Chan and I showered, dressed, and planned for what we'd say to our parents. The prep didn't matter, though, because when I picked up my phone to check it, all hell broke loose.
Ella, how could you do this? my mom had texted.
You didn't invite me? Mana had asked.
Your mother is very upset. How could you have gotten married without telling us? my dad had messaged.
Shit.
"Chan, we need to call my family now!" I called out. He returned from the bathroom with a hoodie on, and I showed him the texts. I guess I knew why his phone had been buzzing so much earlier.
"Fuck. Okay. Should I change?" he asked.
"No time," I had already begun FaceTiming, and Chan sat down beside me.
"Ella! Ella, how could y'all do this?" my mom cried out the second she answered. My dad was beside her, trying to console her.
"Mom we didn't..."
"We've kept quiet about all of this so far, but not invitin' us to your wedding?" she bawled.
"We're not..." I began again.
"You're our only child, Ella," my dad scolded.
"We're not married," I finally spoke over them before they could accuse me any further.
"What?" my mom asked. "We saw the photos."
"It was just a white dress. We're not married," I explained.
"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Young," Chan waved awkwardly beside me.
"Is that him?" they asked. I nodded and panned the camera so that Chan could be in the frame.
"It's nice to meet you," he smiled politely. His hand fidgeted nervously with the hem of my shirt where it met my waist.
"So you're not married?" they asked as though they still couldn't believe it.
"No, ma'am. However, we do have some news to share," Chan began.
"Ella, are you pregnant?" my dad asked. My heart sank a little because I still wished I were.
"No, not pregnant, dad," I told him awkwardly. I held my hand up for them to see the ring. "We're engaged," I said happily. My mom clapped her hands together in delight.
"Well I'll be damned," my dad said in shock. "Someone finally caught your eye, Ella."
"She caught mine too, sir," Chan answered sweetly, kissing my cheek.
"You two are just so cute," my mom blubbered. "She's been waitin' a long time to meet somebody," she cried.
"Mom," I laughed. "Why are you crying?"
"I'm just so happy for you," she sobbed. Chan held back his laughter and grinned at the camera.
"We got engaged last night, but we were going to tell you today since we're doing a public one tonight for STAY," I informed them.
"Well, you keep her safe Chan, you hear me?" my dad warned. "I've seen what your fans can do, and it's not always kittens and rainbows."
"Yes sir."
"I'm so excited for you, baby," my mom continued cheering.
"Would you two care to join us at the last show? It would be a great chance for all of us to meet?" Chan suggested.
I glanced nervously at him. My parents? At their show? Oh god...I could imagine the awkwardness of watching Red Lights with them.
"That would be delightful, honey. Thank you!"
"I'll have the tickets mailed to you soon!"
"Thank you," my mom smiled.
"Well, we have to go call Chan's family, but I love you!" I told them.
"We love you, too" my mom blew me a kiss.
"See you soon Ella!" my dad chimed in before hanging up.
I took a deep breath.
"I told you they'd like me," he grinned.
I laughed and kissed his cheek. "Inviting them was very sweet."
He shrugged, and his face flushed at the compliment.
"We will definitely be taking a bathroom break during Red Lights."
"Fair enough," he laughed.
"Are you ready to meet my family now?"
I suddenly got a huge bundle of knots in my stomach, but I nodded.
"They'll love you, Ella," he gave me a quick kiss and began dialing.
"Hey Chan!" his mom answered with a smile.
"Hey, mom!" Chan grinned. His dimples were so cute. "Where's dad? And Hannah?"
"One second," she told him. She muted herself, but we could see her yelling for them on the screen.
Moments later they both appeared, and his mom began talking. "Mom, you're still on mute," Chan told her, and she laughed at herself and fixed it.
"I was just saying that we saw the news this morning. They're saying you and that girl are married now," she said.
"We're not," he told her.
"Oh I know sweetie," she smiled. Apparently, they'd gone through the fake news cycle dozens of times before.
"You shouldn't get married until you're at least 30," his dad said. "You worked too hard to give it up for some girl."
"Dad..." Chan went to argue.
"You barely know her anyway. You just met. I'm sure you already know not to do something so stupid."
"Dad. We're engaged," Chan informed him. He moved the camera to show me beside him, and I waved politely despite what had just been said.
"Chan, you can't be serious," his dad argued.
"If he loves her, why shouldn't he?" Hannah defended him.
"You can't love someone after just two months," he spat.
"You told me after just two dates," his mom reminded him.
"But we weren't getting married," he argued.
"Chan has worked hard for this life, honey. I'm sure he's not going to risk it all for nothing. He clearly loves her," his mom stated.
"I do love her," Chan pronounced earnestly.
His dad shook his head and stormed away.
"Congratulations!" Hannah told him before running back to wherever she'd been before we called.
"He'll come around," his mom tried to assure us.
"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Bang," I smiled through the pit in my stomach.
"You too, Ella. Chan's looked so happy lately. I'm so glad he has someone," she blew a kiss to Chan, and they said their goodbyes.
Chan threw the phone down onto the bed and turned to me. "I'm so sorry, Ella. I didn't know he'd react like that."
"It's okay," I tried to put on a brave face while he hugged me.
"It's not. He should've been nicer to you."
"He'll learn to like me. He's just worried about you," I tried to justify it.
"Still not okay," he argued.
He kissed my forehead, and Felix knocked to let us know it was time to head to the concert.
"I need to take the ring back to propose with," he reminded me. I took it off, and he slid it back onto his pinky. Despite having just gotten it yesterday, the absence of it on my hand was obvious.
"Keep it safe for me. I love it," I told him.
"I promise."