Hyomin’s

       When I opened my eyes, I realized I cried myself to sleep last night. I looked at the clock and it was 7 in the morning. I stretched a little bit before I grabbed my cell-phone on the bedside table. There was a missed call and a couple of texts from Sunny. He was worried. I sent a text telling him not to worry and asked if he want to meet up today. I didn’t feel like spending the day with my parents at home.

         He didn’t reply right away. Maybe he was still asleep. I put the cell phone back on the bedside table and rested my head on the headboard of the bed.

         Last night’s event came to my mind again. My dad’s questions to be exact. ‘So you don’t want to marry this guy? You don’t want to build a family with him?’

         Honestly, he was the first guy I fell in love with and I could imagine spending the rest of my life with him. So of course, I did want to marry him. I did want to build a family with him, to have little Sunny and little Hyomin running around the house. But did he want all that with me? 

         There’s a knock on the door and my mom’s voice came, “Hyomin-ah, are you awake?”

         Did she want to scold me too like daddy did last night? I grabbed my pillow and hugged it, “Yes, mom. Come in.”

         She came into my room and smiled at me, “Good morning, dear.”

         A smile? Well she told me her way and daddy’s way of showing their love were different, “Morning, mom.”

         She sat at the edge of my bed and faced me. 

         “So...”

         I looked at her, “So?”

         “You want to talk about last night?”

         I heaved a sigh and looked down, “What’s there to talk about?”

         “Well first of all, your dad. You know that he’s just worried about you, right?”

         “He shouldn’t. Sunny is a good guy, he has manners, he’s smart, and you heard him last night, mom, he makes me happy.”

          “Is that enough for you? Just being happy with each other?”

         I knew exactly where this conversation going. I hadn’t answered her when she spoke again.

         “Don’t you want to marry him?”

         I looked up at her.

         “Sweetie, you’ve been dating him for 2 years, but he haven’t even thought about marriage nor his future.”

         “Mom, he just starts his college. Of course he hasn’t think about those stuff yet.”    

         “And how about you? Didn’t you think about it already? About marriage and having family?”

         “I.... I did.”

         “The two of you haven’t talked about it?”

         “No...”        

         She looked at me with unreadable expression on her face and then she exhaled.

         “Sweetie, you know how it was to be in college.”

         “I know, mom.”

         “You didn’t think about settling down back then, did you?”

         “No.” I only thought about having fun back then.

         “You know that your boyfriend is going to get through that phase, right?”

         I closed my eyes, “I know.”

         “Being tied down to someone and having a family is probably still a far away thoughts for him.”

         I opened my eyes and looked straight at her, “Mom, I know for sure that he’s the one I want to marry.”

         “And you’re willing to wait until whenever he’s ready?”

         “Yes.”

         She scooted closer and held my hand.

         “I just don’t want you to get hurt, dear. I don’t want you to be blinded by this happiness that he gives you now.”

         I leaned forward and hugged her, “Thank you for worrying, mom. But I’ll be fine.”

         I knew from the beginning I started to fall for Sunny that our would be a problem. I always shrugged it off before, but now I guessed I couldn’t ignore it that easily anymore.          

Sunny’s

         “Good morning, sleepyhead.”

         “Morning, mom.”

         My mom was reading the newspaper on the table while my umma was cooking.

         “Morning, umma.”

         “Morning, kiddo. What do you want for breakfast?”

         “I don’t think I’ll be having breakfast at home.”

         My mom put down the newspaper to look at me properly and my umma turned around from the stove.

         “You looked neat. Going somewhere?” my mom asked me.

         “Yeap, I’m having breakfast with Hyomin. Can I borrow your car?”

         “Whoa! Wait a minute. That means yesterday’s meeting with her parents went well?”  

         My smile turned into a frown right away. With that, both of my moms knew exactly what happened.

         “Oh, dear. I’m so sorry.” My umma said with a concern look.

         “But the two of you are... still together, right?” my mom asked me.

         “We are.” I gave them a tight smile.

         My umma turned off the stove and asked accusingly, “She’s not breaking up with you over breakfast, right?”

         She’s not, right? She told me not to worry, though. But she told me not to worry over her condition. Not about our relationship. Honestly, I was really scared. I told you that her parents’ blessings were crucial, right? Now that we didn’t have it, I was afraid that she would end everything with me. I could say I’ll fight for our relationship, and obviously I would. But it’s also her decision, right? What if she chose to end it with me?

         I guessed I was spacing out for a little bit because my umma was now standing in front of me.

         “Hey, you know there’s still a lot of fish in the sea, okay?”

         My mothers loved Hyomin, but they told me one day our would become an issue. At first, my umma was not really delightful when she knew that Hyomin was already working, even more she’s going to become a CEO. She even thought that I was being a gold digger. But I told her that I really loved this girl and I never let her paid our dates. She finally relented but told me nevertheless that relationships were not as easy as it looks, there would be bumps and I needed to prepare for the worst. The worst was coming now.

         “I know, umma.” I gave her a kiss on a cheek, “So, can I borrow your car?”

         “Sure.” She smiled at me and went back to cooking. I gave my mom a kiss on the cheek too before I went out the house and drove to my girlfriend’s house.

         When I arrived, she was already outside her house. She looked as breathtakingly as usual. I unlocked the door and she hopped inside the passenger’s seat.

         “Good morning, beautiful~”

         “Morning.” She gave me a small smile and she looked troubled. This was not good.

         I leaned over to give her a peck on her cheek, but to my surprise, she turned her head and kissed my lips instead. In an instant, her hands were on my face, pulling me closer and kissing me harder. I kissed her back just as intense. Who was I to complain?

         After a while, we broke the kiss. She retracted her hands but her eyes still shut while gaining her breath.

         I started the engine and asked her, “Is everything.... okay?”

         She nodded and opened her eyes to look at me, “I just didn’t want to see my dad today.”

         “He’s not really fond of me, is he?”

         “No.” she answered honestly.

         “How about your mom?”

         “She..... understands.”

         “She understands?”

         “She’s okay with you and me, with us.”

         “Well that’s good.” I tried to smile at her.

         She smiled back at me.

         “How about us then? We’re really okay? You’re not.... you’re not going to break up with me, right?” I couldn’t hide my insecurity over this. If she wanted to break up with me because her parents won’t give us their blessings, then there’s nothing I could do about it.    

         She looked at me with wide eyes. I looked away from her. She hadn’t answered me. Was she having second thoughts about us? I fidgeted nervously on my seat. Ugh why was I so nervous?! She’s going to break up with me, wasn’t she? What should I do now? I could feel sweats started to form on my forehead. The hell?! Was the air-conditioner not working properly? I started to wipe the sweats with the back of my hand when I heard her giggling.

         “I’m not breaking up with you, Sunny-ah.”  

         I felt relieved and exhaled, “You really love to torture me in agony, huh? Why can’t you just answer me immediately?” I whined.

         She kissed my cheek lovingly and whispered in my ear, “You’re my cutie stallion. Always will be.”

         I grinned widely. She sat back and started to buckle her seatbelt.

         “Let’s go now. I’m hungry~”

         “Yes, ma’am.” I started to drive with still a wide grin on my face.