If Moonbyul had to come up with only one word to describe how dinner was going, she would choose ‘uncomfortable’ without a second thought.

Honestly, she had expected it. It was obvious that Solar’s parents, -more like Solar’s mother- weren’t going to like the news. But maybe she wasn’t as prepared as she thought she would be.

No, there weren’t screams nor insults. In fact, Jiyoung was being extremely polite. But it didn’t change the fact that her words were laced with venom. She kept dropping seemingly inoffensive cutting remarks concealed under fake concern.

And Moonbyul could do nothing but nod and pretend she accepted Jiyoung’s words with gratitude.

She was thankful for Yonghee and Solar’s cousins, who tried to carry a proper conversation with her and asked questions with honest curiosity, trying to change the topic every time Jiyoung said something with a second meaning.

Not much could be said about Jungho as he focused on the food and kept quiet most of the time except for the few times he would steal a glance at them. Moonbyul caught him looking a few times, but he always looked away.

Sighing inwardly, Moonbyul had no choice but to power through and hope it would get easier for them, because as much as she tried to be patient and ignore all the jabs, she had a limit.

Solar wasn’t a fool. She noticed how frustrated Moonbyul was becoming by the second. To whoever who didn’t know her they would only see her polite smile and pleasant replies, but Solar saw beyond that. The way her jaw remained clenched, or how her knuckles were white because of how strong her grip to the cutlery was.

For her it wasn’t that hard to pretend because her mother’s comments were nothing new. She was sadly used to it after so many years living with them. Even when she finally moved out she had to deal with them through the phone. Yonghee and she were almost immune. Almost. They still hurt sometimes.

Both tried their best to lay low for the rest of the night and only spoke whenever someone asked them something. It helped, but they still couldn’t help but feel relieved when dinner finally ended.

After helping with cleaning the table, Minji approached them while Sunghoon talked to adults, entertaining them before bidding their goodbyes.

“We are having a party tomorrow at home. Mostly with Sunghoon’s friends as a pre-wedding get together, but friends from our school will come too.” She explained quickly. “You guys should come. I don’t think your girlfriend will last another entire day without blowing up at your mother, and as much as I’d love seeing that, I don’t think it’s what you want. Or need.” With an amused smile, Minji took a quick glance at Moonbyul –who blushed at the friendly jab- before focusing on Solar. “Besides, it’s been years since the last time you met with our friends from school Yongsun, I’m sure they’ll be glad to see you.”

Moonbyul noticed how Solar tensed up at the mention of those schoolmates. Remembering the talk they had that morning at the beach, she supposed they were the same people who basically ignored her during her school days.

Still, Solar nodded, accepting the invitation. Probably because what Minji had said about Moonbyul and her parents was true. Besides, facing people from her past when she had Moonbyul by her side didn’t sound as bad.

“We’ll be there.” Solar confirmed with a smile, suddenly looking forward to it. It could be fun after all. They must have matured with the years, so things would probably be different.

“Perfect, tell Yonghee that she’s welcome too.” Returning the smile with a pleased look, Minji winked at them and left their side to say goodbye to the rest.

As soon as the cousins left the house, Solar said goodnight to her parents with the excuse of being tired after their trip. Before they could even reply, Solar grabbed Moonbyul’s hand and urged her to follow her to the second floor and her room.

Once they were in the safety of the bedroom and the door was closed, they let themselves relax for the first time in hours.

Moonbyul grabbed her pajamas from the suitcase that remained unpacked while Solar dropped face down on her bed and let out a tired groan.

“I suspected this was going to be tiring, but not this much.” She complained, her voice muffled by the mattress.

Amused but as tired, Moonbyul patted the back of Solar’s head with her free hand. There wasn’t anything else to do but to endure it all. Soon it would be another day and they would spend it away from Solar’s parents.

“I’m gonna change, I’ll be right back.”

Moonbyul took her time at the bathroom. Noticing the bags under her eyes in the mirror, she tried washing the signs of fatigue away to no avail. At that point only a good night of sleep could help with it, but somehow she doubted she would be able to relax properly in that house.

She left the bathroom after changing her clothes. The door to their room was opened and she assumed Yonghee was there to say goodnight, but after getting closer and listening to the voices arguing she realized how wrong she was.

Weirdly enough, her first thought was about feeling relieved for having brought some new pajamas instead of her usual worn out oversized shirt and shorts.

“Mom, you can’t be serious.” Solar’s desperate tone signaled that the discussion had been going on for a while. Probably since Moonbyul left the room. “Is this your way of getting revenge because I’m dating a girl?”

“Gender has nothing to do with this Yongsun. It’s a matter of respect.”

“Respect? Please, I’m almost 30 years old and I can’t sleep in the same room as my girlfriend?”

“Yongsun…” Jiyoung’s warning tone could probably intimidate anybody.

Seeing that none of them were about to give up and before the argument could escalate more, Moonbyul decided to make her presence known and intervene.

“It’s okay.” She cleared when their stares suddenly focused on her. “I’ll sleep somewhere else.”

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