The evening seemed to pass by in such a blur, one moment the boys had just finished eating and were moving to the living room, next thing you know it, they were getting up to leave.

Well, it seemed like there was a reason as to why people said time flies when having fun after all.

“Aunty, uncle, thank you so much for such a fun evening.” Taemin thanked Youra’s parents as he stood outside with his hyungs. “You guys were great hosts.”

“Nonsense,” Youra’s mother waved her hand in dismissal. “You guys were great guests. We loved having you over, the house hasn’t felt this lively in so long. Feel free to come over whenever you guys want.”

Minho bowed to her and Youra’s father. “Again, thank you both for hosting us.” He turned to address Youra’s father. “Uncle, I’m going to take you up on that job offer someday.”

The older man laughed and patted Minho’s shoulder. “Of course, of course. You’re welcome to join the business any time, son.”

Minho smiled back at him and glanced at Youra. She could tell what he was trying to communicate through his eyes. He called me son! Your dad is awesome.

She nodded in acknowledgement. I know.

The members of SHINee looked to Key who was still standing inside.

“Uh guys, you head on, I’m going to stay here a little longer.”

They all nodded, understanding what he meant as he lingered by a photo of You-Jin hung on one of the walls in the living room.

Key didn’t talk much about You-Jin, but someone needed to be blind in order to not notice the huge crushes the two had had on each other, so the boys decided to give him the privacy they needed.

They waved one last time and bid their goodbyes to their younger friends before walking off, holding a merry conversation as Youra closed the door and walked to Key.

“Mom, dad, you remember the guy I mentioned I wanted you to meet?”

The older couple looked at each other and back at Youra, confused.

Key was the one she was dating and not Mark?

“Yes, I remember you mentioning someone.”

“Well, this is him. I didn’t mention this before because everyone was here, but this is Key, You-Jin’s classmate and crush in university.”

Youra’s mom gasped, not in shock but in more of a pleasant surprise. She could tell from the start that he was a good person with a great personality. He was respectful, witty and had even gone out of his way to get them a basket of apples.

But the idea that You-Jin had liked him at some point was an idea that had never crossed her mind.

It made her sad to think that her daughter had never mentioned him to her, that she had never told her about such a handsome young boy and had not introduced them earlier, leaving her younger sister to relate the news.

Youra’s father was almost just as surprised.

He was only thinking a few moments ago that Key would make a wonderful son-in-law, and now this.

He all of a sudden terribly missed his eldest daughter.

Not that he didn’t miss her and her loud, bright personality on a daily basis despite what others may think, but on hearing that Key was someone You-Jin liked in university from Youra, he was saddened by the idea that it wasn’t You-Jin herself telling him this.

Key stepped forward. “I’m sorry I didn’t mention this before, aunty and uncle. I didn’t want to insult You-Jin’s memory by talking about her so casually in front of everyone, so I wanted to wait until everyone left. What Youra said is true, in fact you’ll also be surprised to hear that I liked your daughter too.”

Youra’s mother’s eyes started b with tears and Key immediately went to console her. “Oh aunty, please don’t cry. This was not my intention.”

“It’s not your fault, Ki-Bum-ssi. I’m just crying thinking of my daughter.”

Mark and Jackson who were standing in the background moved towards Youra on seeing that she was trying to discretely wipe a tear and put their arms around her shoulder. She looked at them gratefully before looking back at Key who was now talking to her father, his arm still around her mother in a consolatory manner.

“Your daughter was a beautiful person, she still is. My only regret is that I was never able to tell her that.”

Youra’s mom started sobbing and Key hugged her.

It was a teary end of the day to say the least, with everyone shedding a tear or two as they all thought about You-Jin. Youra’s parents for the first time that evening had openly spoken about how they felt about You-Jin’s death, and Youra’s heart had immediately felt like a heavy weight had been lifted off of it.

For the longest time, Youra had always felt like their family wasn’t as expressive and loving as her friends’ families. She had never felt the sort of love that Jackson’s parents seemed to always give him or the sort of affection Mark’s parents seemed to give him even though they didn’t hang out with him a lot.

When You-Jin passed away however, Youra was waiting for some sort of change in that. She was waiting for the moment her parents would break down in front of her, the moment they would reassure her that she was not the only person suffering.

Months later and Youra had still not gotten any confirmation.

Until now.

The moment Youra’s mother broke in front of Key was the moment she was reassured that her parents had in fact been affected by You-Jin’s death, and it was so relieving to see that her parents actually cared because for so long she was starting to believe they didn’t.

It was an evening that was going to hold a lot of meaning in her heart for a really long time.

After everyone had sort of recovered from the emotional break down they had had, Youra took Key upstairs to show him her sister’s room, leaving behind Mark and Jackson with her parents.

But then Jackson said he had some work and left, leaving only Mark behind with the older couple.

Normally he would have been fine sitting there with them, he knew them pretty well and they him, but for some reason, he was starting to feel uncomfortable under their gaze.

They looked at him like they were trying to read him somehow.

5 minutes of this intense gaze made time seem so slow for Mark, before they broke the silence and he understood why they were looking at him like that.

“So, you and Youra, huh?” Youra’s dad asked as he crossed his arms and leaned forward from his seat on the couch.

Oh crap.

Mark looked at the stairwell, hoping to God that Youra was coming downstairs, because he didn’t know how to respond for the life of him.

Should he just come clean? Or act evasive?

“Um, uncle maybe we should wait for Youra to come downstairs.”

“You know, I didn’t expect this from you, Mark. Maybe from Jackson, but you?” Youra’s mom shook her head, making Mark feel guilty.

How on Earth were parents so good at making people feel guilty?

“Aunty, I-”

“We don’t want to hear any explanations from you. Just tell us one thing, do you truly care about her?”

“Sir?” Mark asked, not minding the fact that he had accidentally called him sir instead of the usual uncle, out of a mixture of fear, confusion and shock.

“You heard him, do you care about her? Or is this just something temporary?”

“Of course I care about her. In fact,” He took a deep breath. “I love her.”

“You love her?”

Mark nodded. “I mean, I’ve always loved her, but that was as a friend. Now,” he chuckled nervously. “I love her as more than that. She’s come to mean so much to me.”

Youra’s parents looked at each other and back at him before letting out sighs of relief. “Thank God.”

Mark looked back and forth at them. “Sir?”

“I said, thank God.”

“So…” Mark started, unsure. “Does that mean you approve?”

“Of course we do. We just wanted to make sure you were serious about this, about her. And as we thought,” Youra’s mom smiled at her husband and then at Mark. “You are.”

“Besides, it’s not like we have much of a choice, Youra seems pretty serious about you.” Youra’s dad pointed out with a chuckle.

Mark stared at them in shock. He didn’t know what he was expecting but whatever it was, this was so not it. “You guys are okay with this?”

“You seem pretty shocked, should we be worried?”

He shook his head frantically. “No, no, that’s