I was nervous. The last social gathering I had been a part of hadn't gone very well. Himchan's tidbit about Jinyoung sending me back still made it hard for me to sleep at night. I didn't know how long it took for them to come get me and that was terrifying. They could be waiting for us when we got back to the house. 

Jinyoung didn't seem nervous. He was driving with ease and the headache that usually plagued him didn't seem present. 

He was wearing denim and a blue checkered polo. It looked incredible on him. I, on the other hand, wore a loose fitting beige dress. The car stopped and Jinyoung leaned towards me. I held my breath, still too aware of him after what happened in the kitchen.

 "Relax. This won't be like the other dinner party. These are good people. We don't have to put on a show for them." 

That meant he didn't want me playing the part of his wife. In this instance I was just a woman meeting his friends. It hurt, but it was better than any other alternative.

"I understand."

We stepped through the doors and the smell was the first to hit me. It wasn't a bad smell just strong of liquor. This wasn't the usual place Jinyoung went and that had me almost hyperventilating. 

Just what kind of friends were we meeting?

What if he tricked me and this was the drop off for unwanted wives? My knees instantly locked. 

Jinyoung kept going, not realizing I had fallen behind. I couldn't move though. Fear had frozen me in place.

I watched him greet two men before realizing I wasn't by his side anymore. The tall one with long hair spotted me first and I wanted to duck and hide.

Tears were threatening to fall.

"Wait, Shin Woo. I got it." A woman stepped in front of the tall one. She smiled comfortably at me. "It's alright." Her hands gripped my shoulder and she leaned forward. She whispered in my ear, "no one is taking you. Don't worry." 

The one she called Shin Woo smiled down at me. He didn't seem malicious but rather warm instead. Almost like a panda bear.

"You must be Jiyoon. We've heard about you."

"It's about time!" Someone shouted and I squeaked when a body plopped over me.

Shin Woo laughed. "Enough Sandeul, you're scaring her."

"Mian." He stepped back far enough to get a good look at me. "I can see why Jinyoung Hyung hasn't brought you around!" Sandeul bit his lip and whistled. A choking sensation filled me and I went rigid.

"Alright. Alright." My husband pushed through. "Let's go sit down."

A woman, with wide shoulders and a square face grabbed Sandeul's ear. She was hissing something at him while he just laughed and kissed her fingers apologetically. Shin Woo wrapped a hand around his wife's waist as we walked to our table. Jinyoung was physically only a foot away but emotionally he was on another universe. I wished he would hold me too.

I sat in a seat while the waitress took our orders. As always Jinyoung answered for me.

"Jiyoon, is that what you want?" Startled I turned to Shin Woo's wife. Now that I wasn't freaking out I realized that I recognized her. Before mentioning that though, I turned my attention to Jinyoung. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"What would you like to eat?"

I blinked. He had never asked me that before. Honestly, I didn't mind him ordering for me. Sometimes I didn't like what came but I ate because I was grateful. I had to be careful how I answered this question. In the past, Jinyoung got aggravated whenever I would go with his opinion. He wanted a woman who thought for himself.

Not knowing what they served I requested the first thing I saw on the menu, sea food hot pot.

"Yeah! Make that two!" Sandeul shouted.

The rest ordered and I leaned toward Shin Woo's wife. "You're Hyunjung."

"Yes I am. How..." She took a sip of her water.

"You were top rank