“Mum…” Kibum began after swallowing a mouthful of bulgogi and was now holding his metal chopsticks tightly in his hands. “Stop looking at Minho like that… and stop smiling too. It’s scary…”

Minho, who had his eyes glued onto his bowl of rice, instantly looked up to see that Key’s mum was indeed grinning directly at him, her eyes obviously taking in his features almost admiringly. With Key’s mum sitting opposite them, Minho fidgeted nervously in his chair, not knowing what was appropriate to do in this situation. He took a peek at Key and it was then he realised his boyfriend had stopped eating entirely as his chopsticks were now resting on the bowl. Minho suddenly decided he had no appetite to continue eating either… since eating on a nervous stomach wasn’t helping his digestion at all.

“Kibum ah, why did you have to say that out loud? You see how you’ve made things so uncomfortable now…” Key’s mother shook her head and shot a reproachful look at her son.

“Please mum, it was awkward to begin with…” Key muttered under his breath, recalling how things went once his mother had set foot into their apartment.

As soon as the door opened, his mother had basically smothered not only him but Minho with hugs before any official introductions could be made. This was immediately followed with his mother taking a quick tour of their apartment, commenting on just about everything like how the bed sheets were a good choice and how the windows needed to be fully open to let fresh air in, before settling down in the kitchen with strict orders that none of them bother her while she cooked a nice dinner for them. Key and Minho could only blink at each other as they were forced to wait quietly at the dining table. It only took Key’s mum under an hour to whip up a meal consisting of three dishes and a soup but during the entire hour or so, Minho and Key had been wordlessly exchanging messages with their eyes, trying their best to communicate without letting Key’s mother in on their conversation (which basically consisted of them panicking and figuring out what they should do). Evidently, their “discussion” had been fruitless since here they were now almost done with dinner yet still doing nothing to make the atmosphere any less awkward.

Of course, Key’s mother wasn’t oblivious to the uncomfortable atmosphere. It didn’t take much intelligence to know how nervous the two boys in front of her were and she was doing all she could to make the situation comfortable for everyone. After all, she had been in this situation before when she met her husband’s parents for the first time. And if she was honest, her husband’s parents weren’t the friendliest people one could meet. She definitely didn’t want Minho to remember her this way, which explained why she kept smiling at him. Maybe the next step to making everyone feel comfortable was to act more like a friend, less like a mother. and be completely honest with the tensed up kids sitting in front of her...

“Minho, if it helps, I am nervous as well.” Key’s mother chuckled shyly as she admitted her feelings.

“Mum?!”

“Eomonim…”

Both Key and Minho spoke at the same time and then glanced at each other with puzzled expressions.

“It’s my first time doing this as well!” Mrs Kim explained. “Kibum’s my only son and you’re the first person he’s letting me meet… I just want to get to know you, Minho, and how things are going between the two of you. Kibum?”

“Well mum…” Key smiled, grateful that his mother was putting in the effort to ease the tension in the apartment. “There’s nothing much to know about Minho because he’s actually really boring. He didn’t have a life before I came into the picture.”

“Kibum…” Minho groaned. “Do you have to put it that way?”

“What? It’s the truth, isn’t it?” Key smirked.

“I'm involved in sports…” Minho argued.

“Ah! So I was right about you being athletic.” Interrupting her son from speaking, Key’s mother praised herself out loud, very much pleased with her accurate observation skills. “What sports do you play, Minho?”

“Soccer, Eomonim, that’s the main sport I’m dedicated to.” Minho smiled and rubbed his neck shyly. “I’m actually the captain of the university’s soccer team.”

“Wow, you must have your fair share of popularity in school then.” Mrs Kim nodded approvingly. “Is that how Kibum knows you? Are you guys in the same university?”

Key scrunched up his face in a frown because the dreaded question had finally been asked. He wasn’t exactly keen on recounting his and Minho’s love story to his mother… not that he and Minho had a love story to tell anyway.

“Yes Eomonim, we’re in the same university… and I guess that’s basically how we know each other.” Minho replied accordingly.

“But it seems like you and Kibum don’t have anything in common… for one, my son hates sports!”

While Minho hid a laugh behind his hand, Key groaned. “Mum, why do I get this feeling that you think I’m the one who came on to Minho?”

“Because I know you, darling... you’re hard to approach.” Mrs Kim stated matter of factly.

“Thanks Mum.” Key replied as sarcastically as he could, only to get ignored by his mother.

“So Minho, how long have you and Kibum been together?”

“We’re coming to our 4^th year together…” Minho answered slowly as he turned to look at Key confused and trying to understand why his boyfriend was squeezing his thigh so hard while keeping a straight face. Yet, in the next second, he immediately understood why after answering Mrs Kim’s question, Key was suddenly looking like he was doomed.

“4^th year?” Mrs Kim had calmly repeated before taking in a breath and exclaiming, eyes fixed on her own son, “4 years?!”

“Mum, I can explain-“

“Kim Kibum.” Mrs Kim didn’t raise her voice but her tone was scary enough to make both Key and Minho hold each other’s hand under the table and pray they will get through this safely. “4 years and I’m only getting to know Minho tonight? Do you still remember that I am your mother? I should have never let you leave Daegu for Seoul if I knew you were-”

“Mum, I didn’t know if you were ready for something like this.” Key attempted to pacify his mother but when she only narrowed her eyes at him, he knew he should have thought of something smarter to say.

“Kibum, honey, even though I might not be ready to meet your boyfriend, do you think your mum doesn’t know how to Google for advice?”

Mrs Kim’s unexpected confession certainly caught both Key and Minho off guard. They even had to take a minute to digest her words. And if they interpreted her question correctly, did that mean Key’s mum actually googled to prepare herself for her meeting with them tonight? Key and Minho shared a look with each other, expressions filled with a little more amusement than disbelief.

“It doesn’t matter if I’m ready or not… because no matter what, Kibum, you’re my son and I want to know what’s happening in your life and not be kept in the dark for 4 years.” Mrs Kim sighed, unaware that the kids in front of her were still stuck in the previous moment in time. “I’ve accepted you for who you are… and I’ll accept Minho too, as long as he treats you well.”

Upon hearing his name, Minho quickly nodded at Key’s mother with a fiercely determined expression that was enough to convince Mrs Kim she could trust Key with him even if he didn’t make the following promise.

“Eomonim, I know you haven’t got the chance to know me as well as you should but please believe me, I’ll never give you any reason to make you lose your trust in me when it comes to Kibum. I love him more than you can imagine and I always-“

“Okay, baby, enough, thank you.” Key swiftly covered Minho’s mouth before any more of his goosebump-raising honeyed words could escape his lips. “I think my mum’s fairly convinced.”

With a loving smile, Key’s mother looked adoringly at the couple for a moment or two, simply taking in how both her son and Minho were so natural, so at home, so happy with each other. What more could she ask for knowing her son was happier than he had ever been when she watched him grow up?

Mrs Kim let out a satisfied sigh and stood up from the chair. “Alright boys, finish up your dinner! I’ll go cut some fruits for us and we can talk more when I come back.”

Both boys nodded obediently and when Key’s mother finally disappeared into the kitchen, Key released his hand over Minho’s mouth only to end up using it to punch his boyfriend on the shoulder.

“You didn’t have to confess your undying love for me in front of my mum!” Key hissed at a volume loud enough for only Minho to hear.

With a satisfied smile, Minho chose to remain silent, only shrugging his shoulders with an air of nonchalance while he picked up his chopsticks to finish up the remaining food on the table. At the same time, he signalled for Key to continue eating as well.

Key shook his head and let out a breath. “I can’t eat… I’m still shocked from the fact that my mother used Google to prepare for tonight. What do you think she googled? How should I meet my son’s boyfriend? Are there even search results for that?”

Knowing that Key was waiting for his answer, Minho gave a verbal reply this time round. “We could try googling it later…”

“Minho, I can tell you’re only replying me for the sake of replying...”

“Sorry baby, it’s just that now that all my nerves are gone, I’m feeling really hungry and I just want to finish up dinner and-“

“You and your bottomless pit… I can already imagine me poking your belly one day.” Key’s eyes travelled from the food that was going into Minho’s mouth to where it’ll eventually end up at his stomach and sighed, picturing a bleak future where he would be hugging a rather chubby Minho with a beer belly.

“No worries, I’ll make sure my abs will always be around for you to admire.” Minho winked. “I know how much you love touching them.”

“Choi Minho! My mother is here.” Key widened his eyes in alarm and quickly looked towards the kitchen to check if his mum’s attention were on them. “She does not need to know that we have touched each other at body parts which aren’t hands!”

“Oops?” This was accompanied with the most innocent expression Minho could muster.

Key rubbed his temples in exasperation and then pointed a finger directly at Minho’s face. “You. Please. Watch your words. Better still, speak only when necessary. You hear me?”

“Kibummie…”

“Or at least just make my mum believe we are an innocent couple who does only PG rated stuff.”

“She knows we’ve been together for almost 4 years, Kibum… your mum isn’t stupid.”

Key groaned. “Maybe we should have been as smart as my mum and googled what we should do when meeting the parents…”

Minho chuckled and pulled Key towards him, unable to resist the urge of giving his boyfriend a quick kiss. Knowing that Key would kick up a fuss because of his actions, he immediately placed a finger on the blonde’s lips and smiled reassuringly.

“We’re doing fine, baby. Don’t start to panic again.”

“You’ll be the death of me…” Key muttered, unable to argue anymore since his mother was now walking back towards them with a plate of freshly cut fruits.

“Kibum, you look ugly when you have that grumpy face on.”

Key shot a stare at a beaming Minho and mumbled, “I hate you, Minho.”

Mrs Kim frowned. “Honey, I don’t remember teaching you to lie.”

Key could only blink incredulously as his boyfriend and his mother of all people shared a knowing laugh with each other.

If the two most important people in his life were going to gang up against him for the rest of the night, Key had only one wish… that his mother wouldn’t stay for long. He just couldn't deal with so much in one night.

Author's Note: and i'll round everything up in the next and final chapter... which hasn't been written yet. >.< but i hope you enjoyed the story so far! thanks for subscribing and reading, you awesome bunch of readers! hugs to everyone. ^^