Mr and Mrs Byun
Let Me In
“Oh, yes, finally!” You cheered when you heard the voice from the speakers announcing that the train to Daegu had arrived.
It almost 9 by the time you and your friends had boarded the train and there
wasn’t much people. There was a long stretch of seats that were empty and you and your friends headed there.
You took your seat and Baekhyun sat on your right while Chen sat on your left. You felt a little awkward sitting beside Chen but you didn’t want to be rude and change seats just cause he was sitting next to you so you just stayed there.
Five minutes into the train ride, you were already in your dreamland. It was a two-hour long ride and everyone had taken advantage of the time to catch up on some sleep.
Although Chen didn’t sleep, he had his earphones on and he kept his eyes closed. It wasn’t long till he felt you accidentally elbow him a little and he opened his eyes to check on you.
He noticed that your head was already nodding off in your sleep and suddenly, your head landed on his shoulder.
Chen blinked in surprise. What should I do? Just leave her be or push her head towards Baekhyun?
In the end, Chen had chosen the former and moved his forward a little in his seat so that you could comfortably rest your head on his shoulder.
Feeling a little more comfortable, you snuggled in closer and a smile came on your face. Seeing you smile made Chen smile as well as he went back to closing his eyes and leaning his head back on the windows.
“Next stop, Dongdaegu. Next stop, Dongdaegu.”
Chen’s eyes opened at the announcement and looked at his friends. They’re all still asleep. His gaze shifted to the weight on his shoulder and he smiled.
“Haerin, wake up. We’re here.” You heard a soft voice whisper into your ear as you felt someone shake you.
Reluctantly and slowly, you opened your eyes and saw Chen’s face near yours. You jumped a little, surprised by the close distance between the two of you.
You sat up straight and realized that you had fallen asleep on Chen’s broad shoulder.
“Oh! I’m sorry.” You sheepishly said and looked down to hide your red face.
Chen smiled a little, telling you that it was okay. Actually, to him, it was more than okay. He absolutely liked how your head seemed to have fit nicely on his shoulder as your snuggled in closer to him.
You turned to your right and woke up your brother while Chen turned to his left and woke up the rest of the boys.
Soon, the doors of the train opened and you quickly got up and got out to avoid the awkward situation.
Chen looked at you and smiled, thinking back to the start of the train journey.
*
“Mommy!” You hugged your mom the moment she opened the door.
“Oh, my children!” Your mom embraced you back tightly and said. “Come here, Baek.”
“Hello, mom.” Baekhyun gave your mom a small kiss on the cheek and hugged her.
“Hi Aunty,” Kai and Chanyeol bowed a little.
“Hey mom, where’s dad?” You asked and she pointed upwards where the bedrooms were. “He’s still at work. He'll be back by dinner time.” She said.
You pouted and headed inside anyways.
While everyone said their hellos, Xiumin and Chen stood there awkwardly.
“Oh, are these two boys your friends as well, Baekhyun?” Mrs Byun asked.
“Yeah, this is Chen.” Baekhyun pointed to Chen. “And that is Xiumin.”
“Hello, Mrs Byun, It’s nice to meet you.” Xiumin bowed a little and shook her hand.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Xiumin.” Mrs Byun said. She looked over to Chen and noticed that he was feeling really uncomfortable. “It’s nice to meet you as well, Chen.” She smiled. “It’s always nice to meet my children’s’ friends.”
Chen smiled and took her warm hand and shook it.
Baekhyun led them into the house and into the living room where Chanyeol and Kai were already making themselves feel at home.
“Where’s my sister?” Baekhyun asked when he couldn’t see you in the room.
“Don’t know.” Kai shrugged. “Probably in her room snoring away.”
“Or in the kitchen hunting for food.” Chanyeol snickered.
Just then, a door opened and you appeared.
You glared at Chanyeol and Kai. “Wrong and wrong. I was in the bathroom, okay?”
Chanyeol and Kai chuckled at your reaction and high fived each other.
You huffed and sat down on the armchair away from the two boys.
“What’s wrong, honey?” Mrs Byun came out from the kitchen and went over to you when she saw your expression.
You looked at your mom and pouted. “Those two boys are disturbing me. They’ve been at it since I woke up this morning.” You pointed at Chanyeol and Kai who stopped laughing when they heard you tattletale to your mother.
The three of you thought that your mom would come to your defence and scold the two boys but she didn’t. Instead, she said, “Oh, and I thought it was something serious.”
You gasped, “Mom!”
Chanyeol and Kai tried to hold back their laughter.
“You’re just being grumpy again. Alright, it’s time for you to go back to sleep before you really lose it.” Your mom pushed you up the stairs and into your bedroom.
“Go to sleep, okay? I’ll wake up in two hours.” She smiled and closed the door behind her.
Oh well, might as well take the offer and sleep. You sighed and changed into more comfortable clothings and went to bed.
Downstairs, Kai and Chanyeol were laughing their asses off and the other three boys were just chuckling to themselves.
When Mrs Byun came back down, she went into the kitchen and brought out some refreshments for the boys. Then, she sat down with the boys in the living and asked them about school.
“School’s fine, Aunty.” Kai smiled. “We had our Midnight Jam and all that and it was fun.”
“Oh, right! I’m sorry your dad and I couldn’t attend it, honey.” Mrs Byun apologized to Baekhyun and he smiled. “It’s alright, mom. I understand that the two of you were busy with work.”
It was actually great that you didn’t come for the Midnight Jam. Baekhyun thought, when he recalled that night.
The conversation went on as Xiumin and Chen properly introduced themselves to Mrs Byun.
When the awkward introduction was done, Baekhyun, Kai and Chanyeol told many stories that happened during the past term but definitely leaving out the whole Luhan-Haerin situation.
“What about Haerin?” Mrs Byun asked. “Anything about her?”
“No, mom.” Baekhyun swiftly lied. “Why do you always ask that question?”
Mrs Byun shrugged. “Just had a feeling that something may have happened.” She said. “But if you said that nothing’s happened, then I trust you.” She smiled and Baekhyun felt a little guilty about not telling his own mother.
Oh, Byun Baekhyun. You should know by now that lying to your own mother isn’t possible. Mrs Byun thought to herself. But she didn’t push the conversation any further. She figured that if Baekhyun didn’t tell her now, he would tell her sooner or later.
*
Later, you woke feeling much more better.You felt less grumpy anyways.
You sat up on your bed and turned to look at the clock on your nightstand. “Oh, looks like mom forgot to wake me up an hour ago.”
Instead of a two-hour nap, you slept for a good three hours. You wondered why your mom hadn’t woken you up but brushed the thought away.
You got out of your bed and went out of your room. You felt thirsty and a little hungry and wanted to go down to the kitchen to make yourelf a snack.
You were about to walk down the stairs when you headed to another room instead.
Softly, you knocked on the door three times and waited for a reply. When there wasn’t any, you opened the door and poked your head inside.
“What? It’s almost 4 in the afternoon and dad still isn’t home?” You pouted when you didn’t see any sign of your dad in the room. “Maybe he’s downstairs?”
You walked down the stairs, softly humming to yourself to the tune of Man In Love by Infinite and stopped when you saw your friends and Baekhyun sleeping on the couch in the living room.
You looked around the place and wondered where your mom was and figured she was going to take a shower when you heard the bathroom door shut.
Skipping happily, you went into the kitchen and got out yoghurt and fruits and started making your snack.
While you were still humming to the same song you heard someone come into the kitchen and looked up.
“Hey,” Chen smiled when he came into the kitchen. “Had a good sleep?”
You just shrugged. “What about you?”
“Yeah, I slept well.” Chen said and sat opposite of you at the counter. “What are you making?”
“Just some yoghurt and fruits.” You said as you cut your strawberries into smaller pieces. “Do you want some? Or anything to drink?”
“No thanks.” Chen said. “Just some water is fine.”
You stopped what you were doing and got Chen a glass of cold water and set it on the counter in front of him. “Here ya’ go.”
“Thank you.” He smiled and brought the glass to his lips.
The two of you sat there in awkward silence. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of the knife hitting against the cutting board.
Although you hated being stuck in an awkward situation, you didn’t try lifting the mood. You didn’t even attempt to start a conversation like you usually would.
Chen, on the other hand, tried starting a conversation many times but all you would do was give one-word replies.
In the end, Chen decided to just watch you make your snack.
Outside, Mrs Byun had come out of the bathroom after her shower and wanted to get herself a glass of water so she headed towards the kitchen.
She was about to turn into the kitchen when she saw you inside with Chen. She watched the two of you and noticed how awkward it was between the two of you and thought it was weird.
You had never been the shy and awkward type of person. You were always the type who would make an awkward situation less awkward. But this time, you weren’t even trying and Mrs Byun thought it was weird.
Something is definitely up with my daughter. Mrs Byun thought as she entered the kitchen to get rid of the awkward atmosphere.
“Hey, kids!” Your mom cheerfully greeted the two of you as she went in.
*
“Dad! You’re home!” You ran towards your father like a little girl seeing her dad come home after a long day.
“Ah, my princess!” Your dad embraced you and kissed the top of your head. “How’s my little girl?”
“Great!” You held out two thumbs and grinned. “I missed you so much, dad!”
“I missed you too.” Your father eyes softened and smiled lovingly down at you.
“Alright, Rin, let go of your dad so he can go and change.” Your mom came out from the kitchen and said as she walked towards the two of you.
Reluctantly, you let go of your dad but you still stood there. “Where’s Baekhyun?” Your dad asked as he took off his shoes.
“Right here, dad.” A sleepy Baekhyun appeared and greeted your father.
“Hey, son.” The two men gave each other a manly hug. “You just woke up?”
“Yeah, who wouldn’t when this girl keeps talking so loudly?” Baekhyun sleepily rubbed his eye and flicked your forehead.
You pouted and lightly punched his arm.
“Hurry up and change, honey, it’s almost time for dinner.” Your mom pushed your dad towards the stairs and he went up to change to more comfortable clothings.
Ten minutes later, Mr Byun came back down and went to the dining area where everyone else was already seated except Mrs Byun who was doing the final touches to the dish.
It was a round table and you were seated between Chen and your Kai.
“Hello, Uncle!” Kai and Chanyeol greeted and he smiled back at them.
“Oh, who are these two?” Mr Byun asked as he looked over to Xiumin and Chen.
“Annyeonghasseyo, Mr Byun.” Xiumin said first. “I’m Xiumin.”
“And I’m Chen.” He introduced himself. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Mr Byun shook both their hands with a smile. “It’s nice to meet the two of you as well. Are you new friends of Baekhyun?”
“Yeah, we are.” Xiumin smiled.
“They’re my friends too, you know dad.” You made a face and pouted at your dad.
Mr Byun only chuckled in response and the others laughed along as well.
That’s the first time she ever acknowledged me as her friend. Chen thought and a small smile appeared on his face.
“Where’s Minyoung?” Your dad asked.
“She couldn’t make it.” You pouted and told him the reason for Minyoung’s abscense.
“Alright! Dinner is ready!” Your mom announced as she brought in two huge plates of food.
“Yay! My favourites!” You cheered and nearly drooled when the food reached the table.
Kai and Chanyeol cheered as well when they saw that Mrs Byun had made her delicious sweet and sour pork and kimchi fried rice.
Even Chen and Xiumin were amazed at the sight of it. When they had tried it for themselves, they fell in love with Mrs Byun’s cooking instantly.
“Mrs Byun this is daebak!” Xiumin held out two thumbs and stuffed his face with the food.
Mrs Byun chuckled, “I’m glad you like it.”
Throughout dinner, you and Chen were as awkward as ever. Everyone were talking and laughing while eating but you and Chen never talked to each other at all.
Mr Byun looked over and noticed this and found it weird.
Actually, everyone at the table except Xiumin, who was still busy stuffing his face with the food, noticed as well but never said anything. Mr and Mrs Byun, on the other hand, grew a little worried that their daughter wasn’t exactly as she used to be the last time you came over.
They made a mental note in their minds to make sure to ask Baekhyun what had happened to their daughter.
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