The moments all seem easy to control, in fact, even feelings seem easy to control but that’s only when they’re thinking over it, inside their heads. Not when they are actually standing face to face with the person as things were different that way.

In that moment, Jiwon stood in front of his parents’ door with his girlfriend, thinking it was easy to announce such thing, just like his brother did. Yes, his brother had no problems in letting his parents know he was dating a girl he actually fell for and loved with all his heart therefore, probably he wouldn’t have problems in saying it, would he?

‘’Mom!’’ he greeted his mother as soon as the door was open. She must have guessed it was her son to come open the door since usually it was their maid who came to the door. The happiness was unable to be hidden over the reencounter. Jiwon hugged his mother, almost crying over the fact she was standing right in front of him whilst Lia watched them quietly, waiting to be noticed as she wished that someday she would be treated the same way as Jiwon was - she wanted to be accepted after all.

‘’Oh! Lia…’’ his mother didn’t seem too happy to see her. Her smile faded a bit as she bowed her head slightly. Jiwon also frowned at the way his mother spoke since she didn’t seem even glad to know Lia was doing well. Lia looked over at Jiwon, feeling a bit bad for joining them when she wasn’t even invited in first place. The male could read in his girlfriend’s face, the guilt. He could almost read her actions. ‘’I just stopped by to drop Jiwon, I wanted to make sure he got here safe.’’ she commented, stepping back as she knew he wouldn’t just let his parents know of their relationship like he promised he would.

His mother was surprised to hear such thing but her smile grew wide over this. Lia just chuckled at this. She used to be part of the family when she was in high school and came over. His mother used to love her company whenever since she was the only female Jiwon ever brought home and she insisted in letting Lia know about that. But things had changed. Those days, marriage was important, even more important than friendship and Jiwon wasn’t going to get married anytime soon. His brother was. ‘’Are you going to a party? You look beautiful.’’ his mother complimented Lia who looked down at the dress she was using, surprised to hear those words.

‘’Actually-’’ she was cut as she was just about to say she had just wore it to try it on and Jiwon rushed her because he was running late. ‘’She’s staying.’’ he spoke, looking at his mother who frowned at her but she quickly shook her hands in front of her ‘’Don’t mind him, Mrs. Kim, he’s just fooling around.’’ she laughed but he denied it and reached for her hand. ‘’She’s my girlfriend, mom. I asked her to come along because she’s my girlfriend.’’ Lia was surprised to hear him admit it in front of his mother who was shocked as well.

The female felt bad over the situation. She was happy he at least admitted it but the moment wasn’t right. She felt like his parents could actually be the reason why he didn’t tell them about their relationship. It was almost like both were disrespecting his parents ‘’Would you like me to leave?’’ Lia asked his mother who looked at her then at her son and smiled slightly, answering her by shaking her head.

‘’Mom...don’t tell dad.’’ he asked as the elder started walking back. His mother smiled a bit at him ‘’I want to tell him myself.’’ he continued but his mother said nothing else. She walked back to where she came from and left the couple by the door. Lia’s eyes only ripped away from the way his mother walked through when she had vanished into the living room. Then, she looked up at her boyfriend. ‘’I should really go back’’ she started, taking her hand away ‘’If your mother reacted this way, your father is capable of just flipping the table if you tell him.’’

Both went quiet but he was quick to push the door so it closed. It only signaled her she was going nowhere. He took long enough to decide to tell this to his father so she couldn’t just walk away. He wouldn’t let her do so. Without any other word, the male walked towards the living room, Lia following him quietly.

His brother was the first to get up upon seeing Jiwon walk inside. He missed his little brother just as much as his little brother missed him ‘’Happy birthday, Jiwon.’’ he chuckled, hugging his brother tightly while his fiancée smiled at their reunion while Lia still felt like she was somewhere in a different universe. She didn’t feel welcomed, she even felt invisible. The family redirected themselves to the dining area where five dishes waited for them in a full table. Five, not six. Lia just sighed quietly and stood by the living room. She had lost her appetite anyways.

Took Jiwon a couple minutes to notice Lia wasn’t there anyways. She was sitting on the couch, staring at her hands instead of on the table, ready to eat. She was even surprised to see the male had noticed she was missing. Once she stopped in front of her, she shared a gentle smile with him. ‘’What are you doing here? Everyone’s ready to eat...we’re waiting for you.’’ he sighed as he held out his hands for her. Lia rest her hand over her stomach, sighing quietly ‘’I’m not very hungry and … yeah.’’ she didn’t find any other words to tell him since she had tried excusing herself more than once.

‘’I brought you for dinner… which means we’re supposed to eat so, we’re going to eat.’’ he forced her to stand up, glaring at her - she was getting him on his nerves that day for some reason. To avoid dragging any more attention, she just decided to follow what he said and sat with them. However, nobody noticed there was no place for her to land her food on as everyone seemed too busy talking about Jiwon’s birthday and his brother’s wedding. Since she wasn’t eating, she found enough time to watch people around her. Jiwon’s eyes were all over his brother’s fiancée, like she was very important in his life.

Everyone was surprised to see Lia standing up so rudely when she didn’t even ask for permission to do so - everyone was still eating so how could she be just so inconsiderate and get up while they were having such a nice family talk? Even Jiwon looked surprised. ‘’Excuse me.’’ he asked, leaving to follow the female who was pulled upstairs in order not to make a scene in front of his family.

‘’What the hell is wrong with you?’’ he asked as soon as the door clicked close. Lia glared at him. He didn’t notice a thing ever since they walked inside, all he could see was his brother’s fiancée. ‘’I know you still have feelings for her but you could at least try not to give it away.’’ she fought back, frowning at the sudden dizzy feeling she got. He scoffed at what she just said ‘’Are you doing this because you’re jealous?’’

‘’Jealous? Jealous, Jiwon? Are you serious?’’ their voices had raised a bit and without her consentiment, Lia had started crying. ‘’Did you even notice how disappointed your mother was when you walked in with me? Or the way you suddenly ignored me when you saw her? Maybe the fact there was no plate on the table for me so I just watched you five eating? I don’t know, the subtle glares I got from your mother?’’ she laid it out on the line for him, making him stare at her confused. ‘’What are you talking about?’’ he frowned at how everything seemed so bad, yet, she just stood there like nothing happened.

‘’I’m going home.’’ she announced, before he could even think of saying anything. In his eyes, she was just acting childish. He wanted to make it up to her but she was making it harder for him to even come up with a solution ‘’Fine, go home, I don’t ing care.’’ he shouted at her who firmly nodded her head and left the room without any trail of hesitation.

She made her way to the bus stop as she felt hungry - she wanted to eat something before heading home. She couldn’t help but feel that maybe Jiwon and her weren’t meant to be. He seemed to be anything but happy over all of it. Her brain was going paranoid over what could be done and what she could actually do with her life when everything seemed so evident. Jiwon was head over heels for someone else. His mother didn’t approve the fact they were a couple and in all honesty things were pretty shaky between the two of them in that moment so the slightest thing would break them apart.

On the other hand, Jiwon was sitting with his family, trying to enjoy the dinner that was ruined, at least for him. Looking to his side, he saw an empty chair and no plate like Lia claimed. She was right. He just didn’t notice those small things she pointed out until now. He was blind. ‘’Well, I… need to fix something so, I should just get going…’’ he sighed, getting up from his chair.

‘’Wait, Jiwon, let’s talk. There’s something important we need to talk about.’’ his father told him. Jiwon frowned but followed him inside his father’s office. The office hadn’t changed ever since Jiwon stepped inside it for the last time. It still had a lot of old books his father never really got his hands on, apart from the ones he actually took some time to read. There was still a dust covered picture of his family over the table and a few files over the table as the maid was not allowed to walk in that office. Nobody was, except for his father.

‘’I’ve been thinking about your future.’’ he started, gaining Jiwon’s attention. The female frowned at how the conversation started. He didn’t like the way the conversation was going. ‘’What do you mean, dad?’’ he tilted his head, rubbing his nape. ‘’I’ve seen you around your secretary a lot lately but I don’t think there’s anything serious going between you and her, right? If there was, I would know by now. I know how your eyes are still over your brother's fiancée…’’ the younger was shocked with what his father just said. He wanted to say his father was wrong but at some point, he was right. Lia and him weren’t that serious because he still didn’t get over his brother’s soon to be wife.

‘’Well, I set you up with my old friend’s daughter. I believe you two do know each other and she seems pretty excited to meet you. I hope you understand this is the best for the company.’’ Jiwon stared at his father, confused with what he just told him. Could it be what he was thinking? Was his father really setting him up? ‘’Do you mean…?’’ he stopped for a second, terrified as he looked at his father who smirked at him, as if confirming his fears.

‘’Your brother is not the only one getting married, next year.’’