It was a very uncomfortable dinner for five of them. Wait, except for Mrs Ahn - for sure - because she thought there would be nothing to be awkward of since all of them had introduced themselves to each other ( a brief one ). Kevin had known Hyojung and Hyemi as a neighbor a few days ago. Byunghun was new to Mrs Ahn, Kevin, and Hyemi and yes, he was the one feeling the most heat on his seat. Kevin shared the same experience as Byunghun too because he did not expect to have this kind of dinner with them, especially with Hyojung’s boyfriend together at the same table. He didn’t want to be a bother.

                “Byunghun, where did you learn cooking all of this wonderful food? This mashed potato has a lot of cheese and it is sort of balance with taste!” Mrs Ahn chirped. She was completely oblivious.

                Byunghun swallowed his food first before answering. “I learnt it from this one cooking show on TV. I don’t quite remember the title of that show but the chef was a famous British lady.”

                Mrs Ahn eyes’ brightened up. “Ah, that show! Nigella something? Yes yes yes, I love watching her cooking show.”

                If Kevin was given chance to say something at that moment, the only thing he wanted to say out loud was how full he was and he needed to get back to his house as soon as possible because he had a lot of work to settle (all of them are lies, but he didn’t have any other option to run away). But no way on earth that scene was going to happen because Mrs Ahn seemed to enjoy everyone’s company. Kevin stabbed his fork onto the meat and brought it to his mouth. Hyojung’s boyfriend cooked a really delicious dinner, he mentally said.

                Hyemi who was busy hearing to her mother and sister’s boyfriend talking about random recipes, looked at Kevin for a while and noticed how hard he was trying to show his interest to the topic. She laughed quietly. Apparently he looked like a bystander who didn’t know what to do at this very wrong time. Why did her mother invite him again if she didn’t pay any attention to him?

                “Kevin oppa?” Hyemi called, making Kevin turned his body to the left to face her.

                “Hey.” He smiled. The food on his plate was almost out of his sight and so did Hyemi’s. Now he positively believed that it was better if he didn’t accept Mrs Ahn’s invitation to this dinner. He just came to eat and listen to people. And not talking.

                “Wanna hang out outside?” Hyemi asked. Actually, she was in the same boat with Kevin. Bystanders. Her sister was in the comfort zone since their mother would sometimes talk to her too. Mrs Ahn was always the enthusiast when it comes to taking boyfriend home. When Dongho was here, she’d do the same. Talking to him non-stop and drowned him with a lot of questions.

                Kevin looked at the three of them for a while. Was it okay to just leave the table? Kevin leaned closer to Hyemi. “Now?” He whispered.

                “Yes. Of course.” She replied. “Don’t tell me you want to listen to them until 9 o’clock?”

                “No, absolutely not.” Kevin gulped. He thought he was rude if he just left them (this is the first dinner together with neighbors, for God’s sake!) but since Hyemi wanted him to hang out with her for a while at the yard, it wouldn’t hurt, right?

                “Cool! Now let’s go.” Hyemi pulled away from him, wiped with a white napkin, and rose from her seat. Everyone looked at her and gave her a what-are-you-doing look. And that included Kevin. Hyojung rolled her eyes at her and kicked her legs underneath the table to make her sit. She didn’t want to show this kind of sister to Byunghun.

                “Where are you going, Hyemi?” Mrs Ahn asked.

                She smiled sheepishly. “I’m going outside.” Then she realized Kevin still didn’t do anything. He didn’t even move.

                “With Kevin oppa.” She rested her hand on Kevin’s shoulder. Hyojung, Byunghun, and Mrs Ahn looked at him.

                Kevin let out an awkward laugh. “Ah, yes. Outside.. with Hyemi.” He then wiped his mouth and stood up. Hyemi pulled him from the table by his arm and Kevin who was doubting whether to sit back or not, startled.

                “If you guys need anything, we’ll be at the yard!” Hyemi told them and waved at them cheerfully. She pulled him along and before he could say anything, they were already outside taking in night breeze.

                “Ah, now I can breathe properly!” Hyemi let him go and spun around. Kevin chuckled at how bubbly the younger sister was and somehow envied her of how she was still able to act like a teenager and not caring about what other people had to say. Ha, the people in the kitchen might be talking about them right now.

                “Nice dinner, anyway.” Kevin commented. He shoved both of his hands into the pocket of his jacket. It was a lovely dinner and he wondered how a man like Byunghun could cook such tasty food. If they had time to talk, he would love to ask him what his occupation was.

                “It was!” Hyemi chuckled. “But sorry about earlier, it was just too awkward. My mother shouldn’t have talk to that Byunghun guy too much and ignore you.” She exhaled.

                “That Byunghun guy?” Kevin suddenly asked. Well, it was weird for Hyemi to address her sister’s boyfriend as ‘That Byunghun Guy.”

                “This is the second time I see him. The first time was at the club, he wasn’t her boyfriend yet.” She nodded.

                “Oh.” Kevin nodded as well. “He looks nice.”

                “He does.” Hyemi said, in a matter-of-fact tone. “Let’s not talk about him. Hmm, so you’re a lawyer, oppa?” She smiled.

                Her smile was indeed beautiful just like what Dongho often told him. Kevin smiled back and looked up to the sky. “Yes. Tough work, actually.”

                “Do lawyers always have a lot of work to do?” Hyemi hugged her self. The wind outside was actually chilly and she was very lazy to go back inside the house to take her jacket. Kevin saw her rubbing her arms and took off his jacket. He held it out to her and she immediately put in on.

                “Lawyers have too much work to do and we sometimes couldn’t have a good night sleep because some cases needed more attention.” Kevin explained.

                “Oh, no wonder my sister always stays up until 2 to check on her files or something.” She blinked. “By the way, aren’t you cold?”

                Kevin did not feel that cold. It was true the wind was kind of cool but he still could stand the temperature around him. “I feel a little warm. Thanks for asking.”

                “Hmm, you’re a very nice young man. Your girlfriend must be jealous if she knew you give me this jacket just to shield me from this breeze.”

                Talking about girlfriend. He felt like laughing and sighing at the same time. His thought went off to the day where Jaeseop, Eli, and him talked about Kiseop who was still going to blind dates that her mother arranged for him. He knew his mother wouldn’t do that but if she was desperate, he might have to do it. Blind dates, so traditional for a man his age.

                “I don’t have a girlfriend.” He said.

                “You’re lying and I can see it in your eyes.” Hyemi tried to meet his eyes but he just chuckled. He didn’t get any benefits if he lied, though.

                “Seriously, I don’t have a girlfriend.” He laughed.

                Hyemi eyed him curiously. “Lies. How old are you again?”

                Age! Please don’t ask him about his age! Kevin coughed. “29.”

                “Are you sure you don’t have girlfriend? How about exes?” Hyemi wrapped the jacket around her tighter and jumped a bit. Goodness, it was summer and why must it be this cold?

                “I have 3 exes.” He nodded. Now he remembered about Yunhee. His last girlfriend. He had to attend this hearing for her divorce case and ugh, how he wished he wasn’t involved with her life anymore. But he missed her anyway and a part of him was kind of glad that he could meet her again even though she was pregnant with her jerk soon-to-be ex-husband’s child.

                “That is kind of great. 3 girlfriends are great. You must have loved each of them long enough.” Hyemi smiled. Gosh, her smile. Dongho was lucky.

                “Yeah, but they cheated on me.” Kevin shrugged. Ah, his love life couldn’t be any miserable.

                His first girlfriend; the third party sent him a photo of them kissing. It was gross. The second girlfriend; caught in act at parking lot. Smooching like there’s no tomorrow and there’s not even a hint of guilt when Kevin saw her. The last one; Yunhee. Making out on his bed with other stupid man and both of them eventually got married after she left him. But Yunhee was just too precious to him and it was hard for him to let her go at first. Life is life and everyone needs to move on.

                “That’s bad.” Hyemi clicked her tongue against the wall of her inner cheek. “Those kinds of girls just wanted something from men. Money, money, money.”

                Kevin chuckled at her remark. “It’s always about money, huh?”

               “If that girl doesn’t have any pride in her.”

               He had to agree with her. Both of them continue talking until they saw Hyojung and Byunghun went out of the house and approached them. They looked intense, probably from the talk with Mrs Ahn. Byunghun could have been tired with the dinner.

               “Hey, you two!” Hyemi waved at them. Kevin suddenly felt awkward again. He didn’t know how to act around them again.

               Hyojung hooked her arm around Byunghun’s and panted when they stood in front of them. Byunghun was smiling and he looked at Kevin who was just standing there with hands in his jeans pocket.

              “How’s it?” Hyemi asked Hyojung.

              “Ask this guy.” She pointed at Byunghun. Byunghun pointed at himself, dumbfounded.

              “It was great, I guess.” He said. “A lot of questions and I’m glad she loves the mashed potato a little bit too much.”

              The four of them laughed. Then Hyojung realized that Byunghun didn’t have proper introduction with her sister and Kevin. So did both of them. Her mother was rushing to sit down and eat and they only had brief hellos and whatnots. The thing they only knew about each other was names.

                Hyojung tugged on Byunghun’s arm and pulled him closer. “Anyway, Mr Woo?”

                Kevin stopped laughing and looked at Hyojung. She smiled brightly and she almost looked the same as Hyemi. The smile was almost the same as well. “Yes?”

                “This is Lee Byunghun.” She showed Byunghun to Kevin. Byunghun beamed and nodded. The man was a little short than Kevin and he looked small. More like tiny.

                Kevin held out his hand for a handshake and Byunghun took it firmly. “More intro because dinner was very important, huh?” He joked.

                “But it was delicious. The mashed potato, I have no more argument of how tasty it was.” Kevin grinned. He felt less tongue-tied now. “I’m Kevin Woo, by the way.”

                “Thank you for the compliment, Kevin-ssi.” Byunghun smiled.

                “It’s the truth.” Kevin nodded.

                Hyojung found Hyemi glaring at her, wanting her to introduce Byunghun to her even though she already knew him. The older sister sighed and whispered something to her boyfriend that made him fixed his gaze on her younger sister.

                “Hey there, the name is Ahn Hyemi!” Hyemi took his hand and shook it vigourously.

                Byunghun was caught off guard but he burst out laughing anyway. “Lee Byunghun. Nice to meet you.”

                “It’s nice to meet you too. Please take care of my sister with a lot of love because she could be clumsy and stupid sometimes.” Hyemi grinned.

                “Hyemi!” Hyojung yelled at her.

                Kevin and Byunghun laughed at the scene and left them to argue with each other. Kevin was now aware that he had the opportunity to ask Byunghun what’s he doing in the day. He chuckled nervously to gather his courage to speak. Great, he’s a lawyer but why did he felt like he’s becoming a stutter master?

                “So, Byunghun-ssi. Where do you work?” Kevin asked.

                “Oh, that. I own a restaurant.”

                That answered the question why he cooked so great and it hard to find any flaws in his cooking. Kevin nodded to that information.

                “That’s cool. A fancy one?”

                “It’s a family restaurant. You should stop by with your friends when you have the time.” Byunghun suggested.

                “Will do that when I really have the time. Is the business good?” Kevin asked. Ha, he didn’t know he would be this interested about Byunghun’s restaurant.

                “It is great.” The man exclaimed. “Anyway, what do you do?”

                “I’m just a lawyer.” Kevin chuckled. He loved telling other people he’s a lawyer because people would not believe him because by looking at his physical, people always guessed him wrongly. They would say he’s a barista, an insurance officer, or a rich man who didn’t have any job and lived with his parents’ money.

                “That’s cool. Same as Hyojung.” Byunghun smiled. Then, the smile faded a bit. Kevin saw him made a thinking face. He was probably reminded of something.

                “Say, where do you work, Kevin-ssi?” He tapped his chin.

                “Woo Firm. Why? Sounds familiar to you?” Kevin guessed.

                He snapped his fingers. “Wait, you’re the owner of Woo Firm, right? I think I saw you somewhere in business magazine.” Byunghun’s smile came back again as he was really sure of it.

                Oh, that magazine was months ago and he remembered being the cover page of it. It was so embarrassing because he looked so funny in that photo with his messy bed-hair and stuff. But the comments from his family were very different, though. He looked hot, they said. Ridiculous.

                “Yes, it’s just a small firm and I’m still working on it.” Kevin nodded.

                After a few more talks with him and exchanging phone numbers, Kevin decided to leave. He wasn’t sure whether to go inside of Ahn household to thank Mrs Ahn herself for inviting him to dinner or just asked the Ahn sisters to say that to him. But he already thanked Byunghun for cooking the best dinner he’d ever had in his life.

                Hyojung saw Kevin hesitating and decided to ask him. “Mr Woo, leaving already?”

                “Yes, your mother’s inside, right?” Kevin flashed a smile at her.

                “Yes.” She said. “Sorry about the dinner, though.” She was pretty positive that she was going to ask lot of questions to her mother on why she didn’t tell her earlier that she’s coming to Seoul and why she didn’t tell her that she was going to invite Kevin over for a meal. But she had to ignore the second question because it was her fault she turned off her phone at work.

                “It’s fine. At least I enjoyed it!” Kevin said with his happy tone. Hopefully, Hyojung wouldn’t feel that bad about it.

                “Thank you.” Hyojung beamed. “Do you have work tomorrow?”

                “Yes, no rest. Going to the court to take some files.”

                “Ah, busy busy busy, are we?” She chuckled.

                “Very.” Kevin grinned. “I’ve got to go now. Tell your mother I said thank you.” He just said that to Hyojung so he guessed he didn’t have to walk into her house and meet her mother.

                “Alright. See you next time.”

                Byunghun caught him walking away and quickly called him. Hyemi looked at him too. Kevin turned around to look at the man.

                “Kevin-ssi. You better come to my restaurant. It’s my treat!” He shouted.

                “Sure!” Kevin laughed.

                Then, he walked home, still feeling hungry. Great, why did he feel hungry? He just had a dinner and his stomach was calling for food again. What a misery. Probably he had to order Chinese food once he reached home later. Not to mention that he had a lot things to prepare for his work tomorrow. But hey, he just had a lovely evening with the Ahn’s family and the kind-hearted boyfriend of Hyojung. Why the frowns?

                Byunghun pulled Hyojung closer to him when he noticed Hyemi was inside the house, helping Mrs Ahn with the dishes. He her hair and softly placed a kiss on her forehead.

                “You look lovely.” He brushed off the strands of hair that cover her face.

                Hyojung giggled. “Quit it.”

                Byunghun laughed and engulfed her in a hug. “You have to stand the cheesy me no matter what happened.”

                She squirmed and tried to get away from but the hug just got tighter. “Cheesy much.” Then, she relaxed. “What did you talk about with Mr Woo?”

                “We’re just talking about our jobs. About our life.” He nodded. “I like him. He’s very cool.”

                “Oh.” She smiled. “But he is different at his work place. I heard he’s a very charismatic lawyer. And….” She was scared to admit this one fact.

                Actually, she was really intimidated by Kevin the first time she met him in person but thank goodness he’s like any other person who tended to get clumsy at times. She still respected him and it was very hard for her to talk to him normally. She must be out of her mind during the conference, talking to him like that.

                “And what?” Byunghun asked. He nuzzled her shoulder lovingly and kissed it.

                “He’s my idol. He’s one of the greatest lawyers and I really wish that I could be like him.” You smiled.

                “You mean.. I just talked to a very influential person at your work place?” Byunghun blinked.

                “I guess?” Hyojung smiled meekly.

                “Now, I’m scared.” Byunghun swayed her side to side.

                “No need to be scared. He’s nice.”

                “But still..” He pouted.

                “Aish, shouldn’t you go home?” She turned around and looked at him.

                Byunghun glanced at his watch and gasped. “Goodness, I have to go to the restaurant to check on something!”

                Hyojung ruffled his hair. “You’d better be going now, big boss.”

                Byunghun chuckled and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Give me a kiss first.”

                “No.”

                “Come on.” He stomped his feet to the ground. A playful smile appeared on his face.

                Hyojung sighed. “Fine.” She pecked his lips and then held the arms that were still on her waist.

                “That was not a kiss.” Byunghun scrunched his nose. “This is a kiss.” He leaned in and placed his lips on top of hers. She began to kiss back happily even though at first she denied it. It was soft and sweet and she felt like melting right there and then.

                Pulling away, Byunghun chuckled. “Hmm, good night, babe.”

                “Good night.”

                Waving him goodbye and watching him drove away from the neighborhood, Hyojung got into the house with her smile on. She spotted Hyemi grinning like a maniac by the window that showed the front yard. Marvelous! Hyemi might have watched them kissing.

                “Who said mushy stuff is only for teenage couples?” Hyemi crossed her arms.

                Hyojung rolled her eyes and walked to the kitchen. “Shut up.”

This is kind of boring hahaha.

Anyway, I'm back for real. I've finished my first fanfic and boy I'm going to give you the best updates (and fast too).

Sobs thanks for waiting and keep reading. I love you, cupcakes <3