“Halmeoni,” Miyoon echoed as her head popped into the kitchen.

Mrs. Park turned off the water and glanced over her shoulder. “Yes?”

The girl came out of her hiding spot with her lips pressed into a thin line.

Dinner had just ended and Miyoon had to admit she had experienced worse. If it weren’t for Mrs. Lee and Mrs. Park being there to lighten up the mood, things would have been hell for her. She could feel the hatred practically radiating from Hoya’s entire being.

Although the latter barely engaged in the conversations the women held, Miyoon was aware why or at least she had a good idea. And when Hoya did talk, he would only respond with one or two words. This confirmed her theory that he was like this most likely because of her but if he wanted to behave in such a detrimental and immature manner she wasn’t going to stop him.

It’s not like she did anything wrong or intentionally.

So throughout the evening, she tried paying little attention to Hoya. It was going well until the image of his bare torso flashed into her mind. At the moment she had been sipping her water and when that scene played for her, she nearly choked. Mrs. Park was the first to worry and as she continued to cough her lungs out while waving her hands to ensure that she was alright, that was not satisfactory enough for the elders.

Mrs. Lee ordered Hoya to assist and of course he wanted to refuse.

However, he could not let them know of his distaste towards Miyoon therefore he unwillingly patted— more like slapped her back repeatedly.

He was wearing a straight face the entire time and Miyoon was trying her best to stop coughing as soon as possible so that he wouldn’t have to touch her anymore. When she finally accomplished that task Hoya was still patting her back but this time she noticed he was gentler and it actually felt rather soothing. It was obviously abnormal to Miyoon and when she looked at him he realized she was okay and awkwardly pulled away.

He himself didn’t even realize his actions until he saw the confusion in her eyes.

And the entire time Mr. Lee accounted for every single detail and he was slowly placing the pieces together. Therefore by the time dinner came to an end, he had a guess at the kind of relationship these two shared. He wanted to scold his son for being so absentminded towards a woman especially a guest like Miyoon but he couldn’t and it was killing him that he couldn’t reprimand his stubborn son.

But when he saw Miyoon’s still smiling face oozing with happiness unlike his son’s, he softened. This girl was really something else. He had no idea how she could act like nothing was wrong when clearly one of her host was boring huge holes through her head.

Mr. Lee was determined to get to the bottom of this. The bottom to whatever was creating this tense atmosphere.

“Dinner was great.” Miyoon beamed.

“I’m glad you enjoyed.” The elder replied.

Miyoon nodded and smiled. “Halmeoni, I have a question.”

Mrs. Park dried her hands off on the small towel and turned to Miyoon. “Ask away, dear.”

“Uhm— don’t take this the wrong way, halmeoni. But why are you still working for my parents?”

Mrs. Park blinked at her and chuckled. “I’m not sure what you’re trying to say Miyoon.”

“Well,” she paused trying to gather her thoughts. “Why don’t you just quit your maid job at my house and retire? Isn’t kind of pointless for you to work now? I mean you’re well-off with a big house and a famous grandson. You don’t need to be doing anymore labor. You should be relaxing and taking things easy. You shouldn’t have to worry about cleaning or cooking. In fact you could even hire people to come and take care of this place now, I’m sure Howon-sshi would agree. You’re like a slave to work.”

“Miyoon,” she sighed. “I chose to continue to work at your house because I love it there. I love the people, the environment and just the feeling of doing something helpful for other people. I’ve been there for so long it’s like a second home to me. Besides, lounging around all day isn’t my forte. Plus, it’s lonely here unlike your home. Maybe if Hoya was around more it would be different. But now that he’s famous, he barely has time for us.”

Miyoon felt sympathetic as she listened on. She saw the pained expression on the elder’s face and she chewed on the insides of her cheeks.

“Sometimes I wish he didn’t become a star because being a star tore him away from his family. Although he’s doing this for us, I preferred living in a cramped up house in a shady neighborhood instead for he was around more often then than he is ever today. Nothing is the same anymore and the only thing in my life that is consistent is my job. Now do you see why I’m still working for your parents? Because it beats coming home to an empty house. Because what’s a home if all the people you love aren’t even there?”

“Halemoni,” Miyoon croaked. “Why don’t you talk to him about it? Why don’t you ask him if he could spend more time with you guys? I’m sure he could—”

Mrs. Park shook her head. “He doesn’t listen. I mean he hears what we say but he doesn’t actually listen. He thinks that if he misses one practice or a single interview our luxurious life would cease to exist. Honestly, I don’t know what happened to him. He was never this concerned with money but now—now he’s starving for it every minute of the day and it kills me.”

“I don’t believe he only thinks about money.” Miyoon defended. “Money takes hard work to earn and hard work is exactly what he’s putting in when he goes to practice or answer stupid questions. He knows the value of every cent and I don’t think he would just waste it away.” Miyoon was thinking back to that one night where Hoya had demanded she paid him back ten thousand won for using his things and the little speech he gave when she titled him as a cheap-skate.

“Who knows.” Mrs. Park clucked her tongue. “But did you give him that invitation yet?” she was trying to change the subject and luckily for her Miyoon chose not pester her any further.

“Not yet. I should probably go and do that so I can go back home.” She announced.

“In a rush to leave me already?” the elder whined.

Miyoon playfully rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms against her chest. “Like you don’t see enough of me. I’ll see you tomorrow, halmeoni.” She quickly pressed a kiss to her cheek before darting off to find Hoya whom she hadn’t seen even once after dinner had ended.

As she roamed t