“Nice to meet you eomonim.”

“Ne?” She was confused by the sudden meeting and news. “Yonghwa ya. What did you say?”

“Eomoni, I would like you to meet my yeojachingu, Park Shinhye.” He turned to look at Shinhye while holding her hand. “Shinhye, this is my eomoni, Lee Il Hwa.”

“Mianhada Yonghwa. Mianhada Shinhye ssi. My son never brought home a girlfriend nor introduced me to any lady.” She happily pulled Shinhye in for a hug and winked at her observant son. “It’s very nice to meet you too, Shinhye ssi.”

Il Hwa released Shinhye from their hug and held her arms out as she observed her son’s girlfriend. Il Hwa could not believe it was the day she finally had the chance to meet her son’s other half. She had small hope in her that Yonghwa would have been single and not settle down because of her and her ex-husband’s divorce. But seeing how her son was staring at Shinhye and treating her, she had a new hope that Shinhye would be her future daughter-in-law. She smiled at the thought and could not have been happier for him.

“Aigoo! You are so pretty and well-mannered. You are a natural beauty at that. Uri ardeul sure has a good eye and taste. You are very beautiful.”

“Gomabseubnida eomonim! You are very beautiful yourself. Yonghwa inherits his good looks from you.”

“Aigoo. Gamsahabnida. Please sit. My housing staff are preparing tea and snacks for us.” She signaled her hands for Shinhye to sit at the sofa adjacent to her and Yonghwa beside her. “Yah, ardeul. I always wondered when you would introduce me to your girlfriend.”

“Emoni.” He whined playfully. “Mianhe for keeping her from you all this time.”

“Geundae, when and where did you two meet?” One of the housing staff came from the kitchen with their tray of tea and snacks.

“We met at my restaurant.” Yonghwa stared at Shinhye and held her hand in his. “Shinhye came to personally meet me for her company’s anniversary soiree. She asked me to help her out with my services. After all, I am the international Chef Jung Yonghwa.”

Shinhye playfully glared at him and lightly elbowed his abdomen. Il Hwa was astonished by Yonghwa’s playfulness towards to Shinhye but she knew how boastful he could be. “Aigoo, you two are cute and sweet.”

“Gomawyo emoni.” He smiled at an embarrassed Shinhye. “Anyways, when I first laid eyes upon her, I knew she was different and I wanted to be close with her. Since then, we’ve been dating and fell in love.”

“Awww……Yonghwa, I’m so happy you’ve finally met someone. Shinhye, please take care of my son. I know he can be a handful sometimes, but please bear with him.” She looked to Yonghwa and saw the love for Shinhye in his eyes. “So Shinhye, Yonghwa mentioned you met for your company’s soiree. What do you do?” She took a sip of her tea.

“Ah ne. I’m the CEO of my father’s fashion company, Park Areum. My father passed away when I was younger and he wished for my eonni and I to co-inherit the company. She’s the chairman and I am the CEO.”

“Ah jjinjaro? A beauty and socialite? Must I say, you are very kind-hearted than most heiresses I have met. I can see why Yonghwa fell for you. Does your mother know about you and Yonghwa’s relationship as well?”

“Gomawyo eomonim. We have yet to tell anybody about our relationship. We were caught up in getting to know each other first and recently confessed our love to each other. We planned to tell you and my mother about us today, actually. Mianheyo.”

“Aniya. Don’t be sorry. I understand. You wanted to be sincere about each other first before telling anyone. Now you have and thank you for waiting. I could not be happier with your decision and to see the love between you both.”

For the rest of the morning, Yonghwa and Shinhye enjoyed their time with Yonghwa’s mother. His mother shared funny and loving stories of Yonghwa as he was a child. She shared her past as a single mother with him and their adaptation to a foreign living. Shinhye fell in love with his mother and thought how similar she was to her own mom. She thought both her mom and Yonghwa’s mother could get along very well and spend time with each other.

Both Shinhye and Yonghwa bid farewell to Yonghwa’s mother as they had to go visit Shinhye’s mom next. “Assi? Is that your son’s girlfriend?”

“Ne. She’s very beautiful and kind-hearted, right? I think my son finally met his one. I hear wedding bells.” She heartily sighed as she looked on as Yonghwa and Shinhye drove away from her residence.

In front of Shinhye’s mother’s house……...

“Yonghwa, I’m so nervous to go in there. What will my mom think of me?” She tried to control her beating heart and shaky voice.

“Aniya. She will not think any worse of you. From how you’ve described your mother, she will support your life decisions and not judge you. You will be fine Shin. I’m here beside you. I’m in this with you.”

She turned to Yonghwa and cupped his face. “I love you. Thank you for your comforting words….…. always.” She gave him a quick peck on his lips and heavily sighed.

“Gaja.” Yonghwa got out of his black Range Rover Evoque and walked to Shinhye’s side. He helped her out of the vehicle and held her hands as she led them to the front door.

Upon inside the nicely furnished and modern mansion, Shinhye and Yonghwa were greeted by surprised housemaids. They escorted her to her father’s memory garden where her mother was tending to the flowers.

“Eomma, I’m here!” She quickly ran to hug her mom as Yonghwa still stood behind the doorway.

“Oh! Uri dal! When did you get here? I could’ve greeted you outs