[This is an adaptation, this story is not mine. The credits goes to the original writer. Please do not vote!]
Kuma raised its head and looked at Yuan with its clear, blue eyes. It tilted its head and reached downwards to lick at Yuan's small, fat hand with gusto.
"Hey, not like this! Shake hands, shake them like this!" Yuan caught one of Kuma's paws in hands and shook it.
Kuma retracted its paw impatiently, disregarding his request, turned back and ran.
Aunt Zhuang plated the takeout and called everyone to dinner.
Moonbyul picked up a piece of steamed chicken. When he was preparing to dip it into the seasonings, he felt something pulling at his trouser leg.
He lowered his eyes to see Kuma pulling at his trouser leg with its paw, staring at him beseechingly.
Moonbyul looked at the piece of chicken in his chopsticks, and then at Kuma.
Kuma whimpered softly, and it tugged at Moonbyul's pant leg with his soft, pink paw again.
Moonbyul glanced at Jennie and saw that her attention was elsewhere, so he quickly deboned the chicken and tossed it down the table. Kuma left with the chicken between its teeth, and Moonbyul picked up another piece for himself nonchalantly and started to eat.
Kuma was back again after a short while, but not for food. It sniffed Moonbyul's ankle for a few times before it curled up and fell asleep beside it.
Moonbyul looked down. He did not dare move after that and his ears flushed red.
...
The next afternoon, Lisa brought Jennie to the family home.
Jennie was still clutching the poinsettia plant she bought for the old man in her hands. It was neither rare nor costly, but it was in a festive red that suited the New Year cheer.
Jennie did not know much about flowers. The last day, she had visited different shops before she was hooked by this eye-catching shade of red the first instance she entered one of them. This plant was ideal for the occasion, had an auspicious name, and the store owner said that it was easy to care for, so she bought it.
She had asked Lisa in the morning, and he confirmed that the family home did not have this plant. Jennie let out a breath in relief. Now the only thing important was that the old man liked it.
When they set out, Lisa called to inform them that they were departing.
Old Lady Manoban was nearly crippled with guilt as soon as she hung up the phone. She glanced towards Mr. Manoban, who was setting out to water his flowers, water can in his hands, and asked, "Say, should I make up an excuse and act like I'm not at home? Just... just say that Old Lady Shin was jealous that I had a granddaughter-in-law, so she called me over because she wanted to mess today up by calling me over to her house so that I won't get to see my granddaughter-in-law?"
"..." Old Mr. Shin eyed her, speechless before he continued moving towards the French window.
"Don't stay quiet! Can't you see that I'm worried?" Old Mrs. Shin was desperate. She trailed after her husband. At the sight of him bending down to water his flowers, she had the urge to land a kick on his rear.
"Who asked you to pretend being lost in front of your granddaughter-in-law," Old Master Manoban smirked. "Now you know to be afraid? Wait till your granddaughter-in-law arrives and look at you and be like, 'Hey, isn't this the old woman that lost her way from that time?'. You lied to her even before you met. What would our granddaughter-in-law think of that? She would assume that we're evaluating her because we aren't satisfied with her. Would you feel good if you're being lied to in this manner? You knew that we're going to meet anyway when Lisa brings her here. If you chose to do that despite this, you should have known that this was going to backfire on you."
Old Master Manoban was not anxious at all, thriving on his wife's nerves.
Now that he was getting old, he had no other pastime aside from caring for his pants and go fishing at home. Those were momentary, though. He could not possibly go fishing every day, could he? The rest of the time he was bored, and the only way he could inject some fun into his life was by bickering with his wife.
Old Lady Manoban knew of this hobby of her husband, of course, but she could not resist her urge to kick him in the butt, which almost toppled him to the floor, "You're telling me this now. Why didn't you stop me when I went to bump into Jennie? You've sneaked a look of her when we got back, too. Leaving me to be the villain when you've got the good parts for yourself, huh!"
Old Master Manoban kneaded his rear. "Didn't I advise you against it? You didn't listen. That said, I couldn't avoid taking a peek when you've brought her home anyway."
"Damn old man!" Old Lady Manoban spat. She thought for a while, "No, I still have to go. What if I've angered my granddaughter-in-law? I'm going to pick my bag up. Just... just say that Old Lady Shin called me away."
"Come back, come back!" Old Master Manoban stopped her. "What are you doing? Do you think anyone would believe that flimsy excuse of yours? Would you be called away by Old Lady Shin today when you were just announcing to the world that your granddaughter-in-law is coming yesterday? Do you think that our grandson is stupid? If our granddaughter-in-law thinks that you don't like and is avoiding her because you've just up and gone like that?"
"Then you... you tell me what to do?" Old Lady Manoban stomped her foot in a show of anxiety. "Don't tell me that I shouldn't have done that when I've done it anyway!"
She still reminisced her acting skills from then with fondness.
Old Master Manoban finished watering his flowers. He stood up, stretched his back and flexed his muscles before saying, "You can pretend that the previous meeting was coincidental. When she comes, you could act as if you were surprised to see that your granddaughter-in-law was the nice young woman from last time. Won't that do the trick? Look at you, all anxious and unsettled!"
Old Lady Manoban's lips moved, but no retort came out.
"You're still so cunning in your old age!" Old Lady Manoban snorted and walked away.
"Hey! I'm offering you advice here, you old woman, but you're still snarking me!" Old Master Manoban shook his water can and returned to his room with his hands clasped behind his back.
After a while, he shouted, "Come and take a look! How is this outfit I'm wearing? Do I look formal enough?"
...
Lisa parked the Great Cherokee behind a Lexus when he arrived with Jennie.
When Jennie got out from the car, she saw the door of the Lexus open and Louis getting out of it.
Jennie understood that they had arrived early but did not go in. She looked at Lisa in question.
Lisa took her hand with a small smile and pinched it. "I'm afraid that you'll be nervous. If more people went in with you, it'll help with your anxiety."
She knew that this man was thorough when it came to her and that she did not need to worry about anything — he did what he could for her and thought of a lot of issues she had not even considered — but she was still surprised and touched when she heard him say so.
Jennie gave So-hyun and his family a grateful look. Suzy smiled and said, "Look, you're already close with your relatives even before you're truly a part of the family. You don't need to worry about the old couple; they already like you lots even though they haven't met you before. They've even called me last night to ask me what they should cook for you."
Jennie's anxiety subsided when she heard her words. She followed Lisa into the house, but the deeper she went, the more something seemed not right.
"This is your family home?" Jennie asked with surprise.
Lisa nodded, stating the obvious, "Yes, why?"
"I... I met an old woman in front of my office. Her purse and phone were robbed, so I took her home, to this house." Jennie swallowed, becoming more and more nervous.
That old woman must be Lisa's grandmother.
With that thought, Jennie looked at Louis.
She had met Louis the previous time, but the kid did not say anything.
Louis clutched Suzy's thigh while he sold Old Lady Manoban out without a second thought. "Aunt gave me a look and told me not to say anything. Niece-in-law, I've to live here for a long time. I'm left without a choice too!"
Jennie was not stupid. If Louis had known her, then Old Lady Manoban would naturally know who she was.
And she gave Louis a look, too. It was obvious that she already knew who she was.
She was probably worried and wanted to see her personality for herself.
Jennie was not angered. It was only natural that Old Lady Manoban would worry that Lisa's girlfriend was inadequate and beneath him, or that she was a liar with a problematic personality preying on Lisa's identity and status when he was a man as extraordinary as he was.
Jennie understood her concerns.
She was not angry, but she was made even more nervous. She did not know how Old Lady Manoban saw her and if she was satisfied. She combed through her memories of the meeting quickly; she did not say or do anything inappropriate and was polite enough, so she should not have annoyed the old woman in any way.
Old Lady Manoban had directed Aunt Chen to investigate why Lisa and company had not arrived yet, but then she heard Louis's words as soon as she walked out of the door. She clapped her forehead. 'Old Lady Manoban, what should I do, Young Master has already sold you out!"
Aunt Chen had immediately turned back to inform Old Lady Manoban of this so that she could save the theatrics when they entered, but then Lisa called her from behind, "Aunt Chen."
Aunt Chen turned back stiffly. She had no way to send the message after being caught red-handed,
She could only grimace, "Second Young Master, Youngest Master, the old lady asked me to look for you and welcome you in."
Lisa raised his brow. "Oh. Well, let's go in."
Aunt Chen replied, "Ay."
She opened the door for them. Overcome with elation, Old Lady Manoban wanted to walk in front and greet them, but she felt guilty, so she could only follow behind Old Master Manoban. She did not understand Aunt Chen's look of conflicted silence, so she did not pay it any heed.
Lisa acted oblivious, like a wolf in a herd of sheep. He said formally, "Grandfather, grandmother, I brought my girlfriend home with me. This is my girlfriend, Jennie."
"Old Master, Old Lady, happy New Year." Jennie said. As she had already known the old woman's identity, she did not want to put up pretenses.
But then Old Lady Manoban patted her thigh in surprise and said, "Oh, girl, it's you!"
Jennie, "..."
Aunt Chen, "..."
Ah, Old Lady, the others had already known! Why are you still acting over here?
Old Lady Manoban walked towards her and clutched her hand with surprise and elation. "Ah, girl, you... you're the girlfriend that Lisa was always talking about? This is really fate! Quick, come in, come in!"
Jennie, "..."
"Hahaha, the last time I saw you, I came home and told the old man that I would be so glad if Lisa's girlfriend turned out to be a girl like you! I didn't think that it would be you! My wish did come true! This is the best New Year ever!" Old Lady Manoban's grin stretched to her ears.
"..." It wasn't that Jennie did not want to explain, it was that she did not know what she could say in the face of the old woman's convincing act.
Aunt Chen was physically unable to watch the trainwreck that was Old Lady Manoban acting in front of her granddaughter-in-law who had already known everything, so she slunk back to the kitchen to prepare snacks.
Old Lady Manoban pulled Jennie onto the sofa. "You don't need to be nervous. Before you came, Lisa had already told us that he has a girlfriend, and he's also told us everything about you. We're not a family that puts importance on status. As long as you're nice and Lisa likes you, everything's fine. Not to brag, but a family like us no longer needs to expand our horizons by marriage alliances or anything. It'll be nice if we can, but it's not a priority. It doesn't matter if their spouses are from a noble family or are normal citizens as long as they like it."
"I didn't expect the girl Lisa was talking about to be you. Ever since the last time I've met you, I've already known you to be a kind-hearted woman with no shortcomings." Old Lady Manoban patted Jennie's hand lightly, showing her affection.
Old Lady Manoban did have a good impression of Jennie after the previous incident.
"I've liked you since the last time we met. I didn't expect you to be my granddaughter-in-law." Old Lady Manoban said happily, the creases in the corners of her eyes made more evident. She clutched Jennie's hand in hers and did not let go. "This is destiny."
"Eldest Auntie, stop pretending." At the side, Louis was eating oranges with those plump little hands of his, the orange's sugary sweet juice was all over his fingers. "Niece-in-law knows everything."
Old Lady Manoban paused and directed her gaze towards him, speechless.
Louis discarded the orange's skin, picked another orange up and sucked its juice. "Everything about the last time you pretended to be an old lady who got lost just to trick Niece-in-law!"
Old Lady Manoban, "..."
Jennie, "..."
She had intended to play along with Old Lady Manoban's act!
Suzy hauled Louis up crossly. "You've eaten so many fruits. I'm taking you to pee."
Old Lady Manoban was so furious that her face crumpled. Why was this kid's mouth so loose?
Lisa knew how Louis was like. He could not keep a secret with his life. If you asked him for a favor, he would do everything to sabotage it even after he had done you the favor.
Jennie apologized sheepishly, "Old Lady, I'm sorry for not telling you that I knew about it."
"I know, I know." Old Lady Manoban said. It was she that had put up the pretense in the first place. Jennie was just playing along to save her face.
The more she thought about it, the more apologetic she was towards Jennie.
"Sigh!" Old Lady Manoban covered her face as if she dared not face her, "That was wrong of me. Jennie, please, please don't blame me for what I've done. I'm only curious, and... To tell you the truth, I was feeling unsettled, so I had to see you for myself and make sure of everything before the stone in my heart settles down. That's why I didn't resist and went in search of you. I'm sorry for lying to you."
"Don't say something like this, please," Jennie waved her hand hurriedly; she could not possibly accept Old Lady Manoban's apologies. "I don't think anything of it. You don't know anything about me besides what Lisa had told you, so it's only natural that you hold some reserve towards me. The two of us have just gotten together, after all. He likes me, so he'll only say good things about me, and he might be a little biased. And I, after coming here with him, would naturally show my best qualities in front of the two of you and conceal the bad ones, so you won't get to see my real side. It's normal that you would want to make sure for yourself."
Old Lady Manoban nodded hurriedly. "That's so, but it's still wrong of me."
"Grandmother, let us forget about this incident." Lisa, who was standing at the side, said expressionlessly, "Now you know Jennie, and she understands the motives behind your actions. Let's stop talking about it and start over from today."
"Yes." Jennie nodded in agreement.
Old Lady Manoban acquiesced happily and proceeded to stuff Jennie with food.
Remembering that she had not shown her gift to the couple, Jennie gave Lisa a look.
Lisa smiled and got up to bring the gift in. "She's pulled in by you after she walked in, and she hasn't gotten the chance to show you her gift. This is the plant that Jennie bought for Grandfather."
The old man took a look at the festive, auspicious-looking red plant and it cheered him up. He quickly put the plant by the French window, rambling on about Jennie's stellar taste throughout, and searched for the methods to care for the plant on his phone.