Jamais Vu

Chapter 31

"You didn't!" exclaimed Hayoon as she stood. "You seriously slept with your sleeping partner? I was just kidding when I said that back then."

Sunhee's face was getting redder by the minute. It was different when she was just joking about being risqué with her mom. I was on another whole level when she was being interrogated after she was caught for it.

"He is my boyfriend," said Sunhee firmly. "We like each other."

"Give me a few minutes to calm myself," Hayoon held her hand up and put another one to her chest.

"Are you feeling overwhelmed at the fact that your daughter is finally dating or the fact that he's a megastar?" tested Sunhee.

"I don't give a hoot about his job," Hayoon paused. "Forget I said that. Having money is nice, and you're going to have a hard time with his popularity," she predicted. "I am actually happy that you're in a relationship. It would be better if I didn't see those hickeys, though. You know, once you've seen, you can't unsee kind of thing," rambled her mom. "You're using prophylactics, right?"

It was getting a bit too personal, and the summer heat was getting to her. Sunhee made another mistake by pulling her hair back.

Her mother gasped. "Damn, there too?" she pointed to Sunhee's neck.

Sunhee let her hair down guiltily.

"I need a drink," said Hayoon. "I need something stronger than soju. Do you have any whiskey? Vodka? I'll even drink moonshine at this rate."

"Eomma, it's still early, and no, I don't have any of those other than soju."

"You make me want to drink," said Hayoon, fanning herself, trying to stay calm. "Keep your cool, Hayoon," her mom said to herself and taking deeper breaths.

Sunhee was trying hard not to agree with her mom at that moment as she knew it would make her mom even more tensed up. She chose to keep quiet and waited for her mom to cool down on her own.

"So, how's the relationship so far?" she asked, finally sitting down after calming herself. "Is he good to you?"

"He's great, and we talk through the phone most of the time. He's considerate and kind. He has a great sense of humour, too," said Sunhee.

"Just that?" asked Hayoon again.

"I'll be running out of adjectives if I have to describe everything about him, eomma," Sunhee sipped on her drink.

"I'll settle for that. As long as he makes you happy."

"He does."

"I'm sensing a 'but' coming right after," predicted Hayoon.

"But..." Sunhee trailed off and paused. She was torn between sharing her fears with her mom or should she just brush it away?

"What is it?" Hayoon took Sunhee's hand and pulled Sunhee to sit next to her on the sofa. She looked at Sunhee squarely.

"Eomma, I'm scared," Sunhee looked at her mom. "What if... that's just a façade? Eomma, you lived through that by yourself and I didn't even know it."

"Oh, baby. You are not going to be like me. You're different," Hayoon took Sunhee into her arms. She knew what Sunhee was referring to. "What does your instinct tell you?"

"I don't know if I can rely too much on my gut feeling where Hoseok is concerned. He makes me forget," Sunhee was fiddling the bracelet he gave her. It sorts of becoming a habit of hers nowadays.

"Did he give you that?" Hayoon pointed to Sunhee's wrist.

"Yes," Sunhee hugged her mom closer.

"How do you feel about him?"