“Hyunnie, sit down”, Bogum pointed at the chair next to him.

Joohyun smiled slightly and did as she was told.

Suji sat next to Seulgi and started talking to her brother.

“The food needs just a few more minutes”, the mother of the Bae household announced.

“So, Seulgi”, Suji’s father turned to her and Seulgi looked at him. Mr. Bae was a bit overweight but had calm and intelligent eyes which focused on every detail in Seulgi’s behavior.

“Y-, yes, Sir?”

The man nodded. “You’ve got manners. I like that”, he grumbled.

“Thanks”, Seulgi answered nervously and glanced at her girlfriend who wasn’t paying attention to the conversation between them.

“What do you do?”

“I work in a company, I’m head of the design department.”

He frowned. “How old are you?”

“26 years, Sir.”

“And already head of the department?”

“It’s a start-up, Sir”, she explained.

The man scoffed. “So, you don’t earn any money?”

“That’s not quite right, Sir. In two weeks, our company will go public.”

He raised an eyebrow. “That’s interesting. So, you aren’t dating my Suji for the money.”

“No, Sir”, Seulgi replied. “I date her because she’s an amazing, intelligent, strong, independent and beautiful woman.” Her cheeks turned red and she felt the heat shooting through her body.

Mr. Bae nodded and leaned back in his chair. “She’s all of that, you’re right.”

“Dad”, Suji finally interrupted their discussion. “Please don’t give her a hard time.”

“He doesn’t”, Seulgi was fast to reply and blinked in confusion as the older man began laughing.

“Keep calm. I like you”, he said and winked at Seulgi. “Just wanted to test the waters with someone like you.”

“Someone like me?”

He nodded with a smile on his lips but dark eyes and took a sip from his wine. “A person without a name.”

“Sir?”

“You’re a nobody and my daughter is a lawyer from a well-known family. I wanted to see if you’re after our reputation, connections and money.”

“Father”, Joohyun said and Seulgi turned around a bit too fast for Suji’s liking. “Don’t talk to her like that.”

The man squinted his eyes. “Welcome to the family, Kang Seulgi.” He raised his glass and Seulgi did the same.

“Thanks, Sir”, she replied with a bitter taste in .

“I know you aren’t after this stuff”, Suji whispered into her ear.

Seulgi nodded and looked deep into the calm eyes of her girlfriend. “I would’ve quit my job and became a housewife with 5 kids if I had known”, she said jokingly. The truth was, she loved her workplace and profession. She had invested so much time and energy in building the small company that Seulgi sometimes said it was her ‘child’. Suji on the other hand always that they should think about a real child. A breathing little human. A person that would bind them together for eternity.

“It’s never too late”, the other woman said and kissed her. Seulgi closed her eyes, otherwise she would’ve looked at Joohyun. She knew that her ex was observing every move she made.

“Seulgi”, the devil herself spoke and the younger focused her.

“Joohyun, right?”

“Do you want to join me in the kitchen?”

“Sis”, Suji began but Seulgi shook her head.

“Sure, let’s prepare the food.”

Both stood up and walked into the other room. Joohyun closed the door and walked towards the oven.
She took out the chicken and duck and started placing slices of flesh on different plates.
Seulgi had crossed her arms and waited with not so much patience left.

After finishing her task, Joohyun sighed and turned around.
“So, we’ll ignore the fact that we’ve dated for 2 years?”

“Obviously”, Seulgi hissed. “It would be ing awkward.”

“It is ing awkward, Kang Seulgi”, Joohyun replied, massaging her temples.

“Congrats on having a fiancé.”

Joohyun sighed. “You don’t need to do that.”

Seulgi frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know how you found my family but using my little sister to get back at me, , that’s so low.”

“Wait”, the younger began laughing. “I fell in love with Suji a few months ago, Joohyun. I knew her last name, yeah, but guess what: There are a lot of Korean families with the surname Bae.”

The older woman clenched her jaws.

“I’m done with you. You were still in the closet and I respected that because I loved you. I was okay with not meeting your family but”, Seulgi shook her head. “I’m here because of Suji and not you.”

Joohyun widened her eyes in confusion.

“Grow the up. You are a person who I left behind a long time ago.”

She didn’t react and Seulgi took that as a sign to leave the kitchen with the chicken in her hand.

“Wait”, Joohyun said as the younger woman was about to open the door.

“What?”

“How’s life?”

Seulgi scoffed and shook her head before walking through the door.

“What were you two talking about?”, Suji asked.

Seulgi put down the plate.
“She gave me the typical big-sister-speech but don’t worry, I’m not gonna leave you because of your protective sister.”

Suji grinned and they shared a short kiss.

“Love you”, she whispered.

“Love you too”, Seulgi replied and sat down besides Suji but in front of Joohyun who walked into the dining room too.

“It looks fantastic, Soojin”, Bogum meant and smiled brightly at the mother.

“Thanks, dear”, she answered.

They started eating and were involved in different conversations. Seulgi liked Suji’s and Joohyun’s brother the most. He was an intelligent but easy-going guy with a stable job and no responsibilities. He lived his life to the fullest, had a lot of fun and enjoyed skydiving (which drove Mrs. Bae crazy).

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“And then this idiot told me to go to HR and talk to Xavier, you know, the man from abroad. I mean, what does he know? His Korean is awful. He’s a disgrace to the company”, Bogum complained.

“He always talks about his home country and that he misses his family and friends like, okay? Go home then. He’s a ing loser.”

“He studied in Yale”, Mr. Bae said with a stern expression. “He speaks seven languages and just because Korean isn’t one of them, doesn’t mean you’re allowed to act like a racist.”

“I’m not a racist, Hyuk but-“

“If you aren’t a racist then there is no need for a but”, Seulgi said. She had enough with his way of talking down on foreigners.

Everyone stared at her and she lowered her head. “Sorry.”

“No, Seulgi. You’re completely right”, Bae Hyuk said. “My son in law is an idiot.”

“Darling”, his wife admonished him. “Don’t say things like that.”

The man shrugged and continued eating.

Seulgi found Bogum’s squinted eyes. By now, nothing of his nice behavior and charming personality was left. He seemed angry and annoyed by her presence.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Her mom and Suji started cleaning up. Seulgi and the brother of the two sisters asked if they could help but both women denied.

Bogum excused himself to the toilet and the youngest sibling went out for a cigarette, joined by his father.

That left a tipsy Joohyun with an equally slightly drunk Seulgi.

“You still have that habit”, the older woman chuckled.

Seulgi looked confused into her soft eyes.
Soft?
Yes. They were as soft as a freshly washed pillow; as the time they shared their