The One with Mrs. Kim and a Drunk Surprise

Irene couldn’t swallow how much she looked like she was in a movie right now. She couldn’t fathom how much the food sitting in front of her cost, and she certainly didn’t care to know what year the champagne that bubbled in right now was. She stared around the ridiculously decorated patio dining area, where it felt like she should be in a weird cross of classical Roman pillars meet nineties chic. They were sitting on paisley pink seat covers and the table was a weird cross of wicker and plaster.

She felt like running away, but Joonmyeon was sitting rather close to her, holding her hand, and would glance at her occasionally as he his mother were discussing gossip in the inner circle, all the meanwhile his brother, Siwon, was replying to emails or text messages, a grim expression on his handsome face. She glanced at the pool that she couldn’t believe had two dogs floating on floaties with sun glasses, the trickling sound of the mini waterfall nearby.

Irene woke up this morning with intentions of cleaning her apartment when instead she was welcomed by the sight of her soulmate rifling through her closet, pulling out a pink striped skirt with a pink sweater, telling her to get dressed because he had a surprise for her. Of course, like the lovesick fool she cursed herself to be, she went along with it, especially when he kept making a point that it was to be a surprised. However, the surprise was short lived because the first minute she heard his mother speak, was also the very minute she realized she rather be stuck doing in school weekend suspension duty.

She didn’t find many faults with Joonmyeon’s mother; she looked rather young for her age and she was dressed rather well. She didn’t try to act too young, nor too old, and she spoke rather well, however there was one thing that Irene didn’t like that prevented her from joining in the conversation and that was the constant discussion on marriage.

“So, has he proposed yet?” Mrs. Kim looked at Irene, with excitement and curiosity sparkling in her eyes as she leaned in a bit, “I mean, you two are soulmates, so why wait?”

Joonmyeon cleared his throat, warning his mother, “Mother…”

“What?” she waved him off, “I mean, why wouldn’t you say no?”

Irene pretty much kept her lips shut tight because she was pretty sure she would have panicked if she had to. Instead she looked at her soulmate with pleas in her eyes, which she was thankful he understood rather well. “Mother… we haven’t really discussed the topic—”

“Which only means it did come up at one point!”

Irene didn’t want to admit that even his mother got on his own nerves, but it was oddly refreshing to see both Joonmyeon and his brother sigh in exasperation. “Mother please, I’m pretty confident you’re making Irene very uncomfortable.”

Then Mrs. Kim looked at Irene with a bit of a pout and eyes that looked like she was about to tear up. Irene began to wonder if Mrs. Kim was the eccentric and dramatic type of mother. “Am I?” she asked, “Am I making you uncomfortable?”

Irene didn’t want to answer, instead crawl under the table and hide, but she couldn’t stop her expression as she bluntly told the woman, “Yes.”

Siwon was the first to laugh as his mother’s eyes widened, obviously not expecting it, before she sat back in her seat and sighed, “Excuse my behavior then, Miss Bae. I’m just so excited for my son to have met his soulmate, I just got carried away.”

Irene nodded, pushing some hair back as she stared at whatever colorful concoction was on her plate, pretty certain it was cold by now as she didn’t even touch it. She squeezed Joonmyeon’s hand and asked the mother where Mr. Kim was now. Unlike how she originally thought the father died, he was just across the globe for a business trip.

When Mrs. Kim asked what her parents did for a living, Irene noticed Joonmyeon’s interest in the topic. He