The air in the restaurant felt sticky and hot, from the moment you stepped inside you wished you could run back outside. But the door was barricaded by the man walking behind you and you were sure he was never going to let you leave. Besides, the waiters were already looking at you as if you were the person who was going to pay their electricity bills for the rest of the month, they wouldn’t be happy to see you slip away. Several people were dining in this enormous place, where huge aquariums were filling up the empty spaces, giving you the beautiful view of fishes and other kinds of sea animals. You remembered you had once been here as a child and you had been so amazed by all the different colors and sizes of these animals. But your parents hadn’t allowed you to get up from your chair to look at them. No, a girl with good manners didn’t occupy herself with such things. Now, after all these years, you still weren’t able to keep your eyes off of them. “Look at that one over there, it’s swollen like a balloon.” Baekhyun muttered inside of your ear when he noticed what you were looking at. A smile traveled onto your face when you realized he was simply playing along, trying to distract you to calm down your nerves. No one else seemed to have time to look at the beautiful scenery, but you thought it was like a work of art. You could look at these kind of things all day long, and it wold never get boring.

Two people dressed in plain white shirts and black trousers came over to accept your coats and you instantly felt as if you had given away a layer of skin. Maybe he had been right, maybe your dress was showing off too much. It didn’t take long for you to spot your parents, your mother had already stood up from her chair to welcome the two of you. Her eyes were slipping over you, as if she was judging every little detail you were showing off. At the end it seemed like she approved because her smile grew wider as she waited patiently for the two of you to arrive at their isolated table. It seemed like they had planned for no one to be able to eavesdrop your conversations, and you immediately felt suffocated. Whatever they were willing to talk about tonight, it wasn’t going to be something anyone else was allowed to hear. Just that small fact was enough to make your heartbeat increase. They were always perfectly prepared for events and you wondered what they would do if things would escalade tonight, they probably already had a plan B in mind. “Welcome, it’s so great to see both of you. It’s been too long sweetheart, look at how beautiful you’ve become.” She said that every single time even though you were sure your outlooking appearance hadn’t changed over the past two years. You hadn’t even changed your haircut, still she always used that sentence, and it annoyed the hell out of you. 

While she embraced you softly and applied two soft kisses on your cheeks, your father shook Baekhyun’s hand. Your dad looked as if he was greeting an old friend, Baekhyun looked as if he expected your father to give him an electric shock with the slightest touch. It seemed as if he was just as worried as you were, only he was better at hiding it than you. The two of you switched places and you gracefully stood right in front of your father, making you tilt your head so he could kiss your cheek. “We’ve been here for ten minute or so, so we already ordered. I hope you don’t mind.” He said, and by the sound o this voice you could tell he was slightly pointing out that you were five minutes late. He wasn’t going to say it out loud, but you knew him long enough to know what he meant without him saying the words. Unknowingly you cringed, knowing that you had already disappointed them before diner had even started, and much worse was yet to come. A large hand soothingly pressed on the spot in between your shoulder blades and you looked up to see Baekhyun giving your parents a confident smile. “I’m sorry we’re late, _______________ still had some school work to get done and I thought you’d find her education important. After all her illness caused her to get behind on some courses and she is trying so hard to get back on schedule.” In the blink of an eye your parents suddenly seemed fine with it all, he had immediately been able to make the two of you look less guilty. Why weren’t you able to do that? 

“Of course! I almost forgot, how are you feeling honey? I’m so sorry I didn’t get to call you, you know how that goes. We’re so busy these days, but you’ll be pleased to hear that business is going outstandingly great. We’ll be adding some extra money to your account real soon.” This time you could see your partner’s face tighten because of your mother’s words and you quickly flashed her a smile before you walked towards your chair and sat down across of her. A glass of water was already served for you, while Baekhyun got a glass of whine. You weren’t even sure if he liked it, but he didn’t complain as he pulled out the seat beside you and settled down. “