THE SMILE on Minjoo’s face just won’t falter after she saw the results of her last term as a freshman. This is just a complete reverse of her first semester’s grade. Her eyes glimmered at the very moment she saw her average grade.

4.0

It is the first time in her life that she got such a high grade. She thought that her family would be very shocked if they heard the news and she was right. Her father even stuttered a lot and asked if she was telling the truth. He even almost cried after the truth sank in while her grandparents who were behind her father during the video call are already rejoicing and thinking about the food they are going to prepare for the celebration.

That was the very first time that she contacted them to talk about her grades. She didn’t even dare to tell them that she almost dropped out of school because of one failed subject and it had been a really long time since she last called them. It was always through text since she doesn’t want to make them worry.

She also saw her mother in the background and it made her feel at ease. She seems like she’s making progress since she does seem like she’s gaining weight. Her face still has no expression but just seeing the improvements with her physical appearance puts Minjoo at ease.

“You seem to be in a very good mood.” Yujin suddenly commented. The two are currently having their dinner that is of course prepared by Eunyoung. Minjoo’s smile widened even more. She just couldn’t hide how happy she is for her good grades.

“Is that about your marks?” Yujin asked, which was then answered by Minjoo with a nod.

“I know getting good grades is not new to you so you might not understand but I am really happy that I passed with such good grades. This just means that there is no need to go to school this winter break.”

The girl then happily took a sip of her kimchi stew before continuing. “I am really glad. I just can’t explain it. But I really have to thank you for this, Yujin. It is all because of you.”

Yujin felt her shoulders broaden. She tried to calm herself or else she might spit something weird again. “I-It’s not because of me. It is all your hard work. Don’t give credits to others.”

Minjoo chuckled. She was a bit surprised by that humble answer but she chose not to mention it. “I’m just giving it to you because you deserve it. If not because of you then maybe I was not able to make it this second semester and most probably I would be wandering in the streets this winter.”

Yujin cleared . She wanted to smile but she might seem arrogant. She tried her hardest not to show how glad she is for being praised by Minjoo but the other girl can totally see through her. “I-I am glad to be of help.”

Minjoo’s phone suddenly got a notification from a messaging app. She immediately viewed the message and Yujin couldn’t help but to be curious. Just who would be texting her girlfriend at this time during vacation.

“Oh, it is Sakura!” Minjoo snickered and showed her phone to Minjoo. “She sent a picture of her and her cat. It seems like she’s enjoying her vacation back in Japan.”

“Ah… Miss Big Ears.” Yujin felt at ease after knowing that it was just Sakura. “I bet she’s still having delusions of Professor Lee, hoping that vacations would end soon so she could see her soon.”

Minjoo faintly shook her head. Sakura is really head over heels over the said professor that she even blackmailed Yujin to help her with her advancements. She threatened to tell Minjoo that she eavesdropped on the conversation between her and ex as if they were watching a movie. Now Yujin is caught in the trap and has to help Sakura get into a date with Professor Lee next semester.

“She does seem to enjoy her stay at her home. It must be nice to see her family after a long time but I heard she will be back soon.”

Yujin scoffed a bit. “She went there during summer vacation. Four months is not a long time.”

Minjoo just shrugged her shoulders and said a cute, “Maybe.” before continuing with her food.

The heiress secretly watches Minjoo as she eats. It seems like she wanted to say something but just couldn’t find the right timing to say it. Looking at how their conversation was going, Yujin brought up what came into her mind.

“By any chance, do you want to go home?”

Minjoo turned to Yujin in a snap. Her face is clearly asking how the great Ahn Yujin found out what is on her mind. Yujin just smiled at her.

“Don’t look at me like that. Answer me.” She said before taking a bite of her egg roll.

“W-Well… After the conversation that I had with my family earlier, I suddenly got the urge to see them, especially my mother.” Minjoo looked at Yujin, averted her stare then back at the girl again. “I-I was just thinking if you could let me visit them. Two or three days would be okay. But if it’s lengthy for you then even just one day would be fine.”

There was a long silence from Yujin that made Minjoo a bit nervous. Hopefully she didn’t spoil the mood. Irritating Ahn Yujin is the last thing she would ever dare to do.

“Fine.” Finally, a word from the heiress. “But we would have to bring our books”

A smile was then drawn back on Minjoo’s face but it was suddenly changed by a curious face. “W-We? Are you—“

“Of course, Minjoo, I will be going with you.” Yujin casually wiped the side of her lips with the table napkin. “I can’t let you go alone. I can’t even have you out of my sight for so long.”

The other girl flushed at the statement of the heiress. She wanted to run on Yujin’s side of the table and hug her. “Thank you, Yujin!”

“There’s nothing to be thankful about.” She smiled. “I also want to send Eunyoung-imo for a vacation. I think this is a good chance for me to see the old sculptures in Gyeongju.”

Minjoo became even more excited now that Yujin is going with her. She just couldn’t wait to introduce her to her family. She’s really curious how her mother will react after seeing the girl. She also wants to show Yujin what kind of life she has in her hometown.

“Let’s see. Maybe we could leave the day after tomorrow so we could properly prepare our stuff. I will book the KTX tickets tonight. Going by car would be hard work.” Yujin rose from her seat. “I will just check the clay that I am drying. I will meet you at your room for English class.”

She gave Minjoo a pat on her head before going to her workshop. The beautiful girl is delighted. She really didn’t think that Yujin would let her go home and would ask her to just study the whole vacation. She’s right to conclude that Yujin still has her human side and she knows it very well. She’s just not really good at expressing herself.

“It would be a big surprise for them!” Minjoo chuckled to herself as she finished her food.

MINJOO’s father froze for a good ten seconds after hearing what his daughter said. He looked at his parents and he could see the shock painted on their faces as well. He couldn’t ask them if what he heard was right since both of them have hearing problems due to old age.

“M-Minjoo…” He called out to her daughter who was sitting beside Yujin that time. They arrived in the house in surprise and the whole household was filled with joy until the time Minjoo introduced the person she came with. “Minjoo, c-can you repeat what you said, honey?”

The daughter turned to Yujin as if asking the other lady if she had said anything wrong. Both of them just shrugged their shoulders and then looked back at the family who was sitting on the opposite sofa.

“Uhm… This is Ahn Yujin…?” Minjoo said, trying to recall the things that she said a while ago.

Her father frantically nodded. “Yes, yes! And then after that?”

Minjoo squinted a bit and continued. “This is Ahn Yujin, my girlfriend.”

“Oh my!”

The whole household was suddenly in chaos after that one, repeated statement. It was quite a scene and Minjoo started panicking because the whole family was making embarrassing reactions in front of her girlfriend.

“A-Appa… Halmoni... Haraboji…” She tried to calm them down but the chaos died at its own pace. They all became quiet in sync but their faces still look terrible.

“But what happened to Se-an-gun?” Her father asked which was followed by tons of other questions from the grandparents.

“Girlfriend? Maybe Minjoo is just referring to a friend that is a girl!” The grandmother shouted which brought hope to the family.

“You’re right! The Minjoo we know is so in love with Se-an-gun and the other guy feels the same, right?” The grandfather seconded. He likes the boy for his granddaughter since he witnessed how much he treasures Minjoo while they were in highschool.

A smile was then formed on the father’s face. “Of course, Minjoo who went to SKK University just to be with Park Se-an. The miracle of love can’t just—“

“Appa, I’m sorry but me and Se-an-oppa broke up right after I visited him in the service to tell him about the news. I thought that it would disappoint you all about what happened so I pretended that everything was alright…”

Minjoo’s father’s shoulders dropped. There is no hint of lies in Minjoo’s words. His daughter isn’t the type to play pranks with her family as well. She and Se-an broke up and Minjoo is now in a new relationship—with a girl.​​​​

He turned to Yujin who doesn’t seem to understand why they are reacting that way as if the reason is not obvious. Kim Minseok gave out a deep breath. There must be a reason why Minjoo is now dating a girl. He just couldn’t jump into conclusions and be angry.

“You surprised us a lot, Minjoo…” He said with a trailing voice. “Your name is Ahn Yujin, am I right?”

“Yes.” Yujin answered with the usual confidence that she has. “I am Ahn Yujin. I am also from SSKU and I am majoring in BS Mechanical Engineering and BA Sculpting.”

Minseok’s lips formed a perfect circle. “Two majors at the same time?”

“Yes.” Yujin answered with a nod. “My father’s choice was mechanical engineering while my passion is sculpting.”

“I see…” The Kim patriarch thought aloud. “Why does it feel like your name is familiar?”

“I think it is because I came out in a lot of interviews.”

Minjoo suddenly turned to Yujin. She doesn’t want to bring out the story of Yujin being a child prodigy, especially about the power of her family but the Ahn heiress takes pride in her family. She never shows shame whenever she talks about her family even if her parents are divorced but Minjoo never heard any praise about Yujin’s mother. Yujin’s heart belongs to her father.

And there goes Yujin’s talk about her and her family, on how she was renowned as a talented sculptor at a young age and how her father revived the automotive company that has been passed from generation to generation.

Those who ate listening to her story are slowly being taken aback. Even Minjoo’s grandparents seemed to have hearing improvements because they could clearly hear every word that came out of Yujin. Their expressions clearly show how amazed they are for the girl.

After Yujin finished her introduction, they all slowly turned to Minjoo in great synchronicity and as if on cue they asked, “How did you get in a relationship with someone like her?”

“Eh?” Minjoo just laughed at that question. Well, she kind of expected that her family would react that way. How on earth did she even bump into someone like Ahn Yujin? As a habit, Minjoo lowered her head. “W-Well… I guess it’s—“

“Because she is very special.”

Minjoo felt her heart skip a beat when Yujin suddenly spoke. The next moment she found her girlfriend’s palm on her head, basically telling her to raise her chin up.

“I believe Minjoo is very special. The moment I saw her I couldn’t erase her off of my mind after that.”

Minseok was taken aback. He cleared his throat before talking. “Of course, no one in this family is clueless of that fact. We all know that our Minjoo is very special but…” He paused and took a deep breath. “Do you still like her even after knowing her social status? We are not an elite family or anything near it. You can see the situation in our house. Our family is nothing compared to your clan.”

Yujin gave out an assuring smile. “I like Minjoo the way she is. There are things that need to be improved but there’s nothing that I need to remove from her. I like her the way she is now.”

The whole household was suddenly silenced. Even Minjoo was left with her jaw hanging. Is this really the Ahn Yujin that was used to deny her in public? Nonetheless, she is really happy about this Yujin. Minjoo raised her head up and looked straight at her family.

The Ahn heiress finally felt at ease after seeing Minjoo’s confidence back. She held the girl’s hand and looked back at Minjoo’s family. This action kind of shook not just the family but Minjoo as well.

“If you think that there are a lot of things that she lacks, I want to be the one to fill them.”

“Ahn Yujin, that’s too much!” Minjoo immediately pulled her hand and gave Yujin a soft slap on the shoulder. The other girl just looked at her, asking if the line that Sakura-sensei taught her was wrong.

Minjoo was flustered but the smile on her face caught the attention of her family. For the first time after a long while she smiled like this because of someone else. Minjoo used to isolate herself especially after what happened to her during her last year in highschool. There was even a time that it was so hard to bring her out of her room but here she is now clearly having fun.

“Did you come here to ask for my daughter’s hand in marriage?”

Minseok could only smile to himself for that sudden question while shaking his head. The two immediately blushed. He stood up from his seat and excused himself so he could prepare the lunch for the two. He felt a bit excited to make food for his daughter again and for the girlfriend that she brought home.

Everyone suddenly fell silent when Minjoo’s mother, who had been there all the time, stood up from the seat that was only prepared for her. Without saying anything and without any facial expression, she went straight to the kitchen ahead of her husband.

Shock was written all over everyone’s face and looking at all those faces made Yujin remember that Minjoo’s mother is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. She remembered the story that she heard from one of her sources. Minjoo’s mother suffered miscarriage while Minjoo was on her second year in middle-school. Losing her triplets was too much for her that it caused selective mutism. She has been speaking so rarely since that day of miscarriage.

She never showed interest in anything, it was too hard for her to move on which caused her to lose her job leaving only Minjoo’s father at work. It became really hard for their family to deal with her mother’s medication so they had to sell their house and moved to Minjoo’s grandparents’ house.

This is the very first time that she moved from her seat without any foreign force. She did it by herself and is now headed in the kitchen to prepare a meal for her daughter.

“Eunjoo…” Minseok, still b