"Do you think this colour would look good on Chan?"

Maya held a purple dress shirt up for Mrs Bang to see, making her grin.

"Chan would look dashing in this," she clapped her hands together. "You have great taste, daughter!"

The duo was queuing to pay for their purchases when a familiar voice called out to Mrs Bang from behind.

"Omonim!"

Mrs Bang turned around and they saw Bona waving at them, walking over. Maya pulled her away politely but the older woman protested.

"Why did you--"

"I'm sorry if I was rude, but I prefer to keep my marriage to Chan a secret from everyone. He agreed to hide our relations for a while," Maya bit her lip. "Omonim, just pretend that I'm just a normal employee, okay?"

Mrs Bang let out a breath, nodding with a small disapproving breath.

“Alright, but only with her.”

“Okay,” Maya agreed with a nod. “Only with Bona.”

“Omonim~” Bona reached out to hold Mrs Bang hands as she greeted her.

She turned her head, noticing Maya.

“What are you doing here?” She deadpanned. “Go back to work.”

Mrs Bang squeezed Maya’s hand.

“I made this young girl come along with me to shop, Bona. You can’t speak to her that way.”

“Oh--” Bona was slightly taken aback. “Well, I’m here now, I can accompany you for shopping.”

As if on cue, Bona’s phone rang. Mrs Bang let out an audible huff of breath.

“Is that your manager? You better answer the call then.”

Bona bit her bottom lip, glared at Maya and excused herself to answer the call. Maya nudged her mother-in-law but the older woman just winked at her playfully.

“I never really liked hanging out with her,” Mrs Bang whispered. “She always had to rush off halfway through walking with me. She’s no fun.”

The pair saw Bona hanging up and Mrs Bang chuckled.

“Watch how she’s gonna apologise and she’s going to have to leave.”

“Omonim, I’m sorry,” Bona started, not knowing what Mrs Bang had just predicted. “My manager wants me to meet some sponsors and I can’t push it away. Let’s go shopping another day?”

Maya stifled a small chuckle and that ticked Bona off.

“What are you laughing at?”

Maya pressed her lips together, she took a deep breath and lifted her chin to stare straight at Bona’s face. She had to stop the woman from being so condescending towards her.

“It’s my problem to laugh or not to,” Maya spat. “Why don’t you just take care of yourself?”

The model was surprised at the sudden display of hostility and cleared . She ignored Maya’s outburst and bowed slightly to Mrs Bang.

“I’m sorry, omonim, I have to go. I’ll go over to your place some time to visit you and Mr Bang.”

After Bona was away from sight, Maya rubbed her chest, relieved at the end of the encounter. Her antics made Mrs Bang laugh.

“I never knew you had that side of you. Remind me to never get onto your bad side.”

Maya blushed, “Omonim, please… Stop teasing me.”

The pair shared a laugh and proceeded to the next store, they walked past a restaurant and the older woman stopped in her tracks.

“Oh wait, has Chan eaten?”

Maya thought for a second and shook her head, “I made a small breakfast for him before work, but I think by the time we are done here, it would be around late lunch.”

“Hmm, how about we stop shopping now, and grab some take away for him?”

“That sounds good, but what should we get for him?”

Mrs Bang chortled, “That, I can help.”

“Chan loves this restaurant,” she pointed at the one next to them. “Especially the shrimp aglio olio."

The older woman looked at Maya with approval, nodding her head.

"Lead the way then."

**

Chan rubbed his temples at the stacks of proposals and documents on his table. The meeting earlier found many mistakes and differences in paperwork, he was to rectify them. His phone rang, he took a deep breath and answered the call without looking at the caller ID.

“Hello?”

“Chan! Your intern was so rude to me!”

“Bo?”

“Of course, it’s me.”

Chan sighed, “What did Maya do?”

“I saw her with your mother at the mall, they were holding each other’s arms. It’s like she wants to get to you through your mom. She was super rude to me in front of omonim, it’s infuriating!”

“Bo, dear,” Chan dropped his voice. “I’m really busy at work right now, can I call you back later?”

“But baby--”

“I’m really sorry, but I can’t focus on hearing you out when I have piles of work to do. I’m really really busy.”

He heard Bona click her tongue from the other side, “Alright then. I’ll call you later.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

She hung up before he could finish what he had to say. He knew she was angry, but he really could not spare time at the moment. Chan rubbed his face. A knock came on the door.

“I thought I said no disturbance? No guests!” He snapped.

The door opened, “No even your mother and wife?”

Chan sat up, watching Mrs Bang and Maya walk in with bags in their hands. His heart sped up, thinking about how his wife and mother had been spending time together. It was quite endearing. He went towards them and hugged his mother.

“Oh, dear mom,” he greeted.

He broke the hug, turned to his wife and puckered his lips. He went over to her, throwing his arms around the girl in a bear hug.

“You’re such a baby,” she returned the hug. “Mother and I got some food for you, how about you take a break and eat first?”

Chan contemplated between his work and the food his wife bought for him. He threw his arms up in surrender, “Fine. I’ll eat first. Happy wife, happy life, am I right, Mom?”

Mrs Bang understood the term, it was something he grew up listening to. His dad said it all the time. Chan motioned to his mother, grinning at Maya.

“See, my mother agrees.”

Maya smiled in amusement.

“Alright, you baby. I’ll feed you.”

He pumped his fist in the air, “Yes!”

Mrs Bang’s heart swelled with warmth seeing her son and daughter-in-law being so in love. She grabbed her bag and bade them goodbye.

“But omonim, you have yet to eat.” Maya got up. “Eat something before you leave.”

She waved in rejection, “It’s okay. You guys have a good lunch!”

Chan raced to give his mother a hug before calling Minho in, to call Mrs Bang a cab before she left. Maya busied herself