“Hey, babe?” Taeyang whispers as he wraps his arm around my waist. I hum in response, snuggling myself closer to him on the large couch in his apartment. This is usually where I end up when I lie to my parents and say I’m at Eryn’s. They have no idea Taeyang is my boyfriend, now fiance; they have no idea that he exists. I never told my parents that I was dating him and it’s been almost five years… They have no idea that I’m not single; everytime they mention my ‘single’ life and how I should get a boyfriend soon, I just nod along and not say anything otherwise.

            They’d never like him so I keep him my little secret. I planned to tell them I was with him a few years ago but they very clearly specified who they’d like me to end up and the type of person they want me to eventually marry. Well, I said that and continued to lie about Taeyang’s existence in my life. No one knows about him, Eryn doesn’t even know honestly. She knows I lie to my parents about where I’m going, she actually helps me lie to them, but even she doesn’t know where I run off to or who I’m with.

            “Now that we’re engaged, are you going to tell your family about me?” he plays with the engagement ring he gave me just a few hours ago.

            “I probably should but I want to keep you to myself for a little longer,” I intertwine our fingers together.

            “But what are they going to say when you move in with me or when we eventually have kids and they still don’t know who I am?”

            “You make a good point,” I sigh. I’ll eventually have to tell them about Taeyang and get them to meet him but I know how they’d react and I really don’t want the possibility of my family trying to keep us apart. That won’t end well for anybody, I can just tell. “Can we start small though? Like, can I introduce you to a friend first?”

            “Sure,” he smiles. “Do I have to be on my best behaviour?” he teases.

            “No,” I shrug. “My friend Eryn is a very sarcastic person, like me, so you can be yourself around her,” I laugh. “She’ll probably be shocked when meeting you at first but I have no idea really.”

            “Then I’d love to meet her,” he laughs.

-

            “Is this a dream?” Eryn asks as I park my car in the parking lot of Taeyang’s apartment building the next morning. “You’re finally telling me where you go when you lie to your parents?” I nod. We walk into the building and through the empty lobby.

            “Yeah, I figured I finally tell somebody,” I laugh. “You’re not prepared,” I warn her as we walk up a small flight of stairs.

            “What do you mean? Are you going to show me a random apartment you keep a bunch of dead bodies in and then kill me are you?” Sarcasm is evident in her voice and I can’t stop my annoying and loud laugh fast enough.

            “No, that would just be too much upkeep trying to cover up the smell of corpses and such,” I tease, obviously playing along with her joke.

            “You’re a psychopath,” she shakes her head as she laughs to herself quietly.

            “Yeah,” I smile to myself. “Sorry,” I shrug. “Here we are,” I stop walking and face the door of Taeyang’s apartment. I hope he’s dressed now… I told him I was leaving to pick up Eryn and specified I wanted him to change out of pajamas but I have no idea if he’d actually listen. I unlock the door and quickly check what he’s doing so it’s not weird.

            Taeyang would be the person to make an odd first impression. I can just see him dressing up as weird as possible and almost pretending to be a mad scientist just to get a reaction. I open the door to the man doing push ups in front of the couch. “What?” I hear Eryn whisper to herself as we enter the apartment.

            “Taeyang, what are you doing?” I sigh but also try to hold in my laughter. If Eryn wasn’t here, I wouldn’t even question this and just watch him do push ups.

            He pauses, looks over his shoulder and quickly stands upright. “Hi.”

            “What were you doing push ups for?” I laugh.

            “I was bored while waiting for you to come back,” he shrugs. I playfully hit his chest.

            “Eryn, this is Taeyang. Taeyang, this is my friend Eryn,” I introduce them.

            “Hi,” he smiles.

            “Hi,” Eryn responds, seemingly in a bit of shock. She subtly looks Taeyang up and down, like Baymax scanning for injuries in Big Hero 6. Her eyes stop at his hand around my waist. “So, how do you know each other?”

            “Taeyang is my boyfriend,” I tell her. I look at him and his eyes drop. I know he’s looking towards the ring on my finger but I shake my head no. Silently telling him that I will tell Eryn he’s actually my fiance later but not right away.

            “Is this what you’ve been doing when you’re hiding from your parents and no one knows where you are? You come here?”

            “Yes, I am one thing that she does,” Taeyang smirks. I feel my cheeks heat up and I know I’m blushing.

            Eryn stares at him blankly for a split second before she starts coughing. “Are you okay Eryn?” I ask her, clearly concerned.

            “Yeah, I’m fine,” she speaks when she’s able to stop coughing. “I was not expecting that response at all,” she laughs quietly.

            “Sorry,” Taeyang shrugs but I can tell he's somehow been planning to say something like that since I’ve left his apartment earlier this morning. I can’t hold in my laughter at the thought.