“Mom, can I run to the ddeokbokki stall while you shop?” Aaron asked.

Nik scrunched her face and made a face. “Is that all you’re going to buy?” Aaron quickly nodded his head and and his face lit up when his mom nodded. She smiled as she watched her son run off to get his favorite snack. They had been in Korea for about eight months and it was already starting to cool down and a nice pre-Autumn breeze made its way through the market.

Nik made her way along the market, grabbing ingredients here and there and doing her best to haggle with the stall owners, though that was very out of her comfort zone. Aaron called her name, catching her attention. As she turned to look at her son jogging towards her, she noticed an older woman struggling with a box full of fresh and fermented produce. Without thinking, Nik set her own stuff on the ground and ran the 20 steps to grab the box just as it slipped out of the woman’s hands.

The older woman smiled and bowed her head. “Thank you,” she said in English.

Nik returned the smile and bow, and spoke back in Korean. “You’re welcome. Would you like a hand getting this back home?”

“What about your stuff?” the woman asked back.

“That’s what children are for.” Nik smiled happily then turned to see her son already grabbing her previously purchased items from where she had set them down.

“You have a good son. How old is he?”

Nik beamed at the older woman’s praise. “Thank you, he is a very good son. He is ten...ah...Korean age he is eleven. I apologize. I am still getting used to that difference.”

“He’s so tall!” the older woman exclaimed. Nik chuckled and nodded. “His dad must be tall,” she mused.

“I don’t have a dad,” Aaron chimed in from behind them and Nik blushed.

The older woman hummed to herself. They walked in silence for a few moments. She turned her head back towards the young man walking closely behind them. “What is your name?”

“My name’s Aaron, and Mom’s name is Nicole, but she goes by Nik.” Nik nodded. “What is your name?” Nik made a face at her son. “Or, what should I call you.”

“My name is Park Heesook, but you can call me Halmi.”

“Really? Thank you!” Aaron exclaimed.

Park Heesook ruffled his hair, which made Nik have to stifle a laugh because they were about the same height. “You can call me Eomma, if you wish.”

“Thank you, Eomma.” Nik bowed her head and followed her onto the bus. The three took a seat as it took off and continued making small talk for the next several stops. By the time they were getting back off at Eomma’s stop, Nik felt as though she had known the older woman for years.

They entered the apartment complex, which was much nicer than Nik’s small teaching apartment. She tried to maintain some composure, but her son’s head was on a swivel, turning left and right, looking at the artwork hanging on the wall and the taller ceilings.

Eomma’s apartment was nicely decorated, Nik noticed. Not overly done, but very comfortable. She followed Eomma into the kitchen and sat the groceries on the dark wood island. “You have a beautiful home,” Nik said quietly.

“Thank you. My oldest bought it for us.”

Nik’s mouth opened but she couldn’t think of a response so she shut it and just nodded. Instead, she started pulling groceries out of the box and bags, gently folding the reusable bags back up neatly since she didn’t know where anything went. She noticed Eomma watching her and she chewed her lip nervously, wondering if she should go ahead and excuse herself.

Suddenly, Aaron ran into the kitchen excitedly. “Mom, Halbi asked if he can teach me how to play janggi. Can we stay for a while? Please?! I finished all of my homework for the weekend.”

Nik looked from her son to Eomma, biting her lip and fiddling with the bottom of her shirt uncertainly. “Of course you can, dear,” Eomma responded before patting him on the head. “I’ll make the two of you some hotteok, if you’d like.” Aaron nodded enthusiastically before running back out of the kitchen letting Halbi know they were getting snacks.

“Thank you again,” Nik said quietly. “May I help? I’m still learning recipes and I would love to learn any recipe you’re willing to teach.”

“I would love some help. I’m getting a bit old for the trip to the market every week,” Eomma said as she sat on a stool close to the island. She then started instructing Nik on where to grab the different ingredients and cooking utensils they would need. “You don’t have any family here, do you?” She asked as she watched Nik mix the ingredients thoroughly.

Nik shook her head but smiled. “Not by blood. The sahbomnim at the dojahng I work at, him and his family are the closest we have to family here. We haven’t been here very long so we haven’t had the chance to get to know many people yet. We mostly work and go to school, and Aaron goes to dance and voice lessons almost every day as well. He’s making friends there, though.”

“Oh really? Voice and dance, does that mean he wants to get into the KPop industry?” Nik nodded, trying to hide the blush that crept up her face. “What groups does he like? Do you like it as well?”

“We like a lot of groups. We like DB5K and Super Junior. Our favorite is Shinhwa, though.” Nik was trying to hold in her embarrassment.

“Those are his favorites, as well?” Eomma pressed. Nik nodded. “Those are older groups, now.” Nik laughed, thinking about how she was deemed the Old Man Stan with her group of friends. “So who’s your favorite?”

Nik hung her head. She wasn’t embarrassed by her bias, but she still felt awkward talking to this lady that she just met about all of this. “Ah, um...Jung Pil...I mean Shin Hyesung is my favorite.”
“You call him by his real name.” It wasn’t a question, and Nik was unsure how Eomma felt about that. “So do I,” she confessed, and they both laughed as they went back to cooking. “Do you have plans for Chuseok next month?”

“Aaron and I were going to have a small meal at our apartment.”

“That sounds terrible. Come over here. If you come over the day before, I will teach you everything I know.”

“Oh my gosh, that is so kind! Are you sure? I don’t want to impose.”

“Of course. Just bring a change of clothes and the two of you can stay the night.”

That night, Nik and Aaron stayed past supper eating with their new family. Nik and Eomma exchanged numbers as they said their goodbyes at the door.

 

The weeks went by mostly uneventful, except for the weekend. Nik had offered to grab whatever Eomma needed on her weekly trip to the market. The first week, Eomma went with her, helping Nik haggle and showing her how to select the freshest produce. The next week, Eomma let Nik and Aaron go on their own, and then the three worked together as the older woman taught them how to make her recipe for kimchi. Two weeks later, Nik found out that Eomma had an appointment with her doctor and offered to take her so that Appa could take care of some of his business.

Over this time, Nik learned that Eomma and Appa had two sons, the youngest of which was married and had a four month old daughter. The older worked a lot, and Eomma confessed that she was afraid he was going to die alone. Nik frowned and gently hugged the older woman but didn’t know what to say.

Finally, the weekend before Chuseok had arrived. Aaron didn’t have any lessons Friday night and their dojahng closed early for Chuseok the following week so they decided to go out to the movies.

Saturday came and went. Nik made sure to wash extra clothes and pack everything for staying the night with Eomma and Appa. She texted Eomma if she needed to bring anything, to which Eomma replied “Just you and my grandson.”

Nik laid in her bed that night, grinning at the ceiling as she listened to her son’s light snores. They were actually going to have a family meal for Chuseok. She knew they couldn’t go back to Texas for “American Thanksgiving” and wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to get then there for Christmas, so she was happy they would have this now.

The next morning, they showered and changed, then walked down to the bus stop. They made a quick stop to pick up some flowers, then finished their journey.

Before Nik could even punch in the key, she was greeted by Appa opening the door wide. “Come on in. I have to run an errand and then will be back.” Appa then mussed Aaron’s hair and pressed and kiss to Nik’s cheek. “Want to go with me?” He asked Aaron, but looking to Nik who nodded. Appa then guided Aaron to the elevator, and Nik overheard him asking her son how his week had been.

Inside, Eomma greeted Aaron and Nik with a large hug, taking care not to smoosh the flowers in Nik’s hands. “What are those for?” She asked as they made their way to the kitchen.

“Hmm? Oh, these. We stopped to get flowers. Mom was a florist for many years so I figured I could do a few small arrangements.” Nik bit her lip, worrying that she may have overstepped.

“That’s perfect! I think I have a few matching vases if you would like to use them.”

“That would be awesome, Eomma.”

Eomma passed Nik a knife before walking out of the kitchen to find a few vases. Nik didn’t notice when Eomma returned to the kitchen with three vases. She was too busy cutting the ends of the flowers and humming the song that was playing in her mental radio.

Eomma cleared and Nik spun around, knife at the ready. “Calm down, it’s just me,” Eomma laughed as Nik clutched her chest to catch her breath. “What song was it this time?”

“Geuriwo. I had my music on shuffle and it came on this morning while I was getting ready. It’s one of my favorites.”
“You love your ballads,” Eomma commented. She watched as Nik took each of the vases, cleaned them out, then filled them with water and a packet of plant food. Nik went back to humming her song as she inserted one flower at a time, arranging them. She then grabbed her backpack and pulled out some ribbon and made a bow for each vase.

“What do you think?” Nik asked happily.

“Absolutely beautiful, dear. You said you could decorate cakes before, too, right?”

Nik nodded. “I worked in a bakery for a while when Aaron was younger before I went back to school. I’m no good at drawing or painting, but for some reason decorating cakes just came naturally.” Her grin went from ear to ear. She walked over to the window and sat the vases down so some sun could reach the flowers. “So what all do we need to get done today?”

“Well, we need to go shopping to buy groceries from the market and then get all of the prep work done. No cooking tonight. That is saved for tomorrow.”

Eomma and Nik then took to the markets, gathering all of their groceries and then getting a fried chicken for everyone to eat that night. By the time they got back, Appa and Aaron were sitting on the floor playing another game of janggi. Nik carried the groceries into the kitchen while Eomma set one of the boxes of chicken beside her husband and then followed Nik. Nik pulled everything out as Eomma opened the other box of chicken and grabbed two plates. Then then went to chopping and prepping as they ate the chicken.

Nik had agreed to bake and decorate a cake, so that was the only thing that had to be cooked the night before so that it would be cool enough to decorate the next day. To ensure there wasn’t a fight over the showers the next morning, Nik went ahead and showered that night before bed. She then braided her mid back length hair into several small braids so that it could dry overnight.

 

The next morning, Nik and Eomma were in the kitchen bright and early. Nik had the stand mixer running to make the icing for the cake and Eomma was showing her some of the tricks she had learned to make her sons favorite dishes. “Go ahead and finish getting ready, dear. Jingyo and Hyeon will be here with Jiae soon.”

“Baby?” Nik asked excitedly.

“Yes, baby. Now go get ready. There’s nothing to do right now, anyways.” Nik could hear Eomma chuckling as she practically skipped towards the bedroom her and her son had shared the night before to finish getting ready.

Before she made it, she turned back. “Aaron?” she called, walking back towards living room where he and Appa had been watching a show.. When she had her son’s attention, she continued. “Baby, go to the bathroom and fix your hair before everyone else shows up.” She waited for her son to start getting up before she scurried back to the bedroom and started getting dressed. She pulled on an olive green dress then grabbed a pair of capri length tights. Afterwards, she unbraided her dark hair, gently ran a brush through her now curly hair, pulled the top part back up into a single braid, and then put on her makeup.

When she returned to the kitchen, Eomma checked her out head to toe before giving her an approving look. “Absolutely lovely,” she said kindly. Nik bowed slightly and thanked her for the compliment.

An hour later, there was a knock on the door and then the sound of Appa and Aaron ‘racing’ to see who could get to it first. Eomma wrapped an arm around Nik’s bicep and led her into the living room where the younger of her two sons stood with his wife and daughter. There were hugs given and Nik stood awkwardly chewing her lip, unsure of protocol in this situation.

Aaron was talking Jingyo’s ear off and she watched as Hyeon stood off to the side slightly as well. “It’s, uh, nice to meet you.” Nik waited a beat before adding, “Jiae is so cute. Eomma has shown me pictures, but she’s even more adorable in person.” Nik waved to the infant, grinning happily.

“Do you want to hold her?” Hieon asked.

“Please? Do you mind? I haven’t gotten to play with a baby in a while.” Hieon then handed her daughter over to Nik who happily took the baby girl in her arms and started talking to her.

After a few minutes of playing and Nik warming up to Hyeon, Eomma turned back to the women. “We need to finish the dishes and the cake still isn’t decorated. Bring Jiae if you want, but it won’t be done in time if we don’t get on it.” Nik, still holding the baby, followed Eomma back into the kitchen to gather her decorating supplies. Propping Baby Jiae on her hip, Nik began icing the cake. She would look up occasionally to see Eomma staring at her with a mysterious look on her face as she mixed dishes.

Nik was a little over halfway done decorating the cake when the doorbell sounded again. “That would be my other son.”

“I’ll finish this here if you want to go greet him. I’m kind of in a groove.” She spared a look towards Eomma and then looked down to check on Jiae who had fallen asleep at some point.

“I’ll bring him in here to introduce you. He brought his friend and his friend’s dad. They have been celebrating with us for the past several years.” Nik made a sound of understanding, but didn’t look up. When the door opened, she heard her son say ‘Oh My Gosh,’ but didn’t think much of it. She continued decorating, but the new voices sounded familiar. She shrugged it off and continued decorating.

“Nik, I would like to introduce you to my oldest son, and my adopted son,” Eomma said. Nik turned from the cake in front of her to face the newcomers and nearly choked on the breath she had taken in. “Though, I think you may recognize them.” Eomma had a mischievous look in her eyes as she stood behind her son. “Son, this is Nik, the one I told you about from the market. Nik, this is my son Pilkyo. And this is his son, or my son, we haven’t quite figured that out. Choongjae, which of us is your mother?” Nik had to bite her lip hard to keep from laughing out loud.

“You will always be my favorite eomma,” Choongjae said cheesily, kissing Eomma on the cheek. Pilkyo took in an insulted breath and playfully shoved the Baby Bird. Choongjae just smirked then turned his attention to Nik. “It’s nice to meet you, Nik. My dad is in the other room. I’ll introduce the two of you when you come out.”

Nik nodded and went to bow, but had to adjust the baby on her hip first, which required putting her piping bag down.

“You know, that first day when we were talking in here, I thought you knew who I was. It wasn’t until later that evening I realized you had no clue whose mother you were talking to.”

Nik shook her head, glancing over at Pilkyo but then training her eyes back on Eomma. “I really didn’t. I mean, I probably should have. Especially after you told me your name. And then I really should have figured it out when Jingyo got here.” She shrugged and grabbed the piping bag again.

Eomma laughed and wrapped her hand around Choongjae’s bicep and pulled slightly. “The two of us are going to go back to everyone else. Pilkyo, will you start plating up the food while Nik finishes the cake?” She didn’t wait for a response before she was pulling the Baby Bird out of the kitchen to leave Nik and Pilkyo alone...with the baby.

“Eomma has been talking about you nonstop since you helped her last month,” Pilkyo finally spoke after getting the dishes his mom used for special occasions.

Nik beamed, but kept her gaze on the cake. “It really wasn’t much.”

“That’s not how Eomma tells it.” Pilkyo was now standing on the other side of the island and Nik couldn’t help but run her eyes over him as he turned to grab the first pot. She bit her lip, running her eyes quickly over him. His hair was back to dark chestnut and styled messily. He was also wearing a black button up with the sleeves rolled. Nik had to force herself to look back at the cake before he noticed she was checking him out.

“Oh really?” Nik coughed to cover the blush forming on her cheeks. “And how does Eomma tell it?”

Pilkyo quirked his brow at her calling his mother Eomma, and hid the smile he had at her trying to hide more behind the cake as she continued decorating. “She says that you saved their entire meal for the week by helping her. She had been in a lot of pain that day and you and your son really helped her out. And then you continued helping her. Eomma mentioned that you took her to her appointment last week?”

“I only had morning classes that day, so it was easy to leave,” Nik said, nonchalantly.

“But you just met her.”

“We had just met the day she invited me to Chuseok,” Nik countered, finally standing up completely straight to meet Pilkyo’s gaze across the island.

“I guess that’s true. But still, that’s a lot to ask of a new acquaintance.”

“She didn't ask me. I offered. I used to take my father to all of his appointments back in Texas. I can no longer do that for him or my mom, so I’ll do it for the wonderful mother that has taken my son and me in as her own.” Nik set the piping bag down again to adjust Jiae, who had woken up and was squirming. Nik reached out for a small bit of rice from the bowl Pilkyo had just dumped it into and mashed it a bit in her fingers before feeding it to the baby. Nik felt Pilkyo’s watchful eye on her, but kept her eyes trained on Jiae to make sure she didn’t choke.

Jiae kept squirming and Nik had to put her piping bag back on the counter again and brought the fidgety infant in front of her with both hands. “What’s going on?” she asked Jiae in her higher pitched infant voice. “What? Do you not want me to finish the cake? Are you hungry?” Nik heard Pilkyo chuckling but tried to ignore it, instead reaching back into the rice to pop into the baby’s mouth. “Is that better, my love? Huh?”

“Would you like some help?” Pilkyo asked, amusement in his voice.

“I’ve seen your cake decorating skills. I think I’ll finish it,” Nik smirked and Pilkyo grumbled.

“I meant with Jiae,” he deadpanned.

Nik’s smirk grew. She walked around the island to hand Pilkyo his niece, helping him prop her up comfortably. As she was about to walk back over to finish the cake, her eyes met his and they stood there quietly for a moment. Then she her heels and walked back to the cake, picking the icing back up and trying to ignore her racing heart and flaming cheeks.

They sat in silence for a while, only Jiae making any sound. “Eomma never told me what you do for a living,” Pilkyo finally broke the silence.

Without looking up, Nik answered. “I teach English during the day and Taekwondo in the evenings.”

“Doesn’t leave much room for a social life if you’re working all day like that.” Nik shook her head, chewing her lip as she finished up on the cording she had been working on. “So I guess that means you probably haven’t dated much since moving here.”

Nik shook her head again and mumbled, “Haven’t dated in six or seven years.” She then cleared and straightened to look across the kitchen at the man she had had a crush on for years. Forcing a smile, she tilted her head at him. “Can you bring her over here for a moment? I have an idea.” Pilkyo gave her a confused look but carried his niece back over to Nik’s side of the kitchen. She pulled out a sheet of parchment and a pencil. “Thank you. Now can you hold her right here by the counter? Hold her steady.” Nik then took Jiae’s hand and traced it on the parchment paper. “Awesome, thank you.” Pilkyo pulled his niece back to a more comfortable position and watched as Nik melted some chocolate, put it into a small piping bag, and then traced the hand print in the melted chocolate. Afterward she was satisfied with the hand print, she took it to the refrigerator for it to cool and harden. Nik’s eyes glowed with pride. She made a thoughtful face and then smirked again, grabbing the melted chocolate bag again, taking Pilkyo’s hand in hers, and then squirting some onto his index finger before turning back to the cake once more to drizzle some across the cake.

Pilkyo stared in confusion at the chocolate on his fingers for a moment before plopping it into his mouth. Nik laughed and he gave her a confused look.

“Want more?” Nik asked, gesturing with the piping bag. Pilkyo held his hand back out for her to take, which she did, and squeezed more onto his finger, then doing the same to her own hand. She closed her eyes and sighed happily. “Mm, chocolate.” She laughed.

“So what is that handprint for?”

“For the cake, of course. Thought it would look cute.” She took his hand once again, but this time traced each of his fingers in the chocolate and laughing as she made a big mess on his palm.

“Seriously?” he asked. Nik smirked and bit her lip, nodding enthusiastically and then leaning against the island to laugh. “This is just a big mess,” he groaned.

“Well then I suggest you clean it up,” Nik said playfully. She took Jiae back into her arms. Pilkyo lifted his hand, about to the mess, before deciding to take his index finger and smudge the chocolate mess on Nik’s nose. She scrunched her face and scowled as Pilkyo was now the one laughing. “What the heck?!” She shoved him and pouted. “Jerk, I’m wearing makeup.” She stuck her tongue out at him childishly and started looking for a mirror and towel.

The sink and then back off. “Come here,” Pilkyo said, turning her around and stepping into her bubble. “You think it’s hilarious when it’s on me, but it’s not too funny when it’s you,” he said, humor in his voice and he took the rag he had wet in the sink and wiped softly at the chocolate sitting on Nik’s nose.

“I put it on your hand,” she whispered. “Not on your face.” She was feeling shy again being in such close proximity to him, but still managed to scrunch her nose again and give him a slightly aggravated look.

Pilkyo rested his other hand on the back of her head, tilting her face up so that he could get a better look, and wiped again. “All clean.”

Nik stuck her tongue out him, but neither moved away, suddenly aware of how close they were. Jiae started fussing, which snapped Nik out of her thoughts and she pulled out of Pilkyo’s reach. “Here, can you take her for another minute?” She handed the whining child over and then grabbed a small bowl and put rice in it. She then proceeded to use the back of the spoon to mash the rice up some before giving Jiae a bite.

“I can feed her,” Pilkyo offered, reaching out to take the spoon. Nik made a face but handed it to him and went to the fridge to get the now cooled chocolate handprint. She peeled it off the paper and placed it in the center of the cake along with the other decorations she had put on.

“Is everything alright in here? You’ve been in here a while,” Eomma asked as she entered the kitchen. “Oh, so you finally gave up the baby?” she teased and Nik laughed. “The cake looks beautiful, what is that?”

“That is Jiae’s hand in chocolate,” Pilkyo told his mother.

“That’s really cute. We may not be able to eat it. Son, take Jiae into the dining room to her mother and then come back and help us bring the food to the table.” Pilkyo did as instructed, but Nik stopped him and handed him the bowl of rice to take as well before he left. “You’ve been in here for a while,” Eomma Nik.

“Ah, yes ma’am. Decorating took longer than I thought.”

“That’s all?” Eomma pressed.

“Yes ma’am?” Nik flushed.

Eomma laughed. “Such an adorable daughter. Come on, let’s get the food out to everyone before they riot.”

The meal was loud and boisterous, full of laughter and love. The celebrations carried on until was nearly dark.

 

“Hyung, we need to leave soon if we’re going to make it all the way out to Dongwan Hyung’s,” Choongjae said from his spot on the couch.

“Yeah, I guess we better get moving.” Pilkyo stood and stretched, full from the meal. Nik sat on the floor playing with Jiae, her son next to her playing Charlie Park, Choongjae’s father, in a game of janggi. “Nik, would you want to join us?” Choongjae gave smirked to himself.

Nik’s head snapped up to look at him and she chewed her lip nervously. “Of course she would.” Nik’s head whipped in the direction of Eomma, who had answered for her. “Aaron can stay the night here. We’ll see you tomorrow some time.”

Nik continued to look around, from Eomma, to Pilkyo, to Choongjae, and to her son. Aaron made a shooing motion with his hand and Nik scoffed. “Are you sure, Eomma? He can be a real sometimes.”

“Go, we will have fun here,” Appa said.

Pilkyo reached to help Nik up and she ran to the bedroom to grab her backpack. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay and help clean up the kitchen?” she asked as she felt each of her wrists being grabbed, Pilkyo on one side and Choongjae on the other, and was slowly dragged towards the door.

“There are plenty of hands here to do the cleaning, dear. Go have fun.”

Nik yanked her arms back from the two men holding on to her and walked over to give her son a kiss on the top of the head. “You be good, or else I’m cancelling our meeting next week.” Nik waited for Aaron to promise he would be good before walking over and giving Eomma, Appa, and Charlie a kiss on the cheek, then got a hug from Jingyo and Hyeon. She was then grabbed once more and dragged out of the apartment.

Choongjae slung his arm around Nik’s shoulder as the headed to the elevator. “You really are the perfect daughter-in-law,” he commented. Nik shrugged her shoulders but didn’t try to push him off. “What meeting were you talking about?” he asked when the elevator doors shut.

“Oh, um...I thought only he would hear me…” Nik trailed off.

“And?” Pilkyo pushed the parking garage button.

“Uh...he has an audition next week.”

“What sort of audition?”

Nik felt trapped suddenly. Pilkyo was standing in front of her, and Choongjae still had his arm resting on her shoulder. All of the attention was on her and it made her nervous. She was biting her lip and trying to maintain eye contact with Pilkyo, which was difficult. The bell dinged, signalling they had made it to the garage. “He has an audition with for one of the music companies. He made it past the online audition and now has one in person next Thursday.” She was led to a black Oullim Spirra and her head fell to the side. “Damn,” she whispered under hear breath.

Choongjae laughed, “Hyung, I think she’s fallen in love with your car.” They both watched in amusement as Nik walked closer, mesmerized.

“So where is his audition?” Pilkyo asked, trying not to laugh at the way Nik was checking out the car almost as if it was an attractive person.

“Hmm? Oh,” she answered quietly, letting him open the door for her and happily slide into the small back seat. “Actually, TOP Media. It’s where he’s always wanted to go.”

“We should have brought him with us, then,” Pilkyo mused, cranking the engine and revving it once just to watch Nik’s eyes light up through the rearview mirror. “Sunho will be at Wan’s tonight.”

“He’ll be disappointed for sure. Sunho-ssi has always been Aaron’s bias. Told me when he was eight...er...nine that I was to either marry him or Eric Nam. And the only reason he wanted me to marry Eric Nam was because that was his first concert. We used to argue constantly because I didn’t want to marry either of them.” Nik laughed, thinking back on the memory.

“Oh really. And who DID you want to marry,” Choongjae turned to face her from his seat.

Nik shrugged. “Oh, I have a friend coming to visit in a couple weeks. Choongjae oppa, would you be nice enough to take her out and show her around a little?”

“Are you both trying to change the subject AND set me up on a blind date?”

“Did it work?”

“What’s her name?”

“Lily. She’s living in New York but I’m trying to get her to move here with me. She’s really cute. An amazingly sweet personality. Short. Filipino.” Nik pulled her phone out of her pocket and pulled up a picture of her friend.

“Lily, huh? Sure, where should I take her?”

“Anywhere. Everywhere. She’ll be here for two weeks and I have to work so she could definitely benefit from having someone keep her company for some of that time.”

“Make sure I get your number tonight. We can check our schedules to see when I can take her out.”

“Choongjae oppa is the best,” Nik flung her arms around him from the back seat and kissed his cheek.

“Now that that is settled, who did you say you wanted to marry?” There was an evil gleam in Choongjae’s eyes and Nik fell down into the back seat and looked out the window, completely ignoring the question. Choongjae laughed but didn’t push any further. The rest of the ride was mostly silent, with nothing but the radio playing.

 

They were the last to arrive. It was already dark, and since Dongwan lived out sort of in the country, the stars could be seen. Pilkyo opened the door for Nik and she looked up, enjoying the beauty of the night. “Come on,” he whispered to her, taking her wrist and leading her towards the door that Choongjae had already let himself in through.

Music could be heard and as they slipped their shoes off, Dongwan and Minwoo came bounding up to them. It was obvious they had already started drinking. Minwoo’s face was flushed and both Minwoo and Dongwan had goofy grins on their face. “Nice to meet you, Nik,” Minwoo said loudly and embraced her in a huge hug.

“Welcome to the family,” Dongwan shoved at his friend so he could get a hug as well.

Nik gave him a questioning look but didn’t voice her question. “It’s nice to meet you. Your home is nice.” She didn’t pull away, instead resting her head on Dongwan’s chest and feeling the warmth, giggling when he lifted her up bridal style.

“Would you like the grand tour?”

“Yah, sit her back down. You’ve been drinking. You may drop her,” Pilkyo scolded.

Nik, in turn, wrapped her arms tightly around Dongwan’s neck. “I would love a tour...but please don’t drop me.” She laughed as he released her feet and she landed, somewhat gracefully, back on the floor.

“Well then, come on! There are plenty of people here you still need to meet.” Dongwan proceeded to show Nik around his place. They left Pilkyo in the kitchen and he showed her every room and then the backyard before they came back in.

“Do you want a drink?” Pilkyo offered her a beer. Nik nodded and he popped the cap off before handing it to her. Nik pressed the bottle to her lips and took a small sip. “Do you not drink?” he quirked a brow at her.

“It’s been a while. I’m not opposed to it, just don’t keep it at the house to drink alone and never go out to drink.” She took another sip, this one a bit bigger. “Go mingle with your brothers, you don’t have to sit here and babysit me.”

“Come with me. Hyuk brought Hyemi and I’m sure she could use the company.”

“Hyemi?” Nik’s eyes lit up. She turned to look excitedly at Pilkyo.

“What, are you a fan of hers, as well?”

“Of course!”

Pilkyo then guided her into the living room where everyone was seated and either playing games or talking. He introduced Nik to Hyemi and then watched as they began talking animatedly, becoming fast friends.

 

Hours passed and Nik found herself outside, holding a beer and watching the stars. She didn’t notice when someone opened and closed the door and came out to join her.

“I was wondering where you got off to.”

Pilkyo’s voice startled her and she quickly spun around, hands up in self defense, beer still clutched in one hand. She sighed heavily and clutched her chest. “You nearly gave me a heart attack,” she whined, shoving him playfully.

“What were you thinking about that had you deaf to the world?”

“Nothing...everything...just enjoying the night air. Where I lived in Texas, it was a bit more like this. Lots of green. Fresher air. Unless it was really cloudy, you could always see the stars at night.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Not enough to move back. I love it here, and honestly hadn’t noticed that I missed this sort of setting until tonight.” Nik squatted down and then sat in the grass, patting the spot next to her for Pilkyo to join her.

Pilkyo slowly made his way down, leaning back and bracing himself on his elbows. “You stay too busy to notice.”

“That’s always been the case.” She leaned back, mimicking his position.

“I’m sure Wan would let you come out here again.”

“Mm, I don’t know…”

“I could bring you out here...if you wanted,” he offered. Nik bit her lip hesitantly. “You do that a lot.”

Nik tilted her head, eyes following his. He was staring at her lips and she released her bottom lip from her teeth. Their eyes met again before she dropped her gaze and then allowed herself to completely fall to the grass, resting her head on her hands. “Yeah, it’s a habit I developed.”

They laid like that in silence for a while. “Eomma has really taken to you, you know.”

“The feelings are mutual. I love every minute I spend with her.”

Pilkyo smiled, falling back as well and putting one hand behind his head. He then stretched the other out, knocking Nik in the head softly. She looked over, confused. He bumped her head again and cocked his brow up. Nik lifted her head, moved her hands out of the way and allowed him to slide his arm down. She readjusted and Pilkyo moved over so that they were laying closer together.

“I’m glad you came tonight.”

“Didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter,” Nik laughed, jabbing her elbow into his ribcage.

“Are you not glad you came,” Pilkyo pouted.

She tilted her head up to look him in the eyes and acted like she was thinking. “Well,” she let out. “I guess it’s not too bad.”

Pilkyo let out an insulted sound. “Well then, maybe I should just take you home,” he threatened and his side so he could look at her better, still allowing her to use his arm as a pillow.

Nik, in turn, bit her lip and gave him a defiant look. “If that is what you want to do.”

Pilkyo let out a frustrated sigh and fell back onto the grass. “You never answered Jae back in the car.”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes.”

It was Nik’s turn to turn on her side, lip still caught between her teeth, eyes making contact with Pilkyo’s. “Why?”

“Because I want to know.” Before she was able to fall back again, Pilkyo grabbed her other arm and pulled her closer so that it was wrapped around his middle. He then moved her so that her head was rested on his chest and he ran a hand up and down her back.

Nik laid there completely tensed up. She felt his hand rubbing her back and she slowly felt herself melting into her human pillow. “How much of our conversations has Eomma told you?”

“Enough.”

“So there is no reason to ask. You should know the answer.”

“But I want to hear you say it.”

Nik groaned and lifted her head just to drop it back down in an attempt to do sort of damage. “The sun’s going to come up soon. We should go back inside and find a place to get a little sleep.”

“Not until you tell me.”

Nik whined. “It was you, you jackass.” She could feel Pilkyo laughing as he tightened his grip, hugging her. “We should go inside and sleep.”

“We should,” but he made no motion to get up. Instead, he turned slightly on his side and fit them together more comfortably. He kissed her forehead. “Good night.”