You took a nervous gulp of water and placed your glass back down on the table. You placed your hands stiffly in your lap and glanced down at your half eaten food.

You took a quick glance at the two adults who were sitting across the table, eating their own dinner in silence as well.

You jumped a little when you felt a hand on your knee. You looked to your side to see Jinyoung looking at you with a concerned look on his face.

He sighed when you gave him a small, forced smile and turned his head to face his parents.

Jinyoung cleared his throat awkwardly, “Um, ______ is going to school at Seoul National University.”

“That’s pretty impressive right?” he asked as both of his parents turned their eyes towards you.

“Oh, it’s not that impressive,” you said softly, “I was actually pretty lucky to get accepted.”

“No, it’s impressive,” Mr. Jung said abruptly.

A tense silence hung in the air.

“Um what are you studying?” Mrs. Jung asked you, trying to lighten the mood.

“Humanities,” you smiled.

“Oh, that’s very interesting,” she smiled and looked back down at her plate.

You gave her a small smile even though you knew she couldn’t see it.

Jinyoung bit his lip when he heard you let out a soft sigh. He could just feel your happy aura starting to dim and it hurt his heart.

You both knew his parents didn’t approve of your relationship, even if they were too nice to say it out loud. Jinyoung knew how much you cared about his parent’s approval. If the two of you didn’t get it eventually, your relationship was pretty much doomed from there.

“You didn’t ask how we met,” Jinyoung said quickly, glancing between his parents and hoping that they would at least be interested in that.

“I don’t think they want to hear that story, Jinyoung,” you said softly.

“She’s right there,” you heard his mom whisper to herself.

Jinyoung looked up at his mom and sent her a glare as you felt your heart sink into your stomach.

With that one sentence, there went their approval and your relationship.

Trying to find an escape, you quickly glanced down at your watch.

“I better get going,” you said quickly as you reached for your purse.

Jinyoung tore his eyes away from the women sitting across from him and looked at you.

“I have a really big test tomorrow that I need to prepare for,” you lied and turned to his parents, “Thank you so much for inviting me. How much was the bill?”

His parents were taken aback by your question as numbly watched as you reached into your purse for your wallet.

You were just about to pull it out when Jinyoung’s hand stopped yours.

“You don’t need to pay,” he shook his head.

“Okay,” you whispered as you stood up.

“Thank you again,” you gave both of his parents a deep bow and forced a smile to Jinyoung before walking towards the exit of the restaurant.

No one at the table said a word as you walked through the door of the restaurant. 

The two parents nervously glanced at each other before looking at their son who had his fists balled up in his lap.

"One night," Jinyoung said, breaking the silence as he refused to look up at his parents, "I only asked for one night that you would forget that she's a foreigner and just treat her like a person. And the two of you couldn't even do that."

His dad let out a sigh, "Jinyoung-"

"Don't even start," Jinyoung cut him off harshly and shook his head, "She's going to break up with me anyways."

"Why would she do that?" his mom asked, confused.

"You two don't know how much your approval means to her," Jinyoung said tiredly before slouching down in his seat and shaking his head once again, "Whatever. It's not like anything can help now."

Mrs. Jung bit her lip before quickly standing up and running towards the exit.

---

You rubbed your arms as you waited for the taxi to come. You mentally knocked yourself on the head for acting so rashly and storming out of the restaurant. 

'They probably hate me now,' you sighed and looked down at your feet.

You looked up when you saw a pair of headlights in the corner of your eye. You stepped off the curb as the taxi pulled up in front of you. 

You were just about to pull on the door handle when you felt a hand clamp down on your shoulder.

You turned around and your eyes widened in shock when you saw a winded Mrs. Jung standing before you. 

"Oh, Mrs. Jung" you quickly gave her a bow.

"______," she breathed.

You looked up at her, waiting for her to continue.

"______, please don't go," she said as she caught her breath, "I know you don't have a test tomorrow."

You bit your lip and stepped back onto the curb, giving the taxi driver an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry for the way that me and my husband have been acting tonight," she apologized. 

"Oh, no. It's fine," you shook your head.

"No, it's not fine," she refused your attempt at making her feel better, "We shouldn't have acted that way."

You kept quiet even though you couldn't help but agree with her.

"It's just," she paused as she collected her thoughts, "We were a little shocked when we found out that Jinyoung was dating ..."

"A foreigner?" you suggested.

"Oh, yes," she nodded, "But still, our behavior was unacceptable. I guess we were just so caught up in the fact that you were a ..."

"Foreigner," you smiled.

"That we didn't even try to get to know you," she finished.

You nodded your head, "I was expecting that and I understand. I mean I'm pretty sure any parent would react that way."

Mrs. Jung gave you a warm smile, "You're obviously a bright, well-mannered girl and I can tell that Jinyoung really adores you. So would you like to come back inside? Maybe we can start over?"

You gave her a bright smile and nodded your head, "I would like that. Thank you."

Your eyes widened when she linked her arm when yours but you ended up smiling as she led you back inside.