The Project 'Buddy'

~35~

"Korea soil!!" Jungwon exclaimed happily, and the rest laughed at how excited he was. They exited the airport quickly and took the train to the city.
When they reached, Jungwon heaved in a sigh of relief, and smiled. Niki placed an arm around his shoulders and hugged it in a reassuring squeeze.

"This is nice," Hana complimented, and Jungwon beamed. The plan now was for them to go to Jungwon's house, where his mum was.
In a few minutes, they were outside Jungwon's front door.
He didn't tell his mum he was returning though.

"Whoo. Okay, here I go," Jungwon mumbled, hovering his finger over the doorbell. He pressed it, and waited.

At first, it was quiet and Jungwon almost thought no one was home. But eventually, he heard his mother's familiar girly voice, and she seemed to be talking to someone as she unlocked the door.

"Yah, no the eggs are supposed to go ON the pan not in the-" Miss Yang was cut off upon seeing her boy on her steps.

She didn't say a word, except gape at Jungwon while the latter just smiled sheepishly and waved. "Hi mum..."

Miss Yang immediately flung her arms around her son and gave him a rib-caging hug, almost choking Jungwon. She started sobbing on his shoulder and Jungwon had to wait for her to calm down before he could explain things.

"I'm fine Mum, I just wanted to come back! To see you and the others!" He told her after answering all of her motherly questions. She sniffed and nodded, smiling up at her son.

"Ah! Where are my manners? Come on, come inside! It must be cold!" She gestured for all of them to enter and they did. Jungwon hurriedly made his friends enter first and then did he do so...only to be greeted by a surprising sight.

"CE-I mean, Mr Yang?" He exclaimed in shock, seeing the older man standing in the kitchen, wearing an apron while holding a pan over the stove.
He smiled sheepishly and waved, while Jungwon's mum flusterdly tried to explain.

"Uh! So, wonnie! As you can see here..." she used big gestures to showcase the scene in front of Jungwon. He just followed her hands, but frowned when he noticed something.

The something glinted underneath the kitchen lights, and Jungwon mentally started making sure his suspicions were true. He squinted and strided towards his mother, grabbing her hand.

Lo and behold, a ring was worn on her second last finger.

Jungwon blinked at it, then looked up to meet his mum's eyes, who were not meeting his. She retracted her hand quickly and hid it behind her back.

"Mum...what's that on your finger?"

"It's-uh-"

"It's her engagement ring!" Jungwon's sister's voice entered the kitchen.

Jungwon swung to face her, and she just raised her eyebrows. "Welcome home, little brother."

He swung back to face his mum. "You're engaged?!"

His mother bit her lip before nodding slowly. She was about to open her mouth to explain when Jungwon wrapped her in a hug, jumping up and down as he fanboyed.

"Omgomgomgomg, finally!" He cheered and whipped his head to face CEO, who chuckled warmly. He gave another whoop as his mum sighed in relief. Mr Yang came over and hugged her shoulders while Jungwon danced around and started clinging onto his sister.

"Aish, I know! Stop hugging me! I fangirled enough!" She laughed and Jungwon beamed hard. This was the best news he had heard so far. He couldn't wait to share it with his friends!
_______
"Hey, I just got a text from an ex classmate that the Gbogh Fest is tomorrow," Niki told Jungwon as he entered their room for the night. Jungwon glanced over his shoulder.