Deal
HERSHE"Do we have to do it now?"
"Seulgi, how many times should I tell you it was Mom who invited you here?" asked Irene. They are in front of Irene's house, but Seulgi doesn't want to go out of the car yet.
"But... but Krystal said--"
"My mom knows about us, okay? That's why she wants to meet you."
Seulgi let out a loud exhale, her eyes uncomfortably glancing at the house. She still can't believe that she'll be meeting Irene's mom sooner than she had expected.
"Are you planning to be in a relationship with me and keep hiding from my mom?" asked Irene.
"It's not like that." Seulgi reached for Irene's hand. "I'm just nervous. I don't want to disappoint her. I don't want to disappoint you."
Irene cupped Seulgi's cheek. "You won't, okay? Don't try to act like someone else you're not. You're charming; use that. Charm your way up to get my mom."
A relieved smile curved on Seulgi's lips as she exhaled a sigh. "I love you."
"I love you too."
"Can we stay here for five more minutes?"
"Unfortunately, we can't. Unless you want to get in trouble by giving my mom an idea that the reason we arrived late is we woo-hooed, then I guess we could stay here even for thirty minutes more."
"What! We didn't do that!"
Irene laughed. "But the longer we stay here, the more she'll get an idea about it. So, let's go out now, okay?"
Seulgi knew there's no way out now. She finally nodded.
---
It's brighter inside now compared to the last time Seulgi visited. All the curtains were opened, giving the place a lively aura. Seulgi smelled something cooking in the kitchen and got nervous when Irene dragged her there.
"Mom!"
A slim figure turned around to greet her daughter with a smile.
"Hey, dear. I missed you." Irene's mom kissed her cheek.
Seeing the older lady made Seulgi realize where Irene had gotten all her charms. And to be honest, they look more like sisters than mom and daughter.
Irene wrapped her arms around her mom's waist. "I missed you too. I'm sorry for the unplanned sleepover last night."
"Is there anything else I can do? I guess I'd have to get used to you sleeping over somebody's place more often now, huh," Irene's mom said, glancing over Seulgi.
Irene went over to Seulgi to drag her closer. "Mom, this is Seulgi. And, Seulgi, meet my mom."
Irene's mom raised an eyebrow while staring at Seulgi.
Seulgi gulped at that. Now she's certain where Irene got her snobbishness. The lady in front of her is the queen of terror. She doesn't know what to say, so she held her hand out for a handshake.
"Uh... h-hi... ma'am..."
Unknown to the two youngsters, Irene's mom is holding a knife in her right hand, which she put down on the counter beside Seulgi to shake hands.
"So, we finally meet, Seulgi."
Seulgi swallowed down a lump in and forced a smile. "It's... it's nice to meet you, ma'am..."
"You can freely come in here as long as you take good care of my Irene, okay?" said the older lady, grabbing the knife again.
Seulgi pressed her lips together and nodded. "I... I surely will..."
Out of the blue, Irene chuckled. "Mom, will you drop that? You're scaring her..."
And in just a snap, the older lady's face shifted from a killer to a sweet angel now. She put down the knife and said, "I'm just kidding, okay? It's my pleasure to finally meet you, Seulgi. Now hug me."
Seulgi hesitated first, but the sweet smile on Irene's mom's face is as irresistible as her daughter's. She hugged the lady. "Pleasure is mine, ma'am."
"I have to admit you smell nice, huh?" the older lady said, pulling back.
Seulgi just feigned a smile, unsure of how to respond.
"Make sure my daughter's home every day before 10 pm, okay? And please let her have dinner with me at least twice or thrice a week."
"Mom--"
The older woman turned to her daughter. "You're still my only baby, Irene. Of course, I still want to see you here often. I think Seulgi here agrees on that too, right?"
Seulgi nodded. "Don't worry. I'll make sure of that."
"Anyway, you guys can have dinner here as often as you like. I prefer that."
Seulgi glanced at Irene and saw her smiling back at her. "That would be great."
Irene went closer to loop an arm through Seulgi's. "And Seulgi is a great cook, mom. We can have her cook for us even every night, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, it'll be my pleasure to serve you both," said Seulgi.
"Oh, thank goodness..." Irene's mom brought her hands to her temples. "At least we could save ourselves from the troubles of thinking of what to eat."
Seulgi and Irene chuckled.
The older lady turned to Irene again. "You can sleep at her place during weekends only. Got it?"
"Mom... I'm not a teenager anymore..."
The older lady chuckled at her daughter's expression. "You may be not, but you still act like one." She turned to Seulgi. "But you can sleep here as often as you like..."
Irene couldn't control her happiness. She threw herself to hug her mom. "Eee! I love you!"
"I'm not yet done. She'll sleep on the couch."
"Mom!"
"I'm kidding, okay?" Irene's mom chuckled. "Gosh, I can't believe I have competition with my baby now."
"It's not a competition, okay?" said Irene, hooking her chin on her mom's shoulder. "Why are you talking like I'm gonna leave you soon...?"
"Well, aren't you?"
"No. I won't do that. You're the only family I have. And I'm not leaving you. In fact, I'm just adding another member to the family, right?"
The older lady smiled at Irene. "Why don't you give us time to talk while you prepare the table for lunch?"
Irene looked at Seulgi to make sure she's okay with it.
"Um, yeah, it's fine with me..." said Seulgi.
"Are you sure?" asked Irene.
Seulgi smiled at her. "Don't worry. It's not like your mom's going to torture me..."
"Well, I can, Seulgi," the older lady said.
Seulgi chuckled, feeling a little awkward.
"And I've killed people too before."
"Mom!"
"Kidding..." the older lady said, turning to her daughter. "I'll be gentle. I promise. Now you prepare while Seulgi and I will talk in my office."
---
The lively aura mood suddenly changed into something uncomfortable. Irene's mom had turned into a different person now. Seulgi is starting to get anxious about this talk.
"Take a seat," said Irene's mom, pointing at the swivel chair. Seulgi sat down and watched the older lady leaned her against the table. "I'm going to be quick with this. Are you sure you're not just playing with my daughter's feelings?"
"No, ma'am. I can't do that to her. I care for her as much as she cares for me," said Seulgi.
"So, you're saying that you love her?"
Seulgi nodded. "I can prove that."
"And how can you prove it?"
"I... I'll take good care of her..."
"Until when?"
Seulgi's mouth opened, but she couldn't make out an answer.
"See? That's what I'm talking about." The older lady shook her head. "This type of relationship doesn't last."
"B-but, ma'am, believe it or not, I'm serious about her..."
"I know. I can see it in you, and I can see it in her too." The woman sighed. "That's the only reason I've allowed her to date you. I've never seen Irene so into someone like this."
"I... I'd like to thank you for giving us a chance to be together..."
"No, don't thank me yet. Let me make it clear first that I still want my daughter to be married to a man someday."
Seulgi looked down, flexing her jaw. She knows she won't be able to win if the argument is about this.
"To be honest, I'm seeing this now as a phase in Irene's life, in your lives," said the older lady. "We can never disregard the possibility that both of you might fall for somebody else in the future, right?"
"I respect your opinion on the matter, ma'am," said Seulgi, still trying her best to be calm even though it feels like she's being interrogated in court. "However, you also ought to know that Irene and I know that what we're having now isn't momentary."
"I hope it's not. My only concern here is my daughter. I can't bear seeing her again crying like last time, which was because of you."
"I am sorry for that, but that was unintentional, ma'am--"
"I know, I know... but I'm still worried that you might do it to her again."
"Believe me, that is the last thing I have in mind now," said Seulgi, looking at the woman eagerly.
The older lady leaned both hands against the table. "Just to let you know, I'm nice now because this is the first time I've seen my daughter so vibrant and bubbly. It's like she's found a new life. Ironically, even if it's because of you, I love seeing her that way. But I have to be honest here and let you know that I still don't like her having this relationship with you."
"I completely understand that," said Seulgi, looking down again.
"But as much as I don't want her to be with you, I know that I would just hurt her again if I would take her away from you. I'm doing this for Irene because what matters to me is her happiness. And I'm giving you just one chance to prove to me that what you're having now is not just some ty relationship like the others."
That made Seulgi lookup.
"I'd like to make a deal with you, Seulgi. " The older lady shifted her position on the desk. "If you could prove to me that this type of relationship lasts, then I'd be willing to open my mind in accepting this, in accepting you."
Seulgi leaned forward. "How do you want me to prove it to you, ma'am?"
"Simple. Take care of my daughter, make her happy. If she sticks with you for good, then in return, I'll be happy to accept you as part of the family--given that she won't fall for another guy, okay?" The woman raised a finger. "Because if she does, then it only means that there is no room for relationships like this."
Seulgi isn't sure how to respond. She can't deny that there is a possibility that they might fall for somebody else in the future, but that is something she hasn't thought of yet because they've only just begun. Even so, the idea of Irene wanting to marry a guy someday somehow scared her.
The older lady decided to continue, "But if Irene stays with you even after meeting other guys, and you won't break her heart again, then I guess I'd have to believe that you might be really meant for each other."
"I-I won't, I promise I won't hurt her," said Seulgi, unconsciously bringing a hand to her chest.
"Don't promise me anything now; just prove it. If you, by any chance, make her cry like last Monday, I swear I wouldn't want to see your shadow around my house ever again."
"Loud and clear, ma'am."
"So, do we have a deal?" asked Irene's mom, offering her hand.
Seulgi sat up to shake the hand. "Thank you, ma'am. Thank you."
The lady stared at Seulgi for a while before saying, "Now I'm starting to understand why Irene got attracted to you."
"I-I'm sorry?"
"Let's go out now before Irene gets worried that I might have killed you."
"Oh. Okay."
---
Irene's mom is an excellent converser. Seulgi enjoyed the lunch even though she was partly interrogated (again). Their lunch was filled with questions about her family and some questions about how she and Irene met.
After their lunch, the lady allowed the two to have their alone time. Irene excitedly dragged Seulgi into her room like a teenager who brought her first friend in the house.
"What did you guys talk about?" asked Irene, closing the door behind her.
"Well, it's mostly about us."
Irene led Seulgi to sit on the bed. "What did she say?"
"Mmm. To sum it up, she said that she still doesn't accept me as your lover, but she's willing to open her mind if we could prove to her we could last long–given that you won't fall for another guy anytime soon," said Seulgi.
"What? She said that?"
"Yeah. She specifically wants me to take care of you while you're still in love with me. She even said that you're the only reason she's nice to me. She can't bear seeing you cry like that again."
Irene looked away and sighed. "Tsk."
"Hey. She's just worried about you."
"I know, and I know that she's struggling to accept this."
"Well, at least she gave us a chance, right?"
Irene closed her eyes and leaned her head against Seulgi.
"But honestly, I'm a bit worried..." Seulgi sighed.
"About?"
"What if you fall for a guy someday? I bet your mom would be happy to see you walk down the aisle with the right man waiting for you."
"Hey, what are you saying?" said Irene, pulling herself back.
"I'm not just closing my mind to the possibility that what your mom said might happen..."
"And you're talking like I'm the only one who can do that?"
"I already told you, I have no plans of replacing the picture in my apartment. I'm certain of that, Irene."
Irene cupped Seulgi's cheeks to turn her face to hers. "And I've no plans to give you reasons to replace that either, okay?"
"I really hope you won't." Seulgi smiled faintly. "This is the first time I've felt so attached to someone. This is even stronger than what I had with Joy, and to be honest, it's starting to scare me now."
"Shhh... I'm scared too, you know," said Irene, closing her eyes and resting her forehead against Seulgi's, "but like what they say, it takes two scared people to do one brave thing..."
"And that is?"
"To fall in love."
That had surely made Seulgi smile. "Since when did you become a romanticist?"
"Eeee..." Irene grimaced.
The soft smile remained on Seulgi's face as she looks at Irene with admiration. She touched Irene's cheek and slowly hairs off her face. "Why are you so beautiful?"
"And why are you such a sweet-talker, hmm?" asked Irene, smiling coyly.
"Why don't you just believe me?"
"And why don't you just shut up and kiss me?"
"Hmm..." Seulgi traced her thumb against Irene's lips. "I think that's a good idea."
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