A/N: Hello everyone! I am so sorry for the verrrryyyy late update. I was busy. Don’t hate me please. ><

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[Eli POV]

“Appa? Eomma?”

To say that I was mortified would be an understatement. I didn’t know what to do. I never would have imagined that my parents and my boyfriend would meet this way.

Talk about bad timing.

I hastily stood between my parents and Seunghoon in a feeble attempt to hide him from my parents’ deadly scrutiny. It looked to me as if they were mentally throwing daggers at Seunghoon with the way they were staring. It was terrifying, to be honest.

I was more worried about my father. There are two sides to him. Most times, he is sweet and would say the things people would want to hear, but there were times in the past when I saw glimpses of his dark side when his warm smile was replaced by a fearsome sneer and he says things I never expected for him to say, things that will traumatize you beyond repair. My father was a good man, but he was also a scary man. I don’t intend to wake up the ugly side of him for Seunghoon to see but judging from what was happening now, it is not a remote possibility.

My brain was trying to conjure up an excuse that will make my parents understand the situation and it has come up with none. Helpful brain. Not.

“I can explain,” I said in my most soothing voice, trying to pacify my parents. I knew they were furious. They looked furious. My mother stared at me in disbelief and kept shaking her head. My father, on the other hand, has turned red all over his face as if he was a volcano that was just about to erupt right in front of us.

“I’d like to see you try,” he replied through gritted teeth. I swallowed the lump in my throat. My parents were the strict type. They were too overprotective of me and I just knew that the chances of successfully convincing them to let me continue to date Seunghoon were slim to none.

WHY ME? WHY NOW? WHY THIS? I screamed inside my head.

“I– ”

“Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Yang. My name is Lee Seung Hoon and I am your daughter’s boyfriend,” Seunghoon’s sudden declaration took everybody by surprise and we all stared at him. I mouthed “Shut up!” because the last thing I wanted was for him to say something wrong to further infuriate my parents.

He looked at me squarely and in his eyes I saw that he, too, was terrified but I knew that to my parents, he looked composed. He then broke eye contact and gave his attention back to my parents. And the next thing he did was the last thing I expected for him to do.

He got on his knees and bowed down really low, his head almost touching the carpet floor.

Oh my God!

“Please accept me as your daughter’s boyfriend.” His voice was clear and confident but I knew better. I knew he was just as nervous as I was.

All I could do was stare down at him, my mouth gaping open. He straightened up from his low bow and just when I thought that there wasn’t any more surprises today, my father came storming towards him and before I could even blink, my father’s fist forcefully connected to my boyfriend’s jaw. My eyes were as wide as saucers as my hand flew to cover my mouth in shock. Holy !

“Appa!” I screamed, kneeling in front of Seunghoon. I brought my hands to his face and examined it. It looked swollen.

Oh God, my poor boyfriend.

I stared at my father with accusing eyes. He was strict, sometimes scary, but never in my life have I seen him engage in physical violence. He was a scholar, he was a teacher, he always reminded me that using your fist is not the way to deal with things. Ever.

“Appa!” I repeated.

He just exhaled loudly and stalked off into the kitchen probably to blow off some steam which was probably a good idea since he really needed to calm the heck down and reflect on what he had just done. I will not stand for violence. My father will need to apologize.

“Are you alright?” I asked Seunghoon. He nodded his head while wiping off the blood on his lips.

“I’m so sorry.” I caressed his face as I kept saying those three words over and over. He wrapped his hands on both my wrists and shook his head.

“Don’t be. This was going to happen sooner or later. I should have asked for your parents’ approval sooner.”

“We need to do something,” he said.

“Yes, but we need to do something about your bloody mouth first. Wait here.”

I noticed that my mother was no longer in the living room so I guessed that she probably followed my father into the kitchen. I was not too keen on seeing them yet so I purposely tried to hide myself from their line of vision as I scurry into the bathroom to get the medicine kit.

I came back to the living room bringing the kit and Seunghoon hasn’t even moved an inch. I softly called his name and his head snaps to my direction and I gave him a small smile which he returned.

I nurse the wound my father has caused while apologizing over and over. Seunghoon was lost in his own thoughts. I didn’t try to ask what was going on inside his brain.

I finished applying medicine and got on my feet to return the medicine kit. Seunghoon did not even realize I was done and was still lost in his own thoughts. I snapped my fingers in front of his face in attempt to pull him back to reality.

“Yes?” he asked, disoriented.

“I’ll return this to the bathroom. Don’t go anywhere.” I instructed with a smile. He nodded.

I quickly walked to the bathroom and when I got back to the living room, I saw my parents sitting on the couch and seunghoon standing in front of them with his head hanging low.

Oh no. What is going on?

“Appa, eomma… What are you doing?” I asked worriedly.

“We want to talk to him, Elizabeth.” My mother replied.

“Alone,” my father said in a clipped tone, not bothering to look at me at all.

I panicked. They can’t. They are going to scare him away and I refuse to lose the one boy who has ever made me feel special. I will not lose the boy I love just because of their overprotectiveness. Before I could even voice out any protest, Seunghoon lifted his head and said, “It’s alright, Eli. Let me talk to your parents.”

“A-Are you sure?” He nodded.

“Trust me.” And I did. Realization hit me right then and there after hearing those two words full of sincerity. I knew he would never leave. I knew that no matter what my parents say or do, he will not let me go. We’ve only been together for a short time but when you love each other, you just know. And I know, I know that he loves me so much that he wouldn’t let anything or anyone stand in the way. I know that’s how I feel.

I slowly nodded my head and my heel, walking the small distance to my room. I sat at the edge of my bed and snatched the lion seunghoon won me on our first date, clutching it close to my chest for comfort.

And I waited.

[Seunghoon POV]

“Now talk.”

I chewed the bottom of my lips as I deliberated how I was going to convince Eli’s parents that I was worthy to date their daughter. I understood why they reacted the way they did. They were protecting Eli. She was their precious daughter, their only daughter and if I were in their place, I don’t doubt the possibility that I would act the same way.

“I… Uh…” Goddammit! Now is not the time to stutter, Lee Seunghoon!

I took one deep calming breath and closed my eyes, gathering courage. Eli was important to me, I love her so much I feel like my heart was going to burst from all the love I feel for this girl. I just only found her and I refuse to let her go.

“Sir, maam… I know that you are very much against my relationship with Eli right now and I understand. She’s your daughter, your princess and having another man come into her life, a man you barely know would obviously make you worry and angry… Any parent would have reacted the same way.”

Was I saying the right things? I thought in panic. Their faces betrayed no emotion at all. They just intently stared at me, waiting for me to continue.

“But I’m here to tell you that I love her, more than you can ever imagine. We have not been a couple for long but I know in my heart that our love will last. I have never felt this alive and I have never felt more motivated to work harder in everything that I do because she inspires me to be better each day. She is the reason why after an exhausting day with only minimal sleep to recover, I still wake up the following morning with a smile on my face because I know that I will see her again and just the thought of seeing her makes me the happiest man alive.”

I wiped my hands on my jeans, I didn’t even realize I was sweating so much. God, help me get through this. Her parents still made no comments. I think I’m saying the wrong things.

“I know you think that you are placing your daughter’s heart at risk for agreeing to our relationship but I can assure you both that she always comes first to me and I will do just about anything to make her happy. Mr. & Mrs. Yang… please believe me when I tell you that Eli’s heart is safe with me.”

There, I said everything I needed to say. Silence enveloped us and neither of them showed signs of breaking the stifling silence. I watched closely, mindful to all of their movements and making sure I don’t miss any. I saw Mr. Yang clenching and unclenching his fist and then shaking his head while his eyes were glued to the floor, pondering over my little speech. And I saw Mrs. Yang furrowing her eyebrows as if she was about to make the most difficult and most important decision in her life, which isn’t wrong, if you think about it because nothing is as important as their daughter. Mr. Yang heaved out a frustrated sigh and raised his head looking directly at me, a deep frown forming on his lips.

“I don’t trust you,” he said. My shoulders slumped and all I could think of at the moment was I’m going to lose the best thing that ever happened to me. I looked down, refusing to meet his eyes, I was too ashamed. I was too heartbroken.

“But I’m giving you a chance, one chance.”

I was losing Eli. How will I continue living? Where else will I find an inspiration? How- wait…

I lifted my head, my eyes wide in shock, my mouth forming a huge O.

“I will not repeat what I said.”

“You’re… You’re okay with our relationship? You give us your blessing?” I asked, smiling widely.

“You misunderstand. Giving you a chance means you are to take a test and I am to decide in the end if you are to pass or fail. It is so easy to lie with words, young man. You can’t possibly think that your words are enough to assure us that our daughter will be in good hands. You can’t just simply tell us you love her, you have to show us.”

 My mind was attempting to weave out a plan, any plan that would help in this matter. I felt like there was a timer right beside my ears and that my time with Mr. & Mrs. Yang will soon end and if that happens, my Eli will be taken away.

Suddenly, an idea presents itself and the corner of my lips curves into a tiny smile.

“Of course, Mr. Yang. I am more than willing to show you how much I love Eli. And how about we start tomorrow? I was planning on a little excursion me and Eli can have for a date. I wanted it to be somewhere nice because after her final exams, I wanted her to have a really good time. I decided on Namiseom. So, will you go with us tomorrow?”

I am not so sure about this though…

Mr. Yang arched his eyebrow while Mrs. Yang mimicked his husband’s movement as if they were of one mind.

“Fine,” he said after a sigh. “We’ll go.”

“That’s great!”

Mr. Yang abruptly stood up and went to Eli’s room followed by Mrs. Yang. He knocked at Eli’s door and two seconds later, Eli came out looking worried. She looked at her unsmiling parents and then at me and her face fell. She strode towards me and gave me a tight hug, squeezing the life out of me. Her father whipped his head to where we stood embracing and glared at us before they entered Eli’s room and closed it after them.

“Don’t go,” Eli whispered.

“I’m not going anywhere, Eli. Don’t worry.” I pulled away to look at her, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly.

“What do you mean?”

I kissed her forehead and breathed in the scent of her. “They said they’re giving me a chance.”

She gasped. “They are?”

“Yes.” I hugged her again, as tight as I could manage as if that hug was going to make her eternally mine.

I cannot lose her. I will win her parents’ trust. I will try my best.

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