Jae-woo is now looking more and more surprise, he is in a state of disbelief. And he looked at me, probably asking for permission to tell her sister about our deal. But I shook my head to refuse it. But nothing is being hidden from the suspicious eye of his sister now.
"We're sorry, Ara if we have to hear this family business drama…" Jae-yin finally calmed down.
"No worries."
"Well, I would be crazy if I still don't consider you a family given how your confession went earlier…" she began to tease. I almost spit out the wine I just sipped.
"Are you ok…?" Jae-woo also smile. So, he heard my confession.
The dinner ended with a resolution from both siblings, as it turned out, Jae-yin and her husband now owns 12%, Jae-woo has 20%, which I don't know if he had told Jae-yin yet, since they seem to have a private conversation just a moment ago, their father have 32% control including the 13% trust. They can just buy-out Congressman Park's share and they have Namshin back to their family again. As it turned out, the controversy of my relationship with Jae-woo is proving to be a blessing in disguise.
"Is Joon coming to pick you up?" I asked him.
"Won't you be coming with me tonight?" he requested.
"I still haven't checked the dress that I have to wear to Namdo's event tomorrow…"
"Oh. That event…it has been a busy couple of weeks…."
"Did you manage to pick up your groceries yet?" I asked. He looked at his watch.
"We'll pass by Emart, we still have an hour…" he remarked. The idea of us doing grocery together makes me feel giddy. So, I handed him the key.
"I love you…" he casually blurted out while driving.
"How much of it did you hear?" he knew I was talking about my confession.
"Enough to make me feel confident and happy…" he smiled.
If we have to ticked off the list of the things that we have done as a couple, even without realizing it, we are becoming officially comfortable with each other. If I'm going to meet his family, I think it's high time to introduce him to Marcus as well. The grocery shopping took us almost an hour. We have to check out 10 shopping bags of groceries. The cashier is looking at us like she's familiarizing us. But she dismissed it after. We arrived at his apartment quarter past 11 and he took over in arranging the groceries.
I went inside his room only to be surprised to find a new space in his closet. My own personal space, of outfits that he had probably consulted with a personal shopper. It made me feel overwhelmed, unable to process the feeling that flooded me afterwards. Is he expecting us to live together? Was it not too sudden? I have not really been myself that night, I focused my time with reviewing my concept papers and my student papers in order to avoid a conversation with him.
But no matter how I tried to divert my attention to something else, I really can't avoid feeling restless. Aren't we going to fast? I checked on my phone and only then did I realized that I had recorded the conversation between the siblings earlier. No. I don't feel that I'm being impolite for recording their conversation. I just learned from experience that when people suddenly converse infront of you in a language you don't understand it usually means they don't want you to know what's going on. As someone who is overly cautious I have guarded myself against everyone, even from him. I read the translation on the screen.
---Jae-yin and Jae-woo's conversation--
"Do you think Dad wanted an engagement with Na-ri just because of securing the majority shares? Come-on sis, he needed stability at Namshin…" I uttered to Jae-yin in Korean. I knew Ara didn't want to be left out of the conversation, but she would understand. I don't want her to hear my fears.
"What do you mean?" Jae-yin also seem oblivious.
"Image, sister. Namshin's image is what Dad wants to protect most…what happened back then is still haunting the company and he can never shake it off. Let's hope I'm mistaken, but him insisting on the engagement is very dubious."
"He should know that involving us to, yet another politician would just relive the past…."
"Rather than being involve in another foreigner, right?" I declared regrettably.
-------end of the translated conversation------
I didn't know how to react to what I just found out. So, the carefree life that we have been living for the past couple of days are just shallow. No matter how much he try to deny the involvement of his family in his decisions, he cannot totally ignore them. Culture, tradition or whatever the hell you call it, this is the greatest obstacle that we have to face. And what's their deal with being a foreigner? It's not like oour profiles are so different anyway. Other than the language, I could almost pass as a Korean, right?
My initial nervousness to meet his family just got stronger. No matter how much I try to fake my confidence, when it comes to belonging and acceptance I always cower. And as I am still reminded of the personal space that was set for me on his closet, everything is becoming more real. This is no longer just a dream, not even a dry-run. It's surreal and so serious. I felt that my anxiety is too much to handle so I ran to the balcony and even my breathing. I heard him open the door of the room and called out.
"I'm having some breather over here..."I clled out from the balcony.
When I saw him came over smiling and hand me a glass of wine, I can't help but feel relieve. He hugged me from behind and rest hid head on my shoulders.
"Move in with me..." he whispered. The warmth of his breath on my neck gave me all the tingles but due to my earlier bout of anxiety. I froze and just stood there.