In the dining room, the deliberation of Jae Kyung's marriage was being heavily discussed as the Songs and the extended family sat around the table.

As of that moment, Mr. Song, Hyo Joo, and Joong Gi were already for the marriage. The rest were still hesitant about giving their blessings, and Mrs. Song had a look of stubborn opposition.

"Did you guys see what Jae Kyung was wearing?" Hyo Joo pointed out, recalling the brand-name dress and blazer along with the heels Jae Kyung had on since earlier that morning. "She rarely accepts the clothes I give her yet in two weeks time this guy was able to make her change her wardrobe for him. If you ask me, I would say that she's head over heels for him."

"I don't know, if she's changing herself for him, maybe he's not a good choice for a marriage partner," Tae Hee retorted. Having known Jae Kyung for almost 15 years, back since Seung Hun and her had started dating in high school, Tae Hee treated her like her own younger sister and wanted the best for her.

"I agree," Soo Young added. He was particularly fond of his sister-in-law and didn't want her to make any wrong life decisions. "The fact that she had to hide their relationship until it became public, and with a marriage proposal at that, I really have to question if there isn't something they're hiding from us. You don't think this Jun Hyung guy is holding something against her, do you?"

"Oh my god you guys," Joong Gi finally interrupted. "This guy is the son of the owner of Star Plaza Mall, the biggest mall in South Korea. The fact that he's interested in Jae Kyung enough to want to be hitched to her…we should be embracing his proposal. I mean think about it, with Jae Kyung's personality, do you really think a better guy will come around? We should get the two married before Jun Hyung realizes her faults," he finished with a laugh.

Seung Hun smacked the back of Joong Gi's head and gave him a disapproving look.

"Ow, Hyung! That hurt!" Joong Gi complained.

"Don't joke about your sister like that! This is her future we're talking about!" Seung Hun reprimanded him.

Joong Gi scowled at his brother's scolding and rubbed the back of his head where it hurt.

"You know, I kind of agree with Joong Gi on this," Ji Hyo said. "We're all a little worried about Jae Kyung's future especially since she hasn't exactly chosen a career path. I think we can only feel at ease if she finds a dependable husband, and a chaebol's son will provide a very stable lifestyle for her," she logically reasoned.

[Chaebol: head of a family-owned corporation]

"Noona, it's times like these that I know you and I are really brother and sister," Joong Gi appreciatively said to his agreeing sister.

Ji Hyo rolled her eyes at him. "I agree with Seung Hun Oppa, you shouldn't be taking Jae Kyung's future so lightly," she scolded him.

"Aish, you always make Jae Kyung feel stupid and unloved yet you secretly care about her so much," Joon Gi muttered.

Ji Hyo chose to ignore his comment. It was true that she did act condescending towards Jae Kyung often, but it was out of tough love.

"It seems we've heard from everyone but you Seung Hun," Mr. Song noted. "What do you think about the kids' marriage?"

Everyone turned to look at Seung Hun. In a sense, he was the determining "vote" in this discussion. If he was opposed, it would be an even tie between those for and those against the marriage. If he approved, then there would be more support than opposition. Although, the decision ultimately came down to Mr. and Mrs. Song, the two parents highly valued their oldest child's opinion.

Seung Hun thought about Jae Kyung's plea just before he had left her in the family room and let out a heavy sigh. He was starting to regret ever being so submissive to Jae Kyung's aegyo; he really should have built up immunity to it for times like these.

[Aegyo: acting cute]

"I think…Jae Kyung really loves him…and he really loves her…and the two should be allowed to marry," he finished, a bit hesitantly.

"Well Yeobo, you've heard what everyone has to say. What do you think?" Mr. Song asked his wife who sat with crossed arms and a stern expression on her face.

"I think the whole thing is preposterous!" she exclaimed in outburst. "I still can't get over that she's been hiding this from us. These past two weeks, when she said she's been going out to find a job, she's really been meeting him?!"

[Note: Remember, for the past two weeks, Jae Kyung has been meeting with various blind dates set up by her best friend Min Jae to find someone to go along with her marriage plan.]

"I also find it a bit disconcerting that she felt she couldn't tell us, but you know how kids can be," Mr. Song tried defending Jae Kyung.

"But two weeks? Two weeks and they already want to get married?" Mrs. Song argued.

"You know Yeobo, we got married one month after we met," Mr. Song reminded her with an affectionate smile as he grabbed hold of one of her hands that lay across her chest. "Maybe those two feel the same way that we felt when we were their age."

Mrs. Song's expression noticeably softened at the memory of her and her husband's young love. It was an odd pairing, a trot singer and a wrestler, but the two had spent their life together for more than 30 years, proving that it was nothing short of true love.  She closed her eyes and shook her head at the words that were about to come out of mouth.

"Fine, I give them my blessing," she said with a sigh. Mr. Song's smile grew wider at his wife's approval.

"Wow, I never thought I'd see this day coming. Jae Kyung is actually going to get married and leave this house," Joong Gi jokingly said.

Seung Hun looked slightly disheartened as the consequences of this verdict hit him. Maybe because he hadn't even seen the possibility of Jae Kyung getting married anytime soon coming, but Seung Hun felt like his baby sister was slowly drifting away from him. In such a short amount of time, this Jun Hyung guy was able to gain his sister's love and affection and possibly occupy a greater place in her heart than him. He would have to make sure to keep in touch with her often after she got married.

"Hey, we should all pretend that we're opposing their marriage when we go back to the family room to tell them, just to see how Jae Kyung reacts," Joong Gi playfully suggested.

Hyo Joo sighed and shook her head at her childish husband. Many would question how this jokester was ever able to get a model for a wife, but that was a story for another time.

[Hint: I will tell you about how each Song sibling met their spouse eventually :D]

No one else gave a response to his suggestion and Joong Gi pouted in disappointment. "Aw come on, we won't get many more opportunities to tease Jae Kyung. We should make the best of the time we have left," he tried to argue.

"Why do you make it sound like she's dying? She's only getting married," Ji Hyo scoffed.

"You guys, I'm technically the youngest in this room right now. You should really give in to a maknae's request" Joong Gi whined.

[Note: In my story, Hyo Joo, Joong Gi's wife, is a few months older than him.]

The Song siblings and in laws all rolled their eyes at him. Sometimes they had a feeling that Joong Gi was a bit envious of Jae Kyung for being the maknae and he expressed his jealousy by constantly harassing her.

"Fine, we'll play along," Ji Hyo answered for everyone.

They all left for the dining room while Mr. and Mrs. Song remained behind in the dining room to have a private chat.

"I can't believe our last child is leaving us already," Mrs. Song lamented.

"The day was going to come, we both knew it. But I think we can rest assured that she'll be taken care of. This Jun Hyung seems like a family man. And he sounds very intelligent as well," Mr. Song said in attempt to comfort her.

"You only think that because he happened to use one of your favorite quotes by Horace," Mrs. Song dryly replied with narrow eyes.

Mr. Song laughed. "Well, you know, I was thinking about that quote when I asked you to marry me 32 years ago. Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero. 'Seize the day and put no trust in tomorrow.' What with my career as a wrestler, I always faced the risk of fatal injury and I didn't want to leave this world without fulfilling one of my lifelong wishes: to marry the woman I fell in love with the moment I saw her." Mr. Song had an affectionate smile on as he stared into his wife's eyes. Even after 32 years of marriage, Mrs. Song still blushed whenever her husband said romantic words to her. "But you know, Yeobo," he slowly continued. "Don't you think we should finally tell Jae Kyung...the truth?"

Mrs. Song's expression hardened at his question. "No," she adamantly stated.

"But-" Mr. Song tried to argue.

"I said no. We promised each other that we wouldn't tell anyone about it. There's no reason to either," Mrs. Song defended.

Mr. Song sighed at his wife's stubbornness but didn't argue any further.

The family (minus the parents) entered the family room with grave expressions on their face. Seeing them, Jae Kyung quickly stood up.

"Well?" she questioned impatiently after a long pause.

"Sorry little sis," Joong Gi answered her. "But Mom says it's a no go."

"What?" Jae Kyung responded, her expression showing her obvious dejection.

"Maybe you shouldn't have kept your relationship a secret," he shrugged.

Jun Hyung, who remained seated, knitted his eyebrows together in deep thought. He wasn't expecting this setback in his plan and he wasn't sure how he would overcome it. Soo Han stared at Jun Hyung with a sympathetic pout. He was growing attached to the idea of having him as his Hyung.

"Oppa, you said you would help," Jae Kyung complained to Seung Hun.

Seung Hun glanced over at Joong Gi whose expression silently told him to go along with the plan. Seung Hun sighed at his younger brother's scheming. "Sorry Jae Kyung. I did the best I could."

Jae Kyung looked to be on the verge of tears. She was so close, so close, to succeeding in her plan. And it had to fall through right when the light at the end of the tunnel was just visible. At this time, Mr. and Mrs. Song finally entered the family room.

"So when can we meet your parents?" Mrs. Song asked, looking at Jun Hyung.

"Excuse me?" Jun Hyung asked in confusion.

"Well if you two are going to get married, then I think it only makes sense that we discuss the details with your parents," Mrs. Song answered with a slight tone of irritation.

"Wait…you're giving us your permission?" Jae Kyung asked with incredulity.

"Yes," Mrs. Song answered.

Jae Kyung's jaw dropped. She looked over at Joong Gi who was grinning back at her. "YOU!" she exclaimed, chasing after Joong Gi who ran away from her. "You lied! How could you?!"

"Haha, and you fell for it so easily too!" Joong Gi replied, looking back and sticking his tongue out at her.

Jun Hyung watched the two grown adults run around like children with a baffled look. This was definitely a strange family, at least to him who hadn't experienced anything like this.

Just as he had done at graduation, Seung Hun grabbed hold of Jae Kyung's waist and restrained her from chasing Joong Gi. She struggled in her brother's strong embrace until she realized something and turned to face him. "You also went along with his joke!" she argued with betrayal and anger written on her face. She turned to look at the rest of her family who didn't say anything about Joong Gi's tricks. "You all did!"

"I'm sorry Jae Kyung, but you did keep this a secret from us," Seung Hun defended with a chuckle at his sister's expression.

Mrs. Song was starting to get a headache from the arguing. She thought she was past the stage of having to deal with little children's arguing, but of course her children had managed to remain kids at heart. She was sure her husband had a huge part in that.

"It's almost dinner time, so why don't you all go outside while I prepare it," Mrs. Song suggested, wanting to get some quiet time after the stressful day she had.

Everyone headed outside to the large backyard where there was a large outdoor dining table that the Song family used during the summer whenever the whole family gathered.

It was a loud dinner as the Songs and the extended family finally introduced themselves officially to Jun Hyung before bombarding them with embarrassing stories about Jae Kyung, most of them told by Joong Gi. Jae Kyung of course retaliated with her own stories of him and the two soon got into a mini food fight with each other that had to be broken up by the rest of the family.

Jun Hyung found himself smiling often throughout the dinner at the welcoming and warm mood that the family created.

At the conclusion of dinner, the family bade Jun Hyung goodbye before letting Jae Kyung see him off outside.

"So I guess it's official now that we have both our parents' approval. We're engaged," Jae Kyung softly remarked.

"I guess so," Jun Hyung agreed.

The two shared an awkward silence, not knowing what to say to one another. Jae Kyung was the one to finally speak. "Well, good night then," she said to him, holding out her hand.

Jun Hyung stared down at her hand before looking up at her. But as he did so, he noticed her family peeking through the curtains of the window from the corner of his eye. Seeing this, he took her hand and pulled her into his arms in a tight embrace, earning secret smiles and grins from the peeping toms, but a startled expression from Jae Kyung. While she tried to push him away, he only held her tighter.

"You're family is watching, I suggest you play along," he whispered to her.

Jae Kyung bit her tongue that was about to lash out at him and reluctantly wrapped her arms around his waist. The two stood like that, awkwardly looking at the space behind the other. When the Song family finally released the curtain to give them their privacy, Jun Hyung quickly pushed her away before straightening out his jacket.

"Yah! You didn't have to push me!" she angrily shouted at him.

"With the way you were holding on to me so tightly, I think I did," Jun Hyung retorted.

"What?!" she asked incredulously. "Who was the one holding on so tightly that I couldn't even push him away?!"

"From what I could tell, you weren't really trying that hard. Are you sure you didn't secretly enjoy being in my arms?" Jun Hyung asked with a raised brow.

Jae Kyung rolled her eyes and scoffed loudly. "The nerve of this guy," she muttered under her breath.

"I'm going," he nonchalantly said, heading towards his car.

"Yah!" Jae Kyung called after him, fully annoyed that he had riled her up with his conceited remark yet he was leaving before she could give him a piece of her mind.

Jun Hyung chose to ignore her shouts and got into the car. He opened the window and looked at her. "Good night…Jagiya," he said tauntingly with a smirk before quickly closing his window and backing out of her driveway.

If Jae Kyung was outraged before, she was even more so now and she didn't take any effort in hiding it, making Jun Hyung chuckle to himself in amusement. Jae Kyung may not have been the ideal candidate for a wife, or rather a business partner in their case, but she did have the prospect of being an entertaining one.

"This is going to be one hell of a year," Jun Hyung remarked to himself, just before he lost sight of Jae Kyung in his rear view mirror.

Author's Note

Part 2 of the Song family! Please give me any feedback / suggestions / questions / constructive criticism / etc. if you have any :)

Also, I forgot to mention in the last chapter that the quote by Horace that Jun Hyung said is actually the tattoo that is on his right arm.

And I'm up this early trying to get back on school schedule after a four day weekend. I have a bad habit of staying up and waking up late whenever I have longer than usual breaks from school :(

10/21/12 7:21 AM