It was a few days after the incident with the sunflower that Hoya’s parents were supposed to visit. He wasn’t looking forward to it. The once comforting home had become like a crime scene for Hoya. He scrutinized every room to find what was out of place. Everything had to be perfect. There was one thing that he couldn’t change though and that was Shelly, but for some reason he didn’t want to.

            His parents were not going to like her. His mother might not mind her, but he imagined his dad’s dark humorless eyes taking her in head to toe. He would hate her instantly. And that was before she ever managed to introduce herself. She could be the most polite and respectful girl in the world, but he wasn’t going to give her the time of day. She didn’t look Korean, she was a y young female, and she was living with their son. He’d tear her apart if he could.

            He was imagining all the different terrible things his father might say to her as he made his way to her room. Sure his father wasn’t going to yell or swear at her, but what he did do always felt worse to Hoya. His cold eyes would regard you silently before he made some sort of cutting comment that was technically true, but would make you feel like you’ve committed some terrible sin.

            Hoya’s hands were shaking now as he knocked on the door of Shelly’s room. He knew she was alone. Julia and Sungjong had gone out to buy ingredients to cook a traditional Korean meal. He didn’t know anything about cooking, but Julia was well aware of what she was doing. She knew about Hoya’s relationship with his parents and she took care of him in these times. She was also one of the only people that his father actually seemed to approve of.

            Shelly answered the door with a grin, but it faltered when she saw it was Hoya.  

            “Can I talk to you?” He asked trying to avoid her eyes.

            “Of course,” she said with a slightly confused look as she allowed him in the room. There was nowhere to sit except on a bed so he crossed the room to look out the window. She followed him and leaned against it with her body turned towards him.

            Now that he was there he wasn’t sure what to say to her. The confusion cleared from her eyes as she took in his tense shoulders and shifty eyes.

            “This is about your parents visiting isn’t it?” she said quietly as if he was a scared animal that she didn’t want to bolt away. She wasn’t far off.

            When he didn’t answer she just nodded her head.

            “It’s okay. You don’t have to ask. I get it. You want me to disappear when they get here so that they won’t see me,” she said simply with a shrug.

            His eyes nearly popped out of his head. “N-no that wasn’t what I wanted to say at all.” How could she think that about him? That was terrible.

            They were meeting each other’s eyes and she looked thoroughly confused now.

            “It’s not?”

            “No I came here to warn you about my father. I was afraid…” he trailed off suddenly uncertain.

            “Afraid of what he’d think of me? Trust me you are right to worry,” she said as she tried to finish his statement for him. “Parents hate me,” she added quietly with a hint of bitterness.

            “I don’t care what he thinks,” Hoya said darkly.

            “You’re lying to yourself.”

            At some point his hands had balled up into fists. His chest was tight and he tried to breath out and ease his tension.

            “Look I came here to let you know that he isn’t nice. He isn’t funny. He isn’t supportive. He isn’t proud or appreciative of anything. If you give him the chance he will hurt you. Just please don’t let him get to you.”

            His voice had been intense as he stared into her large emerald eyes, but by the end his voice had quieted down to a near whisper. She stared at him with a surprised expression.

            “You’re worried about me,” she questioned almost to herself. Why did she sound so awestruck?

            Actually maybe this is strange, he thought to himself. It had felt natural, but why was he worried about Shelly when it was his parents visiting? They weren’t her parents. She didn’t have to live with their disapproval. She probably wouldn’t even care.

            The truth was he wasn’t sure why he was so worried about her. She thought he was concerned that she would embarrass him in front of his father. It made sense. He probably should be worried that she would come bursting out of her room, wearing a revealing outfit, and suggesting a game of spin the bottle or something. He pictured his father’s reaction to that and had to try not to laugh.

            His eyes held a small smile when he looked at her now, but she still looked unsettled.

            “Thank you,” she said softly.

            “For what?”

            “For trusting me,” she said before crossing the room to grab a coat from the closet.

            “What are you doing?”

            “I’m leaving. I’ll be back tonight when the coast is clear.” She didn’t look at him and concentrated on the buttons of her coat while he approached her.

            “I told you I don’t care what he thinks.”

            “But you do. Whether you admit to it or not.” She still wasn’t meeting his eyes as she searched for her bag and slung it over her body.

            “Please don’t leave,” Hoya pleaded as she grabbed the doorknob. She froze in shock; her back still to him.

            “Trust me. This is for the best.” She turned the knob and left without sparing him another glance.

            He trusts me? He is worried about me? What is going on?

            As far as Shelly was concerned she hadn’t done anything to earn his trust or any form of affection. She hadn’t been very warm towards Hoya. Because you actually like him, she thought to herself. You’re scared.

            She was scared. Her heart was racing a mile a minute as she made her way to the nearest coffee shop she could find.

            He hadn’t been warm towards her either the whole time she’d been there. He was cold and guarded, but then the thing with the flower happened and she had no idea what to think anymore. Why had he taken the blame?

            She was so scared in that moment. Julia’s face had told her everything. That flower was extremely important to her and Shelly had destroyed it. She was a visitor in their home and she couldn’t do anything to make up for their generosity except to do dishes. In that moment she had thought for sure she was going to be kicked out. She was dangerous to be around. She offered Julia nothing in return for her blind kindness and love. Instead Shelly just broke her stuff.

            But Hoya had taken the blame. He wasn’t even in the room at the time that it happened. She tried desperately the last few days to come up with one good reason why he would do that. There was no good reason. It was completely selfless and she had been completely selfish. She had just let him take the fall. She wanted to say something, but her voice had caught in . She didn’t want Julia to be mad and kick her out. She had nowhere else to go.

            But Julia hadn’t even been mad. Shelly shouldn’t have been so surprised, Hoya hadn’t been. The truth was that in some ways she felt like she didn’t know her cousin anymore. When they were younger she would have been mad and would have curled up around the flower and cried her eyes out for days. But then Sunggyu came in the room and she was instantly better.

            Love was such a foreign concept to Shelly. She loved Julia of course. And she loved her rat Ghost. But the list ended there.  Sunggyu’s love had healed Julia in the span of two minutes. Something like that would never happen for Shelly. She was sure of it.

            Leaving the apartment for the day was the right thing to do. She had troubled Hoya enough. He clearly cared about what his father thought of him. Shelly, even if she tried, was never going to be able to make a good impression. Parents really did hate her.

            All parents.

            She had already been considering leaving anyway. She didn’t want to meet them. She just would have been uncomfortable.

            But the thought of embarrassing Hoya was what finally pushed her out the door. It seemed he had enough problems with his father and she didn’t want to add to it. They had all given so much to her.

            Why would his father be so terrible, though? What could be wrong with having a son like Hoya? He’s successful, smart, sweet, caring, dependable, strong, handsome…, she stopped in her thoughts as she felt her heart beating faster again. She punched herself in the chest with annoyance. What is with my heart lately? Maybe I’m dehydrated or something.

            Please don’t leave, she heard his voice begging in her head. She had left for his sake, but why did she feel like she had abandoned him? Please don’t leave.

            She brought her forehead down on the table heavily in front of her. Pain seared through her head but she didn’t care. I deserve it. She brought her head up and dropped it again; most likely looking like a mad woman as she nearly bludgeoned herself in the middle of a South Korean coffee shop. A month ago she never would have thought this is what she would be doing. She would have imagined herself out partying and being completely reckless. Harming herself in other ways to help her forget. She brought her head up and down hard again; enjoying the now numb feeling in her head.

            “Umm Shelly… Are you okay?” she heard a familiar voice say with a chuckle.

            She looked up and smiled at the person in front of her. She felt better already.

            “What? Shelly left? Where? Where’d she go?” Noona was panicking already. Had Hoya known this was a panic worthy situation he would have chased her down, but he had been frozen in time after their conversation.

            “I don’t know. I’m sorry noona I didn’t mean to scare her off.”

            “Hoya it isn’t your fault. I’m just so confused. I don’t understand why she would be like this. Why is she so afraid of meeting your parents?”

            Julia stood in the kitchen tapping her foot nervously as she thought to herself. Hoya watched her and only felt more anxiety. Why was Shelly so scared all the time?

            “She’s different than how you remember her… isn’t she?” He had been wanting to ask her this for awhile, but the last thing he wanted was to worry noona.

            “Yeah… a bit. I can’t put my finger on what is different though. I mean I’m different too. We were practically children the last time I saw her. I just assume that she is acting different because of all of you. I wasn’t myself when we first moved in together either. It’s a very strange situation to live with seven men you don’t know.”

            “But it’s almost been a week now…” he said urging her to keep thinking.

            His urging didn’t work. She snapped her head up and looked at Hoya.

            “You have to get ready! And I have to cook this food. Woohyun!!” she yelled as she popped her head out of the kitchen. “Woohyun help me cook,” she whined.

            “Alright alright noona. I’m coming,” Woohyun called as he jogged into the kitchen.

            “Shelly will be alright though… right?” Hoya asked bringing her back to the real problem. Hoya found that he didn’t really care about his parents visit anymore.

            “I wish I could send you out to look for her, but you need to stay here in case your parents get here early. Oh I know! Why don’t I send Dongwoo? She likes him,” she said it so casually, but for some reason Hoya felt like he’d been slapped.

            “Send me where noona?” Dongwoo said as he came around the corner into the kitchen.

            “Do you want to go out and look for Shelly? She left on her own and she doesn’t have a cellphone. We’re worried,” she said naturally including Hoya into the equation.

            Dongwoo looked between the two of them and shrugged his shoulders. “Of course I’ll go. So long as you don’t need me here Hoya.” Dongwoo put his hand on Hoya’s shoulder supportively. He was a great friend, but Hoya couldn’t help but look at him suspiciously. I bet he wants to go find her.

            “No, I’ll be fine. Just text us when you find her. She probably didn’t go far,” he answered quietly.

            “No problem,” Dongwoo said with a grin as he went to go disguise himself for the outdoors.

            The visit with Hoya’s parents went just as he expected. Disapproving glances and cutting comments.

            “Dancing doesn’t require much thought, though. Did you know that your younger brother wants to be a doctor?”

            “He’s at the age that you decided it would be best for you to drop out of school.”

            “Julia, I hear you and Sunggyu are engaged. Now if only our Howon had gotten to you first. Capturing the heart of a good girl like you would have been an accomplishment he could actually be proud of.”

            Hoya listened to all his snide comments with a blank look on his face. It used to upset him. Of course it still did, but not nearly as much. Hoya was doing what he loved to do and he was surrounded by people that truly loved him. He didn’t regret any of his decisions. The only thing he regretted was not being there for his mother. She gave him sympathetic looks the whole time and warm little smiles, but it was her he felt sympathetic towards.

            She deserved better, but she wasn’t strong. She was nothing like Shelly. Shelly wouldn’t have taken this kind of crap from her husband. She would have set him in his place. Where is Shelly? What is she doing with Dongwoo right now?

            He realized he hadn’t been listening to his father as he spoke of how proud he was of Hoya’s older brother. Myungsoo nudged Hoya to wake him from his reverie, but it was too late. His father noticed how he stared off blankly while he spoke.

            “Okay honey that’s enough,” he said as he grabbed his coat. “We saw our ungrateful son that you always want to visit. Now let’s leave.”

            The very direct insult hurt Hoya more than he thought it would. He stayed in his seat and just watched as they grabbed their belongings and left without even thanking Julia and Woohyun for the meal.

            As soon as they left everyone breathed a little easier. Except for Hoya and Julia that is. Hoya was still sitting in shocked silence. Julia was standing up to stomp towards the door and lock it. She put on every lock as if they would come breaking back in. She undid the locks again just as angrily when she realized that Dongwoo and Shelly still weren’t home.

            They all sat silently reflecting on the dinner while Julia stood with her hands on her hips not knowing what to say. She almost looked like she wanted to burst out crying.

            She came up behind Hoya where he sat on the ground and back hugged him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her tight. The hug made him want to cry, but he held back. He looked to Sunggyu to see if he minded this, but as Hoya expected he didn’t. Sunggyu looked like he wished he could do something for Hoya too. Hoya knew that Sunggyu’s parents weren’t much more supportive of his career path than Hoya’s were. They were just nicer about it.

            The other members started to filter out of the room to leave Hoya with the leaders. After a half hour passed Hoya began to think that Julia may have passed out with her head on his shoulder. He looked back at her to see she still wore an angry little scowl. Her eyes burned holes into the ground in front of them.

            “It’s okay noona. I’m fine now,” he whispered.

            “I’m so proud of you Hoya,” she said seriously as she met his eyes. She was holding back tears. Hoya saw that she meant her words with every piece of her. Her anger washed away and she kissed him on the cheek before backing away and giving Sunggyu a similar back hug. This one more likely to comfort herself. Sunggyu smiled brightly that it was his turn for some Julia love.

            Hoya was about to leave them alone when the front door burst open and Dongwoo and Shelly noisily entered the house. They were both laughing like they were drunk. One could just get drunk off of Dongwoo’s energy, though. He knew Dongwoo, as ridiculous as he could be, would not have gone out drinking with her at a time like this.

            Dongwoo was wearing a pair of glasses with fake eyeballs that fell from his face on a spiral made of metal that was very similar to a slinky. The eyes dropped down to his chin as if he was shocked by what he was seeing. He was making surprised expressions with his mouth to go with the popped out eyes while Shelly laughed hysterically. She was wearing a pair of glasses that had a large fake nose and bushy eyebrows attached to it. She took out a toy pipe and made a serious face at Dongwoo while she pretended to puff on it. He laughed and pointed at her loudly.

            If Hoya had been in a better mood he would have laughed, too. Shelly was cute when she was happy.

            Julia turned to them with her hands on her hips. She had seen the way Hoya’s face fell when they entered laughing. Julia may have just thought that he was still upset about his father, but that wasn’t what was actually bugging him with this scene. Shelly’s smile was pure and delighted as she looked at Dongwoo. She leaned on his shoulder while she laughed with all of her might. Dongwoo was leaning forward while he laughed; his face coming suspiciously close to her chest.

            “Shelly!” Julia shouted with her best leader face on. It reminded Hoya of Sunggyu. Except with Julia there was that feminine sass that almost made it scarier. Her hands were on her shapely hips and she tapped her foot impatiently. Hoya thought she would make a great mom some day.

            Shelly stopped in the doorway when she finally noticed the others. She took the glasses off in a hurry and tried not to look at Hoya as he still sat defeated on the floor.

            “You are not to leave here without my permission again! You can’t be running around a foreign city with no phone and no one there to help you get home! I don’t know what you were thinking. Now go to bed,” Julia shouted as she pointed towards her room with a scowl.

            Sunggyu found her temper tantrum amusing as did Dongwoo, but Shelly was very serious.

            “I’m sorry Jules. I won’t do it again,” she said quietly. She moved towards the room, but stopped to look at Hoya when she was closer to him.

            “It didn’t go well did it,” she asked quietly, but everyone heard her. Her eyes that were smiley a moment before were now full of genuine concern for him.

            He didn’t have time to respond as Julia marched up and pushed her towards the room. Julia came back a second later still fuming. She thanked Dongwoo for finding her cousin and bringing her back in one piece. Julia's hands were still on her hips and her face still scowled down at the floor.

            Sunggyu couldn’t seem to control himself anymore as he stood up and threw Julia over his shoulder. She screeched out and kicked her feet while he brought her towards his room. Before they dissappeared her protests had turned to giggles.

            Their lust for eachother would have disturbed Hoya if he thought they were actually going to do anything more than make out. Woohyun was in that room too after all. For Hoya, even though Julia was older than him and was a mother figure to them all, she had always also been like a little sister to him. He was most protective of her out of all the members. Seeing someone think about her lustfully bothered him even if it was just Sunggyu. Even though, he was not only her fiancé but a person Hoya trusted fully to never hurt her.

            Hoya looked to Dongwoo’s face and tried to decide if he saw lust for Shelly there. He couldn’t tell, but the thought unsettled him more than anything else had during that whole terrible day.