I Hear You { Lee Jeno Fanfic }

Chapter 4

Jae-Hwa emerged from her carrier like a prisoner getting his first taste of the outside. She ran with no particular destination. She just ran for the sheer joy of running. She jumped onto the old piano in Alma's girlhood home and knocked off all the pictures in the process. From there, she jumped onto the Dining Room table, bunching up the tablecloth, which only barely prevented her from careening off the other edge of the table.

Alma's dad rose quickly, stomping his wide feet to scare her off the table. "Get off there, you damn cat!" he yelled, swinging his arms close to her. The scared kitten looked at the mountain of a man looming over her and chose to follow his orders.

"Are you sure your parents are OK with the cat being here?" Jeno whispered to Alma.

"Oh, yeah, don't worry. My dad's all bark and no bite. But my mom will keep him from bringing the kitty to any real harm," Alma assured him.

"But I would hate to annoy them from the very beginning of our acquaintance," Jeno fretted.

Alma smiled at his apparent unwillingness to get on her parents' bad side. He seemed to have some stake in gaining their approval, even at this early stage in their relationship.

"Who wants food?" yelled Dawn from the kitchen. "I'm not bringin' it to you. If you want it, you'll have to get off your asses and get it," she warned.

Alma got up off the couch and held out a hand to Jeno to help him up. "Ah, my mother!" Alma mused. "Always a lady of class and style," she quipped sarcastically.

The whole family got in a line that filed past the stove and each person served themselves portions of shredded beef, yellow rice, and black beans.

Jeno marveled at the rice. "Wow, this is really different from Asian rice," he commented to Dawn. "All the grains are separate, and I've never seen rice this color before."

"Well, it's yellow because of the annatto seed paste, but it separates like that because I only use racist rice," Dawn explained, leaving Jeno more confused than ever.

"Excuse me? Did you say, 'racist rice'?" he clarified.

"Yep, it's that rice with the picture of the Black uncle on it. You know, the one that's super racist, but it tastes better than the other rice?" Dawn joked.

Jeno blinked in confusion. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to laugh or not. He had found that Alma's family had a very distinctive sense of humor, which was irreverent, bordering on vulgar. Dawn came up behind him and smacked him hard on the back.

"The line's movin', baby!" she warned. "He who hesitates is lost."

Jeno moved forward, bowing slightly. When he reached the food, still sitting in the pots it was cooked in, he hesitated slightly. Dawn swooped in front of him and began scooping large portions of food onto his plate.

"If you don't hurry and eat, we're gonna wait for you like one pig waits for another," Dawn laughed as she flipped a corn tortilla grilling on the comal. "Don't worry, you'll settle in just fine," she added.

When they sat down to eat, Alma's father, Saúl, looked at Jeno sternly. "I don't know what kind of relationship you have with my daughter, and I don't want to know," he began.

"Daaaad," Alma scolded. "Leave the poor guy in peace."

"Look, I am your father and when you are under my roof, you live by my rules. I'm just making sure that este güey knows what the rules are," Saúl answered back. "This is how it goes in my house. Fíjate," he commanded Jeno's attention. "Don't have sex with my daughter --- or I will kill you," he threatened.

Jeno's eyes grew wide, sensing that Saúl might be capable of doing just that. Saúl squeezed his cinnamon-colored hand into a fist and tapped on the table with it. "Don't touch my daughter --- or I will kill you."

"OK," agreed Jeno cautiously.

"Wait, I'm not done yet," Saúl chided. "If you so much as look at my daughter the wrong way ---." He stopped in mid-sentence and held his hand toward Jeno as if prompting him to finish the sentence.

"You'll kill me?" Jeno responded hesitantly.

"Right," said Saúl taking a big bite out of a raw serrano pepper. "Nada más la cara tiene," he said, indicating that Jeno wasn't as dumb as he looked.

"He's joking," Alma said, patting Jeno's hand. "He does this to every guy I've ever brought home and then he wonders why I can never keep a man," she laughed at her own joke. "Don't mind him. He's harmless," Alma assured Jeno.

But when Alma's attention returned to her food, Saúl pointed two fingers at his eyes and then pointed them toward Jeno as if to say, "I'm watching you."

Later, as Jeno wandered around Alma's tiny bedroom, he scanned her belongings, trying to get a better sense of who she was. She had a whole stack of K-pop albums and several posters of idols on her walls, but there were also some of her sister's drawings and a few random stickers. The room was tidy, but it contained more items than it could comfortably hold. So, it had the look of controlled chaos.

"So, you shared this room with your unnie?" Jeno asked.

"Yeah, we're pretty tight," Alma said, plopping down on her bed with the plaid comforter. "She's in China right now teaching ESL. So, she is living the dream like I am."

Alma came up behind Jeno as he was admiring her tiara from her quinceañera. She wrapped her arms around his middle and planted kisses on his back, right between his shoulder blades.

Jeno jumped. "Hey, you have to stop. Your dad might see us."

Alma laughed and said, "So, I'll just close the door."

"No! That's worse!" Jeno protested. "I'm honestly legit scared of your dad," he admitted.

Alma smiled. "That's all just Mexican swagger. He's not gonna really kill you," she replied.

Jeno shrugged and shook his head. "I don't know. He has this face of somebody who stays up at night thinking of new and creative ways to kill me."

"Aw, you're so cute!" Alma said, taking Jeno's face in her hands. "I won't let him hurt that beautiful face," she vowed before pulling him in for a kiss. He pulled away after a few moments, attempting to protest again, but Alma merely kicked her foot into the door, shutting it soundly.

She grabbed Jeno again and pressed her lips against his. He seemed torn between pulling away and continuing to kiss her coffee-flavored lips. She stood on one leg and wrapped the other around Jeno's bottom, pulling him closer. He groaned softly against her neck.

"Alma, your dad," he tried to protest.

"You worry too much," Alma said, slipping her hand under his shirt and running her fingertips over his muscled chest and abs. Jeno's breath started to come in short gasps. He could feel the heat creeping up his neck and turning his face a bright pink color.

Suddenly, the bedroom door swung open and Saúl stood in the doorway, glaring angrily at the pair.

"What the hell is going on in here!" he demanded. "Alma, you know the rule. Door open at all times!"

Alma rolled her eyes. "I don't know if you noticed, but I'm an adult now," she answered back. Jeno's eyes grew wide at her daring challenge to her father. In Korea, that kind of sass could potentially be met with a physical attack. "Papi," she continued, "you need to chill the hell out." Alma released Jeno from her embrace and held her arms out to Saúl. "Papi, no te enojes," she cajoled, wrapping her arms around her dad's neck. Saúl's shoulders relaxed, and a smile crept onto his wide lips.

"Está bien, pero the door stays open. ¿Entendido?" Saúl questioned.

"Gotit, Daddy," Alma cooed, full-well knowing that she had her daddy wrapped aroundher little finger.