"There's our girl!!" My mother, looking bright and happy, opened her arms.
At 44, Lee Yuna still dressed to accentuate the curves that had caught my father's eye in college. She took pride in keeping her hair curly, the same it had been on her wedding day. She golfed, worked part time as a school counselor, and breathed life into every room she entered.
"Mum??" I croaked, automatically leaning in for a hug.
"Baekhyun, isn't this the cutest little cottage you've ever seen?" She said.
My father grunted. He had his hands stuffed into the pockets of his shorts and was nudging the porch railing with the toe of his sneakers. "Seems solid." He said.
Mum was impressed by pretty things. Dad preferred to appreciate sturdiness.
"How are you doing, darling?" He asked.
I transferred my hug to him and laughed as my toes left the ground. While mum was few inches shorter than Chae and me, Dad was over 6 feet tall. A bear of a man who always made me feel like everything was going to be okay.
"What are you two doing here?" I asked as he carefully put me down.
"Sweetheart, you can't tell us we have a granddaughter and not expect us to drive straight here. Did we get you out of bed? That's a lovely nightgown." Mum noted.
Bed.
Nightgown.
Sex.
Seungcheol.
Oh god.
"Uhh.."
"I told you we should have cut that cruise short, Baekhyun." Mum said, slapping Dad in the shoulder. "She's obviously depressed. Still in her pajamas."
"She's not depressed, Yuna." Dad insisted, rapping his knuckles on the door frame as he stepped inside. "What is this? Oak?"
"I don't know, Dad. Mum, I'm not depressed." I said, trying to figure out a way to get them out of the house before my naked guest woke up. "I just..uh.. worked late last night, and there was a family emergency-"
Mum gasped. "Is something wrong with Mimi??"
"No- Mum. Sorry. Not our family. The family who owns this place and the restaurant I work at."
"I can't wait to see it! What's it called again? Locking Glasses?"
"Lock's Glass." I corrected her, spying my dress on the floor. "Did you see the living room?" It came out as an almost shout, and my parents exchanged a glance before pretending to be enthralled with the space I was waving at.
"Just look at that fireplace, Baek!"
"Yes, yes. Look at the amazing interesting fireplace." I all but screeched.
Dad grunted.
As my parents admired the fireplace, I hooked the dress with my toes and swept it under the kitchen table.
"And you got a dog!! My, you have been busy since the wedding."
Kkuma lifted his head. His tail wagged up, and my mum dissolved into a puddle of affection. "Who's a handsome boy? You are, sir! Yes, you are!!"
"See, Yuna, She's not depressed. She's just busy." Dad insisted.
"Isn't uhm the view of the woods great?" I said, the words sounding strangled as I pointed frantically at the windows. I needed to get Seungcheol out.
When they turned to admire the woods through the glass, I grabbed Seungcheol's shirt off the floor and threw them into the cabinet under the sink.
"Chua, come meet your niece or nephew doggy!" My mother was using her loud proud voice, which was definitely loud enough to wake the man upstairs in my bed.
"You guys brought Chua?"
Chua was my parent's latest rescue dog. She was a mix of breeds - I got them the DNA test for Christmas the previous year - that had been scrambled together and came out looking like a large, brown Brillo pad with feet. The Brillo pad appeared in the doorway and trotted inside.
Kkuma sat up and gave an appreciative "woof."
"This is Kkuma. He's not mine. He belongs to my...uhm..neighbour? Hey, do you guys want to get out of here and go for breakfast or lunch or just leave for any reason at all?"
Kkuma hopped off the couch and booped noses with Chua. Chua let out a high pitched yap, and the two of them began to zoom around the miniscule first floor.
"Rose, baby, what the fuck are you doing down there?"
I watched in horror as a topless man appeared on the stairs. Mum and I froze to the spot. Thank God he was wearing his joggers.
Dad, moving quickly for a big guy, put himself between us and the man.
"State your business." Dad shouted at Seungcheol's bare torso.
"Wow, wow, wow." Mum whispered.
She wasn't wrong. The man was freaking spectacular.
Kkuma and Chua chose that moment to take their running time upstairs.
"Rose, you wanna explain what's going on?" Seungcheol drawled as he side stepped the canine catastrophe.
I ducked under Dad's arm and moved to stand between my parents and my boss...erm..neighbour? One time sex partner?
"Uh. Okay. So..I really wish I'd had more coffee."
"Are those tattoos real? How many times a week do you go to the gym?" Mum asked, peering under Dad's arm.
"What the hell is going on??" Dad rumbled.
"Oh, Baek. So old fashioned!" Mum said, giving him an affectionate pat on the back before walking up to Seungcheol and hugging him.
"Mum!!"
Seungcheol stood there woodenly clearly in shock.
"Welcome to the family!" She said, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
"Oh my god. I'm going to die of embarrassment." I decided.
Seungcheol patted my mother awkwardly on the back. "Uh, thanks?"
She released him and then grabbed me by the shoulders. "We were so worried about you, sweetheart. It wasn't like you to just up and leave your own wedding like that. Not that we ever liked Jun that much anyway."
"I always thought he was a pretentious ass." Dad cut in.
"I thought maybe you were depressed." Mum continued. "But now it all makes sense! You fell in love with someone else and couldn't go through with a sham of a marriage. Isn't that wonderful, Baek?"
"I need coffee." Seungcheol muttered and headed for the kitchen.
"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Dad demanded, still not looking very pleased.
"Hani." Seungcheol called from the coffee pot. "Shirt?"
I winced. "Uhm..under the sink."
He gave me a long, unreadable look before crouching down to retrieve his shirt.
My mother gave me an incredibly inappropriate double thumbs up as Seungcheol turned his back on us and buttoned up his shirt.
MUM?! I mouthed.
But she just continued flashing me the thumbs and a creepy smile of approval.
"Okay so I think we're getting a little ahead of ourselves. Mum, Dad, this is Seungcheol. He's my neighbour and boss. We're not in love."
My mother's face fell, and Dad looked at the floor, hands on hips, his shoulders hunched. I'd seen that reaction before. Concern. Disappointment. Worry. But never for anything I'd done. It was always Chae bringing them trouble. I hated that this time it was me.
"Is this some one night stand? Are you having some kind of mid life crisis, and this guy took advantage of you?" My father looked as if he was about ready to start throwing punches.
"Dad!! No one took advantage of anyone!"
I shut up as Seungcheol appeared at my side and handed me a fresh cup of coffee.
"How long are you two staying in town?" He asked my parents.
Dad glared at him.
"We haven't decided." Mum stared at his tattoos. "We're very excited to meet our granddaughter. And we're a little concerned about you know who." She pointed at me as if I hadn't heard her stage whisper.
Seungcheol looked at me and sighed. He put his free hand on the back of my neck and pulled me into his side. "Here's the situation. Your daughter blew into town trying to help her no good sister, no offense."
"None taken." Mum assured him.
"I took one look at Hani and fell hard and fast."
"Cheol!" I hissed. But he squeezed the back of my neck and continued.
"We're just seeing where this thing goes. Could be nothing, but we're enjoying it. You raised a smart, beautiful, stubborn woman."
Mum fluffed her hair. "She gets that from me."
"What is it you do for a living..uhm..Seun..Sung-" My Dad asked.
"Seungcheol." I said for him. "He owns businesses and some property."
My father harrumphed. "Self made man? Guess it's better than Mr Nepotism." I assumed he was speaking of Jun, who got a job at the family company after college graduation.
"I got lucky a few years back and won the lottery. Then invested most of it here in my hometown." Seungcheol explained. "I thought I'd used up all my luck until Hani here showed up."
Fake Romantic Seungcheol was going to ruin all real romance for me if I wasn't careful.
"His name's on the police station." I said with forced brightness.
His grip on my neck tightened. I reached behind him and pinched the skin on the center of his back. He squeezed harder. I pinched harder.
"I need some meds or something." Dad muttered, rubbing his forehead.
"You shouldn't have a headache, Baek. Our daughter is fine. I was the one who was worried on the way down here, remember?" Mum said as if Seungcheol and I weren't even in the room.
"Yeah? Well, now I'm the one who thinks there's something wrong with her."
"Let me get you something for your head." I offered, trying to detach myself from Seungcheol's grip. But he merely squeezed tighter and took a sip of his coffee.
"Don't be silly! I have all of your father's favourite anti-flammatories in my purse!" Mum announced. She bustled over to where she'd planted her purse next to the front door. Dad shoved his hands in his pockets and wandered into the kitchen.
"Mimi is going to be so excited to meet you. Where are you two staying while you're here?" I asked, desperate to make small talk.
"There's a motel in town. We'll see if they have any rooms available." Dad said, opening cupboard doors and tapping the shelves.
After a 3 week luxury Mediterranean cruise, I didn't think my parents would enjoy the moldy, dilapidated motel. I was already shaking my head when Seungcheol spoke up.
"I think we can do better than that. We'll find room for you at Jennie's."
"Cheol!!" I hissed. How was I going to pretend to be in a relationship with him with my parents staying practically next door?
He leaned in like he was going to nuzzle the side of my face and whispered. "Shut up." Then he brushed his lips over my temple, and I felt hot.
Mum waltzed by with a bottle of pills, beaming at me.
"I'm sure you'd want to stay as close to your daughter and granddaughter as possible." Seungcheol said.
"Cheol, can I see you outside?" I asked through clenched teeth.
"Do you see how they can't keep their hands off each other?" Mum trilled behind us.
"Yeah uh you got any antacids in there?" Dad asked, looking ill.
I closed the door and dragged Seungcheol onto the porch.
"So what are we supposed to do? Pretend to be in a relationship until my parents leave?"
"You're welcome. You fucking owe me, Rose. Do you have any idea what this is gonna do to my bachelor reputation?"
"I don't care about your reputation! I'm the one who has to pass a home study! Besides, I'm tired of owing you! Why do you keep riding to my rescue??"
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Maybe I like being the hero for once."
My knees threatened to buckle as the knee jerk desire to swoon swept over me. His grin was downright sinful when he pulled me into him.
The contact with his body so soon after the best sex ever was frying my circuits. I didn't want to yell at him anymore. I wanted to kiss him.
"Or maybe.." He whispered against my lips. "I just want to know what it feels like to have your smart mouth on-"
"Pardon the interruption."
Instinctively, I jumped back from Seungcheol. Well, I tried to. He still had a pretty good grip on me. Which turned out to be a good thing since I probably would have fallen right over the railing when I spotted caseworker Minatozaki Sana eyeing us from the foot of the steps.
"Miss Minatozaki!! How lovely to see you again!" I choked the words out.