flashback to the summer (3)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
AERI
"Oh shoot, I think I forgot my wallet at home." Jake said as he rummaged all the pockets on his pants in order to look for his wallet to pay for the food they were about to buy.
While night dates are something Aeri and Jake enjoyed, this particular day was one of those few moments where they would rather prefer to bask themselves in the heat of the sun and scour the malls that were always closed whenever they were out in the city rather than test their lucks to see which establishments were open at the middle of the night. Currently, they were in front of a coffee stall and he was just about to pay for their drinks but he couldn't find his wallet.
"Don't worry, I think I have enough money to pay for the drinks." Aeri insisted, about to pull her own wallet out but Jake had stopped her. "You're going to have to let me pay at least once."
"I told you I was going to treat you." He frowned.
"You can treat me as soon as you have your wallet back." She chuckled before completely pulling her wallet out from her purse and paying for the coffee with some of the money she had kept aside in the rare case that Jake does actually let her pay. The last thing she ever wanted was to have a man pay for everything in her life, and as good as it all sound, having to hear from everyone about her mother relying on a man's income her whole life made it all seem so horrible to her.
"I owe you." Jake says as soon as he hands Aeri the coffee she just paid for the two of them.
She laughed. "You mean I owe you. This isn't even the tip of the iceberg of what you spend on me. If I calculated it all, people would call you a philanthropist."
He chuckles. "I love spending my money on you. You deserve to be spoiled." He says, wrapping his free arm around her shoulder as he took a sip of his coffee with the other. "Although, can we stop by my house first before going somewhere else? I have my driver's license there."
"Are your parents home?" She asked as a precautionary measure since the last thing she wanted was to meet the parents of the guy whom she has only been seeing for two weeks. He laughed at her question just before shaking his head. "Alright then. Let's go!"
The two of them heads over to the parking lot where his car was parked so they could leave just minutes after they arrived. And as they drove off to his house, she'd only realize that this actually the first time she's going to see his home even when he's seen hers for a number of times already because he keeps insisting on driving her home. She could quite imagine the kind of house where he could've grown up in; she expected nothing but a huge mansion that is appropriate for someone of his caliber.
"Are you imagining what my house would look like?" Jake had abruptly asked, pulling her away from her own thoughts. Aeri looked over to his direction but all she saw was his eyes fully focused on the road ahead. "You grew up from a pretty high-end neighborhood, surely mine won't surprise you all that much."
The way he worded his sentence made it sound as though Aeri was in the same standing as him when, in truth, she did grow up in a high-end neighborhood, only because her mother and brother thought the house was the only legacy her father left of them that remains in tact. The family company was no more but a part of a list of companies that have fallen into the fate of bankruptcy and the money their father had left were now scarce and being spent on things they actually needed to live day by day. The house was the only thing left unchanged by it all, so they made the decision of keeping it- probably the only ever decision her brother and mother agreed together.
"Can't hurt to be curious." Aeri masked her own thoughts with mere sentences that spoke none of it. "Plus, it's not like your house is going to be unpredictable. It's so easy to say that you grew up in a mansion."
Jake chuckled. "It's not as big as what it's in your head, that I can say."
"Then I'll take your word for it." She smiled cheekily.
When they were near (as announced by him), she saw that where he lived wasn't that far from hers. She could probably go there through public transportation if she really wanted to since the commute didn't seem all so bad, and when she realized what she was thinking about, she quickly shook away the thoughts, especially when he made another announcement about finally arriving at his house. To say the least, her mind was exaggerating and his home really wasn't as big as she thought the jock's abode would be, but it would also be very wrong of her to call it small.
Aeri thought the game plan would be that he leaves her in the car as he went back inside his house to get his wallet which he supposedly left there, but she was caught by surprise when he turned off the engine and told her to join him inside as he search for his wallet.
"No way. What if anyone sees me and asks me what the hell I'm doing there?" She argued.
"Then you say you're waiting for me to find my wallet." He answered only to earn himself an even worst glare from her. "Look, it's going to be fine. My parents aren't going to be back until later tonight and the maids wouldn't even care. Waiting inside is better than here in my car."
Aeri frowned. "You promise no one will care?"
Jake smiled. "I promise."
With that, Jake was able to convince Aeri to join him inside his house where they were welcomed by his maids who took one look at her and immediately something within them registered as their confused stares molded into smiles. She tried not to mind them, not to think about what they could be thinking about at that very moment as they see this beautiful girl walk into Jake's home. While he headed over to his room, he had left her at the comfort of his living room where she was able to look at pictures of his childhood and if she wasn't by any means shy, she would have snapped a photo of one of them but she was afraid that behind her some of the maids could still be watching.
She could not help but to admire the beauty of the house. While it was close to the size of her own, it was nowhere near as breathtaking as this one. This, as from what she could see, was the very definition of wealth, the portrayal of what having money looked like. She was starting to think that if she started cleaning their house better or perhaps rearranging some of the furniture, maybe she would be able to achieve a same type of look. Yet her imaginations came to a pause when she heard an unfamiliar voice speak from behind.
"Excuse me but who are you?"
Aeri couldn't quite figure out what to do as she froze at that moment. Immediately she could tell it was not one of the maids because if it were, they wouldn't need to ask who she was because they all saw her come in with Jake, which only left his parents as the last remaining option of who would ask the same question. In hopes of not trying to seem rude in front of the parents of her new summer fling, she turned around and faced a couple who seemed younger than she imagined but older than her mother nonetheless. The resemblance to Jake's face and the way they carried themselves only gave away that they really were his parents-- and that she could possibly be screwed.
"Uh, good afternoon. I'm Min Aeri, Jake's friend." Aeri immediately bows, taking this as a chance to look at her clothes to examine its appropriateness. It seemed alright to her.
His parents' face morphed into a more relaxed expression as a contrast to the tense one from earlier when she still remained a stranger to them. "Oh hello, dear. I'm sorry for earlier, I believe this is the first time our son is bringing you here?" His mother's demeanor had changed drastically.
"Yes, actually. We're only stopping by here because he accidentally forgot his wallet. He's upstairs looking for it right now." Aeri explained, keeping the smile on her face. "I'm sorry for snooping around. I'm not really a fan of sitting idly."
His mother chuckles, taking the bait of her awful attempt of trying to make the atmosphere even less tense and awkward. "Don't worry about it! As long as I don't see you looking at any drawer, then you're all good, dear." She teases, telling something to the maid before dragging her husband to the couch, whom Aeri now realized was busy texting someone on the phone. "Well, I'm sure you would be a fan of sitting and talking. It's always a pleasure to get to know my son's friend, especially if they look just as beautiful as you."
Aeri blushed as she accepted her invite to seat just beside the couple. "You flatter me, ma'am." She says, as though her beauty isn't always the first thing people comment on upon first meeting her.
"It doesn't hurt to say the truth. How long have you known Jake? And why is this the first time I'm seeing you?" She asked. "Oh and please call me Aunt Seri."
"We actually go to the same school so for a couple of years now but we only recently became close friends, so maybe that's why this is the first time we're meeting each other." Aeri explained as his mother listened intently.
"Oh if you go to the same school as Jake, then you probably know that ex girlfriend of his." What his mother says next dries up her throat as though Bora was the last thing she wanted to hear right now, and quite possibly what his mother might say about her. "That girl was... nice. Although she doesn't present herself as good as you, dear. Plus not nearly as pretty as you."
"Seri, stop that." It was the first time his father was going to talk and it was to scold his mother, whom she hadn't expect to say such words about her son's past lover. "I'm sorry about her, Aeri, but you do seem like a wonderful girl."
Aunt Seri scoffed. "I told you a little truth won't hurt. At least now we're sure our son has chosen a more appropriate girl."
Aeri coughed, trying to clear her throat that has continued to dry as they continue to speak about Bora. "I'm sure Bora isn't all that bad. She's from a good family, is she not?" She didn't even know why she was somehow defending Bora but she just couldn't understand why his parents (his mother, especially) seem to not like the girl.
"From the way that girl acted, she didn't seem like she even come from a good family. She didn't have the same sophistication you have." Aunt Seri continued. And every time she would put Bora down, Aeri somehow felt uplifted but it would only follow by guilt because she did not want to be raised up like that only to bring down another.
"Hey, Aeri! I found it, we should get going— mom, dad." Jake stops on his tracks when he sees Aeri sitting right beside his parents. "W-Why are you home so early? And it looks like you met Aeri already." He asked as he walked forward to greet them.
"Our meeting was canceled and thought it would be nice to invite you to dinner." His dad answered. "Although you seem to be occupied." Their eyes darts over to Aeri, who has never been more awkward now that Jake was in the picture.
Aeri stood up to stand next to him when really she was just about to whisper something to him if not for Jake speaking just before she could. "Yeah. Aeri and I already have plans so maybe we could postpone dinner to another night, if it's alright?"
"Of course, the two of you go ahead. Or if you want, both of you can catch up to dinner later? After all, I would still like to speak with your new friend." His mother said, smiling over to her.
"It's alright, mom. But we should really get going now. I'll see you two later." Jake bid his farewell to his parents as he placed a hand at Aeri's back and guided her out the house as she waved at her parents, who did the same as her.
Once they were out of the gate and inside his car, Jake looked over at her. "I'm so sorry about that. I hope they weren't rude to you, they tend to be mean to others sometimes."
"No no no! It's alright and they were extremely nice to me. I even got invited to their dinner later so I'm guessing that's a sign that they don't mind me that much." Aeri said, although from the back of her head she was commenting on how his parents seem to feel the contrast with his ex girlfriend.
When she caught a glimpse of his face, he looked as if he was shocked that his parents wasn't whom he thought they would be towards her and it confused her. Just how mean was his parents with Bora?
"O-Oh well, that's nice to hear. So let's get going?" Jake swiftly maneuvered the topic away from what they were talking about earlier and as much as Aeri wanted to pry, she's never been one to ask anyway — or at the very least, speak her thought.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
AUTHOR'S NOTE :
i gotta say the length of this chapter surprised me