up and saw Nate and Kyle with nervous smiles on their faces. Jason picked up his hair tie from the floor and fixed his hair.

He then looked at Nate and Kyle "Sorry. Just had to blow off some steam." Just as he had finished saying that a knocking sound came from outside their room.

Jason said "Give me a second. I'll check the door." After walking to the door Jason took a look through the peep hole.

It was a man dressed in a black suit with black leather shoes. Jason asked "Who is it?" From outside the door the man smiled as he answered.

"My name is Hank Winslow. I'm a marketing agent with Nike. Is this Jason Yang? If it is I have something to discuss with you."

After hearing that Jason opened the door as he welcomed the marketing agent in to the room. The two of them walked to the middle of the room.

Jason looked over at the marketing agent "It's kinda late isn't it? What can I help you with?" Hank smiled at Jason.

"I have some important business related matters to talk about." He then looked at Kyle and Nate "The kind of matters that are best discussed in private."

Jason took a look at Nate and Kyle. His gaze lingered on Nate a bit longer than it did on Kyle. He then shook his head "I trust these people.

If you can't talk about it in front of them then I guess we have nothing to talk about." Nate was surprised to hear Jason say that.

'Did he say that he trusts me?' A warm feeling started to blossom in his chest as it then began to travel throughout the rest of his body.

The marketing agent coughed to clear his throat "Uh, well then. The reason why I am here is because Nike would love to use you as part of their next marketing plan."

Jason looked at him with a curious expression on his face "Oh? And what would I have to do as part of this marketing plan?"

The marketing agent smiled "Nike is planning a big advertising model in Asia that uses you as the main point. We would just need you to say a few lines in Korean-"

Jason cut him off right there "Not interested."