"So... you're saying your parents don't like him?" Jaejoong asks because Yunho is nose deep in work to pay attention to their house guest.

"Not exactly... They haven't told me their opinion apart from questioning me about them." Minyoung picks at the chocolate cake Jaejoong made especially for her, her worries making her lose her appetite even for chocolate.

After her parents caught her with Changwook yesterday he politely introduced himself. But he couldn't go into his confident alter ego and stuttered all the way. Her parents were unreadable in their expressions but this wasn’t the best impression she fears.

Minyoung managed to let him out of her house and send him home promising to come over later. But when her parents interrogated her for over two hours about him and questioned if he is the ‘friend’ she is staying with Minyoung lied and said the friend is Heechul. But Minyoung doesn't know where Heechul lives and turned up at Yunho's place.

She could've stayed with Yoochun but he's a very annoying housemate. And Yunho's house has Jaejoong's sweets.

So now she's eating dinner with them while recalling everything from almost running into Changwook's mother, to their date, and being accidentally ambushed by her parents.

Though Yunho is more interested in the contract she drafted today on his tablet even as he's devoured half of the cake that was made especially for Minyoung. Yeah, he's making her earn her keep in exchange for letting her stay.

"Yunho can you give that a break! Just because your lawyer is here you both don't have to work the entire time." Jaejoong angrily takes the cake away and tucks it in the refrigerator much to Yunho and Minyoung's whines.

Now that she has their attention without distractions Jaejoong sits in front of them to address Minyoung's problems. "Unnie, shouldn't you explain to your parents they're exaggerating. Not everyone is a stinking bag of . If I thought every man is like my father, I'd be making myself miserable where there isn't any reason to be."

"I know that..." Minyoung's voice is meek. She's been practicing a speech to give her parents in her lawyer tone since last night. And that isn't even the hard part. "Actually... that's not all..." Minyoung can't help the embarrassment as she says her thought aloud, "Once I began thinking clearly, I realized he's been more willing to meet my parents than I have shown for his mother."

"Well you did jump out of a window to hide from her." Jaejoong kicks Yunho under the table for that. "What? I'm not wrong." Yunho turns to Minyoung, "You're lucky his mother doesn't know you did that. But your parents think Ji Changwook tried to run away from the fire escape even if you're the one who made him. If anything, you have ruined his first impression."

"I'm sorry unnie... but Yunho is right..." Minyoung knows that even if Jaejoong didn't agree with Yunho. Might as well move on to her next plan which is one of the other reasons she's here. "Say... how did your first meetings with each other's parents go?"

Yunho and Jaejoong exchange looks before Yunho gestures to her to speak first. "Well Eomma was initially too ill to understand anything. Especially anything about her daughter moving in with a strange man she just met. I'll admit I initially agreed because Yunho was going to help with my mother's treatment. And I was desperate. But after she got better she was happy that I'm being taken care of for once. Mom liking him made it easier for me to like Yunho."

"We totally went in reverse." Yunho shoots Minyoung a smug look, "Her mom and I get along swell. We complain about Jaejoong on Line."

"Hey!" Jaejoong huffs at this new discovery. She knows Yunho and her mother talk a lot but why complain about her.

"Come on, it's only fair. My parents are totally in love with you. And my brother and ten other people are crushing on you."

"What the hell!"

"That's true..." Minyoung agrees matter-of-factly, "I'd totally swing for you. Changwook and I had this long discussion about our common likes and dislikes... and somehow, we got talking about how there's a part of both of us that will always be in love with you. I wouldn't be okay if it wasn't anyone but you. It's also why I'm not jealous."

"Yeah... People don't just love Jaejoong. They fall in love with Kim Jaejoong..." Yunho muses, his usual jealousy surfacing. He glares at Jaejoong as if she wronged him, "that's the only thing I hate about you."

Jaejoong doesn't say anything. She wordlessly stood up, got an apple from the kitchen, and took her glowing red face upstairs, away from these people embarrassing her. Yunho and Minyoung burst into laughs only after Jaejoong is out of earshot.

"She's so cute when she's embarrassed..." Yunho gushes like the besotted lover he is.

"You know what we could do on her birthday? Like those roasts they do these days... but instead of making fun of her we all profess our love to Jaejoong. That would work better than a made-up criticism." Minyoung's eyes sparkle imagining Jaejoong on a throne with a tiara and a spotlight, blushung like the cutest tomato.

"You know the resort in Jeju I'm buying? The owner has invited me to check out the place. So I want to make it a birthday trip for her since she's never been out of Seoul."

"That's nice..."

"Yeah and we do the Love Jaejoong party there."

"Even better."

As their laughter dies down Yunho heads to the kitchen and gets the cake from the fridge. Minyoung helps herself to a large slice as soon as the plate touches the table. For a few minutes it's only forks hitting the plates as they cut through cake.

"So have you called him?" Yunho cuts through the silence with the blunt question she's avoiding.

"I don't know if he wants to talk to me after what happened."

"He's probably thinking the same. That's why he hasn't called you either." Yunho finishes his half of the cake first. He places his fork on the plate and to face her properly. "You've tried running away and it didn't go well. Now try facing both your parents. They won't do more than ask a few uncomfortable questions."

"I hope that's all my parents will do..."

"well isn't this a great time to show them you have outgrown that fragile phase where you got carried away by a horrible man?" Yunho reaches out to her hand that's restlessly twirling the fork. "I think of you as a sister. So I'll help you with the parents thing. But you need to talk to Changwook first. Just go see him. Both of you will figure out what to say once you see each other."

Minyoung can see his point. And even before Yunho offered she was totally going to use Jaejoong's skills. But first she needs to talk to Changwook.

Wordlessly Minyoung gets up and walks out of the dining area. "Where are you going?" Yunho calls after her, prompting even Jaejoong to jog down the stairs.

"To talk!" Minyoung declares, taking her car keys before shutting her door behind her.

Jaejoong looks between the door and Yunho and at the door again. "Does she know she's wearing hot pants and slippers?"

Yunho waves it off tugging Jaejoong up the stairs to their room. "Doesn't matter. They're not really going to talk.

 ~~~

Changwook trips over the footstool in his way in his sleepy haze. But the doorbell was relentless. He's starting to think he should have at least a couple of staff at home if he's going to be rudely woken up at midnight while he's still drunk.

As he's prone to do, Changwook checks the front door camera. To his surprise he finds one familiar petite figure shivering in the night air.

He hurriedly threw the door open and Minyoung runs into the house whining about her stupidity to forget pants. It's only when he shuts the door with a click and she can feel the indoor warmth does she remember where she is and why she is there.

Changwook turns on the lights just as she faces him. They study each other for a while, their muscles twitching at wanting to act but brains failing to come up with the right words.

"I... uh..." Minyoung mentally kicked herself for opening when she couldn't think of anything. But now she has to continue or she would look stupid. "Sorry I couldn't bring your car back..."

"it's okay. I had my secretary pick it up." Changwook gulps, not liking how strained his voice sounds, "Are you... at Yunho and Jaejoong's?" Minyoung nods. "Don't overdo the chocolate."

Now Minyoung remembers how her mood was barely lifted with Jaejoong's chocolate cake and curls. That never used to be the case. Chocolate was the fix-all for everything. Once she had it, she could think calmly. But chocolate has been ineffective since yesterday. She needs something stronger. Something like coffee.

"Are you okay?" Minyoung jolts when she has a face full of Changwook in front of her. And she has the realization that this is what she needs.

Before Changwook knew it, this petite woman's koala-like grip is around his shoulders. He lets out a chuckle and lets his hands roam from her sides down to her hips till they hoist her legs around his waist.

"Did you come all the way here in pyjamas?"

"Just take me to bed will you?"

Changwook didn't need to be told twice. He can be very obedient to Park Minyoung.

~~~

He's loath to leave the bed the next morning. Missing one day of exercise won't drastically change his life. And there's a Park Minyoung in his arms. Though he didn't exactly plan it, he imagined this is how they'd top their special date. It was a day late but still perfect.

Until Minyoung had to ruin it by violently jumping out of bed. "What the !" By the time his vision is cleared off those blinding spots from utter pain when her elbow jabbed his neck, Minyoung had already put on his shirt and was in the middle of putting on her shorts from yesterday. "Where are you going? It's only 6!"

"To work! But first I need to get to Yunho's place an hour away." She disappears inside his closet where he drags his feet to a minute later. She hastily searches through the handful of clothes muttering about pants. “Is my violet suit from last week still here? No, but I'd still have to get the papers from Yunho's place."

Her rambling is interrupted when he curls his arm around her waist and drops his head on her shoulder. His behaviour tells her he wants to say something and it's possibly what she's dreading. "What?"

"My mother called yesterday..."

~~~

If it was possible, Jaejoong's staring could bore a hole through Minyoung with how intense it is. But the younger is only looking for any subtle cries for help.

Instead Minyoung is extremely focused on the documents for Jaejoong's newest recipe that will feature in the Christmas menu.

"Nothing seems to be the issue here. I'll get the patents in time for holiday promotions." Minyoung stashes the papers in her bag and finally faces Jaejoong. "Can you not look at me that way? It's making me nervous. And I'm trying not to be."

"I'm sorry... I guess I'm nervous Changwook's mother invited you here..." by ‘here’ Jaejoong meant The Dessert Place. Changwook had told Minyoung his mother wanted to meet her there and also check out the place.

Then Minyoung told Yunho, Jaejoong and Heechul of which Jaejoong promised to be her cheerleader there. Heechul is there because it's her job and she's only interested in an entertaining trainwreck if that's happening.

Speaking of which, Heechul strolls in with generously overflowing cake shakes. "Don't look now, but your doom just walked in."

Minyoung turns around to find a very constipated looking Changwook enter with his mother talking animatedly. "It's not my doom... yet..."

Minyoung puts away her work things so Heechul can put the jars of cake shakes on the table. When they arrive at their table Minyoung and Jaejoong stand up to greet Changwook's mother. "Umma, that's Kim Heechul. Kim Jaejoong... and Park Minyoung."

Each girl takes turns to politely greet Jiran at Changwook's cue. None of them miss Jiran's gaze lingering on Minyoung longer than others. "Ommo~ how are you three so beautiful~! I feel like I'm meeting celebrities." Jiran gushes making all three girls blush.

Jiran suddenly grabs Jaejoong's hand, "You're Yunho's girlfriend right? I always liked that boy. If my son was anything like Yunho, he wouldn't have kidnapped you."

Jaejoong shoots a look at Changwook who is actively avoiding eye contact. Obviously, he pre-emptively told his mother about his dark past in case she found out today. Oh well she can fake laugh it off in front of his mother.

"It's okay Ajhumma. I know he was in a bad place back then."

"That's true. But it was still wrong. So I've grounded him for a month. I hope you don't mind?" Jiran asks that last thing to Minyoung who shakes her head. "I'm all for it. He deserves it."

Changwook has the expression of a betrayed child with Heechul's sniggering in the background. "Ah but it's too much just to punish him. He was only one in four... no, five people who kidnapped me."

 Jaejoong might seem pitiful but Changwook knows she's turning into one evil maniac. It's all Yunho's bratty secretary's influence! "Son, do you have their parents' numbers?" Changwook can only nod mutely at his mother. Oh well, if he's going down then he's taking Seunghyun, Geunseuk, Yihan and Jiseok with him.

"We've been standing too long. I'm sure you and unnie have a lot to talk about." Jaejoong helps Jiran to an empty chair and moves one of the cake shakes towards her. "This isn't in our menu. Heechul only makes it for Minyoung."

"Oh~ how wonderful. I have a huge sweettooth!" Minyoung perks up at that till Changwook is the dampener. "Umma you can't have too much sug-" He chokes mid-sentence when Heechul yanks him by his collar and drags him away from the table. "Ji Changwook-ssi, your coffee is over there~!" Heechul declares in song while dragging the tall man to the coffee bar like he's a sack of potatoes.

"I'll leave you two. Call me when you want to order something else." Jaejoong excuses herself, mouthing a "best of luck" to Minyoung while heading to the coffee bar.

Once they were by themselves Jiran switches to the chair Jaejoong was sitting on earlier so she's directly opposite Minyoung. "Don't mind me. I know my son is trying to guess what we're talking. I just want to with suspense." Minyoung peeks beyond Jiran and indeed Changwook is peering at them over the rim of his espresso cup. When he notices her gaze, he flinches and turns around on the stool.

"He's so obvious..." Minyoung would laugh, but she doesn't want to choke on her milkshake.

Even though it gets silent Minyoung feels at ease. Changwook's mother is not as disconcerting as she expected and she's most definitely genuine too.

"So... Minyoung (?)" The younger nods at her questioning tone allowing Jiran to address her by her first name. "I heard you recently got promoted. That's so great! I could tell you're a hard worker."

"Thank you I wish my colleagues felt the same."

"Pssh! What do they know! If they were working hard like you do then they'd have nothing to say about you. I'm pretty sure you've had to do more than them to make up for the years you lost."

Minyoung froze as she's prone to do when that topic comes up. She's even more shocked that Song Jiran brought it up. Her reaction must have made Jiran conscious because she's suddenly looking behind her in panic, meeting a wide-eyed Changwook's eyes before clutching Minyoung's hand and rambling. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... I... actually... Changwook told me about you so I wouldn't say something insensitive. But I went and did it didn't I? But I'm not judging you. I'm totally judging that guy! He's the evil piece of and he should rot in hell. Don't you think so?"

Well when she puts it that way, Minyoung can agree wholeheartedly. Now that she knows Changwook's mother doesn't judge her at her worst, she's feeling very secure.

"Ajhumma..."

"call me omoni..." Minyoung only smiles wider seeing as Jiran is truly treating her as a special person to her son. "Omoni... I'll be honest with you. This is the first time I've felt cherished in a relationship. I've tried to date after... that... I wanted to move on... but after they'd know about my past... well, there would mostly be disgust. So, I started telling them the truth from the beginning to see how they'd react and decide if they're worth my time."

"You don't need someone else to feel better honey. Nor anyone is entitled to feel pity or disgust for you. I'm telling you, your past made you stronger. Believe me. I didn't know anything about living by myself until my husband died and I had a little boy depending on me to survive. People told me to send him to a family who can take care of him better. But that wasn't an option I'd consider. Pity and judgement didn't affect me because I was too busy becoming stronger and wiser to take care of my son. What happened to you made you wiser and don't let anyone treat you otherwise."

"Omoni..." Minyoung's eyes well up unknowingly. This is the first time someone has told her this. Not even her own mother has because she doesn't know the details. Albeit only Yunho and Changwook know her whole story. "You know, Changwook was the first person who treated me like my past doesn't matter. Being with him has been so therapeutic...Now I know he gets it from you."

"Well, I do have a cup that says ‘Awesomest Mom.’" Jiran brushes imaginary dust off her shoulders playfully smug that makes Minyoung giggle.

"Hello, I'm back." Jaejoong places a plate of chilli caramel shortbread and vanilla ice cream in front of each lady. "This is for the lovely ladies, compliments of the very handsome gentlemen at the bar."

Jaejoong was obviously sent by Changwook to spy or diffuse the situation. Minyoung lets him by sticking his tongue out at him. Jiran though is playing a different game.

"Don't look now," she whispers at Minyoung, "Cute guy on your six. Been staring at you for a long time."

Jaejoong and Minyoung exchange confused glances before Minyoung cautiously corrects her. "Omoni, Changwook is on my 12 and your six." Jiran wrinkles her nose cutely and jerks her head, gesturing at something behind Minyoung.

The two younger women look where Jiran pointed to find two college-aged boys looking at them, before realizing they were caught and blushing profusely. The three women are amused by this little moment, but nothing is funnier than Ji Changwook very purposefully planting himself next to Minyoung and doing the cliché arm around the chair but not her shoulders move.

~~~

Changwook stares at that chicken behind the glass. But his inexperienced self can barely tell how it's doing inside. So he reaches for the silver bar on top of the glass display.

"If you're looking, you're not cooking." Jaejoong's stern voice above him makes him deflate and he stands up.

Changwook observes Jaejoong tend to the garlic rice while an assortment of vegetables sizzle in a pan on the other burner. "Shouldn't we make something more traditional Korean today?"

Jaejoong glares at him from the corner of his eye, "We?" Changwook had the sense to flinch a step back. Jaejoong doesn't bother hitting him with the spoon to give the vegetables a stir. "I'm only following the recipes Heechul gave me. If you want something traditional make it yourself."

"If I could I wouldn't be asking your help, would I?"

"Why didn't you ask your housekeeper?"

"Well I want Minyoung's parents to think I'm grounded. I can't do that by serving food made by my staff."

"Then how is this any different?!"

Changwook looks between Jaejoong and the food she's making before declaring cheekily, "I tell them I made it." Jaejoong growls, huffily working on the rice. "Yeah, make it messy. It'll be more believable that I made it."

Now he deserved to be hit by that spoonful of rice. When Yunho strolls in to the kitchen the first thing he sees is Changwook picking grains of rice out of his hair. Knowing exactly what happened, Yunho ignores him and goes straight for Jaejoong. "Jae, these are the wines Heechul recommended. Which one do you need?"

Jaejoong checks the recipes where Heechul has made little asterisks for which wine goes with which dish. She points at one of the bottles Yunho is holding and he proceeds to open it for her. Jaejoong pours the wine into the pan with the vegetables and sets the half-full bottle aside. When she turns around a minute later Changwook and Yunho are already helping themselves to the wine straight from the bottle. "What? You weren't going to use it all anyway." Yunho responds to Jaejoong's scolding glare.  

Fortunately for them Jaejoong has no time for two naughty kitchen idiots getting in her way. She still has two mains and two sides to make. She knows Changwook was kidding about passing off her cooking as his since both he and Minyoung wanted her and Yunho with them when they sit down with her parents. But now she's feeling overwhelmed about getting everything done.

"Guys I don't think I can make the lamb and the prawns. I still have the potatoes and salad left."

"You make whatever you can." Yunho shoves Changwook out of the kitchen, "We'll get out of your way for now. When we're back after he's changed you tell us what to do."

They go to Changwook's room where he picked some clothing options with his mom yesterday. "What are you going for?" Yunho looks at the three ensembles, noting they're all different than the other.

"Not uptight in my home is the basic concept." Yunho points at a beige shirt which Changwook promptly takes but none of the lounge pants go with it. So now they're rummaging through somet