- Chapter Thirty Seven - Dinner with her parents.

Jaejoong frowned as the young father was looking at his partner who was fritting on his seat next to him. Yunho let out a long sigh while rubbing his palms together as if he had cold hands. And his gesture made his baby daughter looking at the man with the same frown as her father painting on her baby face while sitting on her high chair in this private room in the best three-star restaurant in all Seoul.

"Are you going to stop sighing for once?"

"You can't blame me. I'm nervous, you know." Yunho breathed out as he was wiping his clammy hands on the best trousers the man owned among all the expensive suits in his walk in closet. The man had tried to be presentable in front of the two people who were important in Jaejoong's life.

"Stop." Jaejoong said as he clapped his hands other Yunho's. "You're going to ruin your pants." He added with a soft smile. Even if he understood Yunho's feeling, the young father did not want the other man to prove anything to other. Mostly that he was worthy of his affections. He was not going to argue either as he was like the latter when he first met his father-in-law. The older man was very charismatic in his tall presence limit cold. But the aura the man gave off was of someone very wise and mature, capable to see through their souls.

"I can't help it." Yunho heaved a sigh. "I'm nervous." He let out with a grimace. "What if they don't like me?"

The young father shook his head with an amused smile. "You don't need to please them. As well as you don't need to please anyone else. You're just Jung Yunho. A man with flaws and merits. You can't make others like you all the time."

"Easy to say but hard to do." Yunho snorted with a soft smile painting on his lips. "I lived all my life basking on the love of my fans... of others. But you're not wrong. I shall be used of not pleasing everyone in this world."

"You should." The young father let out with a chuckle. "But, please, I beg you. Don't be someone else in front of them. Just be you. And don't be stiff. Just relax. Okay?" Jaejoong asked quietly as he squeezed Yunho's hand with his. "Don't try to impress them. You're good as you are."

His young companion smiled as he was nodding a bit. "I'll try."

"They're not bad. Okaa-san is very kind. She has this soft smile that put you at ease in her presence. However, otou-san, it's a different story." And at his words, Yunho could not help but groan as he was very sure that he was going to screw himself in front Hana's father. "Yunho! He's maybe cold by appearance but, when you know him better, he's very the best you can have as your father-in-law." Jaejoong added quickly in the hope of reassuring his partner.

"But you still fear him. A bit." The other man said as he was looking at Jaejoong. The pretty man tried to make things right for him, but he could see how much he was also affected by the older man's opinion.

"I won't lie. But it's not really fear I feel about otou-san. It's just... you know... " The young father heaved a sigh and nodded. "He is not someone you can deny or even belittle. For me, he is an important person in my life as he was someone who did accept me for who I am since the beginning. And as a business man, he is a man who can impress a lot just by his physic and cold aura. No one argue or even go against him. His stares are something you don't want to face now or one day in the near future. He needs to be fierce. He needs to stand above others. Not because he wants to. But he is the head of a company worth millions. And I don't talk in won."

The leader of Dong Bang Shin Ki smiled amusedly and added, "You don't help me much by saying that, you know?!"

Jaejoong laughed softly as he punched Yunho's shoulder lightly. "Don't worry. Paul is kind."

"I only have you to believe in." Yunho nodded as he poured himself some water in his glass. Then, he drank the soft liquid to clear the knot in his throat, hoping to feel better after that. But, the man had to face what he could say the fear of his life as the door of their private room opened at the sight of a waiter who made way for an older couple to walk in. And without ado, Yunho followed Jaejoong when the man stood up from his seat to greet his parents-in-law with his most beautiful smile.

"How are you Jaejoong-kun?" His mother-in-law asked with a soft smile in her native language as the woman walked to cup the latter's face in her soft and warm palms. Then, she crushed the tall man in her arms as she missed the pretty man very much.

"I'm fine. And you?" Jaejoong asked in turn with a smile as he wounded his arms around the older woman's feature. Then, he rubbed her back softly, burying his face against the crook of her neck, loving this soft perfume coming from her. It made him think of his Ha-chan. The same soft warmth and the same scent.

"I'm fine." She answered softly with a soft pat on the pretty man's back, then she pulled away from the latter. "You seem fine." She added as she cupped his face with her warm palms again. "Always this beautiful." She let out lowly as she smiled to her son-in-law. After that, she turned her attention to her granddaughter who was baby-talking to herself while playing with a soft napkin in her hands. Baby Cap seemed to be happy with the few she had at her arms' reach. "Who's here? You did grow a lot. How are you my baby girl?" The older woman asked as she took Capucine in her arms, pressing soft kisses all over the baby girl's face, making the pretty baby giggle and the petite older woman burst into laughter at how adorable her only granddaughter was. "You're very cute." She added as she pressed her lips against baby Cap's palm. "Do you know how to talk? Hmm... We don't care! You're right." The older woman said when the baby girl was looking at her with a frown as if Capucine was trying to understand her. "You do as you please. Princess." Then she kissed her granddaughter's forehead while turning her attention to her husband, wanting to see how that old man was going to behave in the same room as their son-in-law and the latter's lover.

"Comment was-tu, Jaejoong? (How are you, Jaejoong?)" Jaejoong's father-in-law asked as the older and tall man was patting the young father's bicep before holding the latter's right hand in his as a soft and kind smile was painting on the man's face.

"Je vais bien. (I'm fine.) Et vous? Comment allez-vous? (And you? How are you?)"

"Really! You! You can't have a better topic of discussion with your son-in-law? I did ask him how he was, no? Don't ask something this obvious old man." Hana's mother snorted at those two being this kind of awkward since the first day they met. After all those years, her husband was still being intimating by their late daughter's husband because the latter was capable of stealing his baby girl from him. So childish! "So, you are Yunho-san." The older woman turned to look at the quiet and stiffed man standing in the room.

"Yes. I'm Jung Yunho. Nice to meet you." Yunho bowed his respect to Jaejoong's mother-in-law.

"At least we can communicate. It's nice to meet you." Yukiko Duchauvel smiled as she bowed to the man with Capucine still in her arms.

Yunho smiled back as he bowed his respect to the older woman once again. Then, he turned his attention to her husband who was looking at him with a scrutinizing stare. The man was looking at his person from head to toes with that fierce stare he feared so much. It was more than intimidating. But, he had to do his best for the sake of them all. He intended to spend the rest of his life with Jaejoong and his daughter. And for that, the man had to impress his companion's father-in-law at their first meeting.

Could he do that?

He really did not know. However, he wasn't going to give up this soon.

"D-Duchauvel-san." Yunho said quietly, trying not to spell out wrongly the older man's name as he bowed to the latter, a bit stiffed but he could not be natural when he was under so much pressure. He was used to deal with the pressure coming from being an idol. However, this time, he was not standing in front of thousand fans but in front of a man who was surely the decision-maker of his future with Jaejoong.

"Call me Paul. No need to be very formal as you seem to be present in my son-in-law's life from now on." Jaejoong's father-in-law nodded quietly as he walked to take his granddaughter in his arms.

"Paul-san." Yunho added quietly as he watched the older man being a doting grandfather with the baby girl.

"Tu as beaucoup grandi. (You grow a lot.)" The older man added with a smile painting on his face as he ignored the young man. "Tu ressembles beaucoup à ta maman. (You look like your mother the most.)" Paul Duchauvel added as he brushed his finger on her little nose, a sad expression painting on his frail and old face.

"Vraiment? Capucine ressemble plus a Jaejoong qu'à Hana. (Really? Capucine looks more like Jaejoong than Hana.)" His wife followed as the older woman nodded while she held her granddaughter's small hand in hers. Then, the older woman laughed softly. "Elle a au moins son petit air taquin. (She got at least her mother's tease feeling.)"

The older man chuckled at the thought of these two men having difficulty of dealing with a very stubborn and determined young little girl in the near future. If Capucine got the untamed character of her mother, those two were going for a good ride.

"Je les plains. (I pity them.)" He whispered softly with a soft smile as he rubbed his granddaughter's back. "Soit comme ta maman. (Be like your mother.) Elle était une vrai petit peste quand elle le voulait. (She was a pain in the neck when she wanted.) Marche dans ses pas. (Walk in her steps.)"

The young father said nothing as he could only smile sadly at the man's words and expression while looking at his baby girl. Jaejoong was not blind to see how much his father-in-law loved his late wife. Paul Duchauvel was an overprotective father to the only daughter he had. And, he did see the latter cry in silence away from others' eyes when he had lost his baby girl because of her illness. He was inconsolable. But, life went on and the man had to move on like every of them. With success or not, they had to move on and live their lives the best they could. For their best and also for her memory.

"Is she going to be fine?" The man asked quietly in his wife's native language as he turned to look at Jaejoong.

"Her pediatrician said so." The young father nodded with a soft smile as he watched his daughter being this comfortable in the arms of her grandfather. Children could not lie. They could feel whose people who were kind with them or not. And despite his cold and strict appearance, her maternal grandfather was a man who could give her that safety she was seeking for.

"Good news, then." The older man smiled as he put the baby girl in her high chair carefully. Then, he ruffled her soft hair tenderly making the baby girl giggle with a smile painting on her chubby face.

"See! They aren't scary." Jaejoong mouthed out as he was leaning against his companion with a soft smile ghosting on his lips.

And Yunho could only nod in silence not going against the older pretty man. Sure they weren't scary. But, the feeling inside his stomach said otherwise about the older man. He was not reassured at all about his fate after this dinner with Hana's parents.

"Oh! This is for you." Yunho said as the man took a set of two bags at the feet of his chair, remembering suddenly the presents he had bought for them. "I don't know what you like. But I hope these presents are in your tastes." The man added as he tended the two bags to the older couple.

"You don't need to give us something, you know. We're family now." Hana's mother said amusedly but she was touched at Jaejoong's companion's attention towards them. "But it's very nice of you to think of us." She added as she took the bag in her hands with a small bow. It was a very expensive perfume for woman.

"It's as if you were bribing us to let you be with Jaejoong." The older man let out with a snort as he was looking inside the bag.

"Otou-san." Jaejoong chided softly while Yunho was sweating profusely. It seemed that it was a bad idea to buy some presents for them.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to give him a hard time." Hana's father chuckled quietly. The older man would always be amused about how his son-in-law was calling him. Otou-san. Normally, from his own culture, French men did not call their father-in-law with that meaningful honorific father but by their name. Maybe, it was for that side that he had accepted this man as his daughter's husband. Asian people were more polite and respectful towards the older generation than those European people like him. "Hmm. Korean liquor." Paul added as he was looking at the small box in the bag.

"It's from Gwangju, where I came from." Yunho replied quietly as if he was an obedient child facing his strict father with the hope to have his recognition.

The older man nodded quietly. "Thank you young man for this good intention of you. However, my doctor said I have to cut on liquor for my health."

"...ooh..." The charismatic and confident leader of Dong Bang Shin Ki could only nod as he felt like doing everything wrong from the start.

Yukiko Duchauvel could not help but shake her head lightly at how mean her husband was with that poor man. However, she knew very well that her husband was not going to be strict with the latter. They did discuss about this situation as Jaejoong was being honest with them since the start, not hiding the existence of the other man from them, nor their past relationship together. And the old couple did conclude that Jaejoong deserved to be happy after their daughter. With whom, they did not have the right to have a said to his choice of partner in his life.

The older woman hit her husband's stomach with the back of her hand before glaring at the latter. And Paul Duchauvel could only smile at how afraid Jaejoong's companion was in front of him. He was not cruel, but he wanted to be sure and certain that this time there will be no more drama in the life of his son-in-law.

It was what he could do for what Jaejoong had done for his one and only daughter.

"I'm sorry." The older man said quietly as he put the box of liquor on the surface table quietly with his palm pressed on the top of the carton box. He nodded as he looked at the other man. "You seem to be a good man. However, you do know that I am aware of the past the two of you had. And as I know, you were the one who has broken every ties with Jaejoong." Paul added in a quiet tone. "As his father-in-law, I will always side with him and will surely find all the flaws on earth to get rid of you. Sooner or later."

"I... I understand." Yunho nodded quietly. "I should think better than buying you some liquor. With your age..."

"Are you saying that I am old?" The older man asked as he was looking at the man with one of his brow lifted up.

"N-No!" Yunho stuttered as he waved his hands frantically in front of him. "No... It's just... I'm sorry." He added as he bowed to the man finally.

Paul nodded with a smirk painting on his lips. "Are you going to apologize every time you think you were insensitive towards my person?" He asked as he was staring at his son-in-law's companion. "There's no helping it if you do with sincere feelings. However, you do not make a good impression in my eyes. Will you bow your head every time people think you do offend them? If you do that, I think you should give Jaejoong up from the start. Because as I know, this kind of relationship you two have is not something your society, the Korean society, see as one of its numerous sociable standards. The path you are taking right now will always make you in the wrong. And for that, are you going to feel sorry for being different from the common people for the rest of your life?"

"Of course no." Yunho said as he was holding the older man's stare, while Jaejoong and his mother-in-law were remaining silent as they were listening to the two men having this heart-to-heart discussion in front of them. "I did once and it made us go in our separate ways with so much hurt and pain. I know. I was a coward before. And my decision of breaking up with Jaejoong had put us in so much misery. But I am happy... yes, I am happy that he was never alone all those years and that Hana-san was with him. She took good care of him. Better than I could do if we were still together. Back then, I only wanted to please others... To put myself in their good side. I was young and I was seeking recognition from everyone. From my own father." He let out with a sad voice. "And like others, I wanted to be acknowledged for my own virtue. For the person I thought I was. But, in the end I was miserable. I was not happy. I was not me. So, this time, things are going to be different. I won't give up on Jaejoong not even on Capucine. I really love them with all my heart. I will do things better from now on. Not for me. Or for my conscience. I do think for Jaejoong. For Capucine." He added seriously as he did not waver facing Jaejoong's father-in-law cold stare.

"Even if people know about you two in the near future?" The older man asked quietly.

"I won't step back this time." The idol said quietly with determination. "I'm not ashamed of loving another man. Love is love. And my feelings are not fake. They are real. I won't sacrifice anything for others anymore. It's my life. And I can love whoever I want as well as doing whatever I want. I'm not a child who needs assistance from others. I'm mature enough to know what is good for me."

"Well said, young man." The older business man nodded as he was looking at this Jung Yunho with the right corner of his mouth curled up into a smirk. A pleasant one. "At least, you stand your ground, young man. And it's the only thing I will ask from you from now on. That man, standing next to you, has suffered enough in his small life. His heart is still healing. And one wrong step from you, he will never recover again. Something I will never tolerate. It's my promise to my late daughter at her deathbed. She sacrificed a lot for Jaejoong as she believed on the man he was and he is. And I deem him worthy of all the love and sacrifices she has made for him." Paul added quietly with a soft voice, a sad smile painting on his lips at the thought of his late daughter. "If you can give him a bit of the happiness he deserves in this life, I will stand behind you and won't be hard on you. However, if you let him down because of some stupidity from whoever who thinks they know what is better for the two of you than yourselves, I make sure to destroy you the moment you hurt him. Jaejoong is not someone you can deny. And mostly he is a man you can't help but fall in love with."

"I won't let him down. I promise."

"Good. We're going to get along." Jaejoong's father-in-law let out with a smile painting on his lips. "Well, we're here to have dinner together. So, why are we still standing up?"

"Ooh! Take a seat." Yunho said politely as he gestured to Hana's father to take his seat around the table. Then, the man helped Hana's mother to take her place next to her husband as he pushed softly the chair toward the table before taking his own place next to Jaejoong who was looking at him.

"Silly man!" Jaejoong let out in a low voice in their native language with a soft smile painting on his lips. And Yunho returned his smile quietly as he was feeling better now that they had drawn a line between them.

The dinner was quiet with a few topics of conversation here and there. But, the majority of their time was focusing on baby Cap with her antic and odd behavior facing food. She made them laugh. She made them coo. She made them sigh. But, she was the best entertainment for all of the four adults as she cut this still awkward atmosphere between her grandfather and her Yunho appa.

And as time passed by, they arrived at the dessert and to accompany the Korean sweets they had ordered, the four adults were savoring the strong liquor from Gwangju, a recommendation from Yunho's father when the latter had asked for some help from his father.

"Not so bad." Paul said with a nod from someone who enjoyed drinking red wines.

"It's stronger than our sake." His wife added as she sipped a drop of the clear liquor before grimacing. "It's not in my taste as it is very strong. But the subtle scent of plum is very addictive in the palate."

"I shall buy a few to gift my business partners before our return." The older man added as he was looking at his wife with a soft smile.

"If it's not too much, I can ask my father to buy a few and I will send them to you." Yunho offered as the man was looking at Jaejoong's father-in-law.

"Good idea. Your father surely knows better than I am when it comes to your people's liquors. I was used from our wines. French wines. Then, I married my wife. And I feel the Japanese sake suits my palate better. And this, your wines is not so bad. " Paul nodded as he poured som