MIRA'S POV:

Never have I ever, felt this much awkward just standing in the middle of a kitchen in my entire life. Maybe the fact that the kitchen belonged to my epic ex's mother made it that way or maybe it's the fact that she was actually scanning me from top to bottom for at least ten minutes now, worsened the situation. I tried to look as casual and composed as I could while my fingers were practically going numb in efforts of slicing a stupid capsicum.

"Is there anything on my face, Mrs. Kim?" I finally braved myself to voice out in the most polite tone ever.

"No... it's just that, you seem kind of familiar. Have you ever been to Korea before this, Gia?" She took a seat on the opposite side of the counter from me with her eagle eyes still eerily fixed on me.

Yes, Mrs. Kim. I was actually born somewhere in Gangwon-do and was eventually abandoned in Samhwasa temple, at where I grew up until I got a scholarship to study in Seoul. After that, I returned to Gangwon-do on a trip with your very own son, where unfortunately our jeep went off a cliff with only me inside and I lost my memories of everything that I've stated previously. From which I was saved and brought to States by a kind American-Korean couple whom I call family at the moment.

Nope. I am so not saying that to her.

"I was born here actually, Mrs. Kim but I'd migrated to States after being adopted quite a while ago." I was natural, or at least I thought I was until the older woman scooted closer.

"Adopted?" Her eyes widened with shock.

"Yes... adopted. I was ehmm... abandoned when I was still an infant. Then, I was adopted..." I eliminated all the other complicating elements to save myself the trouble of explaining, which actually worked.

"You said you were born here? By any chance, are you from Gangwon-do?" She attempted to divert the topic from my parentless past but her sudden question shook the life out of me but I can't lie to a woman of my mother's age, can I? So, I simply nodded while pretending to pay attention to the potatoes now.

"Hah! No wonder you seemed very familiar. We've been to Gangwon-do a lot of times when the kids were younger. I bet we must have met at least once or twice." She flashed a very pretty smile that resembled both Wonshik and Jiwon's while I awkwardly nodded again. After which, she shifted to the sink to wash the dishes, allowing me to exhale a breath of relief. However it didn't last long.

"How old are you, Gia?" Just when I thought it was over, she went on with her interrogations further.

"I'm 24 years old, Mrs. Kim."

"Oh... you're coeval with our Wonshik, I see." There was an obvious hint of suspicion in her tone and I couldn't overlook it. So instead, I tried to avert my focus into slicing the onions this time.

"What do you think of him as a guy, then?" The knife slipped from my grip and in attempt of retrieving it, I almost tried to catch it on the sharp side. However, faster hands grabbed mine in time before they got to the knife, startling me in the process as well. Both Mrs. Kim and I turned around at the same time to find the just mentioned person standing before us.

"Gia-yah! Gwaenchanha? Oh my God! Did you get hurt?" She rushed over to my side to check my condition but her son overtook her actions.

He was already holding my hands while his sharp gaze scanned my skin for any possible injuries. Apart from a slight cut which could barely be addressed as an injury, I was perfectly alright. However, what caught his attention was the fading bruise on my wrist that I had covered with a long cardigan. A sad sigh escaped from his lips as his deep eyes dwelled into mine for a moment. Although I couldn't comprehend what he was trying to say, I was still unable to break the intense eye contact. It felt as though he was asking if I was fine just with his eyes.

"Nan gwenchana, Won-ah..." And like an idiot, I answered him on impulse, effectively drawing his mother's undivided attention. His shoulders tensed a little when I accidentally called him by that name and his grip immediately loosened.

"Wonshik-ah, she's fine. That small cut wouldn't hurt that much. Does it, Gia-yah?" There was an intended amount of sarcasm evident in her voice and I was truly shocked by it. Suddenly, I started to feel something different from her. Dislike. My subconscious was lying flat on her face with a FML sign on her head.

"I'm fine Ravi-shi, really." I pulled my hands out of his hold and eventually, he let go with a little hesitance. But his concerned eyes didn't leave mine and I bet it was making his mother more anxious than myself.

"Wonshik-ah, the food will be ready in a while. Do you need anything else, son?" This time, Mrs. Kim even walked over to her son and held him at arm's length to get his attention. Turning away from me, he flashed a casual smile at his mother.

"Ani, eomma. I was just wondering... if I could help you here since Jiwonnie is still busy handling Sorim. That girl still hasn't relieved from hangover." He laughed awkwardly in attempt of changing the dense air in that kitchen.

"Aigoo that silly girl... how am I supposed to inform Misoo about this? She'll blow away my ears." It took me a while to actually grasp that Misoo was Mrs. Yoon's real name and from the casual way that Mrs. Kim addressed her, I can clearly tell how close they were.

After a few minutes of comparing Sorim's low alcohol tolerance with her supposedly heavy drinker of a mother, both the mother and son returned to their chores while I technically continued being invisible. He took over with the dishes while his mother took an intimidating seat beside me. Clearly preparing for another round of thorough background check interrogation.

"So Gia... where were we?" In Awkwardland. My subconscious snarled in annoyance at her indifference.

"Ah yes. What do you think of our Wonshik?" Loud clatters of dishes being dropped resonated in the room right after she said it, but the woman clearly ignored both mine and her son's discomfort as she continued.

"Jiwonnie said that you were working with VIXX as a part of your assignment. How did you get to work with them? And did that go well?" Too well to admit. I got closer to your son and got my memories back too. However, that happiness was short lived and here we are. In Awkwardland.

"Good. It went good, Mrs. Kim. Sorim helped me talk to the lecturer in charge of exchange students who happened to know VIXX personally. And Ravi-shi helped me a lot with the work too." Wanting to escape the target for once, I turned the barrel of the gun towards him and that instantly got his attention. He whipped around to meet my gaze while I simply stared back at him. Although I wanted to run screaming that I'm terrified by his mother and hide in his arms, I still held myself back.

"Oh, did you Wonshik-ah? I didn't know that you were into tutoring..." Her sharp gaze fell onto her now nervous son but the intensity of her stare reduced in no time as she turned towards me again. Conceit was crystal clear in her expression this time.

"Ah... I forgot. My son only talks about important things with family, you see." Honestly, at that point, I was holding back tears.

She appeared sweet but her words and gaze were sharper than any of the knives in that kitchen. And I felt thoroughly hurt by the way she spoke to me. I knew that I was not important to your son Mrs. Kim, and you didn't have to emphasize it like that. For a brief moment, I pondered over the idea of seeking the comfort of his slight gaze but no. I know I can't handle two rejections at the same time. So, I feigned an unaffected smile and continued with the onions.

"Were you originally a K-Pop fan, Gia? Looking at how you chose it as your major genre for the assignment, you must be a fangirl. Right?" She asked more.

"No, Mrs. Kim. I only learned about it after coming here. Sorim and Jiwon helped me with the basic details. So far, VIXX is the only K-Pop group that I'm well aware of." I was literally struggling with an inner battle that had me going wild in my head. I wanted to scream and shout for her to stop but I still kept quiet because that wasn't how Lina taught me to treat an elder. But this specific elder was getting on every single one of my nerves and I wasn't sure how much patience I had left.

"I see... so, you only know about VIXX then?" She obviously emphasized the word 'only' and I didn't know where she was going with that anymore. Right then, her precious son decided to join the conversation but both his timing and comment were extremely wrong.

"True enough. She sort of knows more about VIXX than the rest, eomma. She is even close with all the members." My subconscious was knocking her head on a wall at his absolute wrong timing. And he seemed to be regretting it right away too as he visibly frowned, slapping his forehead in guilt.

"Oh jinja? Are you close to our Wonshikie too, Gia? You said he even helped you a lot." She clearly raised her voice a little, attempting to sound more intimidating but that only annoyed me further. Why am I the only one being interrogated? I took a deep breath before carefully choosing my next words.

"Aniyo, Mrs. Kim. I'm not." One.

"Why not? Do you not like him?" Two.

"Not that but I only met Ravi-shi later. So, I'm more comfortable with the other members compare to him." Three.

"If you could be comfortable with the rest, then it should be the same with our Wonshikie too, right? Is it because you're coeval? How close are you with Hongbin?" Four.

"Pretty close to talk informally, Mrs. Kim." Five.

"How is it that you can be close to Hongbin and not our Wonshikie?" Six.

"Like I already said earlier, Mrs. Kim. I'm more comfortable with the rest than Ravi-shi because I met them first." Seven.

"Who's your bias in VIXX?" Eight.

"I... I don't have a bias actually, Mrs. Kim." Nine.

"That's not possible. You clearly are closer to the boys than the rest and they're the only group that you know. Which means you're either a Starlight or a sasaeng?" Ten.

That's it. I'm done. I dropped the knife with a loud clatter and stared at her face with sheer annoyance. I have never been more patient in my entire life and she just flipped my switch with a freaking mosquito bat.

"What do you mean a sasaeng, Mrs. Kim? Not everyone who knows K-Pop are a fan of it. And just because I personally know the members, that doesn't make me a starlight or worse, a sasaeng. I'm just an exchange student who happen to stumble upon the right people who guided me to complete my assignment." I honestly didn't mean to be rude and disregard all of Lina's lessons but I couldn't stay silent when my pride was being pried like that either.

"That's what all of them say, don't they? Which sasaeng would admit herself to be a sasaeng? Let me guess, Kang Gia. You knew very well of K-Pop and VIXX, which is why you approached both my daughter and her friend on purpose to get closer to them. And looking at how you treat our Wonshikie alone in a different manner, I am so certain that he is indeed your bias and you've successfully managed to come inside our home with all your shallow schemes."

"EOMMA!!!" A loud growl echoed from across the room and my eyes immediately began to pour.

His mother thinks that I'm his sasaeng fan and she clearly hates me. To rub salt to my ripped wounds, I couldn't even fight her back. Because a part of her accusations were true after all. I do like her son. No. I love him and he is indeed the reason I came to Korea. But meeting VIXX or Jiwon had nothing to do with that at all and I had no strength left to even argue over that fact with her. I tried to steal a glance at him but to my utter surprise, he was already marching towards me at his fastest pace.

"Eomma, what is wrong with you? Gia is Jiwonnie's friend and she's our guest. How could you talk to her like that?" His rough voice sounded so much like a roar. He seemed terribly infuriated and I was truly surprised to see him taking my side. Least did I expect him to react to all the drama, let alone defend me at the end of it.

"Wonshik-ah, don't you remember what happened with Jiwonnie's friends before this? This is how it all starts, son." Mrs. Kim reasoned her son with an annoyingly calm face and that only irritated him further.

"Ani. You're wrong this time, eomma. She is different and she definitely is not a sasaeng. So, please stop accusing her like this. This is embarrassing." He was practically begging her for me and that broke my heart.

"Ani. You are wrong, Wonshik-ah. Listen Gia, I'm giving you one last chance here. Admit the truth while I'm still being nice. I know that you snuck into my son's room last night, okay? Just admit it already!" All of a sudden, she lunged forward and yanked my hand harshly. Her grip was precisely placed on my wounded wrist and it started to sting like hell. I yelped in pain while helplessly trying to pry her hands off but her grip only tightened, adding onto my already horrendous pain.

"GEUMAN-HAE!" He roared in anger before pouncing forward in full force. Unlike me, he easily snatched my wrist from his mother's death grip and pulled me to a safer spot behind him. I practically hid behind his broad back in complete terror while his mother kept trying to get a hold of me.

"Eomma, jebal!" He grabbed both of her hands at arm's length and his voice audibly broke as he pleaded again.

I wanted to yell at both of them to stop and run out of that house but I couldn't. I felt too scared to even move an inch from him. Although, I honestly didn't want them to have misunderstandings because of an outsider like me, all I could afford to do was cry like a coward behind him. The older woman was obviously glaring at me but I didn't dare to return her stare.

After a few seconds of intense eye contact and a deafening silence, she finally backed away. Without wasting any minute, he immediately began to lead me out of the kitchen and away from his hostile mother. Soon, we ended up before the same dark door and this time I was evidently in his arms while he dragged my frozen figure inside. I was seated on the same bed again but only this time, it felt even more real.

"Gwenchana...?" He knelt before me carefully while taking my wrists in his hands. I wanted to hug him tight and cry but I only nodded in silence.

"Mian-hae, Mira-yah..." His hand tenderly traced over my now worsened wound and his ethereal eyes began to whelm with regret. Again, I withheld the urge to kiss his regret off, and shook my head in response as his eyes met mine.

"Please stay here. I'll... I'll be back shortly. Arasseo?" He asked in a very earnest tone and his deep voice trembled once again. Though I knew very well of where he was heading to, I decided not to interfere. It is among their family now.

Thus, I began to nod again as he got onto his feet slowly. His hand reached out and my crown quite ardently before he rushed out of the room, leaving me alone. I looked around the room emptily and knew what exactly was left for me to do. My eyes were fixed on the door that he walked out of, while my hands began to fish for my hand phone.

★

RAVI'S POV:

"EOMMA!!!" I growled, not being able to take any more of that nerve wrecking scene.

Yes, she was my mother and I love her with all my heart and soul. But Mira, she owns all my heart and soul and I couldn't bear to watch her being humiliated by my own mother. The only reason for my silence until now was because I know my mother was worried about the incidents with Jiwonnie's 'friends' from before. But her arguments have gone past rational morals and she was seriously hurting my Mira. Right away, my legs were sprinting to her side and it took everything in me to stop myself from embracing her trembling figure.

"Eomma, what is wrong with you? Gia is Jiwonnie's friend and she's our guest. How could you talk to her like that?" I tried to reason with my mother and make her at least realize how rude she just behave