{ 17 }

Sulli and Madame Kim were animatedly talking on the living room while Kai was watching them lazily. He inwardly smirked at the thought that Sulli already has his mom wrapped around her fingers. It seemed like his mother already believes a hundred percent on their story.

He was scrolling through Sulli’s phone, trying to figure out its password when it suddenly rang. He saw that it was Gongchan calling. Kai figured that he must be her best friend. “Jinnie, your friend’s calling.” He nonchalantly called out as he tossed her the phone.

Sulli grabbed it and excused herself from Madame Kim to answer. While Sulli was busy talking on the phone, Kai saw in his peripheral vision that his mother was staring at him with a smile on her face. Unable to take the awkwardness anymore, he turned to her. “Mom, why are you looking at me like that?”

Madame Kim’s smile grew even wider. “You really like Sulli, huh?”

Involuntarily, he could feel his face heat up. “MOM!”

His mother chuckled at his shyness. “Aigoo, you’re growing up well, Kai-yah…” She fondly said. “You’re even calling Sulli Jinnie.”

He frowned just as Sulli finished the phone call and sat next to Madame Kim where she was originally sitting. Kai was about to ask his mother about what she meant when Mr. Kim Jongtae came. “Oh Jinnie, who do we have here?” He asked as Madame Kim stood up and kissed him on the cheeks.

Sulli stared at Mr. Kim before looking at Kai curiously when realization hit him. Aww ! I’ve been calling her Jinnie! It’s my dad’s endearment for mom! God, why didn’t I realize all these?!

Madame Kim smiled graciously as Sulli stood up and bowed. “Annyeonghasaeyo. I’m Choi Jinri, but please call me Sulli.”

Mr. Kim stared at his wife in confusion. “Oh, Sulli is Kai’s girlfriend. He calls her Jinnie too!” The older woman excitedly gushed.

His head whipped to Kai, obviously surprised before looking at Sulli again. “Oh, really?” He smiled at Sulli. “I’m Kim Jongtae, Kai’s father. It’s nice to meet you, Sulli.”

“Just call him Uncle Jongtae, Sulli-yah.” Madame Kim intercepted. “Yeobo, I invited Sulli to have dinner with us!”

“That’s great! The table’s ready, right?” He asked one of the maids who nodded. “Okay then, let’s go.” He said and proceeded to the dining hall with Madame Kim in tow.

Kai fell into a step next to Sulli. “You’re doing great, Jinnie.” He teased.

“Shut up.” She hissed. “I was so nervous that she’ll catch on the whole time!”

“Really? You were great though.” He replied and showed her a thumbs up. He then intertwined their hands. “Gotta keep the show going.” He whispered as they entered the vast dining hall of the Kims.

They all had a small talk during dinner. Sulli was glad to meet Kai’s parents. They were nice to her, and it didn’t seem like they were bad people at all. She really thought that they would be domineering at first, since from what she heard from Kai, they were the ones who want him to have a nice girlfriend. Now that she knew them though, she figured that they were just worried for their son and wanted him to have a serious relationship instead of flitting from a girl to another.

When it’s time to go, both of his parents accompanied them to the door. They hugged Sulli. “Sulli-yah, you can go here anytime. Think of this place as your second home.” Madame Kim said as she clasped her hand tightly.

Sulli bowed a little. “I’m really thankful, Aunt Jinhee, Uncle Jongtae.” She gratefully said. “My parents were abroad, so I seldom get to be with a mother and father figure unless I go to my friends’ houses.”

Kai’s parents looked at each other, surprised. “You mean, you live alone, Sulli?” Mr. Kim asked. “But you’re a girl. It’s a wonder that your parents allowed you to do that.”

“Oh, they offered to accompany me, Uncle.” She cleared up. “I just didn’t want to burden them on their work.” She then proceeded to tell the tale on how she and her parents battled it out for her to be allowed to live alone in Seoul.

“Omo, that’s still dangerous!” Madame Kim gushed. “You’re still a girl, Sulli. What if something happens while you’re alone?”

“You don’t have to worry, Aunt. I managed to live alone for two years now. Besides, the security in our village is strict, so it’s okay.” She replied.

“Still!” Madame Kim reacted. She still couldn’t let go of the fact that Sulli was living alone. They gifted Kai a condominium unit of his own when he turned eighteen, but he was still not allowed to live alone. “Sulli, do you want to live with us?”

Kai’s and Sulli’s eyes widened. “EXCUSE ME?!”

Madame Kim sighed. “We’re really worried about you, Sulli-yah. You’re not just any girl, you’re our Kai’s girlfriend too. What if something happens to you?”

Sulli waved her hand. “No, no, Aunt Jinhee, I’ve been fine for two–”

“Do you still want to wait for something bad to happen to you, Sulli?” Mr. Kim supported his wife’s idea.

Sulli immediately looked over to Kai who was also panicking. He somehow sensed that Sulli would get the support from his parents, but he never thought that it would come down to them living in one house. If this continues, this is going to be more personal than I thought, he thought to himself.

“But…” Sulli tried reasoning. “I… I still need to ask my parents.” She answered dejectedly as she looked at Kai.

Kai’s eyes were wide as saucers while his parents look happy. Madame Kim even clapped. “Omo, that’s great! Don’t worry about that anymore, Sulli, I will personally talk to your parents. Why don’t you stay here for tonight?”

“NO!” Kai refused, making all eyes go on him. He gulped down. “I mean, she doesn’t have her things here and we have assignments… so…”

“Ah, Kai has a point, Jinnie.” Mr. Kim told his wife. “Sulli still needs to prepare.”

Madame Kim turned to Kai with a wide smile. He immediately felt weird, knowing that his mother’s ideas were usually crazy, just like her asking Sulli to stay in their house. “Then why don’t you accompany her for tonight, Kai?”

“ME?!” He exclaimed as he pointed to himself. “Mom, are you crazy?!”

The person in question only shrugged. “Why not? You guys are in a relationship anyway.”

“EXACTLY, MOM! How could you casually say that?! You really trust me that much?!” Kai asked incredulously.

Madame Kim smiled at Sulli who was too shocked to react. “Of course not, you silly boy! Sulli’s the one I trust.”

Without further ado, she called on one of their house maids and instructed her to bring down Kai’s another set of uniform which he will use tomorrow. Once the maid went back down, she shoved the things on Kai’s chest and chased the couple away. “Go now, you two!”

Kai muttered profanities under his breath. Mom’s making me go crazy! And jeez, dad’s too smitten to actually stop her! He thought. He was feeling irritated but just like before, he lent Sulli his jacket and waited for her to fix her skirt before he rode the motorbike. Sulli bowed for one more time before Kai drove away, only, his speed was noticeably slower than what his parents were used to.

When Kai first brought the motorbike home, Madame Kim almost had a heart attack, especially when she saw how her son drove. Needless to say, Kai drove like a maniac. She was always worried about him and had offered a chauffeured car, but he always refuses it. He was always going to school on foot, or sometimes on his motorbike.

Mr. Kim stared at his wife in confusion. “That’s my son, right?” Mr. Kim asked to himself.

Madame Kim grinned. “Yes, yeobo, that’s our Jongin right there.”

“Jongin’s not driving like a deranged human being, yeobo…” He muttered, still surprised. “And he was so courteous with Sulli…”

Madame Kim linked her arms with her husband’s. “Isn’t this great, yeobo? It looks like our Kai really found a serious relationship with Sulli.”

--

“WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!” were Kai’s first words as soon as they stepped inside Sulli’s house. The latter wordlessly fell on the couch, feeling weary as the night’s events started to take its toll on her.

Kai’s mouth was launching a thousand words per minute, making Sulli throw her a pillow on his face. “God, Kai, can you shut up? And if you were so mad, why didn’t you do anything to help me a while ago?!”

He only sighed as he picked up the pillow thrown into him and sat next to her on the couch. He never meant for the lie to become this personal. He thought that he only had to face her and act as her boyfriend at school, but now that they’re living together with his parents, he surely has to upgrade his acting skills, or else he’s screwed.

“I never thought this day would come…” Sulli commented as they both stared in space.

“Me too.” He responded. “This is getting a little out of hand.”

“I know.” She sighed. “What are we going to do now? It seems like they’re really believing we’re together.”

He glanced at her. “What else? Pretend to the end, then.”

“We’re lying to your parents, Kai.” She gently reminded. “Don’t you feel guilty? At first it didn’t matter to me, but…” She looked somewhere else, avoiding his gaze. “They’re both so nice to me.”

“Don’t think about that. Let’s just… focus on the problem at hand.” Truthfully, he sort of feels bad too, but they were already in too deep to suddenly retract. Besides, Sulli really melted his parents’ hearts, and seeing how they were so eager on making her stay at home with them, it seems like they have more plans for them. Plans that don’t take a genius to know.

“Let’s just sleep.” Kai said and was about to go to one of the rooms upstairs when Sulli’s voice rang through the whole house. “YAH, do your homework!”

“WHYYYYYYY?!” He whined. “I’ll just do it in the morning.” He added when she threw another pillow on his face.

“YAH, YOU’RE TOO MUCH!” He yelled but Sulli nonchalantly tossed his backpack to him.

“Do it, pabo. I don’t want Aunt Jinhee and Uncle Jongtae to think I’m a bad influence on you.” She said and shoved him out of the way to go upstairs when she heard him mutter. “I don’t even understand the lesson…”

She shook her head and smacked his head before dragging him to her room. “Yah yah yah, are you planning on having your wicked ways with me?” Kai smugly asked as she shut the door.

Sulli faked a saccharine sweet smile. “Yeah, does wanting to shove you off the balcony counts as ‘wicked ways’?”

He huffed before taking a seat on her bed. “What are we gonna do?”

“We’re going to study, pabo.”