PLAYLIST: “So Close,” Jon McLaughlin

BAEKHYUN

I was never the persistent type. It’s not in my nature to deliberately force anyone on anything, especially if they have made it clear that they do not want it.

But this is different. This is about the woman that I love. All I want for her is to find her self-worth and appreciate herself more. Unfortunately, this recent event regarding her parents is not helping. No matter how much she tries to act like everything is settled after our little talk in her apartment, I know deep inside her, it still bothers her. I had to make a choice and my choice is to face her parents. I am not picking a fight or anything. It’s not like that at all. I just want to politely introduce myself to their family, in the best way possible.

I may not be perfect but I want to assure them that I am a good match for their daughter. A little part of me, I cannot lie, is a little bit anxious. I am not so sure how they will react to my chosen career. I know, for some reason, older folks still find it quite hard to accept a man being a hairdresser. I’d like to assume that they would be the same as the rest of my family so that I am emotionally prepared for what may come to me.

I don’t want to let that bother me too much though. All my focus is on making my girlfriend feel better.

Although, I am not entirely sure how I am going to execute this when Dohee just told me that they are sick. I guess I can still pay a visit, I’m just going to have to be careful, I guess. Honestly, I’m not so sure if this will even be doable given the situation. I will give it a try anyway.

I arrive at my destination and it’s a quiet little neighbourhood. It only took me about twenty minutes to drive here so that’s good. In the future, it’ll be easy to visit them. I check the exact address on my phone again and I turn to my right. The first house on the left—there it is. It’s quite an old-looking house but it seems well maintained. Right beside it, attached a store. I assume that is where Dohee is in right now. A smile forms on my lips as I look around the area, purposely driving much slower since there were no cars behind me anyway. This is where Dohee grew up and it’s making my heart flutter with excitement to be here right now.

This is a big part of Dohee that I finally get to experience. I park my car to the side of the streets that has a parking kiosk. I pay for my spot before stepping into the narrow pathway. I pass by some boutique stores, there’s even a small salon. That’s cute … and quite neglected, I’d say. I wonder if Dohee used to get her hair done here when she was younger.

I stop as soon as I reach the store. I just stand there outside while looking through the glass. Right away, I spot my girlfriend behind the cashier’s counter. She seems to be sitting down because I can only see half of her body. She isn’t moving and seems to be spacing out, completely. I chuckle to myself as I watch her, assuming she’s daydreaming about something like she always does.

She’s a silly woman. She’s my silly woman.

I turn my head towards the house again. I have a perfect idea. Maybe I can buy fruits from them and then give it to them since they are sick? Is that weird that I am buying it from their store? I am technically just giving them money in that case, but that’s fine, right? Let’s just say, I’m just trying to help their business at the same time. I brace myself before pulling the door of the store open. A door chime makes a sound and I see Dohee look up to me.

An audible gasp comes out of her as she stands up. She doesn’t seem astonished by the smile already forming on her lips when our eyes meet. “Oh my god, you actually came to see me. I thought you were joking because you never texted me after.” She laughs in her palm. I approach the counter as I shrug. “Sorry, I didn’t really come to see you. I came here for fruits.” I deadpan answer and she just raised her brows at me skeptically. “Oh really, fruits. Yeah yeah, come look around then, sir. We have the freshest fruits in here, we literally picked them today by hand.” She fakes a salesman's voice while gesturing me to turn to one aisle. She’s joking about picking them today, right? She must be. I smile at her while shaking my head.

“What’s a good fruit for a flu patient?” I ask as I scan my eyes around the small variety of packed fruits. I turn to her briefly and I see her eyes getting round and big at me. “Who—who has … flu?” She stammers at me and her body lowers as she collapses back down to her chair. I only shrug in return before looking back to the fruits again. I grab a basket nearby and begin meticulously picking my choice of fruits. “Uhm, Byun Baekhyun?” Her voice shakes as she calls out my name. I look up to her again, casually raising my eyebrows as a response. “Who ha—has flu? One of yo—your co-workers, right?” She laughs nervously while dabbing the tips of her index fingers together anxiously. “Which one of them, do I know th—the name?” She even adds.

I shake my head. “No, I don’t work with them. I actually haven’t met them yet. This will be the first time.” I answer, ambiguously revealing it entirely. “Th—them? Who? More than one person, you mean?” She tilts her head to the side and narrows her eyes at me more.  “Do I … know them?” She tries to laugh again but it just comes out a weird yelp. This time, I don’t answer anymore. I finish picking my fruits and I walk to the counter to place my basket on top. “As promised, I will only be here for a few minutes, so don’t worry about me and keep doing what you have to do,” I assure her as I take my wallet out.

With reluctant hands, she begins scanning the fruits in the machine. She continues eyeing me with her frantic glares that I try to ignore, or else I might just laugh. “So, what’s … the plan af—after this?” She asks and begins bagging the fruits. I wait for her to finish so I can take my stuff with me right away. “Just next door to visit the patients.” I smile sweetly at her as she hands me the bag. Before she could grab it from me after what I said, I turn away as quickly as I can and rush out of the store as fast as I can.

As expected, she skips around the counter to follow me out. “Yah yah yah—Byun Baekhyun.” She chases me as I approach the house. I quickly put my face mask on to protect myself from the flu and Dohee even tries to snatch it from me but she doesn’t win. “Uhm, are you supposed to leave the store unattended? That’s not really safe, don’t you think?” I ask while suppressing the urge to smile, despite that she won’t see it anyway. She successfully grabs me by the shirt but it was way too late for her. We are already at the porch of their house. “Baekhyun—why are you—oh my god—can you not—I’m going to die if you do this.” She starts hopping like a bunny. “You’re not going to die, you can’t trick me.” I chuckle casually and she eagerly shakes her head. “No no no, I’m dead serious. I will die if I have to—”

Ding dong. I press the doorbell with my eyes intently looking at her as I smile sweetly. “Oh my god!” She covers and squeals in panic. She tugs on my sleeves and begins trying to pull me away from the door. “Noona, you’re going to stretch my shirt—stop, wait—just a second, let me go. Noona, please? Just trust me on this one, hm? Oka—stop pulling, just relax.” I laugh while trying to fight back as gently as I possibly could so I don’t end up pushing her to the ground in case she suddenly let go of me. I press the doorbell again making her yelp loudly again. “Byun Baekhyun, I’m still older than you. Listen to me—Oh my god, I’m so scared now, why are you—Ahh!“

The front door suddenly opens, finally, and Dohee screams another round before running away as fast as she can. A familiar face welcomes me. This must be her mother; I remember from the picture. She is wearing a face mask right now. She must have worn it just to answer the door. She looks at me briefly before peeking out of the door to look towards Dohee who just screamed like there’s fire. “Dohee? What happened?” She calls out but my girlfriend just ran back into the store. The older lady finally looks at me again and bows reluctantly. “Hello, how can I help you?” She asks me, obviously not knowing who the hell I am.

I bow very politely and I keep my head lowered. “Hello, good evening. I’m Byun Baekhyun. I’m your dau—” I get interrupted when Dohee calls out from the store again. She is peeking out of the door. “Eomma, he’s complaining about our fruits. He wants to return it but he already ate half of it.” She makes up the stupidest line I have ever heard and I try not to laugh at her. I look at her mother with my mouth slightly agape and I quickly shake my head. “No, ma’am. I’m not here to complain about the fruits. In fact, I’m here to give them to you. Again, I am Byun Baekhyun and I’m your daughter—”

“Eomma eomma eomma!” Dohee suddenly comes out running back to us, calling out in panic. Her mother sighs in irritation while looking at her. “What is it? Can I entertain this gentleman first before you say whatever you want to say? And don’t just leave the store, get back in there.” She asks before looking at me again. “Sorry, say that again?” She requests and Dohee begins tugging on me. “Eomma he’s my boyfriend he’s here to give you fruits because you and Appa are sick here you go bye-bye!” She introduces me in the fastest way possible. She then snatches the bag of fruits from me, drops it on the floor before dragging me away from the door.

I stop my girlfriend giving me no choice but to ultimately go to the extreme. I lift her in my arms and place her right on my shoulder. “Agk! Baekhyun—put me down!” She hits my back continuously but I ignore it as I turn around and walk back to the door. I bow my head as much as I can as I look at her mother again. “I’m so sorry ma’am, Please, believe me, that I do not normally treat your daughter like this but she’s being difficult at the moment and she won’t allow me to be here. I’m Byun Baekhyun, I’m your daughter’s boyfriend and I would like to personally meet you and pay my respect.” I finally manage to finish my own introduction and I see her mother innocently eyeing her daughter’s bum that is facing her right now as I carry her like this.

Dohee fake cries while still weakly hitting my back. I finally put her down and quickly check on her. “Are you alright?” I ask and cup her face. She pouts hard at me and pushes my hand away. I know she is very upset right now but I am not going to let this falter me. Byun Baekhyun, keep strong. Sometimes, you have to be the bigger person. In this case, this is me being the bigger person compared to her. This is necessary to happen for her to feel better about the situation.

I look at her mother again and gi