meet the parents

"mom. dad."

joohyun feels like her blood got drained out of her system when those two words left seulgi's lips.

it was the following morning after their hike. they were walking around the bus terminal ready to go back to the city when an older couple approached them, startling seulgi on the spot.

"seulgi..." the woman says, eyes lingering on joohyun and seulgi's intertwined hands.

joohyun was about to pull her hand away, but seulgi holds it tighter.

"mom, dad, i can explain."

"how could you do this!" seulgi's mom covers .

"mom--"

"it's about noon," seulgi's dad speaks calmly, looking at his wristwatch. "what do you guys say we talk this over lunch, hmm?" he looks at his wife and daughter, then to joohyun. "we hope you could join us too?"

joohyun was ready to decline, thinking she shouldn't be messing with family matters. but seulgi looks at her and gives her an assuring nod, squeezing her hand.

joohyun feels lighter now. she politely bows at seulgi's parents. "thanks for the invitation. it'll be a pleasure to join you."

---

"we were delivering some goods to a new client when we spotted you two walking to the bus terminal," seulgi's mom explains. after hearing their side of the story, she finally calmed down. "it was hard to ignore how you two look... sweet towards each other."

seulgi's dad takes a deep breath in. "look. just to clarify, i understand this whole ordeal you're facing. i have nothing against the spirits, or the two of you." he pushes his glasses up his nose and looks at his daughter across the table. "but you can't keep doing this behind eunae. you need to tell her. you need to set her free."

joohyun presses her lips together, mixed emotions running through her body. she's embarrassed at getting caught. she also feels bad for letting this happen, for her to allow this cheating to go on.

she feels stupid for acting upon her feelings. if she had only been a little rational about it, maybe she could have controlled the situation. she could have drawn the lines first and made it clear with her soulmate that nothing should happen between them unless seulgi breaks it off with eunae first.

but yeah, those things never happened because when it's with seulgi, every reason or facts or circumstances gets thrown out of the window.

joohyun's just glad seulgi's parents were decent enough to calmly talk to them despite catching them red-handed.

"i understand, dad. you're right. i will talk to eunae about it," seulgi finally speaks, making joohyun look at her. "we need to divorce."

joohyun glances at seulgi's parents and sees a tinge of sadness on their faces.

"if you're really sure about that, then go," seulgi's dad says after a moment. "better do it soon than wait for her to find out from other people."

"i will." seulgi nods. "i know you two are non-believers like me before. but this thing that's going on with me and joohyun," she looks at joohyun and holds her hand, "it's something i've never felt with anyone before. don't get me wrong; you two know how much i care for eunae..."

joohyun swallows a lump in . this is the conversation she wants to avoid--anything that would emphasize how seulgi fell for eunae in her own will, and not because of the spirits.

"... but i've never been this happy and contented and at peace in my life," seulgi continues, squeezing joohyun's hand. she looks at her parents. "i'm sorry for disappointing you two. but i can't run away from this, mom, dad."

a few moments of silence settles before seulgi's dad speaks.

"if this was just an ordinary extra-marital affair, there's no way i would approve this. i would surely beat the out of you and would ask you to make it work out with your wife. but since it's with your soulmate," he glances at joohyun before looking back at his daughter, "then i guess i should be happy that you found your match. i mean, i don't believe in this soulmate effect, but i've never seen you glow like that before."

seulgi and joohyun both smile shyly.

"majority of the people don't get the chance to get to know their soulmates their whole lives," seulgi's mom says. "to be honest, i'm not sure if your dad and i are soulmates. not that it matters now, you know. we're happy as we are."

"have you ever tried tugging each other before?" seulgi asks.

"tugging doesn't simply work that way." seulgi's mom raises her left hand to her ring finger. "older folks from when i was young used to say that it requires a shaman to activate the thread before two people can feel the pull--before the real magic would work. i think that's what happened with you two. the ahjumma you met from the resort may have been a legitimate shaman. once that thread gets activated, there's no more running away from someone's soulmate."

seulgi and joohyun look at each other.

"without the interference of a shaman--the chosen people who have closer bonds with the spirits--people wouldn't know if they are already with their soulmates or not. they wouldn't feel the effects of it either," seulgi's mom continues. "i always thought it was a joke. but now that i see you two, well, i guess it was real after all."

"but how did you know all this stuff, mom?" seulgi asks.

"i lived in a rural area in the province when i was a kid before my family moved to the city. my great-grandma had shamans as close friends. as a kid, i find listening to their conversations interesting. but my parents told me never to believe them because it's all fake."

"why? if shamans can tell people about their soulmates, then why don't people believe them?"

"there was a huge financial crisis about two decades before i was born," seulgi's mom explains. "to cope up with the situation, some shamans took advantage of their skills and asked for ridiculously higher fees. it became more of a business rather than a gift to help people. after that, con men and women popped up everywhere, pretending to be shamans too. that's when people started losing trust in shamans and the spirits. in the end, people regarded soulmates as a big joke."

"ooh." joohyun nods. she knows that financial crisis seulgi's mom was talking about. it's one of the black swans that had a massive impact on worldwide economy.

aside from that, she's never heard of this story about shamans before. but that explains why their generation grew up non-believers. it also answered her question as to why seungwan and sooyoung could still feel their pull--maybe sooyoung's late great-grandma activated it for them before she passed away.

given all those information, joohyun's sure of one thing, there's no way she and seulgi can stay away from each other now.

"as much as this sounds great for seulgi, i'm worried about how eunae or her family would take this," seulgi's dad tells his wife.

"i'll handle it myself, dad. i'll take all the blame," seulgi says. "her parents don't trust me from the beginning anyway. so, might as well live up to their expectations, right?"

seulgi's dad chuckles. "right."

"but i'm worried about eunae," seulgi's mom says. "this won't be easy for her."

"i don't mean to sound harsh, but don't you think this is her karma for cheating on seulgi before?" seulgi's dad says.

surprised, joohyun looks at seulgi. "she cheated on you?"

seulgi looked hesitant. "well. yeah. but that was a long time ago. i'll tell you the whole story later on the bus."

"even if she's done that in the past, it doesn't mean she deserves to be cheated on in return," seulgi's mom says. "i know it's not your intention, but i really hope you can settle this with her the soonest."

"i will, mom. i will." seulgi nods.

"anyway, enough about that for now. let's talk about you." seulgi's dad gestures to joohyun. "what do you do for a living?"

joohyun her lips, unprepared for the sudden question. "umm. i work as a financial analyst."

"she's a registered financial advisor," seulgi proudly says. "if you have any interests in investing, she's the woman for that."

seulgi's mom and dad look at each other with surprised faces.

"um..." seulgi's dad clears his throat, hands clasping on the table. "we happen to have some amount saved after seulgi graduated from college. we have been thinking of investing it but we're not sure where to put it safely. do you think you or any of your friends could help us with that?"

joohyun glances at seulgi first, who gives her an encouraging nod. "yes. a financial advisor can give you different options, depending on the amount you have in hand and the type of investment you prefer."

"uhm. but how much do you think it'll cost us to hire one?" it was seulgi's mom who asks this time.

joohyun smiles. "well, i can give my services to you for free."

"really?" seulgi's parents say in unison, eyes bulging.

"yes. all free of charge."

"my goodness! thank you. and thank heavens!" seulgi's dad looks up at the ceiling.

"we owe you this, joohyun. thank you," seulgi's mom says.

"you're welcome. anything for the two of you." finally feeling comfortable, joohyun tucks her arm under seulgi's. "you're my soulmate's parents after all."

everything felt right when seulgi turns to her to kiss her cheek and whispers, "i love you" in her ear.