"Umma! That's not fair!" Donghae yelled over their dinner table while looking quite exasperated at his mother. He turned to his father on his right who has stayed quiet throughout the whole thing. "Appa, you can't be serious. This is crazy!"

"Donghae, watch your manners," Donghae's mother scolded. "We don't yell at the dinner table."

Donghae wanted to roll his eyes but knew better, so instead he tilted his head back with a groan and clattered his utensils on his plate. 

"Lee Donghae!" His mother yelled. "When did you learn to be so disrespectful?"

Donghae simply crossed his arms in continued defiance as he tried to look less of a petulant child in front of her. 

"Umma," Donghae called pleadingly, "Don't you think you're being unreasonable right now? Why would you expect me to get married just to take over the company? That has no bearings over my qualifications at all! I'm perfectly qualified handling the company by myself."

"Donghae," this time his father called out to him. "This has nothing to do with your capabilities. It's to preserve your future."

"My future." Donghae repeated with an incredulous tone. "How is getting married preserving my future."

"Being CEO is a lot of work," his father explained. "You'll be buried with paperwork, meetings, and traveling that finding someone to settle down with would be next to impossible."

"So you want me to find someone who would spend the rest of their life with me even though I won't be available to them?" Donghae gave his father his are-you-kidding-me look before turning back to his mother. "Why is this even an issue right now?"

"Donghae, you're 34." She emphasized his age as though that answered all of his questions. "Your father and I are nearing retirement soon and we would very much like to enjoy our twilight years in the company of our grandchild."

Donghae couldn't help but roll his eyes this time and leaned back against his seat with a hand over his head. "Umma...you know that I already told you that I'm gay. That fact hasn't changed just because I haven't been in a relationship for seven years."

"Oh honey, that's not what I was trying to say." She grabbed the napking on her lap and dabbed the side of his lips before looking at Donghae with a smile and a slight twinkle in her eyes. "You could always adopt. You've been such a great uncle to your brother's child and I know you'll just be an even better father."

"I can adopt a kid now," Donghae reasoned immediately. "There is no need for me to get married just to give you a grandchild."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous." She narrowed her eyes at him and kicked her husband's shin under the table so he could put his two cents in on the conversation. "Donghwa, please talk some sense to your son."

"No!" Donghae stopped before his father could even open his mouth. "I do not want to get married any time soon. Marriage is not something to take lightly just because you think I'm getting too old for my age. If I were ever to get married it would be for love and not because I want to take over your company."

"I wouldn't expect anything else," Donghae's father agreed. "If you were to be CEO now, whatever partner you find later on in life, you would always be thinking in the back of your head that they're after you because of your power and money. Son, I want you to focus on finding your love first before the company." His father placed a hand on Donghae's shoulders and looked intently into his eyes. "I'm still strong and can handle the company but I won't be for too long. I would very much like to retire while I can still walk on two legs rather than on a wheelchair."

Donghae sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose. He understands where they were coming from but he just didn't get the urgency of the whole situation. So what if he never gets married. Would it be the end of the world if he chose to focus on his career instead of his love life?

"That gives me an idea!" Donghae tried his best not to groan hearing his mother's cheerful tone. "Why don't we call Hyerin and ask her to set you up with blind dates? I hear she found Heechul his partner and that should attest to how good she is because we all know, no matter how much I love him, that he is no walk in the park."

Donghae paled at the thought of having to go through a set of blind dates. It was such a horrifying idea and he has no clue why his mother would even suggest it. 

"Umma, no. No way. I won't do it." Donghae shook his head vehemently and refused to look at her just to show how much he detest the idea. 

"Oh, but Donghae dear, it would be fun." She tried to convince him and looked at her husband for help but he was simply looking down on his plate and chewing quietly. Her smile fell a little and made a note to scold him later on for not having her back. "This would help you find your future partner faster. Hyerin's really good at finding great-"

"No way." Donghae cut her off and made an 'X' with his arms. "I'm not going on any blind dates with anyone. I can't."

She frowned at Donghae's stubborn refusal at her idea. "And why not? What's so bad about going on a blind date? I met your father in one!"

"Well, actually, it wasn't so much a blind date as it was a group hang out."

"Be quiet," she snapped at Donghwa who immediately sealed his lips and resumed eating. She then turned her gaze at Donghae who had mirrored her determination at being stubborn. Even though Donghae would never admit to it, he was more alike with his mother than he thinks and Donghwa really wonders sometimes how he was able to survive the two of the all these years. 

"Tell me," she demanded for Donghae to explain. "Why can't you go on blind dates?"

"Umma, it's not-"

"What's so wrong about it, huh?!"

"There's nothing- I just don't think it's for me," Donghae tried to explain but his mother would have none of it. 

"Unless you're secretly hiding your partner from us, I see no reason for you not to participate in a couple of blind dates." She said determined and stood out of her seat to grab the phone. "Now, finish your dinner and I'll call-"

"Okay, alright! I do!"

Donghae's mother and father froze hearing Donghae's outburst and so did Donghae. The tension in the air was thick and neither one of them knew how to break it. Donghae's mother gently put the phone down and sat back down on her seat while giving Donghae a look of disbelief. The latter gulped and closed his gaping mouth as he mentally kicked himself for blurting out such a ridiculous lie. 

"What did you say?" Donghae's mother asked, her tone laced with warning that if Donghae was lying to her that there would be severe consequences. 

Donghae gulped and felt like a child about to be sent to his room. He hasn't felt like this since he hid his report cards from them in high school. However, he's an adult now and therefore he needs to man up and face his mother with his head held high. Clearing his throat Donghae nervously repeated what he said. 

"I-I...said that I...do- am! - seeing...some--one..." Donghae chose his words carefully and gauged his mother's reaction. He looked at his father who was now staring at him with wide eyes and an obvious look of shock painted on his face. He started to sweatdrop a little and wished that something would happen to get him out of his current situation like a black hole swallowing him or something. Luckily for him, something less dangerous did save him. 

"Donghae-ssi," his assistant Sungmin came running in and did a quick bow towards his parents who were still frozen like statues. "There's an emergency. It seems like one of the investment group from China would like to pull out from project E. The whole project has been put on hold and the other investors from Switzerland and Japan would like to speak with you as well."

"What?!" Donghae quickly got out of his seat and grabbed the phone from Sungmin. He walked out of his parents dinner table and went straight to his car, Sungmin running right behind him, and told the driver to get to the office as soon as he can. His previous dilemma with his parents temporarily forgotten as he dealt with the current issue of his family's company. Afterall, business always comes first. 

A/N: I think I'm about to do something irresponsible and....buy tickets for SuJu's BeyondLive o_o....(I really shouldn't cause I don't know how long this pandemic would last but.....also, I don't if I'll ever get to see them have a concert T_T) Anyways, please let me know what you think so far! <3 Love you all!! ^^