(Don't) say you love me - yeonbin

21.

Saturday came sooner than I would have liked. Surprisingly, I wasn't stressed much, but I knew that it was just the calm before the storm and once they crossed the threshold of our house, everything would hit me with a vengeance. Especially since it was only our first meeting and I was already going to nitpick at them for the way they handled a situation that honestly didn't even concern them.

"Will you take this to the table, please? Are Soobin and his parents close yet?"

"Yes, he wrote to me that they're already on the right street. It's probably just a matter of a minute or a half." I replied, grabbing a bowl of some salad and carrying it into the living room. I have never seen so much food on our table in my life. Of course, my mother cooked every day, but never in such quantities and with such effort. My mouth was literally watering at the thought of tasting all the dishes, especially the desserts.

"Open up, Jun!" Dad shouted as soon as the loud doorbell rang. I took a few calming breaths and tentatively pressed the door handle. The first things that caught my eye were the large bouquets of flowers and the small bag in Soobin's arms. Then there was the fact that my parents and I definitely didn't dress well enough for the situation.

"Good morning." I said nicely, bowing low. I moved in the doorway, giving them access to the hallway. Soobin's parents smiled softly and I breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently it wasn't worth believing everything they said at school, that they themselves weren't self-absorbed, self-aggrandizing devils with the appearance of angels.

"No, don't start with good morning, please. Call us by our first names, otherwise we'll feel old. We're going to be a family in the future anyway, so if you feel comfortable, you can call me mom right now." My eyes widened at Soobin's mother's words, and even more at the fact that right after she said them, she hugged me tightly. I inhaled the scent of her pleasant perfume and the stress flew out of me as if by magic.

"Can... Can it be aunt for now?"

"Of course. Oh my God, you're even cuter than my son said. I want you to know that you've been a common topic in our house for the past few years. I've literally been waiting impatiently for the day Binnie finally announced that he'd won you over and please, here it is!” I frowned, glancing at Soobin, but he avoided my gaze, looking somewhere at the wall behind me. There was a large, hard to miss blush on his cheeks.

"Yeah, here it is." I smiled uncertainly and invited them further into the living room. I watched with surprise as our parents started greeting each other as if they were old friends. Our mothers quickly started talking about some culinary topic, and our fathers began to decide on the last football match.

"It's for you." Soobin said. He handed me a nice bouquet of peonies and sunflowers, and I smiled because they were always my favorite flowers.

"Thank you." I placed a quick kiss on his cheek and ran to the kitchen with the excuse of putting my and my mother's flowers in vases. Once that was done, I returned to the living room and took a seat next to Soobin. For the next hour we told various stories, including the story of our great love that we had previously established. Of course, there were numerous questions that we had more or less problems with. Fortunately, they never managed to trick us and they probably believed everything because our mothers started talking about the wedding and grandchildren.

"I'm sorry if I spoil the mood of today's meeting, but I would like to discuss with you a topic that has been keeping me up at night." I mustered up the courage to start, but when all the pairs of eyes fell on me, I felt myself growing tiny under their pressure.

"It's okay, honey. Did something happen? Was Soobin acting inappropriately?" Auntie asked, giving Soobin a dirty look. I started waving my hands restlessly.

"No, of course not. Bin is wonderful, I couldn't ask for a better boyfriend." I assured and my face immediately turned red. "It's about Sunwo."

"Sunwo? Isn't that the name of that boy who attacked you at the party?" My mother frowned.

"Yes. And I know he's certainly the person you hate the most, but I talked to him recently and I've decided to forgive him."

"What?!" My dad asked in a raised voice and everyone looked really angry. Even Soobin, who must have guessed all this when he saw us together on Thursday.

"This is the decision I made and I would like you to respect it. I know what he did was terrible, but haven't we all made mistakes when under the influence of alcohol?"

"You call sexual assault just a mistake? He hurt you, Jun. He kissed and touched you against your will, and he might have done something else if I hadn't arrived on time. Do you really want to be around such a toxic person?" Soobin's voice rose and his hands clenched into fists. The atmosphere quickly became heavy, and to alleviate it a bit, I grabbed his hand and stroked the top of it with my thumb.

"I guess it doesn't matter what I want anymore, does it?" I asked, not really expecting an answer. "You made sure I never saw him again. And while I understand why you did it, I absolutely don't approve of it. What was his parents' fault, Soobin? If someone does something bad, should everyone around him suffer? I didn't ask you for any intervention, Bin. I would never tell you to take revenge by threatening him and his parents and firing them. That's a low blow."

"It was a low blow to force you to love him and kiss you when you didn't want it. Can't you see that he's doing all this to get out of trouble? He doesn't care about you, and he just wants himself to be happy."

"But he's moving out, Soobin! He didn't want me to bring it up, but my conscience would eat me alive if I didn't say anything about it. Especially since I'm sure that the next time I would be in such a situation with another person, you would do the same, not seeing anything bad in your behavior. I can handle myself, Soobin. I don't want you to do anything related to me behind my back."

“We promise not to do that again, Yeonjun.” My aunt interrupted the conversation, probably seeing that the conversation was heading in an unpleasant direction. "We're sorry we reacted so violently, but when Soobin told us what happened, we were really angry. No one can hurt the person our son loves so much and not suffer the consequences. Indeed, his parents are not guilty of anything and I promise that we will contact them and help them find a job in their new place."

"Thank you." I said, feeling a huge weight lift off my shoulders. I relaxed in my chair and tried to remove my hand, but Soobin squeezed it, preventing me from doing so.

"Can we go to Jun's room? I'd like to talk to him."

"Of course." My mother smiled and I gave her a hurt look. After all, she must have noticed how Soobin's eyes were darker than usual, and he was just waiting to explode without them eavesdropping on us. Against my body's objections, I allowed him to lead me upstairs. And even though he had never been here before, he somehow ended up in my room the first time. My back immediately hit the closed door and his mouth attacked mine violently and forcefully.

What the hell?!