Waning: Has not been beta'd or edited.

When it comes to meeting parents (or, future in-laws, as some would put it) Song Qian doesn’t have the best tolerance for the anxiety.

“Does it have to be now?” She asks Siwon, taking in deep breaths to soothe herself.

Siwon quirks an eyebrow at her and laughs. “It’s not like you haven’t met my family before.”

And it’s true. Years and years ago, Song Qian paid Siwon’s house a visit when he offered to help her study before a test. The other time was when his family was going through a financial crisis; she came home with him after school along with a few others of his friends to help him pack some things because his family had to downsize their house.

“I didn’t really get to speak to them back then,” she defends herself.

He just smiles. “You’ll be great.”

Although they haven’t technically been “dating” for very long, Siwon figures that they’ve known each other long enough. In all honesty, Siwon wants to introduce her to his parents as soon as possible—on one hand, he wants them to stop rushing him about being married, on the other, he doesn’t want her to feel alone in the city.

If anyone could help him take care of her, it would probably be his mother.

“They‘ll love you,” he adds, pinching her chin between his fingers and pulling her to face him as he speaks. “Everyone loves you.”

She pouts, swatting his hand away from her chin but quickly grabbing his hand with her own, winding their fingers together and holding it nervously. “They better.”

“You’re a professional when it comes to socializing, aren’t you?” He teases. “You’ll be fine.”

He’s definitely right about that. Even if she didn’t like socializing much, her career practically forced her into becoming an expert socializer. “But it will be different with your parents.”

“What’s so different about it?” Siwon asks. “Just be yourself.”

Though she has more to say, her cell phone rings in her purse and she reaches for it. After reading the name on the screen, her eyebrows furrow and she immediately answers it.

“Hello?”

Seeing the worry in her expression, Siwon slows down the speed of the car and listens quietly.

“Injured?” She scowls while her eyes are narrowing. “How did he— …Is he alright?”

Just when Siwon is about to ask what’s wrong Song Qian switches the phone from one ear to the other and appears rather annoyed.

“What do you mean he wasn’t supposed to tell me?”

Her tone of voice is entirely different from before, which is probably a good indicator that she’s speaking to someone else now.

“Don’t you know that I’d be even more worried if your manager didn’t tell me and I found out on my own later on?” She interrogates.

“Wu Yifan, you’re too old to be this childish!”

“I don’t care how severe or light your injury is; I have the right to know! If anything happens to you—”

“Don’t talk to me like that! Give the phone back to your manager.”

Siwon bites down on his lip, never having seen Song Qian so angry before in all the time that he’s known her. Extending a hand over, he pats her knee in a comforting manner.

As though suddenly remembering Siwon is there, she turns and smiles at him weakly.

“I want you in Beijing as soon as possible. Let me know when your flight will arrive and I’ll pick you up at the airport.” She demands. “You can’t work with an injury anyways so just think of this as a vacation.”

Silence.

“Me? I’m going to Siwon’s home…”

Siwon freezes up.

“What for? What else do you think?”

Why does Siwon feel like she’s suddenly speaking to a child? It must be his imagination.

“Okay, you’ll get to meet him when you’re here. Take care of yourself. I’ll see you soon.”

Yeah, definitely a child, he thinks. “Is everything okay?”

She nods, stuffing her phone back into her purse and sighing. “I’m just a little worried.”

“Well, I’m a doctor, so if he needs any medical attention, I’m always available to you.” Siwon offers.

“That’s right!” She exclaims, jumping in her seat and turning towards him.

Siwon laughs. “You forgot?”

“For some reason, you’re still just a high school student to me.” Song Qian chuckles while reaching over and running her fingers through his medium length hair.

He takes her hand and holds it down on his lap. “Sit properly.”

Song Qian rolls her eyes at him but does as told, her smile as sweet as sugar on her lips.

“I knew that any average woman wouldn’t be able to have a son as amazing as Siwon. Aunty, really, Siwon’s description of you cannot even begin to convey your beauty!”

Siwon is a little dumbfounded at how easily and naturally Song Qian is now mingling with his parents, especially after how nervous she had seemed on the ride over. To tell the truth, she probably got along with them better than he ever has before and though that’s not very hard, it is still very surprising.

With the biggest grin, his mother reaches for Song Qian’s hands and cradles them in her lap. “If I had known Siwon had such a nice girlfriend all along, I would have told him to bring you home long ago!”

Suddenly, his mother turns her eyes on him and narrows them into a glare.

“Why didn’t you tell us?!” She demands.

“I—“ Siwon is about to explain but, honestly, he’s not the best liar.

Sensing his hesitation, Song Qian immediately softens her eyes into a small apologetic smile and says sweetly, “oh, Aunty, don’t blame Siwon! I’ve been out of town for years and we’ve been relying on internet and sns to stay in contact. We only started dating recently, honestly, and long distance relationships are unstable and hard to maintain so it was only right for Siwon to have kept it in the dark until we were established enough.”

Very legit, Siwon thinks. She’s a little too good at this for his own comfort.

“Even so…” Mrs. Choi grumbles, squeezing Song Qian’s hands. “You must have had a hard time living alone.”

Song Qian shakes her head. “Not at all,” she denies, “Siwon has taken good care of me, even if he wasn’t able to stay by my side. I should be apologizing for not being able to take care of Siwon for you while he was studying so hard in school.”

“Don’t be silly,” Mrs. Choi tells her, “Siwon can take perfectly good care of himself!”

Nodding, Song Qian agrees with her heartily, “Siwon is really very good at everything he does. His capabilities must have been inherited from his parents!”

Despite feeling as though everything Song Qian said was a bit too cheesy for his taste, Siwon couldn’t help but feel his heart skip a beat when she smiled along with his mother so naturally and then a strong wave of relief when his mother seemed to be so happy and so at ease with her.

Relief; was that the correct term?

“Aren’t you going to ask about Wu Yifan?” Song Qian asks him later that night, while Siwon is driving her back to her dorm. She had a few glasses to drink at his parents place and although she’s not exactly drunk, she’s not in her clearest state of mind, either.

Siwon place his index finger on his lip, making a hush motion at her with his eyes fixed on the road.

Song Qian pouts. “Tch, men.”

“What?” He laughs, glancing over at her.

Yet, she tilts her head to the side and stares outside of the window into the long stretch of night. Neither of them speaks another word until the car comes to a full stop; she doesn’t feel as though she has enough energy to unbuckle her seatbelt and leave the car.

“You’re really not going to ask?” She repeats herself.

Siwon crosses his arms over his chest. “You said you’d tell me when the time is right.”

“But aren’t you curious?” Song Qian frowns. She struggles to break free from the grip of the seatbelt to no avail and watching her flustered with flushed cheeks and slight irritation the brink of her eyes brings a smile to his own.

Leaning forward, Siwon releases her from the shackle and quickly slips his fingers to the back of her neck, pulling her forward until their lips meet.

They melt into the kiss, breaths hot and minds hazy and blurred.

He says, “I am more curious about how you’ll be spending tonight without me.”

Bold. His words are bold, but she doesn’t dislike them. It’s the first time he’s speaking to her like this—like a man to his woman. “D-do you want to come upstairs?”

He stares into her eyes, firmly, reassuringly, and they are so deep and so wonderful to stare into.

“For coffee or something?” She adds, sort of stumbling over her words.

Siwon laughs. “I’ll you home.”

So he gets out of his car and walks to the other side, smiling to himself as he opens her door and she hops out, head hung low so that he cannot see just how blushed her face is at the moment.

Song Qian tries to walk ahead but Siwon grabs her hand and pulls her back, forcing her to walk at his own pace; they walk slowly, solidly, and every step he takes beside her leaves a deeper imprint of him in her mind.

She can literally gradually feel just how much he weighs in her heart.

If time could stop at this very moment, maybe that wouldn’t be so bad.

“The two of you walk really slowly.”

The voice causes them both to turn around, vision meeting with a tall and lean figure not too far off behind them.

“I didn’t mean to kill your moment but I’ve been sitting in the rental car for almost an hour and it’s getting cold.”

As the person comes closer, Siwon recognizes the face he’s seen on so many magazines. Only, now, there’s a cast on his arm and a bandage on his cheek. “I thought you said it wasn’t serious?” Song Qian frowns.

He smirks. “My injury isn’t serious but yours is. I’ve never seen you so shy and timid before, and all just because of a kiss. What are you—a teenager in love?”

“Wu Yifan!” Song Qian scowls.

Siwon pats her on the head and smiles at Wu Yifan politely. “Nice to meet you, I’m Siwon.”

And the young man smiles back with friendliness that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Same to you; I’m Wu Yifan.”

“I’ve heard about you,” Siwon comments.

Wu Yifan’s smirk grows wider. “So have I, and for a very long time, too.”

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A/N: ^______^ I'm glad you're all liking this! Yay for sweet Wontoria? hehe. ♥Xue