“And, when are you two getting married?” my mother asked me.

“I don’t think… we’re quite there yet.”

“What do you mean? If you’re ‘not there’, who is?”

“I mean… we’re not ready to get married yet.”

“You’ve been together for… seven years, now? Right?”

“Mom… it’s just difficult to explain. Yes, it’s been seven years. But we’re waiting to hit thirty; to be financially and mentally stable enough to be married. I mean, a lot of… issues crop up with being us.”

“Look, Woon-ah, do you not see this relationship ending up as marriage?”

“I do… I definitely do.”

“Then, just do it.”

I sighed and shook my head. She’d never understand, no matter how much or how well I explained it. And, to be honest, I knew why she kept insisting. I would ask but… I highly doubt Yoon Seo wants to get married.

“It’s just that… I don’t want to rush things. Yes, it’s been seven years. But, we’re very young.”

“You keep saying that. I was married at twenty two. I can assure you things like that aren’t legitimate barriers. There are definitely other reasons and you need to think about that. For right now, your mom is really tired. So she will go. Come home to meet me soon.”

“I will try.”

“Good.”

Mom was always the kind of person who wanted people to either say to her face or not say it at all. There was no way to argue with her. I looked at the small turtles in their “habitat” at my sister’s house. I wasn’t allowed to touch them because she feared that I might steal them.

I drove home, feeling less than enthused about doing anything or seeing anyone. And, the realization that she lived with me hit me about half way there. I didn’t want to go someplace else but she would definitely be home right now…

I unlocked the door, so as not to draw attention to myself. Hoping that she was too busy to notice. I looked around for her, in every room… even the kitchen but she wasn’t there. I suppose I was scared for nothing.

I had work to do and immersing and losing myself in it would be the best thing to do right now. And, so, I sat down to work on the project that had been handed to me this morning. Something that was half done and I had no idea about. I would probably have to read a lot before I even began to actually work on it.

-

“Yoon Seo,” mom said. “I know that…you’re very busy but do you think maybe you can come home for a couple of weeks?”

“Uh… I will… ask at work. I wanted to come home for a while now… but I barely have the time.”

“I know. It’s just…your brother and you are so far away from us. We feel lonely.”

“Mom, you can come live in the city, you know?” I told her. She smiled at me through the screen, shaking her head.

“I don’t think we’d fit in.”

“Seriously, you don’t have to. Nobody fits in here. We just pretend,” Joon said from behind me and I giggled.

“He’s right. Just come here.”

“I’ll talk to your father about it. But, I must go now.”

“Okay, mom…”

We bid our goodbyes and I closed my laptop. Joon was mostly worried about my parents because of their old age. I just didn’t like that they lived alone. But we knew that if they lived with either of us, they’d get sick of it.

“Do you want to eat dinner here?”

“Yeah, Taek went to meet his parents.”

“Well, I’m sure he’s back by now…”

“I don’t know… it’s a weird situation. His parents want to meet mom and dad. And, they want us to get married.”

“Married? Isn’t it too early for you two?”

“Yes, it is. And, we’ve been trying to explain that to everyone but they don’t seem to hear much after we tell them that we’ve been dating for seven years…”

“So, it’s awkward between the two of you, right now?”

“Very. And, I don’t want to broach the subject. I