Our six months anniversary crept up right before the holidays. I had been spending less and less time at home after my mom found about my boyfriend and more and more time at Sehun’s place. There was no need to pretend now, anyway. Mom could disapprove all she wanted but nothing was going to change.

Originally, I had wanted to plan it, to fly us out of the country for two or three days, maybe to Taiwan or Thailand. However, Sehun was determined not to use my parents’ money. 

“Let’s go back to Jeju,” he suggested one night, out of the blue. We were cuddled into a back booth at our favorite coffee shop, me doing homework and him alternating before reading a book and watching me. 

“Jeju?” I repeated.

Sehun set down his paperback and nodded “It’s where we first really met and got to know each other, right?”

“And had our first kiss,” I added with a laugh.  

He smiled fondly at the memory, reaching forward to steal a sip of my cappucino. That was how, a few weeks later, Sehun and I were stepping out of the plane in Jeju. I was wrapped up in a blue cardigan and warm scarf, and Sehun was sporting a blue windbreaker and beanie. 

“Did you notice that we match today?” he asked, studying our reflection as made our way to luggage claim.  

“It’s kind of cute, even if it was on accident,” I laughed. Finding our bags, we headed out of the airport and into a waiting taxi that would take us to Sehun’s house. Even though I had been there before, I was a lot more nervous this time. 

“What if your dad and stepmom don’t like me?” I asked. “Then we’ll have two sets of disapproving parents and - ”

“My stepmom already has a good impression of you and it’s going to be okay. My parents...aren’t like yours.”

“Thank god,” I replied with an eyeroll, “or we’d be in big trouble.”

It was chilly in Jeju, with strong winds that blew my hair all over the place. It was still a nice change from Seoul, where it had been raining and snowing for the past two days, resulting in sludge and mud everywhere.  

This time, when Sehun led me into his house, his stepmother was waiting to greet us in the hall. 

“You remember Naeun, umma” he said gruffly, pulling me to his side. 

“Of course I do,” she replied, smiling at me. “Except I very clearly remember you two telling me that it ‘wasn’t like that’.” I couldn’t help but blush. “It’s okay,” she continued. “I saw this coming. I felt like there was some chemistry here last time, and I was right.”

“Ummmaaaa,” Sehun whined, hiding his face in his hands in embarrassment. 

Just then, a man came down the stairs peeking into the hall with interest. “Sehun-ah is back?” he asked, then saw me. “Oh, hi. You must be Naeun.”  

“Kris has told us all about you, since Sehun won’t,” she continued. “He’s being very protective.”

“I wonder why,” Sehun glowered.

His dad just chuckled. “I’ll go grab your bags from the taxi and your mom will start on something yummy for dinner. Sehun-ah, why don’t you show Naeun around and give her a tour of the house?”

I’d already seen the living room and kitchen on my last visit, but Sehun to