Two Of A Kind || Lee Heeseung

15 ¦ His Girlfriend??

To my surprise and my mother's annoyance, Heeseung was not as dismissive as usual. He didn't talk to me of his own accord, and when we did, he didn't talk much, but first, he hardly ever insulted me, and second, he answered me at least curtly when I spoke to him. I had the feeling that he was generally in a better mood than usual.

As my mother put dessert on the table, Heeseung turned to his parents. "We've talked about the student exchange to Europe before right?" he began, sounding unusually friendly. Not at all cold or dismissive like usual. His dad just nodded and his mom looked at him expectantly.

"The registration deadline is in two months, and I'd like to go." He looked expectantly at his parents, who exchanged a quick glance with each other. Both hesitated to say anything, but finally Taemin took the floor.

"Heeseung, we've already thought about this matter and we don't think it would be a good idea for you to go along." Heeseung looked surprised and furrowed his eyebrows. "And why is that, may I ask?" His voice now didn't sound so courteous, but more like he always did.

Tensely I watched him from the side, I wondered why he of all people wanted to go on this student exchange. His mother sighed "Because we think you should take more responsibility." "Responsibility?" He looked irritated "Mother, I'm responsible enough and all of my boys are going."

I let out a chuckling sound. This was his argument? 'All of my boys ride along'? How old was he? Twelve?

He turned to me and gave me a withering look that instantly silenced me. Hana didn't seem particularly comfortable in this situation and cast an embarrassed glance at my mother, who smiled at her, but in her eyes I could read the devaluation towards Heeseung.

"Heeseung, I don't think we need to discuss this now, we can talk about it when-" He cut her off. "No, I don't see what your problem is. I'm old enough to know for myself how much responsibility I can take." His expression was somber.

Taemin intervened. "Old enough?" he snorted "You're acting like a child. You neglect school and your grades. You come and go when you want and do and don't do what you want. I don't call that being responsible!"

Heeseung stood up and I flinched as his chair squeaked across the floor. He opened his mouth, but his dad sternly told him to keep quiet. I had never seen Taemin so serious and pissed off. Hana, my mom, and even Lewis looked down at the floor in dismay, all of them extremely uncomfortable with this situation.

"I'm not done yet. You're hanging out at clubs all night getting drunk, and every week you come home with a new girl." His father was now almost snorting with anger. "As long as you don't act like a mature person, you're not going anywhere."

Heeseung took a step in my direction. "So because I don't have a steady girlfriend, you think I'm immature?" The tension between son and father was almost palpable. "If that's what bothers you. Fine, I have a girlfriend."

Hana looked up at her son, puzzled, and I also looked at Heeseung, confused. "You have a girlfriend?" His mother looked like she couldn't trust his words. "And who is it?"

Heeseung hesitated. He looked at the floor and then at me. I frowned, Heeseung didn't have a girlfriend, this was absurd. "Clara." He came closer to me, stood behind me and put a hand on my shoulder.

I didn't even realize what was going on, the only thing I could think was that he had just said my real name for the first time since we knew each other and he sounded amazing with his voice.

"Clara and I are together. We didn't want to tell you yet because we wanted to make sure it was something serious." He squeezed my shoulder "Right Claire?"

I broke free from my stupor and looked at my mother. Her gaze pierced me, I felt like I was being stabbed by her and suddenly I felt something rebellious rising inside me and for some undetermined reason I simply returned her gaze and began to nod with a smile.

"Yes. You're right, we shouldn't keep it from our parents any longer, now that we're on the subject anyway." I stood up and stood next to Heeseung to make the situation seem more realistic.

I had no idea what I was doing here, much less why, but something inside of me rejoiced at the indignant look on my mother's face. I let my eyes roam over the group, Taemin and Lewis just looked confused, while Hana was the biggest contrast to my mother.

She smiled and grabbed her heart as if a dream had come true. She sighed happily and looked at us. "Heeseung that's wonderful. Why didn't you tell us before?" "Yes," I heard my mother's voice, sounding less moved, "Why didn't you say something earlier?"

Grimly, she let her gaze wander back and forth between Heeseung and me. I wanted to say something in reply, but Heeseung put his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him. He smiled victoriously at my mother.

"It was supposed to be something of a surprise." His tone was unrecognizably cool and my mother smiled artificially in response. "You succeeded in that one, though," Hana said overjoyed.

"Indeed," my mother added bitterly. Her look made it clear that she was going to have a serious talk with me later. One that would not be pleasant.

A/N: Now this is getting intresting