The Kiss

Chapter 21

A week later, Lisa still had no idea what she was doing in terms of seducing Taehyung. He seemed happy—she knew she was—but the end of their first month was coming up, and she had no confidence that he'd want to sign on for more.

That night, his mom was having her over for dinner again. Lisa racked her brain for clever ways she might ask his family for advice regarding Taehyung. If anyone knew him, it would be them. But how could she ask without them suspecting something was strange about her relationship with Taehyung? They thought she and Taehyung were dating for real.

As he'd instructed her to do, Lisa let herself into his mom's house and set her shoes against the wall next to Taehyung's. Her black heels looked tiny next to his leather loafers, but she liked seeing them sitting next to each other. It pleased her on a fundamental level.

She placed a box of pears on the front table next to the bronze Buddha, and grunts and heavy breathing drew her attention to the sitting room to the right. She padded over and stared at a pretzel formation of limbs on the carpet by the upright piano. It seemed to contain Taehyung and another girl. Lisa would have been jealous, but the whole ordeal looked really uncomfortable.

"Just give up and say it," Taehyung gritted out.

"No, I had that armbar. You only got out because of your steroid abuse."

"I do not use steroids, and you only got the armbar because I didn't want to crush your boobs."

"Going for your balls next time."

Looking closer, Lisa saw they both had their arms locked around each other's throats. Like anacondas in a death match, neither was willing to let go.

"Maybe call it a draw?" Lisa suggested.

"Hi, Lisa," a voice chirped. His sister's face was covered in a curtain of dark hair, and Lisa had no idea which one it was. There were so many of them. "Your girlfriend is here, Taehyung. Give up."

"Dinner is ready in ten minutes." The red hue to Taehyung's face was rather concerning but completely self-inflicted, as far as Lisa could tell. "I'll be with you in a second."

"Only if you're giving up. Who's your daddy?" his sister said as she flexed the impressive arm wrapped around his neck.

"Not some little brat."

The two rolled on the carpet, kicking and flailing their legs.

"I'm going to say hi to your mom and grandma, then," Lisa said. She would have preferred Taehyung's company when she greeted them, but this thing between Taehyung and his sister looked like it was going to take a while.

Neither of them responded. They probably couldn't spare the oxygen for talking.

She meandered through the house, which was actually quite enormous— you wouldn't guess from the outside. His mom and grandma were seated in the family room, peeling grapefruit meat from their individual segments as they spoke in musical Vietnamese. Two men in a monkey suit and a pig suit flew across the screen of the muted TV.

"Hi . . . Wai?" She bowed her head awkwardly. She could not wrap her tongue around the pronunciation of the word for grandma, ngoại.

Taehyung's grandma smiled and waved her to the empty space on the aged leather sofa. As usual, she had a scarf wrapped around her head and tied under her chin. Adorable grandma. Was she staying away from the lawn shears lately?

Nodding at his mom, she said, "Hi, Sieomeoni," and sat in the indicated spot, feeling her stomach knot and her muscles tense. Even though she'd seen his mom a handful of times by now, she was still horribly nervous around the woman. Every word had to be measured before Lisa could let it out of her mouth, every action considered. She didn't want to mess up again. This was Taehyung's mom—the most important woman in his life since he didn't have a real girlfriend. All thoughts of asking for advice with Taehyung evaporated in the face of her anxiety.