"I told her not to, but she still did. And now, look at what happened?!"

My hands gripped the hem of my Bermudas tightly as the man flared up, and his wife hurriedly rushed after him after shooting me an apologetic look.

I kept my eyes on the mug placed in front of me, occasionally scraping my knee against the edge of the coffee table to physically remind myself of the fact that I'm in Suzy's house.

Again.

"Oh my gosh, Suzy! You brought him!"

"Did I have a choice when you practically threatened to disown me..." The daughter muttered grudgingly under her breath as she gestured me to enter.

The moment I stepped into the household, I was being ushered away from the one person I know, towards a room where several men and women were seated at a long table set in the middle.

"Take a seat, young man!" The woman who opened the door when Suzy rang the doorbell directed to an empty chair and I sat down shyly, my hands immediately flying to my thighs as I straightened my back.

"Mum, you're scaring him."

Suzy waltzed in, having changed her clothes. She took the chair next to mine, and I realised how close the furniture have been placed. At least ten adults sat around the table, all elbow-to-elbow, or rather shoulder-to-shoulder for the men.

The woman, whom I identified to be Suzy's mother, bustled in and out of the room as the other women occasionally got up to assist her.

I pointedly glanced sideways at the girl, who was humming a familiar song as she drummed her fingers on her exposed lap. I swiftly turned my head away, the sight of her pale thighs firmly etched in my mind even though they're out of sight.

I felt her lean towards me as her mother placed a large bowl of kimchi on the table, bypassing the space her daughter made.

Our elbows touched, and I gulped at the contact for jolts of electricity surged through me. Figuratively, of course.

"Son, are you alright?" A low voice came from the other end of the table and I snapped my head towards the man, who had a concerned expression on his face. "You don't look too well."

Suzy scoffed, a sound that I didn't know the girl was capable of since she seemed so demure and all.

On second thought, I don't think I know her well at all.

And did that man just call me... Son!?

"Dad, he's fine. Strong as a bull, alright."

A mischievous smirk crept onto her father's face. "And how would you know he's as 'strong as a bull'?" His fingers quoted in the air, and the room fell silent for a second before the adults burst into laughter.

I blinked rapidly, not getting the joke and neither did Suzy, since she stared at her father puzzledly.

"Stop teasing your daughter and her friend, you dirty-minded father." Her mother entered, hands empty at last, and she settled into the last empty seat beside her husband. "Let's get dinner started, shall we?"

And honestly, it was a dinner I might never want to remember.

"He's gone and thrown himself at his daughter." The woman entered the living room, her eyes rolling. "So don't worry alright, Mark-sshi?"

"Please, just call me Mark." I stood up, proceeding into a ninety-degree bow. "And I'm sorry but, honestly, I'm more worried about Suzy."

She sat down next to me, hands clasped and brows furrowed. Her eyes refused to make contact with mine even though I keep trying to catch them.

"Why wouldn't she respond when I kept calling her...?"

Her fingers tapped on her knees as she finally let her eyes rest on mine.

"She's... experienced this before. Way before we moved here, before she met you." She unclasped her hands, pushing the mug towards me. "Y-You haven't taken a sip out of this y–"

"I'd rather hear about Suzy, if you don't mind." She seemed taken aback by my sharp tone and I hurriedly added, "I'm sorry, but it's just..."

The woman chuckled, pushing her hair, straight and sleek, behind her ears. Now I know where the girl inherited her gorgeous locks from.

"I thought you wouldn't care, no offense." She put her palms up, an apologetic expression on her face. "Suzy always talks about you during dinner time but a few days ago, she stopped. When we asked her about you, she kept quiet and wouldn't budge. That's when we knew something must have happened between the both of you."

"She... talks about me...?" I stared at her, bewildered.

The woman nodded, a small smile playing on her face. "But enough about that, I haven't told you what happened to her before we moved."

I leaned forward, ears perked and my hearing heightened.

"And the reason we even moved here in the first place, was because of her."

"U-Uncle."

The man slowly turned his head to me, as I silently and cautiously crept towards him. Seated by the edge of her bed, he carefully got out of the chair and gestured for me to take over.

“N-No, you should sit.” I motioned towards the chair, and a small smile formed on his face as he took the seat again. “But, thank you for the kind gesture, sir.”

The one-sided conversation lapsed, as silence ticked by rather excruciatingly. I thought of words to say, but decided against them for her father seemed to have to no interest in striking up another dialogue with me. He had his attention solely on her daughter, who was still unconscious, laying on the bed like Sleeping Beauty.

I stood behind him, eyes flitting here and there, but never staying on a single object as they would always find