“Remember babe…” I face him to me and look into his eyes intensely “Keep your mind open…don’t scare the poor boy and our daughter…talk like a normal Father not a possessive kind of Father…this is going to be so awkward and tensed but let’s just think that this is an experience we’ll never forget throughout our whole existence”

I’ve never been so nervous for a stranger but my nerve’s shooting up for Ryu. The poor boy, he better prepare himself for Kwon Jiyong’s craziness.

Thankfully, Jiyong is in the mood to be open-minded and kind. Well, he’s naturally open-minded and has a very kind heart but Ryu is kind of different for he’s like a rival to my husband, a competition. I know where he’s coming from. Isabella is one of his most treasured jewels, someone who he will not give away easily, and because of that, the young boy really have to work hard to get her from him.

Our wonderful husband-wife talk lasted only for a few minutes, and when we come out of our room, the sweet scent of coffee and cinnamon almost made us drool. I walked in the kitchen with Isabella and DK in front of the stove, wearing aprons while whispering to each other. They didn’t even notice me coming in and still didn’t when I walk out to go to the dining room where the twin boys and the little twins are patiently waiting for breakfast. As for Danny, maybe he’s skipping breakfast again to finish an assignment.

“OH!” I gasp in surprise upon seeing Ryu sitting next to Karielle who is so focused on the book she’s reading and never giving a damn on the boy beside her.

He stands up and bows respectfully at me. “Good Morning Mrs. Kwon”

“Good Morning Ryu” my voice doesn’t sound scary at all. In fact, it’s so sweet. “Did you have a good sleep?” I ask with a smile on my face.

Kwon Jiyong’s radar is stronger than internet signals for he walked in the room all of a sudden, expressionless. We looked at each other and I tried talking to him through my eyes, reminding once again of what I said just a few minutes ago.

“Good Morning Mr. Kwon” Ryu’s voice sounds shaky all of a sudden.

The tension inside the room can be felt heavily by everybody and it’s really freaking me out for I already buried the possibility of a bloody war in mind. Jiyong promised me that he will behave like a mature adult and I trust his word. Thing is, from the way he looks now, I have a feeling that he’ll bend that promise.

“Where is Isabella?” he asks and the room is still silent. “Didn’t you guys hear me?”

I snap back to my senses. “Ah! Isabella!”

Karielle lifts her head up and sighed heavily. “The Unnies are in the kitchen Dad”

Grateful to my daughter, I looked at her with a thankful smile on my face that she returned with another heavy sigh.

Jiyong headed to the kitchen right after that and the tension in the room finally fades. Ryu is so tensed, the veins on his neck is so tight.

“hmm...”

What to say? Where was I before Jiyong walked in?

Ryu smiles and that sold me. This boy is very good looking. Not only that, he looks so manly, manlier than Jiyong when he was in his twenties (my fellow fan girls will surely agree with me that he really looks like a girl with his feminine facial features and body structure. He even wears women clothing that doesn’t fit in some women at all.)

“Aigoo…you’re very charming…do you know that?” Ooops! Doesn’t this sound weird coming from a woman in her forties? What more is that, she’s the Mother of your date?

HANG ME NOW!

My children seemed to get freaked by what I said too for I received death glares from them. Karielle on the other hand, chuckled.

“Mum…do you really have to say that?” she asks, making me blush when I’m not supposed to be blushing. GOSH!

I clear my throat and smile embarrassingly. “Well…I’ve already said it…so…” How can I even pull myself from this? “Anyway...”

Solution to the awkwardness: Make a U-turn and not go back anymore. Instead, move forward as if nothing happened.

“In behalf of my husband and our friends…”

Apologize. Yes. This is a genius idea to change the topic.

“I’m really sorry for troubling you last night…I know that it’s supposed to be your night but we unconsciously flip things around”

“OH! There’s no need to apologize Mrs. Kwon…it’s all cool with me” he says with sincerity in his eyes.

This boy is really lovely. I totally adore how his eyes give his emotions away. They’re very expressive that you’ll drown in them in just a snap of a finger.

“Pancake ala Kwon for everybody” Isabella is using a different tone of voice. It’s just like mine when Jiyong and I are still dating. Oh well, like Mother, like Daughter.

Jiyong sits beside Miracle and catches Isabella’s eyes the moment his flattened on his chair. He pats the chair beside him and smile at her. Of course, he will not let her sit beside Ryu.

With them facing Ryu and I with Darielle in between us, we started eating. Our children are munching very well while Isabella keeps on looking at me as if she’s trying to tell me something.

I clear my throat all of a sudden, making my husband stop eating and look at me. I turn to Ryu and smile. “Eat lots...I’m sorry that all we can prepare for you is pancake”

“What’s wrong with it?” Jiyong asks in a scary tone. “We’ve been eating this for breakfast ever since I can remember…not only that…it’s not your typical pancake…it’s a recipe the whole family invented”

Back when the kids are still little. We decided to make our own pancake flavor just for fun with the help of Omma and Dami-Unnie. After an hour or two, we made a simple pancake into a crazy one by mixing fruits and chocolates with it. From then on, we make our experimented pancake whenever we feel like it but most especially, when there’s something to celebrate about. It’s kind of a special/celebratory symbol.

“Babe” I raise an eyebrow at him, telling him to shut up or else…

Isabella clears , getting our attention. “Mum…Dad…I’m really sorry for deciding without your knowledge…I promise…it won’t happen again”

Ryu nods. “I’m truly sorry Mr. and Mrs. Kwon for staying here”

Why do I feel like a very bad human being? Like seriously, there’s nothing wrong in letting the boy stay for the night, especially when it’s already too late to go home. Not only that, going home became impossible for him because he helped Isabella to handle us, drunkards, last night.

I pat his shoulder with a Motherly smile on my face. “Don’t worry about it”

Our children and I look at Jiyong at the same time as if waiting for him to say something. He pursed his lips, takes a deep breath and exhaled heavily. “Next time…”

My innards are flipping in anticipation. I wish that he won’t say something ridiculous.

“If you’re going to invite your friend or friends here for the night…don’t give them the room that Ryu slept in”

Receiving weird looks from us, he sighs. “That room doesn’t have a bathroom inside…and the ventilation is not that good as well”

Oh gosh! Kwon Jiyong! You’re driving me nuts! Why did I even think that he’s going to scold or give a sermon?

“Dad” DK burst out laughing. “What was that? I’m expecting you to EXPLODE! But na-uh…you didn’t!”

The rest of the kids burst out in laughter too, as well as Ryu and I. “Wow babe! I never thought that you’ll be so thoughtful”

He rolls his eyes at me and chuckles. “On a serious note…”

Uh-oh.

“Ryu…I just want to clear to you that…even though we let you in our house...it doesn’t mean that you’re already welcome…the whole time we’re watching you yesterday…I can tell that you’re a good boy…thing is…you still have to prove yourself to us…you see…we have a very big family…and we’re so tight…as early as now…I’m already telling you…it’ll take you a lot of people to please before you get Isabella…from her grandparents…to her brothers and sisters…to her Aunts and Uncles…you have to show us that you deserve our baby girl”

DK shakes her head and looks straight at Ryu. “It’s a YG family thing that we absorbed in our family...it’s the same rule YG Harabeoji imposed on the 2ne1 Aunties before…and yeah…it’s something to prepare hardly about because it’s harder than it sounds”

“You’re up to some fight” Russelle whispers too loudly for everyone to hear.

Karielle stops eating and looks to him. “It’s gonna be war”

“We are monsters” Miracle follows and chuckles teasingly.

Isabella and I look at each other and roll our eyes. “Don’t mind them Oppa” she tells him with a sweet smile on her face.

Jiyong’s raised an eyebrow but didn’t talk.

“It’s all good Bella” Ryu says.

“Bella” Jiyong repeats then sighs. “That’s a good grown-up name” he looks at me and I can’t help but laugh at him.

This is totally hilarious! They are teaming up in scaring Ryu when truth is, it’s really easy to get into our big family. The 2ne1 girls’ husbands didn’t even sweat buckets for them to be accepted, all the YG boys asked from them is to sing and dance to Gangnam Style perfectly just for plain fun (they were given an hour to learn it), and none of them perfected it, but they were accepted. The rule is imposed just to scare the men but it’s nothing serious. But of course, it’s a different story once you hurt a member of the family because we’re like bees who chases and stings hard together.

After breakfast, there’s no tension anymore. Jiyong is still distant to Ryu and vice versa, but they are cool with each other. As a matter of fact, I can see a little of Jiyong in Ryu for not being afraid nor shaken easily. Yes, he’s nervous in meeting us face to face, but