It Just Happened That Way || JEONGIN from skz!

38

Yeona's POV

I'm scrambling around the house. Truly scrambling. Scrubbing every spot, wiping down everything, replacing the sheets in my room, in the guest room (in case my parents banish Jeongin there). I'm organizing and reorganizing the kitchen, the bathroom, my closet, even. It makes no sense, my frantic house cleaning behavior. It wasn't like Jeongin and I hadn't lived together before. But this was different. This was Jeongin's first impression of my parents. I don't know what kind of impression I wanted him to have — I just didn't want him to be scared away by them. Scared away from a future with me. Korean in-laws were stereotypically crazy, and I didn't want him to think that my parents matched the description. (Although, it was usually the girl who got the crazier set of in-laws.) (A/N real talk...got a lotta mommy's boys in korea haha...)

I talked to my parents so many times leading up to this day, reminding them, begging them, to please be kind to Jeongin. Reminding them that I loved him, and reminding them that that literally never happened in my life. Luckily for me, they were being forgiving and were even excited. My mom even made a list of foods she wanted to cook for him. My dad bought soju so that they could share drinks and get to know each other more comfortably under the influence. ("Jeongin, I'm sorry, you might need to drink soju with my dad when you get here okay?" "Oh god, okay.")

On the day of his arrival, we were all fidgeting around the house. My parents went out for a round of golf in the morning, while I just went on a run to calm myself down. We were all showered, and my mom began to cook.

Bzzt

On my way!

He's roughly 30 minutes away. Holy shit. Holy shit.

"MoOM! DAD! HE'S 30 MINUTES AWAY PLEASE BE NORMAL OK I LOVE U GUYS THANK U," I frantically shout to them. My mom laughs. She's becoming more and more excited. I think she's mostly excited because she can tell her friends that her daughter could be marrying an ~idol. The jealousy the other ahjumma's would feel — my mother lives off of that kind of energy.

Time inches by. I check my phone every couple of minutes, only to see that he was still 25 minutes, 22 minutes, 20 minutes away. I decide to go to the kitchen to help my mom cook.

"I'm excited to meet him," my mom says, casually.

"Thank you, please be—"

"Yes, yes. Normal! I will be! My daughter is dating! And he's an idol?? Daebak. (Translation: Amazing.)"

I roll my eyes at her. I had been single most of my early twenties as well as my late teens. (Okay, I was single for every year of my life except for 6 months, please leave me alone. It's not me, it's the terrible pool of candidates. )

Ding dong!

We both freeze. Holy shit he's here.

Blinking a couple times, we take off our aprons, and rush over to the front door, my dad leading the charge from the master bedroom. We all stop in front of the door and look at each other. I breathe in, then out.

I pull open the door and see my love, holding a beautiful bouquet of flowers, a big nervous smile on his face.

"Hi," I say, smiling, giggling a little, overwhelmed by adrenaline. "Welcome to San Diego."

He gives me a big smile, and quickly bows deeply to my parents, telling them, "Thank you so much for having me. My name is Yang Jeongin. I'm really happy to be here!"

My parents are frozen, just smiling and observing him. I give my mom a stiff smile and a nudge with my elbow, and she immediately breaks out of her thought, and excitedly pulls Jeongin in for a big hug, rocking him left and right.

"Umma!!" I shout in concern, laughing a little.

"It is so nice to meet you, Jeongin. I'm cooking some beef stew right now, and made some fresh banchan (side dishes) over the weekend."

"Oh really?? You didn't have to do all of that! Thank you—"

"Mother. Call me mother. " (A/N God that works better in Korean. So in Korean, the son-in-law calls the mother-in-law the formal form of the word Mom. Umma is like Mom, while Umohnee is Mother. There's a bit of a distinction. You can also call your mom Umohnee but it's just a little bit formal.)

I can see Jeongin smile a little, with relief perhaps, at my mom's hospitality, as well as how quick she was to break through the awkward barrier.

My father on the other hand looks at Jeongin, up and down, while Jeongin waits awkwardly. Finally he says, "It's good to meet you, Jeongin," sticking out his hand to shake Jeongin's.

I feel relieved. Things are going fine so far. My parents are nice and talkative after the initial introductions, and Jeongin is able to keep up with banter with them. We leave them to go drop off his things in my room, and I sit on my bed while I wait for him to freshen up in the bathroom.

"They're really nice, Yeona!" He calls from the bathroom.

"Yeah, they seem to like you too!" I reply. I fall back onto my bed, relief washing over me. It's going to be fine. 

A/N Ahhhh they're finally meeting the parents. Or at least Jeongin is meeting Yeona's parents!! I hope you guys are enjoying this story so far. It's been going on for a long ass time. I can't believe I'm still writing it, to be honest, but time isn't real right now with this pandemic. I hope you guys are all doing well. Love you all.