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Their arrangement had been a casual one. At first.
Hwan assisted beginning students with the main instructor at the gym for four days out of the 5-day dance class week. On the fifth day he instructed his own class on traditional dances. His class sizes were, understandably, smaller.
When the new student, a Eurasian woman not much younger than him, began to appear everyday exactly on time for classes, he hadn't thought much of it. Nothing besides the fact it was nice to have a consistent face in his own classes for once and that this girl -- Cassandra -- had been a natural from the start.
It wasn't until the third week, when she was changing tights and stopped to look at him with a smile, did he realize something different had happened between them and
he
was an idiot for not catching on until that moment just how head over heels in love he was with her.
So when they had known each other for two months and Cassandra had done him a great honor by meeting his mother and father and proving that he was in fact dating "at last," he felt obligated to say "yes."
"You'll meet mine?" she asked, dark eyes glistening.
Yes. He said yes.
Then he happened to ask for the address.
*
"They are always busy," Cassandra said with a shrug. The cab fare had been ridiculous, but she paid it without blinking.
She paid for everything and it was just then becoming very apparent as to why.
Hwan stared at the notorious Wayne Manor and wondered if his parents would feel ashamed of him if he went back to Seoul. Opportunities and education were great and all, but it wasn't as if Hwan was going to be able to enjoy any of it.
Was dating a billionaire's daughter worthy of capitol offense in America?
"Most won't be there," she continued, leading the way toward the entrance. Hwan had chills. "At dinner. Everyone takes off."
Instinctively, Hwan looked to the garage where his eyes were met with lines of cars. More cars than he thought he had ever seen before.
He swallowed and remembered he looked like a bum.
"You look fine," Cass said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him up the stairs.
He really hated when she did that.
*
The first thing they are met with inside is a tall man -- so much taller than Hwan what was he supposed to do -- who was halfway through putting on a suit jacket when they entered.
Cassandra smiled and waved one hand just slightly.
"Cassandra," the man acknowledged her but his full attention was apparently on Hwan and the new effort of making Cass' boyfriend feel incredibly small and insignificant. He then looked at Cass. "Who is this?"
"Hwan," Cass responded, folding her arms and giving him a defiant look. "Hwan, Bruce. He's Dad."
"Uh," Hwan managed. He coughed into his fist and then looked sheepishly to Mr. Wayne. "Ah, hello, Mr. Wayne. Its nice to finally meet you."
Bruce Wayne stared at Hwan like he was an insect for a moment before turning to look at Cassandra. His expression tightened and he narrowed his eyes. Cassandra glared in return, putting her hands on her hips. Her father roughly jerked his jacket on all the way.
Hwan felt like something very important was being said, though he had no idea how that was managed without either of them so much as twitching their lips.
"He's staying for dinner?" Wayne said, like it was a clarification of something never spoken.
"Master Bruce," an older, more gentile voice called as the sound of clicking shoes filled the foyer. An elderly gentleman in a black suit and holding car keys came to Hwan's attention. "Miss Violet is unsure of directions to the restaurant. Would you want for me to call the call the company car -- ah! Miss Cassandra!" the man brightened up as he neared Cass and received a warm embrace. "And I see you have brought our guest of honor."
Hwan shifted but continued to stare nervously at the rigid Mr. Wayne.
"Alfred, tell Scarlet I'll be canceling our plans," he said, narrowing his eyes at Hwan.
"And Miss Violet, Sir?"
"Her, too."
Cassandra made a grunt and released 'Alfred' before grabbing Hwan by his forearm, turning to shoot another look at her father, and proceeded to drag Hwan to another part of the huge house.
"Dinner shall be ready in a half hour," the butler called after them.
*
Despite the house being rather large, Cassandra seemed perfectly content sequestering them to her bedroom.
Which… honestly was fine by Hwan as her bedroom managed to somehow be larger than his entire studio apartment where they usually spent time together.
He was curious to see the rest of the home but also frightened to death of the reasons Cass hadn't shown it to him yet. So he didn't bother to ask.
Until he required a restroom break.
She took him to the nearest one down the hall and said she would "be back."
Hwan tried not to worry too much about what that meant and decided to attempt making his way back to her room on his own.
When he passed a double door that was slightly cracked with light coming through, he heard voices on the other side.
One was Cassandra.
"He is nice. I like him," she was saying with frustration.
"That is not enough for us to consider being nice," a young voice with a British lilt responded haughtily. "If he cannot withstand our concerns then he would not last long either way."
"Wow, I can't believe I'm with Damian on this one," another, older voice said, mystified. "But, really, Cass. How much do we know about this guy?"
"I like him," Cassandra responded icily. "You should be nice to people anyway."
"Or what, Cain?" the young voice snapped.
"I can hurt you," she said simply. "No pulling records, little brother. And no knives, littlest brother."
Hwan grew more concerned.
*
When Hwan met her brothers, he wasn't sure what to expect so he simply followed Cass to the library (they had a library!) and sat on the lounge with her.
He had known before that she had brothers, but nothing on how many, their names, whether they were older or younger -- Hwan was beginning to realize Cass didn't openly give him much information about herself. And he'd never really thought to ask before…
The short answer was that she had four. Two older. Two younger.
And each of them had more muscles than Hwan could count. Including the 10-year-old. Which was wrong in so many ways.
Cass had always been muscular and strong. But she was constantly at the gym, he saw her a lot there as he worked.
What reason could her family possibly have for being so ripped?
They were all staring at each other in silence when someone -- the tallest with a crazy tuft of white hair -- looked down to their sounding phone.
"B says kitchen. Now, Cassie," he said with a smirk, looking up to meet her eyes.
Cassandra blinks once before turning to Hwan and looking sympathetically at him. He was genuinely expecting her to tell him to come with her or that she wasn't going until dinner.
So Hwan was completely surprised when she got up and left with a glare at her four siblings being Hwan's only chance at security.
He wondered if this was what hell was like.
The youngest -- Damian, hard to forget that name -- crossed his arms and sneered at Hwan.
"Can it speak without Cain holding its hand?" he asked.
"I don't know, I wonder if that's a requirement for that student visa about to expire next June," the one Hwan recognized from papers, Tim Drake-Wayne, said with eyes narrowed.
"Is… that an insinuation?" Hwan managed, a little on edge.
"Is it?" Tim asked with eyebrows raised, but his eyes remained focused and hard.
"Hey, he can speak up, that answers your question, demon," the tall one spoke up again, sprawling out on the chair he was sitting on. His phone was flipping between his fingers and Hwan could see the screen was quite devoid of conversation on it.
"What interests do you have with our sister?" Damian asked, glaring.
"Interests?" Hwan repeated, pretty sure nothing was skinning in at the moment. "I don't understand."
"Clearly," Tim responded, leaning his chin on his hand ad he eased forward on the couch cushion. "Is that the reason you received a D on your transcript in the 8th grade?"
"What?" Hwan asked.
The one with white in his hair -- Jason! he remembered it finally -- spun around until his feet were firmly on the ground. "Listen, pretty boy, we know you couldn't touch a single hair on Cassie's head if you wanted to, so this isn't about that. Exactly," he warned. "But we can come after you if you upset her. And we can bring the pain."
"By proverbial truckloads," Damian added with a wave of his hand.
"And not all physical," Tim continued, eyes still locked with Hwan's.
It felt like Hwan was a heartbeat away from his last breath when lighthearted chuckling cut through the tension like a knife. (Which Damian isn't supposed to have… Hwan hoped.)
The eldest brother who had been leaning back against the couch smiled widely and pulled the two youngest brothers under his arms with a headlock as he hooked his foot around Jason's ankle and pulled it out from underneath him, causing the leather clad brother to hit the back of the chair he was sitting in.
"Calm down, everyone's had enough," Dick said, ignoring how Tim became resolutely limp in his clutches while Damian fought like a cornered cat. "We're done being mean. We've stressed our point. It's time to welcome Hwan with hesitantly open arms and treating him like one of our own."
Hwan felt relief wash over him and he grinned at Dick, feeling a bit of a connection so long as he ignored that… something at the edge of Dick's smile that Hwan couldn't place.
Didn't really feel like placing, really.
*
Sitting on the edge of the table was somewhat relieving because only Cass sat next to him.
Hwan ate one of the best prepared chickens he had ever had in his life and worked very hard to not count how many times Cassandra kicked someone (he suspected someone different) under the table.
The conversations were also completely useless, because no matter what was brought up and by who, Hwan could only look up to see Mr. Wayne appraising him like he smelled like market fish.
Dick -- who Hwan had determined was his new friend -- and the butler -- Alfred -- at least seemed jovial enough.
He supposed it could have been worse. Damian could have been larger.
*
Cassandra takes dishes to the kitchen with Alfred and Jason, who has an excellent bruise on his forearm from being pinched by Cass, and everyone else seems to file out with various degrees of responsibilities and work to do.
It left Dick, still picking at his dessert, with Hwan in the dining room.
The look on Dick's face seems to say that he was perfectly content with the silence between them, but Hwan felt slightly comforted by the man's previous actions.
"Ah, uh… D-Dick?" he stammered, waiting to see the other man look up from his dessert and leave his spoon hanging out of his mouth. "Heh. Okay, so I just wanted to say… uh… Thanks. I appreciate how nice everyone has been to me."
Dick's face crumpled and he started to laugh. "Well, if you think that's nice, I guess you'll stick around."
"Well, I mean… you specifically, you seem…" Hwan's mind searched desperately for the right word, "Cool."
That got the man to smile, though it appeared far more devious with the hard set to his eyes. "Hwan, I'm glad you enjoy being with my sister. And I'm sorry that my family's a bit much at first glance. But I'd like to assure you of one thing: I'll be happy to extend my hand to you as much as I can in the name of respect for my sister's choices. But you can never make enough brownie points with me to let you off the hook if you really mess up. And, unlike my less refined siblings, I can back my threats up with a badge."
Hwan swallowed. "Um… yes, Sir."
"Okay," Dick said, almost cheerfully, eyes still shining. "Cool."
*
Cass held his arm as they walked down the driveway, her smile easy going.
"That was good," she said, squeezing Hwan's arm slightly. "Get you home now. Then you can rest it off."
"Wash it off," he corrected idly. He still felt shaky, he was sure Cass noticed. He wasn't sure why she didn't comment on it. He decided it was best to leave it be. "Ah… so… were you nervous about meeting your family?"
"Them?" Cass asked, laughing. "No. They're… bark. No bite."
"Oh," Hwan said, feeling relief until he noticed the concerned dip in Cass' face. "Cass? What's up?"
"Barbara's next," Cass said, somberly. She looked worriedly to Hwan. "It'll be okay. I won't leave you alone with her. Or Dinah. Or Helena. Zinda. Barda…"
"What did I sign up for?" Hwan asked the skies.