“Wheein!”

I briefly glanced away from the frying pan to see Yong coming out of the bedroom. I turned back to my perfect eggs and watched over them as I said, “Yes?”

Arms went around my waist before I felt a kiss on my cheek. “Are you almost done?” she whispered as she propped her chin on my shoulder.

“Yup. Are you hungry already?” I whispered.

“Just a little bit”

“I’m done with the eggs already. You don’t have to wait longer,” I said to her before I kissed her temple. I turned off the stove before I carefully transferred the eggs on a plate.

“Can I brrow your laptop?” Yong suddenly whispered beside me.

“Yeah… but I think it’s running out of juice so you have to charge it first”

I placed the spatula on the sink once I was done transferring the eggs. I already toasted some bread earlier and had prepared the coffee too. All I have to do now is place them on the dining table so we could now eat breakfast.

“Thanks,” Yong said before she kissed my cheek. She walked away from me as she said, “We’ll eat in the living room. I’ve done feeding Ggomo as well”

“Okay. Thank you” I called out to her as she walked back to the bedroom.

I carried the plates with eggs and bread to the coffee table before I rushed back to the kitchen just as Yong got out of the bedroom, carrying my laptop and charger. I poured coffee in two mugs and carefully carried them to the coffee table as well while Yong set up my laptop. I went on another trip to the kitchen again to carry with me spoons, forks, a pitcher of water, and a glass we could share for the water.

“Yong!”

My eyebrows furrowed when I heard Yong calling herself. I slowly turned around and briefly glanced at her. She’s staring right at my laptop screen, her eyebrows furrowed as well from whatever she’s looking at. I bit my bottom lip and went back to focusing on not dropping all the things I’m carrying with me.

“Yong! Can you hear me?” Yong said again, making me pout while I slowly walked to the living room.

I held my breath and slowly laid all the things I carried with me on the coffee table. The glass in my arms almost slipped when I heard noises from my laptop. I glanced at Yong and saw her smiling now as she waved at my laptop.

“Can you hear me?” she asked again.

“Yeah… Mom accidentally muted the computer so we weren’t able to hear you earlier” someone replied to Yong.

“Mom, Dad, can you hear me now?” Yong said, making me gulp hard as I froze from my crouched position on the side of the coffee table.

“Yes… I can’t see you properly though” a female voice responded, which I inferred to be Yong’s Mom.

“Wait. Let me just…” she mumbled as she reached to adjust the screen. I slowly released my hold on the items I had and tried to sneakily move away from the coffee table just as I heard Yong ask, “How about that?”

“Perfect. Thank you” that same female voice said.

“Wheein” Yong called me while I just froze halfway through standing up like my whole body was poured with ice cold water. “Love, come here” Yong said while I instantly shook my head. She chuckled at me and patted the space beside her.

I shook my head vigorously again as I whispered, “No”

She faced my laptop again and said, “Give me a second. My girlfriend got suddenly shy.” She stood up while I hurriedly ran to the bedroom and hid myself. “Oh, come on!” Yong complained and pushed the bedroom door open before I could even lock it.

“Yong… No. Please don’t” I whined at her as she pulled me back to the living room.

“I want you to meet my family” she said as she dragged me while I tried to free my arm from her hold. “I met your parents, Hyejin’s family and Byulyi’s family. I have possibly met everyone in Jeonju already. I want you to introduce you to mine as well”

“But I’m nervous…” I whined at her, giving up on pulling my arm from her hold since I’m too weak against her, especially now that my whole body is shaking from nervousness.

“I know, that’s why I never told you anything about it so you won’t have to worry too much” Yong said as she sat on the floor in front of the coffee table again, pulling me down to sit beside her.

I sighed and sat close to her before I glanced at the screen and saw three people looking towards us. I averted my eyes again and just looked at Yong. She smiled at me and placed a protective arm around my waist before she pulled me closer to her. She kissed my cheek before she faced the three people on the screen of my laptop.

“Mom, Dad, Yong, this is Wheein. My girlfriend” she proudly said, squeezing my waist while I blushed hard beside her from embarrassment and nervousness.

I peeked at the screen and saw three people smiling at us. Two are somewhere around my parents’ age and are wearing glasses. The other one is someone near Yong’s age and looked just as pretty as her too. I averted my gaze away from them right away when I felt like I was looking at them for too long.

“Wheein…” Yong whispered beside me, grabbing my attention. I glanced at her and saw her smiling so wide at me. “Love, these are my parents” Yong said. I looked at my laptop screen again and saw her pointing to the people with the glasses. “And this is my older sister, Yonghee. We call each other Yong” she said and pointed at the only person left on the screen.

I slightly bowed my head at them, my throat slowly drying while I fidgeted with the buttons of my pajama top, before I whispered, “Nice to meet you all”

Yong chuckled beside me and wrapped her arms around my waist before she kissed my cheek. “She’s beautiful, right?” Yong said to her family while I just blushed harder from her compliment. She chuckled again and said, “She’s a little bit shy too, so be good to her”

“Wheein” Mrs. Kim called.

“Yes, Mrs. Kim” I answered right away while Yong leaned her chin on my shoulder.

“What do you do?” she asked me while I just gulped hard, feeling even more nervous and scared. This sounded like a job interview, but what’s at stake is far more than just an opportunity to make a living.

I gulped once again before I said, my voice shaking from nervousness, “I’m still a student, mam”

Yong’s parents furrowed their eyebrows, making me reassess myself if I said the wrong answer, while her older sister raised her eyebrows from interest. I gulped hard as I started to feel cold sweat running all over my body. I glanced at Yong beside me for help to know if I said the wrong thing, but she still looked so calm leaning on my shoulder.

“How old are you, Wheein?” Mrs. Kim asked.

I looked at them right away while I consciously sat up straight. I cleared my throat before I said, “I’m twenty one, mam”

All three of them visibly relaxed while Yong just chuckled beside me, reaching for her mug of coffee and taking a sip from it. I looked at my laptop screen, still a little confused but very nervous as I waited for them to say something.

“Oh my… I thought you’re still underage and a high school student, Wheein. Thank goodness…” Mrs. Kim whispered in relief.

“Oh no, mam” I said as I shook my head. “I’m already a third year college student”

“Told you she looks way younger than she actually is” Yong mumbled beside me. She opened the jar of jam and started spreading it on the toasted bread. “We’ll be eating breakfast while we’re talking to you, okay?” she said, placing two slices of bread on my plate.

I’m too nervous to move so I just watch her.

“How old are you already, sweetie?” Mr. Kim asked Yong, hearing his voice for the first time.

“I’m already twenty five. How come you don’t know this?” Yong mumbled, her lips slightly pouting as she placed eggs on my plate this time.

“Four-year gap. Not bad…” Mr. Kim whispered to himself while Mrs. Kim nodded, agreeing with him. At the same time Yonghee said,  “How come you seem to forget that you still have a family and only called us to introduce your girlfriend?”

“I’m just…” Yong said, pausing as she passed me my mug. “I’m busy”

“But you aren’t suddenly busy when you have to introduce your girlfriend?” Yonghee said, raising an eyebrow at us.

I lifted my mug and drank coffee to hide my smile. I like Yong’s sister. But if I’m the one being interrogated by Yonghee, I’d be very scared of her.

“Yes?” Yong said unsurely while she smiled so wide at her family. Yonghee playfully rolled her eyes as she scoffed at Yong.

“You didn’t tell us you’re into women” Mr. Kim said, making me instantly choke on my coffee.

I hurriedly reached the pitcher and poured myself a glass of water. Yong patted my back while I coughed when the coffee went down on the wrong pipe. I drank water before I breathed deeply as the coughing stopped.

“Is there a problem?” Yong asked her family before she looked at me worriedly. “Are you okay?” she whispered.

“Your family didn’t know?” I asked her, my eyebrows raising while I felt suddenly nervous again. There’s no point trying to give Yong’s family a good impression if they do not support us.

She glanced at my laptop screen and asked her family again, “Do you have a problem with it?”

“No” her father calmly asked while I saw Yonghee chuckling at us. I slouched beside Yong and leaned on her when my body relaxed from the sudden tension in my body.

“You just gave Wheein a heart attack with that Dad” Yong’s older sister said while laughing at me.

Yong pulled me closer to her while I sighed in relief. She kissed my cheek and rubbed her hand on my back again. Then she started taking a bite of the toasted bread while I just took small sips of my coffee. I’m still nervous to eat in front of her family, but taking small sips of my coffee gave my hands something to do so I wouldn’t fidget.

“How are you there in Seoul? It’s been years since you called us, Yong” Mrs. Kim asked, frowning at us from worry.

I placed my mug down on the table while Yong finished her bread. I frowned at her again, worried that she’s not in contact with her family always. I remembered when she told me how she felt so lost before we met. The fact that she has this house but it still looked empty made me worry sometimes. It’s slowly having a life now since she started putting up our pictures together, but I haven’t seen pictures of her family. This is the first time that I’ve seen her family’s faces. I’m worried that she’s not having a good relationship with them.

“I just don’t want you to worry about me since I chose to stay here for my work,” Yong said.

“But it just made us worry more, Yong” Yonghee said, scolding her younger sister. “If you weren’t introducing Wheein to us, we won’t have a clue of how you’re actually doing. Sujeong would only tell us that you’re doing fine but that’s it”

“I’m sorry” Yong whispered softly.

I reached a hand on her knee and squeezed it, trying to comfort her. She glanced at me and wrapped her arms around my waist again as she leaned her chin on my shoulder. I’m slightly relieved though that she’s still on good terms with her family.

I faced her family again and suggested, “You could call me if you wanted to know about her. She works for three weeks and has one week break, so she couldn't be in touch that much. I’ll make sure she’ll call you on the time that she’s on break as well. I hope that would help”

When her family smiled and nodded at me, I smiled back at them, relieved that I did something good.

“You’re supposed to be on my side” Yong whispered beside me.

“If I was