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The banquet hall is dimly lit, red curtains cover the walls, and a stage where a band is currently setting up their instruments.
Lee Suhyeok stands alone, dressed in a black tuxedo, drinking champagne quietly in the corner waiting for two people to arrive. The first, his girlfriend Choi Namra and the second, her mother Park Eun-hee, who invited him here to officially meet him for the first time. He feels a bit nervous as he takes another sip of his champagne to calm his nerves. His mind flashbacks to the time Namra informed him about her mom wanting to meet him a few days ago.
Suhyeok and Namra were sitting down inside the classroom during break time. Suhyeok was flipping through Namra’s notes mindlessly while Namra was fidgeting with her hands, digging her thumbs into one another looking like she was pondering about something. She took a deep breath and said,
“Suhyeok.”
Suhyeok smiled, not turning his head to face the girl “Yes?”
“My mom…wants to meet you.” Namra said quietly while biting her lip.
Suhyeok’s eye suddenly raise from the book and he stares forward after hearing this. He finds his bearings and faces her again with a look of surprise.
“What?” He said, repeating the question like what he heard was a sound from his imagination.
“Mom. She wants to meet you.” Namra said in a not-so-confident manner, with a small sound of uncertainty at the end of the sentence.
Suhyeok placed the book flat on his desk before using one of his hands to hold one of hers “Really? When? What do I wear? Out of the blue?”
Namra could only smile at the rapid fire questions. She took a small breath before answering him,
“She’s inviting you to a small event held by one of her colleagues. Wear a tuxedo or a suit. She decided to finally meet you because she finally found an opportunity for her to invite you into where you two can talk.”
Suhyeok asked in a concerned voice “Is that why you were so quiet since the first period?”
Namra nodded shyly with a small smile forming on her face. Suhyeok smiled softly at this.
He squeezed her hand a bit as a sign of comfort “When is it?”
“This Friday.” Namra said, deflating as she relaxed her shoulders.
Suhyeok nodded, “I’m guessing it’s late at night.”
“Yup. Official start time is at 7:00 PM.”
Namra gets her red backpack from behind her and opens it, shuffling a bit before pulling out a small white envelope.
“My mom got promoted so…her friends and colleagues are throwing a celebration for her.”
Suhyeok grabbed the small envelope and placed it on his desk, “I see…so she decided to do two important events in one go?”
“I guess you can say that.” Namra chuckled at the statement.
“Is it weird I’m oddly excited and both scared?” Suhyeok said with a hint of uncertainty in it.
“You shouldn’t be…I guess” Namra said looking at him with a look he recognized, a look of worry.
“Wow, that’s comforting.” He joked with a small chuckle.
“My mom may appear a bit…cold.”
Suhyeok hummed with a smile of understanding as he slowly rubbed her hand
“But she’s nice, when she can be genuine.” Namra said calmly and a bit hopeful.
“Why? Is she not genuine?”
“In her line of work? No room for that if you want to climb the ladder.”
“I see.”
“It’ll be fine.” Suhyeok said as he looked softly into Namra’s eyes ``It'll be fine.``
“It will be fine.” Namra said softly as she took a look at their intertwined hands together, finding a bit of comfort at the sight.
Suhyeok bites his lip and exhales as he places his glass of champagne on top of a waiter’s tray as he walks to go and text his girlfriend on his cellphone.
I stick out like a sore thumb.
Where is Namra and her mom anyways?
Suhyeok takes a small look around the crowd and sees nothing but old men and women slowly chattering about things he wouldn’t even bother to know about but he hears them nonetheless.
“ Have you heard the news about Song Ji-hwan… ”
“ I have the very same Dior bag… ”
“ It’s from the Spring 2022 collection… ”
“ Another bottle of wine over here please… ”
“ How’s Senator Rhee and his family?... ”
Suhyeok rolls his eyes at the conversations and is quite bored of them until he looks up at the stairs which are illuminated by a bright white light comparable to those of fashion shows. He sees Choi Namra and her mother descending down the stairs carefully with all eyes on them.
Suhyeok was a bit more entranced by the way his girlfriend looked tonight.
Well, who wouldn’t really?
Namra was wearing a black backless dress while holding a small wallet in her hand. Her hair was silky and it was parted in the middle but straightened showing her face a lot more compared to her usual hair at school.
Suhyeok couldn’t vocalize his thoughts into one sentence but one word did come to mind.
“Beautiful.” He thought to himself.
Suhyeok made his way through the crowd to go and intercept the pair descending the stairs. He brushed past a few shoulders until he made it to the front of the crowd and stood in front of the mother and daughter.
“Suhyeok.” Namra said with a bit of relief and a small smile gracing her face.
Suhyeok just flashed her his usual grin and winked at her before making a serious face towards Assemblywoman Park.
“Ma’am.”
The woman had a smile, neither genuine nor pleased but interested. “So…this is Suhyeok?”
“Yes.” Namra nodded.
She walks forward a bit inspecting him slowly and eyeing him up and down. Suhyeok can’t help but feel a little bit exposed by this but brushes the feeling off.
She leaned near to her daughter’s ear and said “Well, you aren’t wrong. He is handsome.”
Suhyeok briefly looks at Namra with a small grin before steeling his face once again with a serious expression.
She offers a hand to him as a sign to shake his hand. “I’m Park Eun-hee."
He takes her hand and shakes it briefly. “Lee Suhyeok, ma’am.”
She tugged on her daughter's arm and gestured to their table “Come, let’s go to our table.”
Suhyeok nodded and offered Namra his arm to loop hers around “Yes, ma’am”
“Hey.” Suhyeok whispered into her ear.
“Hey. You look…good.” Namra whispered back into his ear, tiptoeing a bit since he was a head taller than her.
Suhyeok said as they both walked slowly “I can say the same with you.”
“Beautiful as always.”
Suhyeok intertwined their fingers together and walked to the table hand-in-hand “Come on.”
Suhyeok pulled two chairs out and made Namra and her mom sit first. Suhyeok sat down last and placed their bags and belongings on the 4th and vacant chair on the table.
A small speaker on the stage tapped the mic on the stage to test if it was working which made a little bit of static to everyone’s discomfort, wincing at the sound from the loud speakers.
“Hello. Okay, Hello! Everyone!”
"As you all know, we are throwing this party tonight in honor of Miss Park Eun-hee's promotion to Congress so let us all give a warm round of applause for her."
"Come on stage and say a few words for us please, miss."
"I would like to thank you all for coming this fine evening. Thank you, everyone, for throwing this party for me which you shouldn’t have. To my assistant…”
“Your mom has some very good friends to throw her all this.” Suhyeok whispered into her ear.
Namra shook her head and replied in a whisper as well “Perks of connections.”
Suhyeok hummed in agreement as he listened to the closing remarks of the speech.
“Lastly, I’d like to thank my daughter for being my one true support and my inspiration for working so hard to make the city safer and better for her and everyone in Hyosan. Thank you for all of this and enjoy your night!”
Suhyeok threw a teasing expression at Namra to which she rolled her eyes at with the corners of her lips rising. Eun-hee went down the stage and walked back to the table with a smile on her face, sitting down right beside Suhyeok. The band decided to play uplifting and loud music to uplift the air into that of a joyous and jolly party.
As the night progressed and the party went deep into the night, Suhyeok and Namra went to a different spot to spend some time together away from her mother and talk privately before the “interrogation” as Namra dubbed it started.
"Do you know that man over there?" Namra asked, holding a small glass of champagne in her hand swirling it. Suhyeok hummed in response as he caught the sight of a middle-aged man in a gray suit.
“He has a small cheating scandal, he was caught red-handed with his mistress by his own wife on their bed.” Namra said with a smile. She pointed to another person and continued on by saying,
“How scandalous.” Suhyeok put a hand in front of his mouth to feign an expression of shock.
“I know.” Namra replied with fake amusement which made Suhyeok smile widely.
“The woman over there has plenty of houses in Singapore.”
“Is everyone that rich around here?” Suhyeok asked with fascination.
Namra chuckled at the question and replied. “You’d be surprised with the crowd my mom hangs out with.”
Suhyeok replied with his voice slightly lowering, almost in the form of a whisper as he scratched the back of his neck “I already feel like I don’t fit in with this crowd, this talk solidifies it even more.”
Namra looked at him and took his hand, quickly giving it a squeeze before crossing her arms once again. “Talk like you’re rich and you’ll be fine.”
Suhyeok nodded as he took another sip before saying “You do that a lot easier, you’re already rich.”
Namra shrugged and said “Just decent.” as she took a sip of her drink.
Suhyeok let out a loud cackle to which he covered his mouth.
“Decent. You’re funny.” Suhyeok coughed to help suppress his laughter a bit more and drank a bit of champagne as well.
Namra smiled widely and gave him a piercing look, “I try to be.”
Eun-hee yelled as she gestured for him to come over to her “Suhyeok!”
Suhyeok slid a finger across her forearm as a way to alert her “I think your mom’s calling me and that’s my cue to go.”
Namra saw this and smiled widely but Suhyeok knew that she was faking it as she said in a teasing manner “Have fun.”
Suhyeok snorted and he replied “Thanks, sweetie. Remember to play nice with the other kids, okay?”
Namra smirked and raised a glass with her middle finger being raised as well.
Suhyeok throws her a sly grin and walks towards his future “mother-in-law”.
"Who's the new guy?" A boy appeared right behind Namra which caught her by surprise.
"Doesn't look familiar to me." A girl sounded from beside the boy as she wrapped her hands around his arm.
"He's none of your business, if that's what you were wondering." Namra said blankly, recognizing the voices.
"Come on, Namra. Don't be like that. We used to be friends, remember?" The girl replied.
"If you think that us talking for 5 minutes every time we see each other at these events makes us "friends", you might have to look at your circle again" Namra said coldly as she took another swig of her drink, not bothering to turn and face the pair at all.
"A bit defensive today are we, Namra" The boy replied with teasing evident in her voice.
"Just leave me alone, Il-nam" Namra coldly replied with her ice cold expression she was well known for.
“Is he your boyfriend?” The girl asked, going in front of Namra.
“Why do you care?” Namra answered coldly and with an angry tone.
“Just interested in him is all. He looks handsome.” The girl shrugged and took a glance at Suhyeok, who was currently talking to Eun-hee at the moment.
“Ohhh…You look scary right now.” The girl
“Shut up, Seo-yeon.” Namra chided the girl.
“Look at you defending your boyfriend.” The boy teased which infuriated Namra even more so.
“Especially you, Il-nam. After the shit you pulled last year I didn’t expect you to be here today.” Namra glared at the boy.
“Tough luck for you, my dad was invited.” Il-nam snarkily replied.
“Of course, he was.” Namra groaned to herself.
As this small argument was going on, Suhyeok and Eun-hee were chatting alone by their table.
Eun-hee asked while surveying the crowd, “How did you meet my daughter?”
Suhyeok turned his head and replied “Classmate, miss.”
“What are your parents’ jobs?” Eun-hee asked as she took
“None. They’re both dead, ma’am.” Suhyeok replied casually.
Eun-hee turned to face him with wide eyes with a slight pause in her voice before saying “Oh…I’m sorry.”
“No, no, it’s fine.” Suhyeok just put on a smile and tried to console the woman since Eun-hee seemed a bit guilty for asking that question.
“It’s fine, miss. It’s not a particularly touchy subject for me anymore.” Suhyeok gave a sad smile and turned to face the crowd just like her.
“So…who takes care of you?” Eun-hee asked, interested in his answer.
“My grandmother. She still works even though I keep telling her it’s fine and that she should rest but…” Suhyeok takes a small pause, a small pang of guilt hits him, as he continues on saying “She says there’s nothing to do at home so might as well work.”
Eun-hee nodded and replied “I see.”
“She’s raised me by herself all these years so I’m very thankful for her.” Suhyeok smiled brightly to which Eun-hee saw, clearly evident of the boy’s fondness for his grandmother.
“I feel like she’s proud of the man you are now.” Eun-hee said with a bit of amusement evident in her comment.
“I hope she is.” Suhyeok said as looked at her for a bit before looking for Namra in the crowd.
“Namra tells me about you…when she can. All I hear from her is good things but…” Eun-hee said slowly and softly.
She paused for a moment which made Suhyeok look at her to see if there was something wrong.
“Who are you really and why do you have so much of an interest in my daughter?” Eun-hee asked Suhyeok directly in a manner Suhyeok can describe as straight to the point.
Suhyeok chuckled a bit before steeling himself and replying “Tough question.”
Eun-hee smirked at the response and asked him “Can you answer it?”
“To the best of my ability, I might.” Suhyeok smiled and faced the crowd once again, gathering a bit of courage before answering Eun-hee.
Suhyeok breathes out a deep exhale and begins telling her everything he can to her.
Suhyeok starts his answer by saying “Well, I wasn’t a very good student if that was something you were looking forward to knowing. Got in a bit of trouble with the school. A bad student to say the least.”
Suhyeok turned to Eun-hee with a smile as a way to mask his growing fear and asked,
“I think you’re listing down a whole list of reasons right now why your daughter shouldn’t date me and why you would ever associate with me again.”
Eun-hee shook her head and responded “No, actually. I’m quite interested in you now.”
Suhyeok was baffled by her statement and raised his eyebrows in surprise “In what way?”
Eun-hee smiled and replied “My daughter is anything but stupid. There has to be a reason she chose you so…out with it. The rest of your story.”
Suhyeok nodded as he continued on with his story “It was…tenth grade. Was getting scolded by the teacher like usual then your daughter walked in. I’m not trying to kiss up to you but I admit she caught my eye. As time passed, I started looking for her more and more across the crowd and eventually with just my luck. I happened to end up in the same class as here for 11th grade. It wasn’t until this year I tried my luck out and decided to see if I can go to her and hopefully make her see me as an equal.”
Eun-hee nodded and asked. “Does she know this?”
Suhyeok smiled widely and proudly said “Every detail.”
“So…did you change to be equal with her or for yourself?” Eun-hee asked him sincerely.
Suhyeok paused for a moment to think of his words very carefully before saying “Both. I changed for myself to be equal with her.”
“Your daughter has been nothing but a blessing in disguise to me. Helped make my life a lot better and helped me push for dreams I thought I could never dream of like…getting into college.” Suhyeok’s tone softened as he shyly admitted to her mother.
Assemblywoman Eun-hee smiled and nodded as she looked towards the crowd with a smile on her face. Her expression is unreadable in Suhyeok’s eyes and the only thoughts he could have are passive and calm.
“Aren’t you going to say anything, miss?” Suhyeok asked nervously.
Eun-hee shook her head sideways before facing the boy who had a puzzled expression on his face “No. I’m just happy…I suppose. Nam-ra found someone who can make her step out a bit and become more…human.”
Eun-hee took a deep breath before continuing on and saying,
“I know I haven’t been quite a good mother to her that much I know but at least now I know she has someone she can go to when I’m not there so…thank you, Suhyeok.”
Suhyeok turned away and laughed before saying “No need to thank me, ma’am. I like being around her a lot if you haven’t noticed.”
“I have.” Eun-hee chuckled at the comment before the both of them noticed a small commotion going on in the middle where Suhyeok finally spotted his girlfriend starting a ruckus.
Eun-hee patted Suhyeok’s right arm and asked him for a favor "I think my daughter is getting into some trouble again with the other kids. Can you come get her before she starts something again like last year?"
“ Last year?! Does she do this often? ” Suhyeok thought to himself, internally laughing at the statement.
Suhyeok just nodded and replied "Yes, ma’am." before making his way to his angry girlfriend.
As Suhyeok walked closer, he saw Namra's hand slowly form into a fist as he heard a few tidbits of their conversation.
"He's probably poor, you take him here cause you paid him?" Eun-hee said loudly as eyes began to look at the arguing teens.
"He a welfie?" Il-nam asked confidently and proudly as if it was something not to be ashamed of.
Suhyeok's blood started to boil as he heard the insults towards him but quickly brushed it off as to avoid a commotion at Miss. Park's party of all places. He walked up slowly behind Namra and wrapped an arm around her waist before calmly saying into her ear,
“There you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Suhyeok whispered into her ear. Namra was caught by surprise but quickly regained her composure and felt comforted by her presence.
“Excuse me. I'll be taking her from your company now.” Suhyeok said casually as he slowly tugged Namra behind him.
“We’re talking to her.” Seo-yeon said in an irritated manner.
"I don't think she wants to talk to you." Suhyeok quickly snapped at the girl
“You want to start something, asshole?” Il-nam threatened but Suhyeok stood up straight and didn’t back down.
Namra tugged on Suhyeok’s sleeve and quickly said “Not here.” but Suhyeok wouldn’t back down especially if Namra was involved.
Namra knew this trait of his and quickly wrapped her hand around his and whispered “Suhyeok.”
Suhyeok let out a sigh and calmed down a bit before saying "Let's go, your mom is looking for you."
Il-nam grabbed Suhyeok’s arm and attempted to pull Suhyeok back "Hey, I'm not done talking to her yet."
Suhyeok quickly ripped his arm away from his grip and turned to face Il-nam head on "Well, she is so back off."
Il-nam scoffed and said proudly "You don't get to say shit like that to me, you know who I am?"
Suhyeok hissed, his anger slowly becoming more evident to those around him, especially Namra. "No and I don't care."
"Come on." Namra pleaded with her boyfriend to let this go as she saw Suhyeok clench his fist almost as if he was getting ready to swing. “Suhyeok, let’s go.”
Suhyeok looked to his girlfriend behind him and saw her pleading expression. He calmed down and faced the boy and his smug face.
I’m not that guy anymore. I can solve things without my fists.
Suhyeok slowly backed away, clearly not wanting to start a scene at Ms. Park’s promotion party before wrapping an arm around Namra’s waist and walking away. They gained a bit of distance before he asked,
“Are you okay?”
“They were making fun of you.” Namra said, a bit annoyed.
Suhyeok chuckled and warmly said “I heard and thank you for defending me.”
“Let’s just go back to my mom before my mood gets ruined any further.” Namra complained as they both peacefully made their way through the crowd back to their table.
It wasn’t long till the two teens were pulled away back to their respective guardians to help quiet down the commotion and the atmosphere somewhat calmed down a bit after that small confrontation.
Suhyeok offered a hand to Namra who was seated down beside her mother.
“Shall we dance?” Suhyeok said confidently.
Namra looked at the hand and took it with a smile “Gladly.”
Suhyeok started off the dance by slowly swaying and following the rest of the people around in a synchronized manner. Namra followed suit with a wide smile forming on her face. The band present decided to play “Moon River” to match and set a mood and it perfectly fit the situation the couple was in.
“I didn’t know you knew how to waltz.”
Suhyeok smirked as he spun her around, “Ji-min taught me during break. Preparation for today.”
“Really now? I would have seen you two practice if that was the case.” Namra commented as she perched her hand on his shoulder again.
Suhyeok chuckled as he swayed them together once again “We always timed it and did it in different places. The back of the gym, the rooftop, and all sorts of places.”
“The boys would have said something about it.” Namra said softly as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Asked them to keep it a secret.” Suhyeok shrugged nonchalantly as he smiled even wider.
Namra placed her head by his chest and closed her eyes “Look at you, preparing stuff like this for me.”
Suhyeok kissed the crown of her head and replied “Anything for you.”
They continued to waltz slowly till it was just them on the dance floor. Nobody else mattered to them at that moment. Just them in one another’s arms was enough to make their night.
It was a quiet moment that everyone in attendance took notice of, especially Assemblywoman Eun-hee who smiled warmly at the two.
“Madame.” The chief aide tapped and gained the attention of Eun-hee.
“Dal-Hwan, where have you been?” Eun-hee asked with a surprised tone.
“I was off endorsing and entertaining your fellow politicians and tried to garner support.”
“Good man.” Eun-hee replied as he patted his arm in praise.
“Isn’t that your daughter?” Dal-hwan pointed to Namra as the pair danced in relative peace.
Eun-hee nodded and said “The boy with her is her boyfriend, I just met him today. He’s an interesting fellow to say the least.”
“Do you like him?” Dal-hwan asked casually.
Eun-hee took a deep sigh and said calmly “He’s good to Namra and he makes her happier than I’ve ever seen in the last years.That’s enough for me.”
Dal-hwan nodded and commented “They do look like a good couple.”
Eun-hee looked at him briefly before looking at Namra, who was dorning the widest of smiles she’s ever seen on the girl’s face. “Indeed, indeed they do.”
Most of the guests began to vacate the premises and go home. Suhyeok brought both Namra and Eun-hee to their car and said their farewells to one another.
“Good night, Miss Park.” Suhyeok said shyly as he offered a hand for her to shake.
Eun-hee saw this and shook his hand with a firm grip “Good night to you, Suhyeok.”
“Suhyeok.” Namra said warmly as she intertwined their fingers together albeit without her mother seeing them.
“Namra.” Suhyeok said in a similar manner, fondness and warmth evident in his voice.
“Be safe.” Namra said as she squeezed his hand softly and Suhyeok smiled even more.
Namra continued on by saying “Call or text me when you get home, okay?”
“Namra!” Miss Eun-hee yelled from their limousine as she was about to enter. Namra looked behind and looked at him for a moment.
“Hey.” Namra said a bit abruptly which made Suhyeok perk up in attention.“What?” Suhyeok said softly as he squeezed her hand and looked at her so fondly, it made Namra feel warm inside. It made her feel on fire in layman’s terms.
Namra planted a kiss on his cheek, she wasn’t that shameless to kiss him in front of her mother just yet but give it time. Namra just looked up at him with the cutest smile Suhyeok has ever seen on her face.
“Bye.” Namra said as she waved while walking backward.
As the mother-daughter pair entered the limousine. Eun-hee said something that Namra would never figure to hear from her mother tonight. Suhyeok stayed by the sidewalk watching the car leave first before leaving. It wasn’t until they were leaving the parking lot when Namra saw his outline disappear behind the buildings and cars they encountered leaving the venue.
“ He still waits for me to leave first before leaving. ” Namra thought to herself and felt a pang of fondness grow once again.
“I like him.” Eun-hee said.
Namra's ears rang a bit as she heard these words and asked again to make sure, “Hm?”
Eun-hee said calmly and with a hint of satisfaction, “Suhyeok. I like him. He’s good for you.”
Namra nodded with a smile while looking down, an expression mixing with both pride and happiness gleaming from her face evident on her features. She took a look outside her window and saw the city lights pass by her, she whipped out her phone from her bag and quickly went to message Suhyeok.
@namra-yah
hey
i love you
be safe on your way home and call me
@hyeokie
I know
I'll be safe, prez. you know me.
Namra rolled her eyes at the reply but other than that, a huge smile covered her face and she felt glad and ecstatic that tonight went smoothly.