Meeting the Parents
Even Though We're Rivals
By now, school had been over for a couple of hours. Seungah finally finished her math and that stupid difficult calculus problem that took her forever.
"Seungah, can you come downstairs for a second?" She heard her mom call.
"Be right down!" She pushed herself up from her desk and opened the door. "Did you need something?" She asked her mom, who just got done cooking.
Her mom wiped her hands on her apron. "I was wondering if you could set the table for me?"
"Of course." Seungah said and got out the tablecloth. She was putting out the silverware when her mom spoke up again.
"So, how is school going so far?"
"It's alright, I guess." Seungah grinned. "Did I tell you that I made first chair in orchestra yet?"
"Oh! That's wonderful!" Mrs. Park clapped. "You'll be performing on the stage in no time if I can talk to my brother."
Seungah resumed to putting the placemats on. Her uncle owned a small concert hall outside of town. It was actually passed down from two generations, and was both beautiful and old.
She used to play there all the time with her cousin, Boyoung. Except she wanted to be an actress. She had ever since they were little. And Seungah wanted to follow in her footsteps to succeed.
"And your friends?" Her mom broke her chain of thought. "Are those boys still creating trouble?"
"Well," Seungah just shrugged. "I can't really say they're getting better. But Hyosung is the leader of the dance team now. And Hana made section leader. Plus, Daehyun is the sports captain."
"What a very accomplished bunch." Mrs. Park noted. "So, sports captain?" Her daughter just nodded. "So he's not only handsome, he's accomplished as well?" She teased.
Out of shock, Seungah dropped the napkins on the floor. "Umma! Who said he was handsome!"
"I did!" Mrs. Park pointed to herself. "By the way, your father has a concert at the hall tomorrow night. You should invite your friends."
"Alright."
"Including Daehyun?"
"Umma!" Seungah whined. Ever since they met, her parents and Daehyun and gotten along to her disappointment, and they always asked about him, whether she wanted to answer or not. Which was usually not.
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2 years ago
Daehyun but his lip as he walked down the fancy houses. He cursed himself for having the heart to bring Seungah's phone back home when she had forgotten it at the eatery the group had gone to earlier that day.
"Youngjae better know where this is because I'll whoop his if he told me wrong." He felt so out of place with his jeans and sneakers, and his envious of Seungah at the same time. They weren't mansions, but they weren't normal houses either. "What do her parents do for a living?!"
He halted to a stop when he saw a woman having trouble getting the groceries out of her car. All the more when his eyes traced down to her heels.
"Aigoo, where's my husband when you need him?" The woman mumbled to herself. She then preceded to spill the contents of one bag, making her sigh. "Should've asked help from S-"
"Excuse me, do you need help here?" Daehyun stepped in, pointing to the fruits and boxes.
"That would be lovely, thank you." She smiled in return, giving him two bags to carry.
"Aye," he grabbed two more. "I'm stronger than I look."
She laughed. "Well aren't you a big help. What are you doing in this neighborhood if I may ask?"
"Oh, uh, my friend left her phone somewhere and I came to give it back." He answered. "She's forgetful sometimes."
"Aren't we all one time or another?" The woman responded, getting out her keys and opening the front door. "If you can set those bags right on that counter there for me?"
Daehyun did as he was told, setting them down carefully. "There you go. Have a nice day." He bowed and turned to leave.
"Wait up!" She asked. "For helping me, why don't you have some tea? I made some fresh this morning and I would love someone to taste it for me before my family gets home."
He nervously laughed and came back in the kitchen as she got out a pitcher and poured the tea in a glass. "Here you go, dear. Tell me how it tastes."
Daehyun nodded, warily picking up the cup and drinking it. "It's good." He grinned, giving the feedback.
"Thank you very much, Uh.."
"Daehyun." He answered.
"Thank you very much, Daehyun." She said. "Say, you look the same age as my daughter, what high school do you go to?"
"Seoul High-"
"I'm home!" The front door closed again. "I wasn't able to find my- w-w-what are you doing here?!"
Daehyun turned and met eyes with a very shocked Seungah. "Seungah?!"
"Oh! Seungah, you know this young man?" Mrs. Park widened her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me you made friends with such a polite man?"
"He's not." She answered, then turned back to Daehyun. "What are you doing in my house?"
"He helped me with the groceries, sweetie, what's the matter?" Her mom answered for him.
Daehyun reached in his pocket and pulled something out and held it up. "I believe this is yours?"
Seungah pointed. "What are you doing with my phone? Did you take it? I knew something was fishy with you today, I just felt it."
"Seungah!" Her mom sighed. "He came all the way out here to bring you back your phone personally and you don't even say thank you?" She raised her eyebrows.
Daehyun made a 'in-your-face' look at Seungah, whose mouth was wide open in disbelief. She scowled and looked at the floor. "Thank you."
"Seungah, sincerely." Her mom scolded.
Seungah straightened herself up, put on the sweetest smile she could, and walked straight up to Daehyun and grabbed the phone while it was still in his hand. "Thank you so much for bringing back my phone, it really means a lot." She pulled it from his grip while he was dumbfounded.
4 messages from the girls were enough to make her start to message them again and forget Daehyun's presence.
"Since you know my daughter well, would you like to stay for dinner, Daehyun?" Mrs. Park asked. "My husband should be getting home soon and he can drive you back to your house."
"It's all right, I'm not hungry right now anyway, but thanks for the offer." He declined.
"But please stay! It won't take long! We're having cheesecake for desert!" She bargained, giving Daehyun an opportunity to think twice.
Seungah knew that was the keyword. "Mom! He said no!" She started pushing Daehyun out the door. "Thank you for the phone, see you later."
Mrs. Park stopped them. "But I insist!"
"Well if you insist," Daehyun pushed Seungah away and sat down at the dinner table with a huge smile at the thought of the cheesecake waiting.
"Aish!" Seungah messed up her hair and waited for the worst. Her parents, when done with the food, started asking questions about himself and what happened at school. The sports stuff, since Seungah was already into music, and he was in sports.
"What sports do you play?" Her dad asked, immersed in the food.
"Soccer, basketball, baseball.." He counted off.
"Quite a variety." Mr. Park nodded in approval.
Seungah kept eating, but kicked Daehyun's leg underneath the table. Her parents didn't suspect anything since they were sitting next to each other.
Daehyun gripped his leg with food still in his mouth, but he shrugged it off, because he wanted to finish his dinner and eat cheesecake if his life depended on it.
Seungah mentally face palmed herself. This couldn't go any worse for her.
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Present
"You really should invite him for dinner again." Mrs. Park sighed. "He's such a nice boy, I don't know what you have against him."
Seungah groaned and plopped herself on the couch after she was done setting up the table. She was getting tired of it. That's what everyone was telling her nowadays.
And she could never answer that question.
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