Bright lights and the twinkle of a piano sonnet welcomed the young couple when the door opened. TaeMin’s mother was smiling ear to ear in her nice, casual yet formal evening gown and her hair all made up. The light of the entire universe’s stars gleamed in her eyes and embedded itself in the aura that embraced her. It was the happiest JongHyun had seen her since TaeMin had fallen into his coma.

            “JongHyun!” she exclaimed, waving him and Key indoors. “I’m so happy you came! Everyone was worried that you wouldn’t show up. TaeMin will be so happy to know that you showed up! MinHo! MinHo! Where is that boy? MinHo!” She blabbed a mile a minute with barely any pauses for breath. JongHyun wasn’t even sure she’d noticed his partner so fast was she talking. It wasn’t till they were ready to round the corner out of the foyer that she stopped dead in her tracks to confront Key.

            “You must be the friend TaeMin said JongHyun was going to bring!” Her words came out airy, either from being short of breath from talking so much or from her surprise at the boy’s appearance.

          “Yes, Mrs. Lee, I’d like to introduce to you Key…” JongHyun gulped in a large batch of air. “My boyfriend.” He watched her face change from an inquisitive look to one of wonder – surprise even. There might have been a bit of disbelief thrown in there as well, but he wasn’t able to tell for certain.

            “Your boyfriend?” she asked as if to make absolutely sure that she hadn’t misheard. It would spare her the trouble later if she confirmed things now.

            At that point JongHyun began to feel uncertainty settle in like salt at the bottom of a glass of water. He could sense Key feeling the same from the way he was gripping his hand with an amazing strength that left his fingers almost at a cracking point. Of all the people he had thought to disapprove TaeMin’s mother was not on the list; considering her own son had a boyfriend.

            “Yes… M-my boyfriend,” JongHyun muttered.

            Something seemed to dawn on TaeMin’s mother. The surprise on her face disappeared in a quick second and she raced off onto another tangent.

            “Oh, JongHyun! Don’t look so scared! I’m not against you being with this beautiful boy – I love your skin by the way; do you use BB cream? – I just never thought you were like that! I’m really, very pleased to meet you Key! I’m Mrs. Lee, TaeMin’s mother. I believe I’ve seen you at the hospital a few times; is that possible? Oh, you really do have such beautiful skin…” She pressed her palm to Key’s face, caressing his cheek adoringly like she would have done to JongHyun and TaeMin. Right away the shorter male knew she had accepted him as one of her extended sons.

            The grip Key had on JongHyun’s hand slackened as he engaged in a small conversation with the slight woman. They didn’t have long to chat considering she had the couple moving on into the larger room where she let them slip in unnoticed so they could make the rounds themselves.

            The first person JongHyun sought out was TaeMin. He was the easiest person to find in the crowd and the easiest to get along with considering he already knew of the two boy’s situation. He was sure that he’d be able to get Key to loosen up, too – and maybe he would even be able to get him to loosen up to normalcy.

            “Hyung! You came! I thought you weren’t going to show up.” TaeMin’s lips puckered up into a pout which gave him the look of his usual self. JongHyun enjoyed those glimpses of TaeMin’s old carefree life, especially now that he was confined to a wheelchair. TaeMin liked to call it his free ride but because he was limited in movement he was battling the deterioration in his muscles; primarily in his legs.

            “I said I would come, didn’t I? And I brought Key along, too.”

            “Good, because otherwise I would have run you over with my new wheels. And don’t even think of calling the police because I slipped them some money to get them on my side.”

            JongHyun could help but laugh at TaeMin and the cheeky little grin plumping up his cheeks. His hand reached out to ruffle his hair. He wanted to stay longer to chat more but it was like his whole family had straggled on a hound dog’s nose and trained them to sniff him out.

            Nearly two minutes into his conversation JongHyun heard his name being called out into the bustling cloud of noise battering at his ear drums.

            “JongHyun oppa! You best not be hiding from me!” The voice undeniably belonged to HyunJae. She joined the small troop of boys like she would have joined JongHyun and TaeMin back in the day when they were all little kids.

            She was absolutely stunning in her outfit. Her body was accented in all the right places by the short white, empire waist gown hugging her body. And, unfortunately for JongHyun, she towered over him with the heels that were strapped onto her feet. Nonetheless, she was a true beauty with her hair cascading down her shoulder in the way it was. Definitely not the same little girl JongHyun had left behind a little over a year ago.

            “Hi HyunJae,” JongHyun greeted.

            “I’m waiting,” was all she said.

            A sigh escaped JongHyun’s lips. He couldn’t ignore this any longer. It was the time that everyone had been eagerly awaiting. Except he got to put it off for a few seconds longer. Fate must have been on his side that day.

            “Could you get mom and dad? I’d like to introduce him to all of you at the same time,” JongHyun said.

            HyunJae huffed but moved back to locate their parents. She looked back once to stare a last time at her brother’s companion before blending in with the small group of people by the table of appetizers.

            “Hyung, I’m nervous,” Key whispered into JongHyun’s ear.

            “Don’t be,” JongHyun murmured, squeezing his hand lightly. “I’m pretty sure HyunJae already likes you anyway.”

            The blonde boy’s eyes traveled over to JongHyun’s returning sister who now had each of her parents flanking her. Fear danced evidently in his irises and the closer they got the more intense the fear grew.

            “Yah, Key hyung, the Kim’s approved of MinHo so you have a good chance of being approved,” TaeMin consoled.

             The caring words helped calm Key some but he still gripped his boyfriend like he was a safety line keeping him from drowning in this raging sea of fear. Three Kim’s stood before their son and his friends. HyunJae still had that air of excitement wafting off of her. She probably already knew what was to come from this introduction and was just anxiously waiting for all of it to be confirmed. JongHyun’s mother seemed nervous with her hands clasped tightly in front of the hanging skirt of her cocktail dress. The expression on her face was meant to look calm and collected, but the furrowing in her brow said otherwise. She didn’t hold any judgement attitude to her, but she did seem very anxious. If anyone looked the most intimidating in the trio it was JongHyun’s father. His face was an unreadable slate as he approached. Decked out in his freshly pressed suit he came off as prim and proper; above everyone when he really wasn’t.

            “JongHyun,” he greeted with a brusque nod.

            “Hey dad… Uhm, well… I guess you’re all wondering who my, uh, friend is,” JongHyun stuttered.

            “I want to know!” HyunJae yelled.

            “HyunJae,” their mother chided before focusing her attention back on her son. “Go ahead JongHyun; please introduce us. We’ve been dying to meet this secret friend of yours.”

            “Mom, dad, HyunJae… This,” JongHyun tugged Key forwards so that he wasn’t hiding behind him, “is my boyfriend, Kim Kibum.”

            A ripple of different emotions exploded like a broken yolk over the faces of JongHyun’s family. HyunJae smiled, repeating that she’d known this all along in an excited voice. His parents reacted much differently, practically contrasting their daughter completely. There was not hostility in the flabbergasted gazes, more so than confusion over the news.

            “Your boyfriend?” his mother asked.

            “Yes, my boyfriend,” JongHyun confirmed.

            Their eyes all turned to the blonde boy practically trembling on the spot. His face flamed in a crimson blush that worked against his light hair. His fingers kneaded JongHyun’s sleeve nervously as he tried to figure out exactly what the two adults in front of him had going on in their minds.

            “It’s nice to finally meet you,” JongHyun’s father broke the ice first. His hand reached out to grip the young boy’s in a firm handshake. The action seemed to slice the thickening tension and set the mood for what was soon going to be a great night. “I must say that it’s quite a surprise to hear this… I never knew that JongHyun was into men.”

            The comment was a bit blunt, but it was just how the man was. Nonetheless, JongHyun gave his father a stare that started him scrambling for words again to make up for the slightly stinging comment.

            “I don’t mean that in a bad way, I really don’t. This is just coming out as a really big shock is all… Please understand…” JongHyun’s father begged.

            The short boy let out a breath of air, knowing that a year ago this declaration might have sent them into a brawl. To see him taking the information with such ease and so calmly, no less, was refreshing and very pleasing to the eye.

            “It’s fine, I understand,” Key brushed off, a genuine smile finally flitting onto his lips.

            With the approval of her husband done and over with JongHyun’s mom was finally able to put in her two cents to the situation.

            “It’s wonderful to meet you Kibum,” she said, shaking Key’s hand in turn. “We kind of met on the wrong foot; I apologize for that. It’s great to finally meet you.”

            “It’s good to meet you, too,” Key nodded in respect. “You can call me Key, by the way…”

            “Key it is,” she agreed.

            There was a moment in which HyunJae flamboyantly introduced herself to Key and asked about the hair and skin products he used and the JongHyun had to ask the one question that was pestering him and would do so until it got settled.

            “Do you guys approve then? Of Key?” he asked, unconsciously leaning in so great was his desire to know the response.

            His mom gave him her nicest smile, the one she gave him as a child when he’d done something she found especially adorable.

            “Are you happy JongHyunnie?” she asked, resorting to the way she had called him as a small boy.

            “Extremely…” her son answered quite timidly.

            “Then of course we approve. Plus, it’d be wrong for us to say anything considering TaeMin over there flipped things upside down already.”

            A nod from the other two Kim’s was all the couple needed.

            The final hurdle had been jumped. Alas, the final hurdle had been jumped.