Andy and Janine had left already which made Sooyoung so sad that she even cried. Even then, she got busy on her other projects too. Everything reeled back to normalcy after a few days. The weather starts to get cold as the spirit of winter and Christmas filled the air. For the month of November, it’s  still early to wish for snow.

That night Kris and Sooyoung sat side by side on the love chair on the front porch, sharing a blanket to warm themselves.

“Oppa, I wonder how does your grandparents are doing now. I mean, I only got to meet them right after our wedding day. Isn’t it time for us to pay them a visit?” she asked, leaning closer.

“You want to meet them again? I thought you looked so scared when you first saw them?” he smiled at her.

“Well, that’s because you guys are yelling at each other in Chinese which scared me to the bones,” she pouted.

“Why would you want to meet them again?” he asked.

“To get to know them. You get to be close to my grandparents so isn’t it time for me to be close to yours too?” she looked up at him with blinking puppy eyes.

He felt uneasy and was not able to answer for a while. She sighed when she saw his reaction.

“It’s okay if they can’t come over or I can’t get to meet them. I understand their busy schedule,” she stated.

The sadness that laced her words made him sad too, making him pull her even closer, kissing her forehead.

“Don’t worry, I will make ways for you to meet them again,” he assured her as she wraps her arms on his waist.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Kris ended the call and started to pace back and forth his study room. There is so much to worry about and here goes his wife looking for his grandparents and his mother pestering him about babies and grandchildren, as always.

‘What’s with Umma and her sudden craze for babies?’ he thought.

 He took a seat on the chair behind his study table as he massages his temple from much work at home and at the office.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

“Noona, there’s a delivery for you,” Tao moved to let the girl get to the delivery man standing behind the large oak double doors.

After receiving it, both of them eyed the white box wrapped with a velvet pink ribbon. There was also a note on it which read.

I hope I get to have dinner with you and my grandson tomorrow night. It’s been a while.

Then it was signed with a neat ‘Grandmother.’ It made her think, ‘How did he make her agree that fast?’ she mused as Tao removes the lid of the box, revealing a lavender long gown.

“Noona, are you attending a party?” Tao asked.

“I don’t know. Kindly call Kris for me, I need to talk to him,” she asked as she moves inside to place the present on the living room.

It was after a while before Tao handed her the phone, “Hello?”

“What made you call?”

“I received a package from your grandmother, are you aware of that?” she asked.

“Yeah, I had received her call already.”

“Are you sure it is fine with her? I mean I just get to ask you last night and then here goes this invitation,” she sounded doubtful about the whole dinner thing.

“Why are you doubtful about it? I happened to call her earlier this morning to ask her about it and looks like luck was on our side since she is currently here in Korea, so might as well grab the chance before she flies back to China.”

“I see and I’m sorry if I doubted your grandmother. But then, I must say she has high standards for letting me wear a dress for just a simple dinner.”

“She wants everything formal. She may want everything prim and proper but she is actually a warm person once you get to know her so don’t fuss about how you should act and such. Forget what had happened way back in China, she was just testing you, okay?”

“Arasseo, so what would you want for dinner?”

“I thought Kyungsoo will do the dinner tonight?”

“Well, we will be doing it together,” she rolled her eyes as she listens to whatever dish he said.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sooyoung was getting more uneasy as Chanyeol drives the car to the hospital. It’s already four in the afternoon when she asked him to drive for her.

“Noona, why are you going in a rush to the hospital? Did one of your friends happen to have injuries or got hospitalized?” Chanyeol asked feeling uneasy too.

“Oh, it’s girl stuff. You would not understand,” she replied biting her lower lip.

“Does hyung knows that you will be going to the hospital today?” he asked again.

“Aniyo. It is an emergency situation so I will just tell him tonight when we go to that dinner,” she replied.

“Noona, I am amazed and wondering as well as to how hyung managed to convince his grandmother to have a dinner with you. I mean, we only got to meet her once and all of us swore not to wish on repeating that experience.”

“Why is that?” she asked.

“His grandmother is the epitome of a prim and proper evil queen, if you get what I mean. The dinner we had was done in silence and she keeps on noticing every little mistake we commit from holding the spoon down to how to respond when you are asked. None of us had our fill that night. It’s good that we have Luhan and Lay who seems to have passed her standards or else we will all be kicked out of the house that very moment,” he narrated and rubbed his other arm who supports the driving wheel as goose bumps appears on it.

She was speechless and left to wonder as Chanyeol parks the car on the empty lot. Together, they went down as he follows her to wherever she is going. Once in a while, a fan would ask for her autograph or have a picture with her or give her gifts. Good thing he had with him his camera that he gets to capture sceneries he finds worth capturing. They stopped on a door with a gold plated sign on the door that read:

Dr. Shin Ha Ni

Obstetrician-Gynecologist

He may not be a girl but he knows well what this doctor does. He just followed her inside as he took the seat nearest the door while Sooyoung proceeds on the desk opposite them. Just in time, a lady in white coat appeared from the door on the far left, wiping her hands with a cloth.

“Oh, Miss Choi Sooyoung, or should I say Mrs. Wu Sooyoung?” she smiled at Sooyoung who returned the gesture.

That very voice and smiling face sent Chanyeol to cloud nine. Her beauty immediately radiated with the white atmosphere. Everything started to go in slow motion as his mouth slightly parted with that love struck expression. ‘Damn! She is so beautiful,’ he thought, a faint smile forming on his lips with visions of the doctor walking near him, bending over and whispering, “Can you please buy her some pregnancy test kit?”

‘Her voice is so soothing and she even asked me to-‘ his thought was cut off when he snapped back to reality.

The said doctor is really standing in front of him with an amused expression sending blood to attack his cheeks.

“Kindly buy her a pregnancy test kit at the end of the hallway on the left, will you?” she asked again. He smiled sheepishly and gave a nod as he moves outside to get what she had asked him to buy.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Dr. Ha Ni is aware of the clicks of the camera as she moves about her office while waiting for Sooyoung to emerge from the restroom. She ignored it as she continues on arranging stuffs and filing some papers on her file cabinet.

“Ha Ni,” his voice made her turn her head only to be caught off guard from the click of the camera. He smiled afterwards which made her blush too. She just smiled and bowed her head to hide it.

“Has anybody told you that you are beautiful?” he asked, leaning by the door while scrolling the photos on his camera.

“I am actually wondering what made you say that,” she replied as she moves back to her desk.

“That would only mean that you never had a boyfriend before eh?” he looked at her.

“Jumping already to conclusions?” she raised a brow, a grin plastered on her face.

“So can I ask you on a date then?” he asked immediately which surprised her. ‘Man, I am sounding weird and desperate here,’ Chanyeol thought after realizing what he just said.

It took her a while to respond, “I am a busy person and besides I just met you so how can I be sure that you are not a kidnapper or some sort?” she was amused at his expression after she said those words.

“I am not a kidnapper or a criminal. You can even ask Sooyoung noona for that,” he raised his right hand which made him look so childish making her chuckle.

“I will think about it.”

Sooyoung finally emerged from the restroom. Dr. Ha Ni immediately went to check on her. She gave a sad smile as she hands the kit on the female doctor. Dr. Ha Ni gave her a hug when she saw the results and guided her back to the desk as she works on her prescriptions.

“You are just stressed which caused the delay of your period. Take this and maybe a day or two, your period will come,” she handed her the paper but Sooyoung just gave another sigh.

“I know you want to have a baby as most wives would want but then I guess this is not yet the time for it,” she reached to hold her hand in assurance.

“I’ll leave then. I still need to prepare for a dinner date with my husband’s grandmother,” she bowed her head and headed on without even waiting for Chanyeol.

Before he left the office, he left a paper on her table with his digits and leaned forward to surprise her with a kiss on a cheek and rushed outside, leaving a blushing doctor.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

“Noona, what’s that stain on your dress?” Chanyeol pointed out as they are walking up the front porch. She heaved a sigh again, “I haven’t had any of this medicines and this freaking period comes on the way,” she replied, more to herself than to Chanyeol and proceeds to get inside, ignoring the boys’ reaction when they saw her stained dress.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

By around 7:15, Kris’ car stopped in front of another large mansion with Victorian styled fashion. He opened the passenger door and helped her as she looked up at the mansion which looms over them.

“Oppa, you mean this is your grandparent’s house in here?” she asked as he guides her up the stairs of the front porch.

Kris had his black suit while she wore the lavender long gown which was delivered for her. It fits her perfectly, the straps holding, fit on the waist to emphasize her figure with a few intricate designs at the hem. She matched it with white heels and a diamond pendant.

They were welcomed by a maid who guided them to the living room where they were asked to wait as his grandmother was being informed of their arrival. After five minutes of uneasiness, there goes the same old woman, looking so prim and proper with the white corporate suit she wears with skirt. Her hair is held back tightly in a bun, a pearl necklace and pearl earrings completes the look. ‘I look too formal,’ she thought as they stood up to welcome her.

Just like way back in China, Kris reached to give her a kiss but this time made the old woman smile as she moves to give Sooyoung the same gesture.

“Why are you so stiff my dear?” she asked after giving Sooyoung a kiss.

Sooyoung just gave a smile, getting tongue tied already.

“You are probably still on a trauma from what happened in China. I am so sorry my dear; it was just a surprise for us to get to know that our only grandson is getting married already. My husband is not around since I am the only one who went in here to deal with those business matters. Please, make yourself at home,” she smiled warmly at her which made her relax and wonder at the same time.

The next thing she knew, they are already talking about Sooyoung’s job and all about her. The woman was indeed very welcoming that she can’t even miss the pace of the conversation even when they are on the dining hall. She was so happy while she is telling Sooyoung about her younger years and all which made her laugh along with her. They even had tea right after dinner by the living room, not stopping from the conversation.

“So when can I expect a little Kris or a little Sooyoung?” she smiled at the couple while sipping her tea.

Sooyoung blushed as Kris groaned, “You are very like Umma. She keeps on bugging me about babies too.”

“Well, that is natural about having a married grandson,” she chuckled at her grandson.

Right after their tea time, she followed the couple to the front porch as they are about to leave. Before they went down, she gave Sooyoung a tight hug, “Take care of him and please always think that whatever he does is for your own good,” she whispered before giving her grandson a hug too.

While they are on their way out, a smile never left her lips. “Your grandmother is actually cool,” she remarked.

“I told you. You don’t have to be so frightened and all,” he replied as they made a turn to the highway.

“Then I guess the boys are so wrong about judging her. Chanyeol said they had a frightful experience when they had a dinner with her,” she looked at him.

“That’s actually to test how far you can go, but then when I asked them to have dinner with my grandparents again, they all refused like I am offering them the way to their own grave,” he chuckled.

“That’s ridiculous,” she laughed along with her.

She was just surprised to feel his hand hold hers, “Sooyoung,” he called her attention, but then his eyes is still on the road. She looked at him expectantly, ‘Finally,’ she thought.

“Please always remember that whatever I am doing is for your own good, okay?” he said which made her heart drop in disappointment. She was expecting something.

“You mean so much already that I can’t imagine something bad will happen to you,” he added, his voice suddenly sounding scared. The car stopped on a red light which gave her the chance to let him look at her as she cups his face.

“Oppa, as long as I am with you, nothing will ever go wrong. We may fight and exchange hurtful words but then that is normal for married people. Don’t worry, I will always keep myself safe and you promised me eleven knights aside from your protection right?” she smiled before pecking on his lips.