*The primary language for this chapter is English unless Korean is indicated with this

“Yongguk?” Rian had managed to sneak past her parents bedroom because she wanted to talk and check on Yongguk just to see hwo he liked his first day around her family. Honestly she wasn’t sure whether or not her family would accept him or not. The only relative she knew of whom had dated someone not black had been her older sister Karter when she was in High school and everyone treated him like he had the plague for some reason. She didn’t want to tell Yongguk because he had been pushing to meet her family for some time and she felt maybe it would be this different this time.

“Yes Ma’am?” Yongguk replied.

“It’s me silly not my mother.”

“Sorry you both share the same voice.” Rian sat on Yongguk’s bed as he unpacked some of his belongings.

“Really? Think so?”

“Most definitely. I almost said something really inappropriate when she asked me if I wanted anything for dessert after dinner.” Rian playfully hit him in the side.

“Good thing you didn’t. Then my dad really would've had a hard time liking you.”

Yongguk sighed.

“What's wrong love?” Rian questioned.

“Nothing it's just that your dad is really far from liking me.”

“Don’t say that he hasn’t had a chance to develop an opinion of you yet. He can’t not like you.”

“Yeah and he can’t like me either.”

“There is a method to him determining if he likes you or not.”

“What is it?”

“I can’t tell you what it is. I dont even know what it is. But Karter said that when she was introducing her husband to dad for the first time he had some weird method to determining if he liked him or not.”

“You saw the way he looked at me when he opened the door. You would've thought I had two heads and three arms.”

“It wasn’t that bad. It was just that he didn’t expect you to be… ya know”

“To be what?”

“Asian.” It was as if with each statement Rian made Yongguk’s face became more and more confused.

“You told me you were joking about that?”

“I was but you remember how my sister was talking to you earlier today?”

“Yeah”

“Well my sister thought your voice was really deep. Like too deep to be asian at least and told everyone that I was dating a black guy.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes. We were talking about it when you went to the bathroom.”

“You were talking about me?”

“Yup. They said if they had known your ethnicity they would've learned some phrases to make you feel more comfortable.”

“Really? That makes me feel more relaxed.” Yongguk began to sit up and feel a bit more confident.

“You should be.”

"I mean if they didn’t support this relationship they wouldn't want me to be comfortable right?” Rian sat so that Yongguk was now facing her and held him by both his shoulders.

“You probably thought they would disapprove because you weren’t black but as long as our feelings for each other are genuine they won’t mind. When you've been treated badly, disregarded, and disliked because of how you look all your life you know the feeling and you hate that feeling, so it doesn't make sense to express that same distaste towards someone else. No worries.” Rian gave Yongguk a shoulder hug, a kiss on the cheek, and stood to leave.

“Besides even if they did disapprove it doesn't matter. There is only enough room in this relationship for two people; you and me... Now imagine I just dropped the mic as I exit.” Rian then turned to make her way out the room.

“Rian.” exclaimed after her.

“Yes.” She called over her shoulder.

“I love you.”

Rian was completely caught off guard by those words. She didn’t expect him say anything let alone those words.’They had coined the term, ‘love’ whenever they called after each other sometimes. It had been the first time he had said those words to her, in that order, and she wasn’t expecting it at all. She was going to respond when suddenly she heard her father calling for her from somewhere within the house.

“Rian! You better not be in that boys room!”

“I-I-I have to go.”

Rian felt a feeling of relief seeing as she was ‘saved by the yell’ of her father that is. If he weren't she isn’t sure what she would’ve said, if she were to have said anything.Yongguk watched as Rian nearly tripped over her own feet as she ran out of the room. Yongguk wasn’t sure what that meant but he was trying to reassure himself that it was a good thing and not a bad thing.

‘She would've said it back if her dad hadn’t called, right?’

‘She clearly shows she loves me through her actions.’

‘she invited me to see her family so there must the love involved in that.’

‘Does she think of me as more than a puppy love?’

‘She was just nervous.’

‘Did I say it in english? Maybe I said it in Korean and she did not understand?’

Yongguk’s mind went rampant with these thought all night and he stayed up all night trying to comprehend her actions. He finally settled on the idea that as soon as the opportunity came that he would ask her what exactly her feeling for him were.