"Oh my God! Jae! Is that you?" I asked in disbelief while my eyes widened and my mouth hung open, surprised to see my childhood friend, Jaehyun from Melbourne. 

Letting go of Chanyeol's hand, I quickly ran to him and gave an a tight hug. It's been years since I last saw him and I definitely missed hanging out with this guy. He's the first one to greet us by the door before anybody else so it was out of sheer reflex for me to let my emotions run after meeting a friend I haven't seen for the longest time.

As soon as we let go of each other, I noticed him looking behind me so I called Chanyeol to introduce him and they bowed and shook each other's hand. They were both smiling so brightly that I drowned in the sight of their dimples. 

Entering the house, my parents' eyes caught me and immediately, mom greeted me for a hug while dad followed behind her. However, dad's eyes seem to observe Chanyeol, somehow scrutinizing and it made me feel uncomfortable. Although mom was warm with her greeting when I introduced him to them both. 

During dinner, we begin to have that usual chat. Chanyeol was sitting beside me and I was beside mom while Dad was seated at the end of the rectangular table. Mom and Jaehyun were seat on dad's every side while the rest of my relatives fill in each seat. 

I started the chat by asking Jaehyun, "So, how have you been?" 

"I'm actually moving to Boston this coming summer." He replied with a huge grin on his face until I realized what he meant. 

Since we were kids, Jaehyun dreamed of Harvard. Actually, we both did and when I realized what moving to Boston meant, I gasped, "Oh my God! You got in to Harvard!" 

I was excited and happy for him and clearly, dad looked proud of him. I was an only child and from what I heard from mom, dad had always wanted a son but mom's delicate so they decided to only have one child. 

"And as for you, young miss," My dad interrupted. "You need to get in to Harvard as well. You're maintaining a 4.0 GPA? You dreamed of Harvard too, isn't that right?" 

"Oh, yeah. About that, that was way back when I was like, what?... 12? Things changed. I'm staying here." I retorted before taking a bite of my steak. 

"You're taking Political Science, eventually, you'll take up law. So you gotta go to Harvard." He argued sternly. 

"Dad, I'll be fine here-." 

"Why? Because of your boyfriend?" He questioned sternly with a tone that immediately offended me. 

At that moment, I lost my smile and my blood started to boil. His tone was definitely rude to Chanyeol. However, I tried to calm myself when I felt Chanyeol's hand slide to my leg as if he's asking me to calm down.

Everyone heard him and everyone was suddenly quiet... I hated it.

"Anyway... how old are you, Chanyeol?" He asked, gaze darting to the man beside me. 

"I'm 27, sir," Chanyeol answered politely with his unwavering smile. 

"27, huh? Yet you're working as a waiter in a bar? Shouldn't you find a more stable job? When I was your age, I'm already a manager of a bank."

A lump grew in my throat as I listened to the words my father just let go. I wanted to speak up, to stop this nonsense but I couldn't... 

"The odds weren't favorable on my end, sir." Chanyeol retorted. 

"Now that's just an excuse. I heard you have three jobs? Why the hell won't you get a better paying job?" 

"Honey, Chanyeol's life had been rough on him and he's slowly getting by. Give the boy a break." Mom softly interrupted. 

"Not when it involves my daughter." Dad retorted sternly with brows all furrowed. "We gave her the best that we can give, the life we didn't have. How do you propose to give what she needs when you couldn't afford it. And don't you dare say happiness can be bought... You may be making her happy now but how long can it last when you can't provide what she needs."

Chanyeol was quiet, staring in his food as my father continues to blabber. Mom reached out to my dad's arm to stop him without her uttering any word but that had no effect on him. 

"Dad... please..." I pleaded, holding back my tears that were threatening to fall while I clenched both my hands tightly above the table. 

"No, you need to realize this now. You're investing your emotions to a man who can't give you what you need or what you even want." 

Then, I noticed Chanyeol took a deep breath before lifting his gaze, looking at my dad, "I don't want to tell you more excuses, sir, because I know that's not what you wanted to hear. To be honest, I had been thinking about that ever since I realized