When he told her he had a nickname for her, she was beyond excited. What would it be? Jagiya? Princess? What should she call him in return? That's what lovey-dovey couples do, right? They gave each other affectionate terms?

But she should have known better. Because romantic, he was not (the starlit picnic was probably stretching his limits already). The nickname too, was far from romantic. "Mood killer". Mood killer was what it was. His nickname for her. Can you believe it? Because she couldn't. LIKE EXCUSE ME, WHO'S THE MOOD KILLER HERE?

Stewing in the passenger seat of her car (he 'offered', or rather insisted on driving), she scowled at her oppa's side profile, as he stared ahead at the road, one hand on the steering wheel, the other resting flat on his thigh. If he could feel her eyes drilling into him, he didn't show it.

"So do you want to meet my parents?" She asked casually, reclining against the door so she could face him. Since she's apparently the mood-killer, she might as well live up to her name, she thought wryly.

His throat bobbed. "Do they really want to?"

She shrugged. "I guess. They are always meddlesome." She paused to study his face, but it was unreadable. "Are you not ready?"

"Are you ready?"

She threw up her hands in exasperation. "Will you stop throwing my questions back at me?"

He glanced at her briefly then returned his gaze to the road. The hand on the steering wheel tightened. "I just think that it might be too soon," he said in a low voice after a long pause.

"Fair enough. We'll wait and see then." Crossing her arms, she shifted in her seat to face the road.

Honestly, she wasn't psyched about introducing her parents to her boyfriend, mostly because she knew how overwhelming they could be. Even she barely tolerated them sometimes, and they were family. Not to mention that her appa already seemed prejudiced against him before he even met him. So she was all for putting off their meeting, just to protect him.

But something in his demeanour didn't sit well with her. He seemed closed off. His words were non-committal. It's like he's putting it off because he didn't think they would last. That this was just supposed to be a filler before he moved on to army.

Needless to say, their vaguely romantic soccer date ended on a low note, with her feigning nonchalance and him being impassive. Good times. Totally consistent with their track record.

+++

She spent the next morning packing her room. She wasn't usually so diligent, but she needed to take her mind off things, so she started cleaning. Dusting the shelves, rearranging her wardrobe so it's colour coded, changing her bedsheets. Until her sister wandered into the room and proceeded to give a long soliloquy about their "delectable lunch" the day before and how they should go back again for the fried rice - which she didn't get to eat by the way, too busy fending off relentless questions from her nosy family.

She was on the verge of throwing the dirty rag at her unnie when her phone buzzed. The very phone that was on the table right next to her sister. Who obviously had no qualms about picking it up