There they stood, in front of Mr. and Mrs. Lee, squirming uncomfortably under their gaze. Not to mention, Hojun was also present. Aekyung met eyes with Mrs. Lee and she swore, she had never felt so exposed and vulnerable in her entire life.

“So, Aekyung right?”

“Yes, Mrs. Lee.” Aekyung nodded at her name. She was actually terrified of what Hoya’s parents would ask of her. The previous time they had dated, it was kept a secret. A deep, dark secret, which included the harsh break up. All Hoya’s parents knew were, Aekyung and Hoya became the best of friends overnight and that she was the one for him. When the break up happened, all Hoya could say was ‘She’s really the one’.

“It’s been awhile, isn’t it? You’ve grown to be a beautiful girl.” Somehow, that stilled her heart. A gun could be held at her head and she’ll still disagree at the compliment ‘beautiful’. *With this scar? I don’t think so, Mrs. Lee.*

“You flatter me, Mrs. Lee.” Mrs. Lee smiled a little, destroying her cold image portrayed a while ago. Aekyung subconsciously let out a soft shaky breath of relief, which didn’t go unnoticed by Hoya. His hand made its way to hers and he gave it a soft squeeze, something Aekyung loved. She could ask herself to calm down an entire day but just one simple action from Hoya, seemed to really have an extraordinary effect on her.

“I’m serious, Aekyung. You look beautiful even with the scar.” The tense feeling made its way back to her body and this time, even with Hoya’s hand on hers, didn’t help at all. In Mrs. Lee dark chocolate brown eyes, Aekyung couldn’t see that Mrs. Lee was lying. *So she meant what she said.* That somehow, wasn’t comforting.

“Mum, don’t go there.” Hoya warned, his tone slightly harsh. Mr. Lee frowned at his older son but remained quiet. Hoya couldn’t understand why his parents were so defensive when the both of them stepped foot into the Lee residence. *Or did they sense something wrong between us?*

Aekyung wasn’t pleased with Hoya’s tone but neither was she comfortable in staying in the living room of the house anymore. She wanted to leave, the room seemed suffocating all of a sudden. The scar had been a weakness for her, even though she had denied it countless of times. Mrs. Lee knew that she had touched a sore spot and nodded. “I won’t go there, son. But I would like to know why you’ve brought her here.”

*Damn, she sounded like I shouldn’t be here.* Aekyung’s eyes flickered with hurt and looked at her floor. It was the only thing that caught her attention at the moment. *Better than getting indirect insults from them.* Hoya ran his hair through his soft hair, is annoyance rising by the level. “Mum, I would like you to meet my girlfriend, Jung Aekyung. I’m pretty sure you know her by now.”

My girlfriend. That sounded so right.

Mr. Lee rose up from his relaxed posture and cocked his head to the side, assessing the situation. Mrs. Lee was contemplating whether to celebrate or to go with another emotion – anger perhaps? Hojun scoffed in disbelief and went to his room, with no one bothering to acknowledge him leave. “Howon, dear.” Mrs. Lee started slowly. Her eyebrows knitted and relaxed, while her lips opened and closed continuously. It was obvious she was considering on whether to speak her mind.

“That’s great to hear, son.” Mr. Lee spoke, beaming at Hoya and nodding his head in approval at Aekyung. Hoya revealed his dazzling smile at his father and turned to Aekyung, who returned his smile with her own. Oh, his urge to embrace Aekyung in front of his parents to show how ecstatic he was with their approval.

“She’s really the one, Howon.” Was all Mrs. Lee said. Hoya felt every nerve in his body relax at his mother’s words and smiled even brighter at the hidden meaning behind them. *Oh mother, you do remember what I had said.*

“Yes, she is. I don’t think I’ll ever find anyone that could make me feel this way.” Hoya murmured, his eyes locked onto Aekyung’s. Her sparkling orbs was something he would definitely yearn to see every morning when he wakes up. That was too soon to confirm, though. Aekyung’s pregnancy came into his mind, erasing the lovely smile on his face. He swallowed, hard. *That should be kept a secret.*

“Well, I’m glad you found the one, Howon. You two love birds should be hanging out now, instead of looking at us the entire day, hmm?” Mr. Lee teased and Hoya’s cheeky grin returned to his perfect face. Aekyung couldn’t help but notice Mr. Lee and Hoya had almost identical grins. Equally charming, she would say.

“I sure will, Dad. And Mum, you’re still the most important woman in my life.” Aekyung pretended to look offended and Hoya pinched her cheek, relishing in how Aekyung had turned from a shy girl to her original carefree, joking self. Mrs. Lee let out a hearty laugh at his son’s comment.

“Oh, Howon. You always know the right things to say, huh?”

“And so I’ve heard.” Hoya smirked, before turning his head to wink at Aekyung.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

“We could back out if you want to.” Aekyung narrowed her eyes at Hoya, hoping he would drive her away to somewhere other than her home.

“It’s now or never, Ae. We’re already here.” Hoya caught her hands and brought it up to his lips, placing them ever so lightly on her soft skin. Aekyung would’ve preferred it was on her lips but it didn’t seem like an appropriate time. “I know what you’re thinking, Ae. You can get the kiss when we get through this.” Blood rushed to her cheeks and she mentally cursed Hoya for exposing her. *You always know the right things to say and I hate you for that.*

“Fine, let’s go in.” Aekyung took a step forward and turned to glare at him. “By the way, I had absolutely no intention of placing my lips on yours.” Hoya smirked, in which Aekyung rolled her eyes in response, and tugged Aekyung towards him, placing his arm around her waist swiftly. She squealed and exhaled when their bodies were touching each other, her hands on his chest.

“You’re a bad liar, Ae.” His voice was huskier than usual, sending a new sensation down her spine. This was bad. Aekyung hadn’t really experienced this feeling before, it was foreign and only happened when she was around Hoya. Jung Aekyung wasn’t used to having lust take over her body. With no notice, Aekyung leaned forward and carefully made contact with Hoya’s warm lips. She smiled into the kiss, feeling blissful and all the lust she had felt, vanished. *Howon, the things you do to me. It’s unbelievable.*

“Are you happy now?” Aekyung pulled away from his embrace and hooked her arm through his.

“I’m think I should be the one asking that question.” Even without looking at Hoya, Aekyung knew he was grinning widely. She swung their intertwined hands back and forth, as an answer to his question. “I’m going to take that kissing me is one of the things that makes you happy.” Aekyung reached out and turned the knob, looking at Hoya’s lips briefly and meeting his eyes.

“And I thought I had made it pretty obvious, Mr. Lee.” Aekyung raised her eyebrow, pushing the door wider, to see Mr. and Mrs. Jung sipping tea, apparently waiting for Aekyung to be home. They were exhilarated to finally see their daughter and taken aback to see that Hoya was behind her. “Welcome home, Mum, Dad.”

Aekyung looked at Hoya and whispered, “Ready for round 2?” He nodded and smiled confidently, as if he would clear their interrogation easily. Aekyung, on the other hand, felt unsettling about Hoya getting past her father though, considering he was a detective after all.

“Hey… Darling. I see you’ve brought a guest home.” Mrs. Jung put down her cup of tea and stood up, strolling over to the couple. Aekyung nodded lightly, pursing her lips. Her mother was an easy obstacle. It was her dad she was worried about and the look on his face, didn’t appear so well. Mrs. Jung extended her hand. “Hello there, nice to meet you.” Hoya returned the handshake without hesitation.

“It’s my pleasure, Mrs. Jung.” Hoya smiled one of Aekyung’s favourite, which she called it the ‘killer smile’. Aekyung could see her mother approving of Hoya in her mind already, which she was clearly satisfied.

“Right, Mum,” Aekyung turned to look at her dad in the eye, “Dad, meet my boyfriend, Lee Howon. Howon, meet my parents.” Mrs. Jung’s smile widened and held Aekyung by the shoulders.

“Darling! You’re so lucky to find such a fine young man.” Mrs. Jung exclaimed, and Aekyung couldn’t help but to agree. *I’m indeed lucky to have someone that wants me despite my state. You’re right, Mum. Come to think of it, mothers are so much easier to handle than fathers.* Mrs. Jung went over to Mr. Jung, expecting her husband to give a response to the relationship.

“Lee Howon? May I ask for a full report of your entire background? That includes any fights you’ve had, vulgarities you’ve said, bad habits you have, like smoking, drugs or some sort, basically every single detail of the whole 18 years of your life.” Mr. Jung said, with no humour in his voice. Aekyung was surprised he hadn’t done a full body check, with her boyfriend stripping (to check for tattoos or any scars), which Aekyung thought was ridiculous.

“Sure, I can give it to you by the end of the week.” Hoya agreed so easily as if he had anticipated the question long before he knew he had to meet them. Mr. Jung was surprised, pleasantly surprised, actually. None of Aekyung’s ex-boyfriends would’ve taken off, knowing that Aekyung had an overprotective dad.

“What can you do for Aekyung?” Mr. Jung added, questions running out of his list in mind. Basically, his list stopped only at the previous question, since none of them even got past the first. Hoya laughed and Aekyung stared at him like he’s gone mad. *Is he going crazy because my dad is worse than he thought?* Mr. Jung, on the other hand, felt extremely offended. “Are you not taking me seriously?”

Hoya stopped laughing but a smile lingered on his face. “No Sir, I’m taking this very seriously. That’s why I laughed. I would really do everything for Aekyung.” This time, his smile left his face. “Really, everything.” He looked into Aekyung’s eyes and he knew that she was thinking the same as what’s on his mind.

“He’s speaking the truth, Dad. He did dangerous things for me. At the age of 18, I think that’s pretty commendable.” Aekyung stated, placing her free hand on her hip. Mr. Jung blinked at the both of them, somehow annoyed that his daughter wasn’t the young Aekyung who clung on to him as much anymore.

“I wished I had a son instead.” Mr. Jung muttered.

“Well, you can have a son-in-law.” Mrs. Jung spoke, causing everyone to chuckle at her comment.

“I can’t object anymore, can I?” Mr. Jung laid back on the couch, making his answer obvious. Aekyung was gobsmacked at how easily her father had agreed to this relationship. This was the first time Mr. Jung had accepted a son-in-law candidate, which was pretty impressive.

“I told you I can do this.” Hoya wiggled his eyebrows and Aekyung  bit her bottom lip to prevent herself from revealing a full, wide smile.

“Lesson learnt, I should never underestimate Lee Howon.” Hoya smiled at Aekyung’s words and curled a lock of her red hair behind her ear. He was about to lean in when Mr. Jung interrupted them with a cough.

“If you want to stay alive, don’t make a move on my daughter in front of me.”

*Oh dad, you'll never change.*