by J. S. Lee
I awoke the following morning feeling more positive than I had in a long time.
It lasted exactly four minutes.
That was when Sungmin knocked on my bedroom door.
I sat up and hurriedly ran a hand through my unruly hair. “Come in?”
Sungmin opened the door but he didn’t move from the doorway. “There’s a change of plans for today. Jiwon just sent a message. His grandfather needs to go to China for something work-related. He plans on taking a flight tomorrow morning, so I’m going to swap your evening with MinMin for Jiwon. It’s too late to rearrange the appointments for Xiao’s family and you could probably do with the massage.”
My morning was to be spent on Jeju at the main resort. They had a sauna and spa, and Xiao had wanted to treat his mom to a mud bath. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about that one; the idea of lying in mud was kind of gross, and kind of interesting at the same time.
“How is Jiwon?” I asked, reaching for my phone. There was no message from him; just the usual sixteen million from JongB.
Sungmin’s expression softened slightly as he raised his phone. “His message said, ‘tell Kate not to worry. I’m fine. I’ll see her later’, so I would say he’s fine and you shouldn’t worry about him, but instead worry about the fact you’re going to miss the boat to the resort if you don’t get moving.”
I glanced down at the phone in my hands and spotted the time. “Crap!” I leaped out of bed, hurrying over to the suitcase as Sungmin closed the door. I grabbed the clothes I’d decided on the night before, but before I dressed, I reached for my phone and send a message to Jiwon: I hope everything is OK. I’ll see you soon x.
Seeing as Xiao had already announced to his family that we were already dating, I wasn’t feeling as worried about meeting them and telling them all the news. The language barrier was making me a little apprehensive though.
This time, my phone wasn’t leaving my side. Admittedly, I would have to be careful with it in a mud bath, but that translator app was going to be worth its weight in gold.
Did something digital have a weight…?
Realizing I was going to miss the boat if I didn’t hurry, I rushed around the room before racing down to the dock. Xiao’s whole family were waiting for me, instead of on the boat. I glanced down at the side – once again it was the one covered in frogs.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” I told them. His mother just beamed at me.
“I’d wait for you forever ,” Xiao told me, leaning over to kiss me. And then he produced a flower and slipped it behind my ear. I laughed, accepting it graciously as his sisters giggled at their younger brother.
The boat ride back to the main resort was relaxed. There was a hint of rain in the air: dark clouds on the horizon and a slightly lower temperature than it had been for the last few days. The water was slightly bouncier too.
But I had Xiao’s arm wrapped around me as I relaxed against his hard body. His family was busy chatting, sometimes to me with Xiao playing translator, but mainly it was his sisters telling him all about their lives. They also knew a little bit of English – way more than my Chinese – and were doing their best to tell me snippets.
It was when we walked into the spa that I encountered my first problem of the day. We were each given a form to fill out. I’d requested one in English because while my speaking ability was improving every day, my reading was slower. Plus, it seemed to be a list of warnings and that was the kind of thing that I needed to be understanding.
I was right. On it was a list of ‘activities’ not suited to pregnant women. And that included the sauna and the mud baths. Seeing me frowning, Xiao leaned over. Being male, he had a different form to fill in. “What’s wrong, tián xīn?”
I pointed to the paper. “Pregnant women get to have no fun,” I pouted. Even though a mud bath was kinda gross, I still wanted to try it.
Before I could object, Xiao was at the counter, talking to the woman behind it. He pointed over at me as they spoke, and the woman nodded, pulling out a piece of paper. Moments later, Xiao returned. “They have a scrub and facial that’s made with natural ingredients and completely safe for pregnant women.”
Behind him, his mother was watching us with a concerned frown. I could see her tugging on the sleeve of her daughter’s shirt, probably asking what we were talking about. Their Korean was as good as my Chinese.
Eventually, she stood and walked over, asking something. Xiao glanced down at me. “She’s asking what’s wrong.” He turned back before I could speak and said something. Given the fact her mouth fell open, I was going to hazard a guess it was, ‘Kate can’t do a mud bath because she’s pregnant’.
Lei Ling said something – I think it was ‘what?’ from the very little I’d picked up – and his mother turned, repeating what Xiao had said. Lei Ying fell off her chair.
I sucked in a deep breath and gave them an awkward wave. Almost instantly, Xiao’s mom was wrapping her arms around me, babbling happily in a language I couldn’t understand. His father walked over and gave Xiao a pat on the shoulder.
Xia Ling sat down beside me, her hands running over my stomach in a way which didn’t hurt, but it left me feeling uncomfortable at the invasion of my personal space. She was telling me something – a lot of something. I sat there, staring at her with wide eyes, no idea what was going on, and a desperate wish for escape.
Xiao, my knight in shining armor, leaned down and gently removed his mother’s hands from me before helping me to my feet. “My mom loves children. She has been desperate for me to give her a grandson,” he told me as he led me away. “She’s just really excited.”
“Am I going to get cursed if it’s a girl?” I frowned. “Do you want a boy?”
“I just want a happy baby and a happy māmā,” he shrugged, leading me to the counter. “One pregnancy special, please.” He turned to me. “I believe this takes about an hour. Go have some peace. You’re not going to get any with my family around. I’ll go and try to fend off all the questions.”
“I love you,” I told him. I loved him and his gift to be able to read people so easily.
제14 장
It’s Raining
On the return ride to the private island, I discovered that Xiao hadn’t told his family about the seven of us. “Now isn’t the time,” he explained. “In the future, when they come and visit and see us all together, I will tell them then. Having a pregnant girlfriend is enough and I don’t want to upset my family.”
“What if they read something in the media?” I asked.
Xiao shrugged. “K-pop isn’t that popular, despite our tour there. Most people aren’t interested enough for it to make main-stream media.”
“I’m fairly certain these days, if news broke of an idol group dating one woman, that would make the news worldwide. You’re not an unpopular group and your name does trend on Twitter. This would probably break the internet.”
“If it breaks the internet, my family won’t see it.”
I swiped at Xiao for his smug smile, but he caught my hand before resting it in his lap in his own. “You know what I mean.”
“They speak no Korean,” he pointed out. “And their English is minimal, as you’ve discovered. I’m not worried.”
“Xiao-”
“It will be fine, tián xīn,” he promised me.
By the time I returned to my chalet, I was sure Xiao was right. I’d enjoyed my scrub and facial, and I had no doubt that during that hour Xiao had spent the entire time answering hundreds of questions. But that hadn’t stopped any of them from asking more questions, or maybe even the same questions, as we’d enjoyed an afternoon of tea. I’d been bombarded. Half of them, Xiao hadn’t even bothered to translate for me.
I was feeling so tired when I got back that I sank onto the couch, flicked on the television and zoned out to a drama about a cop investigating something with a guy who seemed to also be the bad guy. Either he had a twin or a clone? I wasn’t sure, but it seemed interest
ing. I had made a mental note to find out what it was so I could watch it properly later, only I’d fallen asleep.
Some time later, I was shaken awake by Sungmin. “Why do you smell like cotton candy?” he asked, sniffing at my hair.
I turned my head, unintentionally bringing my mouth close to Sungmin’s. All he had to do was move his head a fraction and he would be kissing me. Without realizing what I was doing, I focused on his lips.
Just as I was concluding that he had nice lips, he pulled backwards. I cleared my throat. “Turns out pregnant women can’t have mud baths and saunas,” I told him. “It’s like they think the heat is going to boil the baby from the outside in, which is a little weird if you ask me because pregnant women still have hot baths, don’t they? And what about the people who live at the equator?”
Sungmin took a step back, rubbing at his temples. “And you smell of sugar because?”
I gave him a wide smile. “Sungmin, that’s my sweet personality.”
“If you smelled like your personality, you’d smell like…” he trailed off, shook his head, and started walking towards the kitchen.
“I’d smell like what?” I called after him.
He ignored me.
And enough was enough. I got up and bounded after him. “Sungmin, we need to talk. We’ve needed to talk for some time now.”
“No, we don’t,” Sungmin said with a shake of his head. “What you need to do is go shower because you have dinner with Jiwon’s family in forty minutes and you can’t go walking in smelling of dessert.”
I glanced at the digital clock on the microwave and frowned. Irritatingly, he had a point. If there was one family I had to dress to impress for, it was Jiwon’s. And forty minutes wasn’t enough time to get ready. “Fuck,” I muttered, turning on my heel and heading for the stairs. At the bottom, I paused and looked back at Sungmin. Later, I promised us both.
I had one of the fastest showers I’d ever had, and then spent most of the time drying my hair. Before we’d flown out, I’d begged Holly to lend me a couple of dresses to take with me that might impress. My style was ripped jeans and t-shirts. Holly had a classier look about her. Even in college, she’d favored dresses.
It wasn’t that I didn’t have any dresses, because I did. But mine were suited to nightclubs and not one for trying to persuade a chaebol and his son that the future heir had picked an appropriate girlfriend.
The truth was, Jiwon’s family was the one I was least looking forward to meeting. From the few things Jiwon had told me about, they were the ones least likely to like me, least likely to understand any of this, and I already knew that even under normal circumstances, I probably wouldn’t like them.
I stood back and examined myself in the mirror. The dress was fitted, but modest. I didn’t wear much makeup, but I still had my winged eyeliner on and a tinted lip gloss. I’d even gone as far as making sure that I wore low heels so that I didn’t end up towering above any of them.
Was all of this going to make the blind bit of difference?
Probably not. But if I didn’t try, I would never know.
At the last moment, I decided against taking my phone. I didn’t need it going off and earning more disapproval. With one last deep breath, I smoothed down the skirt of the dress and then left the room.
Once more, Sungmin’s door was closed. Later, I would also check that he was at least eating properly and leaving the chalet for some fresh air and exercise. For now, I was focusing on Jiwon and not doing anything that would cause his family to freak out on him.
I stepped outside. The dark clouds that had been on the horizon earlier were now settled overhead, emptying their contents on the island. Thankfully, the wooden walkways between the chalets were covered with the same thatch roof as the buildings were.
With the waves lapping at the walkway posts, occasionally sending splashes of seawater in, and the rain falling heavily downwards, I stuck to the center of the walkway, making sure to walk carefully.
Strangely, the sound of the rain and the sea was calming, even if the ocean had turned a gray color. If I wasn’t in a rush, I would have stood there, just listening to the water. Instead, I made my way to Jiwon’s chalet.
When I knocked on the door, it was opened by a face I didn’t recognize.
The resort was cooking the meal, so it made sense that they sent someone over to serve it. The man stepped back and allowed me in. I’d already been in the chalet, and I knew it was one of the smaller ones with only two bedrooms. Which was why it felt so crowded.
There was a table with six chairs around it and the family were already seated, drinking wine, or in the case of Jiwon’s eight-year-old sister, Jimin, drinking water. As well as the family, was the man lingering behind me, dressed like a butler or a server, and in the open plan kitchen was a chef in a jacket so white that it had to be brand new.
As soon as he saw me, Jiwon stood and walked over to join me. “You look… weird,” he muttered. “But thank you.”
He was one to talk. Once again, he was wearing smart pants and… a shirt. I’d seen all of Onyx in suits and smart wear, and there was no doubt that each of them looked unbelievably handsome in them, but it wasn’t their natural choice of clothing. Even CX who liked his fashion didn’t wear super-smart clothes. Jiwon, he looked just as… weird. “How are you doing?”
Jiwon rolled his eyes as he sighed. That well…
“Son, are you going to introduce us to your guest?” his mother called across the room.
“Last chance to run away,” Jiwon said.
“It’s just a meal,” I said, as much to myself as to him.
Jiwon led me over to the table. I’d felt like I’d dressed up, but looking at his family, even Jimin looked smarter than I did. “Grandfather, father, mother; this is Kate West. Kate, this is my grandfather, Yoon Jihun, my father, Yoon Jihyun, my mother, Lim Yeonhwa, and my sister, Jimin.”
I smiled politely at all of them. “It’s lovely to meet you all.” As Jiwon pulled out my chair for me to sit down, I tried not to frown as I tried to work out how to address them.
It was completely normal in Korean culture to use full names when being polite, but equally, many would opt to go for their position. There was no way on this planet I felt comfortable calling them Grandfather, Father, or Mother. Even with the time I’d spent around Onyx and their team, using full names felt weird. But using their given names was definitely too informal. If I was in America, I’d have defaulted to sir and ma’am.
My solution was simple: only speak when spoken to and look at the person I was talking to.
“You are not a hotel employee,” his grandfather said. He was sat at the head of the table, his son at the other. I’d been seated on one side of him, with Jiwon’s sister next to me.
I refrained from defaulting to sarcasm, despite my desperate urge to say, ‘no shit, Sherlock’, and instead shook my head. “I am not.”
“Then why did you make my drink?”
I shrugged. “Manners?”
“Then what is it that you do for a living, Kate West, or are you planning on your source of income to be my grandson?”
“Halabeonim!” Jiwon protested.
His grandfather shot him a look. “I can only assume that by bringing this woman here, that you are introducing her because you are seeking approval for dating her. Given the amount of money you’re set to inherit one day, I think her source of income is a reasonable question.”
Honestly, I was expecting a wad of cash to be produced at some point, asking me to pick between Jiwon and the money. Part of me was curious as to how much he thought Jiwon was worth, and how little he thought of me.
I gently shook my head at Jiwon before turning back to his grandfather. “I’m a photographer. Seeing as though I’m sure you’re going to run a background check on me at some point in the not too distant future, I studied Japanese at college, which I graduated from a few years ago. Seeing as though most of that time was spent trying and failing to find a
job which wasn’t part-time at the deli in my local Walwart, I still have ridiculous student loan repayments which a lot of my photography earnings go towards paying off.”
“Kate,” Jiwon said, quietly, my name almost sounding like a plea.
“I’m not ashamed of who I am,” I told him.
I turned back to Yoon Jihun and straightened my back. “Do you have any other questions for me?”
There was a moment’s pause and then Jiwon’s grandfather laughed. It was like watching a shark grin, and I didn’t, for one moment, think that would be the end of it. “I think it’s time for our starter.” He waved his hand bringing the butler over. “And I think Kate is in need of some wine.”
“Water, please,” I corrected him. “I don’t drink.”
I could feel Jiwon’s eyes on me, but I didn’t look at him. If Jiwon wanted to tell his family everything, then I would sit here and let it all unfold. I had a feeling that, for today, just the fact I was his girlfriend was as far as this conversation was going to go.
As the butler came over and slid a plate of food in front of me, I realized I wasn’t nervous anymore. I was calm.
I was ready for war.
The peace lasted for the duration of the starter which, seemed to be thinly sliced raw scallops, artichokes, and… I wasn’t sure what the other thing was on there. It had a similar taste to the dressing, but it wasn’t something I ate normally. It was tasty though.
It was about the only decent thing about the starter though. The atmosphere in the chalet was thick. I would have preferred to walk past a swamp in Louisiana on a Sunday night, and risked my chances with swallowing a mouthful of mosquitoes than breath in that room. If this was a standard evening meal, I really wanted to take Jimin back with me.
It sucked balls.
Hell, I’d rather have sucked balls.
No one spoke throughout the entire course, and the only sound was chewing and silverware on china. If this wasn’t the norm, and rather a show of intimidation by Jiwon’s grandfather, I was still in battle mode and my shields were up.