Haeun Seo is facing a terrible dilemma. She doesn't know why she decided to tell her family that she was in a relationship so that she wouldn't have to go onto one of those terrible, terrible blind dates that her sister Heejin keeps setting up for h...
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Today is the first real test.
Haeun is meeting Oscar's parents.
They're both incredibly nervous, the two telling each other to "not worry", when both of them are panicking. Haeun dresses a little nicer today, messaging Yuxin and asking her what outfit she should wear, and Yuxin just replies with: "you're hot, date me."
Lando won't appreciate that very much, and those words don't exactly help Haeun choose what outfit to wear.
So she asks Oscar, who also just tells her she looks great in all of them.
Haeun then asks Lily, who tells her to go with the first option. It's a linen black dress, with puff sleeves. It's backless, though, with strings at the back that make a cross pattern. She asks Lily if it's fine, and she replies with 2 thumbs up and a heart emoji, so Haeun takes that as a yes.
She curls her hair in loose waves, and when Oscar tells her that it's time to leave, Haeun hurriedly swipes a layer of lip gloss onto her lips, shoving it into her purse. Her hand finds Oscar's, and it's becoming a lot more natural lately.
She doesn't think about it. As if her hand inches close to his on its own.
"Are you nervous?" he asks her. His parents are waiting for them in the hotel lobby, and Haeun nods. "Yeah. Is it obvious?" she asks, smiling awkwardly at him.
Oscar nods, giving her a sheepish smile in return. "Sort of. But it's okay. Just relax, as long as we stick to the script, or plan, or whatever... we'll be fine." he presses the button for the eleveator, and Haeun takes a deep breath.
"Yes. 2 weeks ago, met because of Xinnie, everything's super new but it's been going great." she recites, and Oscar nods.
"They'll definitely ask more about you," he says, chuckling as the elevator arrives. "Don't be nervous. We've got this."
He squeezes her hand as the lift arrives, and he gives her a reassuring smile.
The two enter the lift, and Haeun looks up at the ceiling, picking at the skin of her lower lip nervously. Oscar has noticed that it's a habit of hers whenever she's anxious, or worried about something.
"Don't do that. It might start bleeding," he says softly. He lets go of her hand to take off one of the many bracelets that he's got on his other wrist.
He casually slips it onto her wrist. "You can play with this when you're nervous."
"Oh," Haeun says, looking down at the new accessory on her wrist. It's got orange and white beads on it, and there's 4 beads that read out OP81. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it." he says, smiling at her. The elevator dings, and Oscar takes ahold of Haeun's hand once again. "We've got this," he whispers to her. Haeun nods, taking another deep breath.
When the elevator opens, she's greeted with the sight of Oscar's parents standing in the lobby.
"Hi Mum, hi Dad." Oscar says, as the two walk up to his parents. His mother puts her phone back in her pocket, greeting Oscar excitedly. "Oscar!" his mother says, giving him a hug. Haeun lets go of his hand so he can hug her back.
"You must be Haeun," his father says, and Haeun nods. "It's very nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too." Haeun says, smiling warmly at his father.
"Haeun! It's nice to finally meet you - Oscar's told us lots about you." his mother says.
"He has?" Haeun says, looking at Oscar. "Just a little bit." he replies, and his mother chuckles.
"So I hear you're a music producer?" his father asks, and Haeun nods. She plays with the bracelet that Oscar had given her, fidgeting with it to try and conceal her nervousness.
"Yup. I produce for Xinnie," she replies, and Oscar's mother gives her a knowing nod. "Ah, Lando's girlfriend, is that right?"
Oscar nods. "Mhm. Xinnie introduced us to each other."
"Aww, that's cute. So where do you live now? Oscar said that you two were going to be long distance after these 2 weeks."
"Oh, I live in Seoul."
"Seoul? Wow, that's very cool." Oscar's father says, and Haeun smiles. "Yeah. Was born and raised there, then I went to the States to study music."
"Ah, I see. Well, you're very accomplished, just like Oscar said you were."
Haeun chuckles. "Thank you."
"Should we go to the circuit now?" Oscar asks, and Haeun nods.
Haeun speaks with Oscar's mother as they leave the hotel. "Haeun, I just wanted to say thank you for making him so happy for these few weeks. He... took the breakup with his ex quite hard, and... it's nice to see that he's happy again."
Haeun looks at Oscar, who smiles as he talks to his father. "It's really nothing, I mean... I should thank him for making me happy over these past two weeks. I... like him a lot."
"Regardless, I'm very happy for you two. I hope I'll be seeing you a lot more often."
Haeun smiles. "I hope that I'll be seeing you often too."
And as those words leave her lips, Haeun realises that none of what she said was a lie.
