A Ghost's Approval (1/1)
A Ghost's ApprovalMinseok lay on her bed talking on the phone to her boyfriend, a blissful smile on her face, “So... does that mean I can come over tomorrow?”
“Sure, if you don’t mind that we have to watch my cousin, Ha-Seon?” Jongdae had responded in an almost distracted tone, but she figured he was probably just playing one of his many Zelda games and didn’t question anything.
“Sure! I love kids, you know that.”
“I know it’s just that…. well, she’s scared off tons of girlfriends for some of my other cousins, so I’m just worried she might scare you off too.”
“Dae, I’ll be fine.” Minseok reassured him as she looked at the clock to double check the time.
“If you say so, I’m going to bed. Swing by at 8?”
“Sure.”
“Alright, night Minnie.”
“G’night.” She smiled as she hung up and put then put her phone to charge. As she nestled herself in her bed, she wondered what the next day would bring.
The door opened to reveal Mrs. Kim, Jongdae’s mother. She looked at the teenage girl disapprovingly, “Good Morning, Minseok.”
“Good Morning, Mrs. Kim” She responded uncomfortably, unsure of what to say. The woman had always been cold towards her despite the fact she had sworn to never do anything that would harm her son. Jongdae quickly came to her rescue with a little girl wrapped around his leg. After assuring his parents that they wouldn’t burn down the house and that they could keep the little girl safe, Jongdae’s parents left the house. When the door closed behind them and they were all sitting on the couch, Ha-Seon was the first to speak.
“So…. you’re Dae’s girlfriend?” Ha-Seon asked as she climbed onto the elder’s lap. Her black hair was tied in two small pigtails and her lavender dress had a floral pattern on it, big brown eyes stared up at the older girl who did not seem affected by the added weight.
“Yup.”
“Have you two kissed?”
“Ha-Seon!” Jongdae interjected in a flustered tone, but his girlfriend only chuckled and said, “A little bit.”
“Don’t encourage my cousin!”
“It’s an innocent question, you worry too much.” Minseok smirked, leaning over slightly to kiss her boyfriend on the cheek, but he was too focused on staring at the only two shadows on the floor.
If there was anything his girlfriend apparently had a knack for, it was dealing with little kids. Jongdae had given up on trying to keep up with the two girls, both of whom acted like children. First there was a tea party, which consisted of him wearing a pink scarf and a crown as he conversed with several stuffed animals about questionable stuffed animal politics- why a four-year-old and an eighteen-year-old thought it was a good idea to bring up things like stuffing-transfusions and limb transplants for plushies… he will never know. After that the three of them decided to play hide and seek, but that ended once Ha-Seon tripped and scraped her knee.
“It hurts.” the little girl sniffled as Minseok cleaned the scrape and put a Band-Aid over it. The older girl kissed the Band-Aid softly before picking the little girl up and suggesting they watch some television, but three episodes later the television was long forgotten as sleep overtook them.
Jongdae leaned against the top of the couch, Pororo was playing in the background and the two girls were fast asleep on the couch. Hesitantly, Jongdae reached out a hand and gently patted his girlfriend’s head, smiling softly. The two had been together for almost a year, half of which they hadn’t been able to see each other because of scheduling conflicts and parental disapproval, which still lingered on both sides. If it weren’t for their perseverance and desire to stay together- things would’ve ended earlier, but to both of their surprise neither of them had left. Nowadays they saw each other more often, but it was mainly because Minseok lived on her own since she was in college and could come visit him on weekends. He hadn’t thought much of it until Ha-Seon came last night, and that’s when he realized that they…. were serious, because the only reason Ha-Seon would be-
“Didn’t I tell you to stop thinking too much?” a voice muttered and Jongdae felt a finger tap his glabella. Startled, he jumped slightly before realizing it was just Minseok and she was smiling at him sleepily. Just before he could respond, a stomach growled loudly and the little girl sat up.
“I’m hungry.” the four-year-old announced, rubbing her stomach with a small pout.
“Want me to fix something up for you?” Minseok offered.
“My parents said we couldn’t use kitchen.”
“No, they said not to burn the house down. That doesn’t mean we can’t cook,” She sat up and pecked her boyfriend on the lips, “it just means be careful and don’t act stupid.”
Ha-Seon nodded in agreement and grabbed Minseok’s hand, leading her to the kitchen. Jongdae only sighed as he followed them to the kitchen were the two girls were discussing what to eat for dinner when the little girl suddenly exclaimed that she wanted to eat macaroni and cheese. In minutes, they had prepared all the ingredients and the water to boil the pasta was beginning to heat up. As they all shredded the proper amounts of cheese according to the recipe, the little girl suddenly said, “Would it be okay if I called you Auntie?”
Minseok looked at Jongdae for permission, before responding, “Sure, why not,” resulting in Ha-Seon smiling widely and humming a happy tune. The boy, despite agreeing, was flustered because if she approved then-
“Alright water is ready,” Minseok poured the macaroni into the water and stirred a pinch of salt into the water before letting it sit, “let’s begin making the cheesy sauce.”
“I wanna see, lemme see, lemme see.” Ha-Seon pleaded, her hands grabbing onto the edge of the older girl’s shirt. Complying with the demand, Minseok lifted the little girl up with one arm and allowed her to hang on as long as she promised not to touch anything or move around.
“Yes, Auntie. Thank you.” she smiled, kissing the elder on the head. As she began to mix the cheeses and several other ingredients together, Minseok kissed the literal girl on the forehead as a way of saying thank you.
“Time to add the macaroni, Jongdae, can you drain the pasta?”
“Yup...here you go.”
“Can you take Ha-Seon while I pour it in?”
“Oooh oooh, can I mix it in?” Ha-Seon exclaimed with glee. Nodding, Minseok handed her a spoon and told her to slowly stir as she herself poured in the pasta. When the stirring got more difficult, Jongdae took over the job.
“Now we let it sit for a bit, will you two set the table? I’ll clean the kitchen.”
A pair of arms wrapped around Minseok from behind as she finally washed her hands after cleaning up the kitchen, she felt a chin rest on her shoulder and lips press to her neck.
“Your cousin is still here.”
“I know, but I also haven’t been able to hug you all day.”
“Cutie.” Minseok smirked as she carefully turned around to face him. Leaning their foreheads against each other, they murmured “I love you” to each other. They pulled away as they heard the front door open.
“We’re home.” Mr. and Mrs. Kim announced before pausing upon closing the door. Mrs. Kim looked directly at the girl whose hand was intertwined with her son’s and narrowed her eyes, “Why do I smell food?”
“We cooked dinner. Would you like to join us? I set up enough plates.” Jongdae responded immediately, tightening the grip he had on his girlfriend’s hand. Reluctantly, his parents agreed.
“Thank you for dinner, Auntie and Dae!” Ha-Seon grinned as everyone settled at the table. Jongdae noticed his parents’ postures stiffen, but he didn’t mention. He did, however, smirk a bit as they exchanged glances when Ha-Seon took her plate and presented it to Minseok, “Auntie! Will you serve me please?”
Minseok smiled softly as she scooped some of the macaroni and cheese into the little girl’s plate and then proceeded to do the same for everyone else. Just as Minseok was saying, “I should warn you all, this is my first time making macaroni and cheese, so I apologize if isn’t that great,” Ha-Seon had already stuffed a spoonful into . Everyone looked at her as she chewed thoughtfully and finally swallowed. A toothy smile spread across her face, “I love it!”
They all began to take cautious bites of the meal, but quickly finished their serving and immediately went for seconds. There was a content silence as the meal was eaten, and at the end of the meal the silence was unexpectedly broken by Mrs. Kim, “Well, thank you for not burning down the house. It would have been a shame to not eat this.” Jongdae looked at his mother in shock while Minseok smiled- if that was the closest she was going to get to a compliment from Mrs. Kim, she was going to gladly accept it, “Thank you, Mrs. Kim!”
After resting a bit to digest, Ha-Seon stood up from her chair and went to look at the clock, “It’s time for me to go home now.”
“Do you need help getting home?”
“No, I can make it across the street on my own.” Ha-Seon said as she began to walk to the door.
“I’ll watch you from the door then to make sure you get home safe.” Minseok insisted as she stood up to walk her to the door, Jongdae picked up the letter left on Ha-Seon’s seat- the two servings of macaroni and cheese on her plate was now cold.
“Auntie, can you promise me something?” Ha-Seon asked as the other girl opened the front door for her.
“Of course,”
“I’ll tell you later, okay?”
“Alright,” The older girl smiled, kissing the little one on the forehead. Standing up she watched as the little girl in pigtails began to cross the street, “Bye, Ha-Seon!”
The little girl stopped in the middle of the street and turned around to yell, “Bye, Minseok!”
At that moment a loud, translucent car appeared, and Ha-Seon looked at it as the vehicle came barreling towards her. Minseok screamed the little girl’s name to try and warn her but it was too late, just as the car hit the little girl, both her and the vehicle disappeared.
“W-what…” Minseok fell into Jongdae’s arms in shock, she looked up at him, her eyes searching for an answer. He led her to the couch and sat her down as he began to explain, “Ha-Seon...is the ghost of my grandmother’s sister who died when she was younger. She comes back to determine whether or not she’ll allow someone to marry into our family because she wants only the best for all of us.”
Jongdae then began to open the letter that was on Ha-Seon’s letter, “She leaves a letter behind with her judgement, and for us,” he reads aloud the letter from beginning to the end as Minseok cried. When he finished reading the letter he looked up at spoke the last line, “and she says, ‘P.S.- Promise me the first daughter that the two of you have is named after me.’ Well, that I shall indeed promise her if you will,” he said sitting next to his girlfriend. Minseok nodded, “I promise,” and reached to hug her Jongdae who complied and held her tightly.
“Well, you can stay the night if you want,” Mrs. Kim said, sharing a content glance with her husband.
“Thanks, Mrs. Kim.” Minseok half-smiled, as she dried her tears.
Somehow, Jongdae had convinced his parents to let her stay in his room. As they both lay in his bed holding each other close, Minseok murmured, “Why didn’t you warn me?”
“I didn’t want to pressure you, besides you looked like you were having fun.”
“I was having fun.”
“Exactly,” he smiled, “now, let’s go to sleep.”
“Mmkay.”
“I love you, Minnie.”
“I love you too, Dae.” She smiled as he pulled her closer to him. Just as they were about to go to sleep, Minseok spoke, “Hey....Dae?”
“Yeah?”
“Does this mean I can marry you?”
DEMONPROCRASTINOTE:
For all it's worth I got a 130% on the assignment cuz more than one page meant extra credit points so woohooo!
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