It's All About How You Wear It
I Didn't Like His Face
"Thursday night?" you winced. Min was explaining to you that on Thursday you were having dinner with his parents. At what you hoped was a neutral and safe location, but you never can tell with families nearer to the top. All those dramas weren't written entirely based on imagination, there were more than a few who relied upon their wealth to get away with murder.
Ok, ok. So that may be a little bit of an exaggeration, probably. What? It's not as if you were up to date on crime rates. You didn't have time for that kind of reading. Stop. What are you doing? Getting worked up over this? You are only going to make it harder on yourself. Sighing you took in more air than was necessary and choked. Graceful and smooth. You were sure your new boyfriend thought it was entirely attractive to hear you gagging on the other end when discussing his parents.
"Are you alright? Taesun! Are you sick?" he was asking you. You took another breath to recover minding your apparently new ability to overinflate your lungs.
"I'm fine, I am just a tad nervous about meeting your parents," you said. Holding your arms wide knowing he couldn't see them, but you weren't going to act crazy in front of witnesses. Not yet, you'd only managed to find time to call him before midnight. You were tucked away in a storage room and hoping no would wantd you for a few more minutes.
"They're going to like you," he said. His attempts to reassure not nearly making it past the black clouds circling your head.
"Where are we meeting them?" you asked. He cleared his throat. Your radar pinged in suspicion. That was not a normal reaction. Not paranoia, at least it wasn't until proven wrong.
"Ah, well, the thing is," he began. You glared at the wall. You had to take your frustration out somewhere and you didn't want to hurt him. So the wall would be your victim, you never liked that shelf full of bed pans. You gripped onto the wire rungs supporting all those bedpans, imagining their demise if you were to accidentally shake it.
"We're having dinner at my house," he said with a squeaky voice. You picked up a bedpan and put it back down enjoying the solid thunk of the plastic. Nearly the same as tapping two coconut halves together.
"..." you took a moment to calm your nerves. Even if you were not having any success in that area at the moment.
"Taesun? Are you still there?" he asked. Wondering if you had fallen asleep again, now that he knew it was a good sign. He had worried before that it meant you found him boring and not worth being concious around. He liked the other explanation your father provided much better.
"Yes, so what time are you picking me up?" you asked. Finding enjoyment in moving the bedpans up and down. It was a distraction you were counting on to eliminate the rising anxeity in your the far corner of your mind. You knew it would surface but for now the bedpans could keep your hands occupied.
"Ah, I'm sorry, but I can't. I have to meet you there...I have a schedule in the afternoon," he said. You sighed.
"It's ok. I understand, but there is one thing you can help me with?" you asked hesitantly. You weren't entirely certain you wanted to ask for his help. You may or may not have bolstered your knowledge about your boyfriend through the internet which may or may not have lead to your discovery of his love of the color pink. You winced imagining yourself in an all pink outfit.
"Of course, what can I do?" he asked. You frowned, dropping the bedpan yet again.
"I don't know what I should wear. Could you help me pick out something?" you asked.
"Oh, I don't have a lot of time this week. I'm sure it doesn't matter though---" he got cut off. You could hear the yelling in the background. "YAH! SUNGMIN! Are you talking during practice? I didn't think you could possibly take that long to----"
"Sorry, I have to go, bye!" Min said quickly. You heard the click wondering what you were going to do. You knew that one thing was certain, the clothes did matter. His parents may not be the type to arrange a marriage, but it certainly mattered how you chose to present yourself to them. You would ask your mother, but she had other things on her mind. As you find out when you woke up to find Jinho waiting for you. Alone, as everyone else had mysteriously left the house.
He'd wanted to talk about your engagement. As if it mattered that you'd never formally broken it off. So, you told him that by all means, you formally wanted to not marry him. You were grateful no one was home to witness him trying to convince you otherwise. However, when you told him you were officially dating Sungmin, he had backed off. Jinho had actually told you to live well and left. You didn't even feel better seeing his shoulders slump as if he had aged fifty years.
You went to the internet to look for advice, but there were far too many variables that you couldn't answer. You had never been to his house before, and you certainly didn't know how formal his parents were. You sighed as the door opened and you grabbed the bedpan saying you were only bringing one to a patient.
"---PEE!" Kyu yelled. Min stumbled. He had stood up quickly and miscalculated.
"Oh, Kyu, let's go," he said wanting to avoid a discussion.
"Not so fast," Kyu said grabbing Min's shoulder.
"What do you mean?" Min said. Kyu raised an eyebrow.
"Well, let's see. I caught you on the toilet with your pants on and talking to someone," Kyu stated. Min pretended as if this was a normal occurrance.
"So?" Min bluffed.
"So, either you are into phone or you have a girlfriend?" Kyu said. Min rolled his eyes.
"You're disgusting, you know that right?" Min asked him. Kyu nodded.
"Yes, you on the other hand are not, so who is it?" Kyu asked. Min sighed.
"Fine, I'll tell you but only because I wanted you to tell you about her anyway," Min said. Kyu smiled albeit with a wicked gleam in his eye.
With that Min explained who you were, and how he'd asked you out. Recounting your conversation to tell him you were meeting his parents in a few days, and that he had not really been on the phone for more than five minutes.
"Lies. It's obvious this isn't going to work," Kyu said. Min narrowe his eyes preparing to attack.
"What do you mean?" he asked the question laced with future pain.
Kyu didn't seem threatened,"You don't realize how big of a deal it is for her to meet your parents."
"Why? I already met her family," Min said. Kyu shook his head.
"No, that doesn't count. As you've said, you had many buffer zones to rely upon. You were the good guy taking her home when she was passed out," Kyu said.
"Yes, but my parents are going to like her," Min said.
"That's not the point, it's harder to make a good impression at a formal function, because the rules don't allow for any release of tension," Kyu said. Min stared at him.
"You're crazy," he said. Kyu rolled his eyes.
"That is besides the point, you have to pick her a dress. Do you know her size? You should just send one to her house, that way she won't have to freak out about it. And she can blame you if they don't like it," Kyu said. Min blinked a few times.
"How can you possibly be the same guy who refuses to do anything for someone else?" Min asked in wonder. Kyu rolled his eyes again.
"Whatever, you know I'm right," Kyu said. Taking Min's deep thought, to turn on the nearest faucet and fill his hands with water which he then threw towards Min's crotch. Seeing he had made his target, he ran from the bathroom yelling that Min had peed his pants.
Sighing, Min raced after him before he had to live through a round of mock surprise. It wouldn't be the first time Kyu had caught someone unable to control their bladder.
At the end of your shift, you trudged home. You'd taken the subway because you didn't want to stick around for a ride. There'd been a few emergency cases that you'd had to take care of before leaving. So you weren't exactly off shift with anyone else. When you went unlocked the door and stepped inside, you saw a box sitting on the step. Changing your slippers, you saw that it was quite large with a giant pink bow on the top.
There was no card, but you assumed it was for you, because everyone else was still home. They wouldn't have sent something in a box to each other.
Peeling off the bow, you opened the box. Inside was an envelope on top of the folded tissue paper.
"I'm sorry. I got caught during practice talking to you. I know you're concerned about meeting my parents, I hope this makes it easier. I'll call you later, Sungmin."
You lifted the layers of paper to reveal a turquoise dress. When you held it up, you realized that the side panels were black. While the turquoise formed hourglass figures on the front and back. You were astounded that you recognized colorblocking. Also, you wondered how Sungmin knew about it? Or if he had just picked it out.
You texted him anyways. Knowing that call in the morning was bound to arouse more attention from people around him, than the happy mood it would bring you.
"Thank you, I love the dress. Now, I am not worried about meeting your parents, because I know you will take care of me."
With that sent, you scooped up the box, and walked into the living room. To witness your brother wearing a pair of high heeled shoes on his feet. Or at least he was trying his best.
"What are you doing?" you asked him.
"What you don't like them?" he asked. Obvoiusly teasing you, as you saw a matching smaller box opened on the couch.
"You look ridiculous!" you told him. He flipped his fake long luxrurious locks at you, before popping his hip.
"It's all about how you wear it!" he said before prancing off into the kitchen. You chased after him knowing he was stretching out your new heels.
(AN: Update! Ok, so it is a little short. And I may have not written the fancy dinner, but I decided I needed a buffer chapter. I am mentally preparing to write it. So, I hope you like this...the next one is bound to be more refined...with less bedpans and bathrooms.)
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