You're All I Need - Nishimura Riki

Chapter 43 : The Invitation

I back away from Ni-ki as soon as I hear the door opening. My dad stands there, his mouth open in shock.

"Dad?" He looks at me, then to Ni-ki, who's looking at the floor to avoid my dad's gaze.

"What was that?" He asks me.

"What do you mean?" I say nonchalantly.

"You know what I mean." We stay quiet, not having a good explanation for what just happened. "Hana, it's time to come inside."

I meet eyes with Ni-ki for a second before my dad pushes me into the house, closing the door behind us. His hands rest on his sides as he stares at me.

"Um, I have homework. So I'll go do that-"

"Not so fast, young lady. You have some explaining to do," he says loudly. I stop walking and turn back around, facing my dad in the hallway.

"I don't have anything to explain."

"Okay, then what were you and Ni-ki doing? I know you're friends but friends don't do that-"

The front door opens again, revealing my mom this time. She has several bags of groceries in her hands.

"Ni-ki, you can just come set them on the dining room table if you don't mind- Oh!" My mom's eyes widen when she sees my dad. She sets the bags down on the floor and hugs my dad, letting go after a few seconds. "Wait, why are you home a few weeks early? And how did you get here from the airport by yourself?"

"We all worked extra hard so our boss let us all come home early. I wanted to surprise you, so I kept it a secret for the past two weeks or so. And I took a taxi to get home. It would've ruined the surprise I'd I told you to come get me," he says, hugging my mom again.

"Let's set these groceries on the table and then we can spend some time together!" My mom says to us. Ni-ki comes in after her with more groceries. We follow them to the dining room.

"Thank you so much for volunteering to help me take in the groceries, Ni-ki. You're always such a big help. You can go now, I know you were about to go home," my mom tells Ni-ki. He smiles and bows in her direction, then turns around and starts walking in mine.

"Bye, Hana," he waves lightly, not touching me at all. He continues walking past me and towards the front door. I watch him until the door closes behind him. When I turn around, both of my parents are looking at me.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm still waiting for my answer. You know, to what I saw on the porch," my dad says in an annoyed tone.

"Dad, I already told you that nothing happened. Why are you so caught up on this?" I practically yell, having had enough of him asking me about Ni-ki and I.

"Um, I think we need to have a little chat about something important," my mom says, putting her hand on my dad's shoulder. His cold look disappears when he makes eye contact with my mom. I can see how much he loves her; it reminds me of the way Ni-ki looked at me after that fight with Heeseung. How love can overcome anger, no matter what. Love is very powerful, and I'm glad to be surrounded by it.

"Come sit, both of you," my mom says and leads us to the living room.

"Mom, I have some homework to do. Can I go work on that and let you talk to Dad alone?" I ask. I mainly want to go to my room just so I can get out of this conversation. I know what my mom wants to talk about and I don't want to be there to witness it first person.

"Yes, you can. Just come back down when you're done, okay?" I nod and walk upstairs. I close my door so that they think I'm in my room, but really, I wait outside by the top of the staircase.