“We have to meet him too,” Doo-shim said as soon as she heard where Vina had spent her evening.
“It’s too early,” Vina protested. “The only reason I even went there is-”
“It doesn’t matter,” Doo-shim interrupted, her tone firm. “It’s already bad enough that you went to his house first.” Anger glinting in her eyes, she turned to Na-ri. “Didn’t you teach her the right way to do things?”
Vina tried to defend her mother. “It isn’t Eomma’s fault-”
“Since when did the girl go to the man’s house first?” Doo-shim cut her grand-daughter off mid-sentence.
Na-ri who was seated on the same couch as Vina, bent her head to evade her mother-in-law’s hot glare.
Doo-shim added, “Now they’ll think that she’s desperate or easy.”
“I’m sorry,” Na-ri apologized softly.
“I’m sorry?” Doo-shim kissed her teeth. “How is that going to help now? We’re already at a disadvantage.” She turned to Vina. “You. Make sure that boy comes and sees us.” When Vina opened her mouth to protest, her grandmother cut her off with a threat, “Or I’ll tell your father everything I found out about his mother.”
Vina had no other choice. The next day, she called Orion to inform him of their situation. Wearily, she said, “I don’t think I can get my grandmother to back off this time.”
“It’s okay,” he reassured her. “I was going to meet them eventually anyway. Might as well be now.”
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Vina asked.
“I should be asking you that.” Orion paused before adding softly, “You sound scared.”
She was. She really was. She didn’t want to lose him. Given the fact that their relationship was fake, her fear of losing him didn’t make sense. And yet there was no denying that fear was what she felt.
With a sigh, she asked, “Will Tuesday, six p.m. be okay?”
“Tuesday is fine,” he agreed. Before she could end the call, he called out, “Vina?”
“Yeah?”
His voice softened. “It will be okay.”
Would it? She hoped so.
When Tuesday dawned, she was more nervous than she thought she’d be. Her prayers that her father might work late and thus skip the dinner were for naught because as it turned out he’d taken the day off. After a round of golf with his friends, Min-kyu settled in the living room reading the paper and talking to Doo-shim while Na-ri and Vina pottered around the kitchen preparing for Orion’s arrival.
Oh, this was going to be a disaster. With Min-kyu’s habit of vomiting whatever crossed his mind, who knew what he’d say to Orion. Probably something to thoroughly piss him off.
Or so Vina thought.
The reality, however, was quite different from what she expected. As soon as Orion entered the house, Min-kyu transformed into a different man.
“Come in. Come in.” The older man even met Orion at the door himself. He pumped Orion’s hand in a strong handshake. “Welcome.”
“Thank you.” Orion smiled and bowed slightly. “It’s great to finally meet you, Sir.”
“No need for the sirs.” Min-kyu ushered “Just call me Jang-in.” (father-in-law)
“Oh-” Orion seemed momentarily startled before he smiled and bowed again. “Yes, Jang-in.”
“Im-na-ya,” Min-kyu called out to Vina. “Come and say hello to your young man.”
Im-na-ya? Vina stared at her father in bug-eyed shock. The only time he ever called her name in such a fond way was when they were putting on a show as a happy family for one of his friends or at one of the consulate events. Was that what they were doing today? Putting on a show for Orion? What for?
Still disturbed, she stepped forward to say hi to Orion. Aware of her family’s presence, she and Orion just hugged lightly. However, the smile he gave her almost made her forget how odd her father was acting.
“This is my mother,” Min-kyu introduced Doo-shim. “Ahn Doo-shim.”
Orion bowed. “It’s nice to meet you, Halmeoni.”
Doo-shim smiled deeply. “You’re just handsome as the pictures we saw.”
“Thank you.” Smiling, Orion glanced at Vina before turning back to her grandmother. “You’re just as nice as she said you were.”
“Ah… and charming too?” Doo-shim tittered. “Im-na chose well.”
Min-kyu cut in to introduce Na-ri. An arm around her waist, he brought her forward and affectionately introduce, “And this is my lovely wife and Im-na’s mother, Young Na-ri.”
Oh! Vina cupped a hand over her mouth. They were really doing this, weren’t they? Putting on the Song Happy Family Show for Orion. If it wasn’t so annoying, it would be funny.
As the evening progressed, things only got phonier. Min-kyu was behaving like a father, a very nice father, welcoming his future son-in-law to the family. He even brought out his best scotch – the one that he’d almost broken Vina’s skull over because she’d touched the bottle.
“Eomma, why is he being so nice to Orion?” Vina whispered to her mother when they went to the kitchen to bring out the rest of the food.
Looking strangely unperturbed by her husband’s odd behavior, Na-ri asked, “Did you want him to be mean to him?”
“Ye- N-” Vina paused with a frown. “I don’t know.”
Of course she didn’t want Min-kyu to torture Orion. Still, after all the dire warnings she’d given Orion, he’d probably expected to walk into a battleground. Instead, her father had practically laid out the red carpet for him and was acting like a decent human-being. At this rate, Orion would leave tonight thinking that she was a liar who’d over-exaggerated her family’s faults just to make him fall in line with her plans.
Vina picked at her food during dinner, mostly because she couldn’t swallow without wanting to throw up. The show her father was putting on was nauseatingly sweet and Orion seemed to be eating it up with a shovel. The two men were getting along like a house on fire.
And it was annoying as hell.
About halfway through the meal, Min-kyu asked Orion, “So your family doesn’t have any problems with Im-na’s age?”
There it is, Vina mentally crowed in delight. The real Min-kyu is about to show himself.
“No.” Orion shook his head. “They’re just glad that I’ve found someone.”
“That’s it.” Min-kyu nodded approvingly. “Parents should be like that. Their child’s happiness should come first.”
Blegh! Vina could’ve sworn that she threw up a little in her mouth. Since when had children’s happiness come before that of their parents? Coming from Min-kyu the statement was laughable. Her happiness had certainly not been his concern when he’d carted their family around several countries in the world like they were just luggage. Whenever they moved, it was always about his next career opportunity not about what was good for Vina, Na-ri or Doo-shim. It didn’t matter that Vina hadn’t completed the school year, or that she’d just gotten used to that country, or that she’d be leaving another group of friends. He wanted to move so it was time to move.
In whatever new school she landed in, she’d be expected to adjust immediately. If her grades suffered, it was because she was stupid not because they were moving around too much. In a way it was funny that he even cared for her grades because as soon as she’d hit puberty, he’d started making comments about marriage… as if that was all he was raising her for. If it was up to him, she wouldn’t even have wasted his money going to college. The only reason he’d allowed it is because she’d spun a tale about how she needed a culinary degree to be a good wife. Most of the time, she felt like a cow being raised only to produce milk or calves – not like she was loved.
Her happiness? What a pile of garbage.
Min-kyu was probably only being nice to Orion because he was desperate for the younger man to take her off his hands. Ah! That was it, wasn’t it? The more Vina thought about, the surer she was that that was why her father was being the best version of himself, and the more annoyed she got. What was she? An old car to be sold off to the first person who even glanced her way?
By the time Orion was ready to leave, Vina’s temper was almost at tipping point. If it wasn’t for her mother’s constant squeezing of her arm as if to tell her not to say or do anything stupid, she would’ve blown up.
“Thank you for welcoming me so well,” Orion said. “If I had known that Vina had such a great family, I would’ve come by more often.”
“Now you know.” Min-kyu laughed. “So make sure you come over. Maybe you and I can even play a round of golf sometime.”
“I look forwards to it.” Orion stood up. “I’ll get going now.”
Vina stood too. “I’ll walk him out.”
After the obligatory bows to the older members of the family, Orion took his leave with Vina beside him. Once they were outside, Orion pushed out a breath and grinned. “That went much better than I expected.”
Of course it had. His comment only made Vina more annoyed. She held out her hand. “Give me your car keys.”
Orion’s brow creased in obvious puzzlement. “What?”
She wiggled her fingers. “Give me your car keys.”
Frowning, he took out his car keys from his pocket and handed them to her. Without another word, she circled the car, opened the door on the driver’s side and got into the car. When Orion didn’t follow her into the car, she rolled down the window and called out, “Aren’t you getting in?”
Her question was enough to get his feet moving and within seconds, he was in the car with her, putting on his seatbelt. “Where are we going?”
“To get a drink?” she returned simply. After all the fakeness she’d endured today, she needed alcohol.
AS FAR AS Orion could tell the evening had gone well. No blood had been spilt and everyone looked happy. Everyone but Vina. Though her face was impassive, she was driving way too fast and her hands were gripping the steering wheel so tightly that if it was glass, it’d be broken. Although he wanted to ask what was wrong, a part of him knew that what she needed right now was silence.
The club they ended up at was barely a fifteen-minute-drive away from her house. Vina made a beeline for the bar and settled on one the barstools there. Instead of making her order, she turned to him. “Do you have candy or mints?”
“Not on me.” Orion slid onto the barstool next to her. “But there are some mints in the car.”
“Cool,” she said. “I hope you don’t mind if I grab a few when we’re done here.”
“I don’t mind.” He frowned. “What do you need mints for anyway?”
“My family doesn’t know that I drink,” she stated in a matter-of-fact tone before gesturing to the bartender. They both made their orders. When the bartender poured out their drinks, Vina downed her tequila shot in one gulp. She hissed and made a face before calling out, “A glass of bourbon here. On the rocks.”
That was Orion’s cue. He turned her barstool so she was facing him. “Okay, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She grabbed his wrist and pushed it away from her seat before turning to face the counter again. “Nothing at all.”
Obviously, something was wrong. But before he could prod further, Vina started laughing. There was no amusement in that laugh, it was bitter and rough as if she was laughing at herself. Orion frowned. Now he was really worried. Had something happened with her family that he wasn’t aware of?
“You probably think that I’m crazy, right?” She turned her head to face him. Though she was smiling, there was a sadness to her smile that sent a pang of pain through him. “That I lied to you about my family.”
“No, I don’t,” he answered . “You wouldn’t lie about something that important.”
Vina snorted then raised her glass. “To my perfect family. Cheers!”
Orion watched her quietly for a while before admitting, “I thought they’d be much worse after the warning you gave me and I’m kind of relieved that they were not, but I’m not an idiot, Alvina. I know that that wasn’t the real them.”
“You do?” Vina cocked her head to study him. “How? You don’t even know them.”
“But I know you.” His eyes on her, he sipped his drink. “And I know you wouldn’t be living a double-life just for laughs. Most people never show their true faces to outsiders anyway, so I didn’t expect your family to.”
Her eyes narrowed. “So do you mean your family was putting on a show for me too?”
“Hah! I wish.” Orion guffawed. “Unfortunately, none of us Lees were born with an acting gene that’s why we even argue in front of strangers.”
Vina gave another sad smile as she stared at the contents of her glass. “You know what pisses me off the most about my dad? It’s not the fact that he is so blatantly trying to get rid of me. I’m used to that. It’s that he is obviously quite capable of being decent and nice to other people, but he can’t do the same for me or my mother.”
Orion didn’t say anything because he knew that she was just looking for someone to listen to her.
She continued, “That nice guy you saw – he’s the same guy who keeps telling me, his daughter, how I’m growing cobwebs. And not in a jokey way. He’s serious. That nice guy is the same guy who has no problems telling my mother to send money to his mistress because she needs to go to hospital.”
She laughed. “He once brought my half brother to live with us for a whole month without even warning my mother. Even the boy felt so embarrassed about the situation, he ran away.”
Turning to face Orion, she said, “You’re lucky you and I aren’t getting married because if we were, I bet you a thousand dollars that within one month of you taking me off his hands, his mask would fall off and he’d start treating you like crap too.”
She wasn’t crying or anything but there was so much sadness in her voice and expression that broke Orion’s heart. He found himself pushing his barstool closer to hers and slipping his arm around her waist. Vina stared at him for a long moment before sighing and setting her head on his shoulder.
They stayed like that for quite a while – her leaning on him, him wishing that he could do more than just give her a shoulder. It was strange how this woman who he’d known for just over a month could affect him this way. He felt her pain like it was his, and her sadness like it was his. If that wasn’t a sign that she was special, then he didn’t know what was.
Suddenly feeling the urge to differentiate himself from the man who’d hurt her, Orion said, “You know, not all men are like your father.”
“So I’ve been told sooo many times,” she countered sarcastically.
“I’m serious.” He cocked his head so he could see her face better. “There are many good men out there.”
“Really?” She moved out of his arms to prop her elbow on the counter and her head on her raised arm. “Like who?”
He pointed to himself.
She chuckled, leaving him wondering if that meant she thought he was a good man or not. She reached for her glass before saying, “Don’t worry, I’m not the kind of woman who thinks that all men are dogs. I know that there are good and bad men.” She paused to sip her scotch. “But I also know that with my luck I’m not likely to land one of the good ones.”
Genuinely curious, he asked, “Why not?”
“Statistics,” she said. When he gave her a questioning look, she explained, “Studies show that women tend to marry men who are just like their fathers. I’ll probably end up attracting another Song Min-kyu.” She made a face as if the actual thought was enough to make her tremble.
“Statistics aren’t the end all be all,” Orion noted.
“Maybe not.” She shrugged. “Still, it’s better not to tempt fate, right?”
Orion’s didn’t respond mainly because he didn’t believe in living his life based on fear. But something told him, he couldn’t say that to Vina. At least not right now when she was feeling so melancholic.
She continued, “Besides, even if I managed to hook a good man, I’ll end up ruining him in the long run.”
Orion’s eyebrows shot up. “How’s that?”
“I’m an only child. Eventually, I’ll be the one taking care of my ageing grandmother and parents,” Vina explained. “Now imagine me forcing some poor man to deal with them too day-in day-out. Every day they’ll remind him that he needs to have enough money to take care of all of us because that’s his job as a man. He’ll get criticized for every single thing he does that’s not manly. God forbid he ever loses his job or wealth or has financial problems, that’s when he’ll really discover what it means to be treated like gum at the bottom of a shoe. Hah!” She guffawed. “Can you imagine it? Either he’ll ditch me or he’ll become as bitter as I am.”
“You’re not bitter.”
“You’re funny.” Vina laughed as she twirled her now empty glass.
Orion didn’t even bother suggesting she not live with her family. Though they were both in the US, they would first and foremost always be Korean and there were some things that were just a given in their culture. You took care of your parents – that’s just how it was.
The bartender stopped by their section just then, and after noting Vina’s empty glass he offered, “Can I top you up?”
“No.” Vina shook her head. “Two’s my limit. Don’t want to scare the family by coming in tipsy.”
After the bartender left, Orion studied her. He couldn’t help but wonder how much her family actually knew about her. They didn’t know she drank? They didn’t know she wasn’t interested in marriage. Did they even know who she was?
He couldn’t even imagine living as she did. Didn’t she want to scream sometimes? Rattle the cage a little to make them realize that she wasn’t the caricature of a perfect daughter that she presented to them. He’d never appreciated his mother quite as much as he did now. Yoon-ah could be a nosy, interfering pain at times, but she’d never tried to stifle he and Julian.
Making a note to call his mother later tonight and thank her, he turned his attention back to Vina. “You know there’s another option of what the man in your life could end up becoming.”
“Really?” She looked up at him.
“He could end being your teammate.” He shrugged. “The two of you against the world. The man who has your back regardless of what’s going on with your family. The man who would be willing to deal with anything as long as he was able to spend the rest of his life with you.”
A glint of amusement streaked through Vina’s eyes. “Orion?”
“Yeah?”
“Tell me the truth.” Her eyebrows arched. “You read romance novels, right?”
“What?” He blinked. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Because of everything you just said sounds like the happily-ever-after nonsense you find in romance novels.” Laughter dancing in her eyes, she shook her head and tsked. “I don’t mean to ruin your romantic preconceptions but the world isn’t all roses and chocolates. Not everyone lives happily-ever-after after the novel is done. Sometimes reality comes crushing in and ruins the whole party. My kind of crap is worse than reality and I guarantee that it will blow up the whole party.”
Orion chuckled. “And they say I’m a pessimist.”
To be honest, he didn’t think that hers was a ‘break’ problem. Many couples dealt with horrible in-laws and they still survived. If two people loved each other enough then they’d find a way to live with it. However, before he could say all this to Vina, her grandmother called.
“No, I’m not far away.” She paused briefly to listen to what her grandmother was saying then nodded. “Okay, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Orion’s heart sunk. Despite the gloominess of their conversation, he still wanted to spend more time with Vina. It had been a week since they’d seen each other and he’d missed her. Unfortunately, he couldn’t really ask her to meet him tomorrow when their relationship was still ‘fake’ and had established boundaries.
If he was working purely on instinct, he would’ve said ‘screw the fakeness and let’s just date for real’. But if there was anything he’d learnt today, it was that Vina had a genuine fear of commitment. If he was really going to do this, then he’d need to move slow, really slow because one wrong move and he’d spook her into running for the hills.
When she was done talking to her grandmother, Vina turned to him. “I have to go. They’re looking for me.”
The reluctance in her tone and wistfulness in her eyes was enough to assuage some of his disappointment at having to part. Smiling, he shuffled off his barstool. “I’ll drive you home.”
After paying their bill, they left the club. They’d just stepped outside when a sudden impulse to hug her filled him him. Without second thought, he turned to her and dragged her into his arms. She was so startled that she stood stiff in his arms for quite a while before she finally exhaled loudly and melted against him.
In his arms he held her, saying with his embrace what he couldn’t say with words. That he understood her, and that he wanted to be the man who showed her that not everyone was going to break her heart.
When she finally took a step back from him, she met his gaze. “What was that for?”
“Just.” He shrugged. “You looked like you needed a hug tonight.”
She cocked her head to study him for a long while. Then, surprising him, she walked back into his arms. Against his chest, she whispered, “I did.”
“Come on.” He smiled. “Let’s get you home.”
They walked to his car and soon were on their way home. Vina suddenly turned to him and said, “Sorry.”
Orion snatched a glance at her. “For what?”
“For always filling your ears with my problems.” Vina sighed as she stared out her window. “I always end up sharing stuff with you that I can’t even share with me friends.”
He smiled because, whether she knew it or not, that meant she trusted him. He wasn’t going to rub it in though, so instead he said, “You can make it up to me.”
“How?”
“Cook for me on our next date,” he suggested. “You’re a chef and yet I’ve never eaten your food.”
“You tasted some of it tonight,” she reminded him with a smile. “But okay… we can do that. Why don’t you come to Tellers-”
“No,” he cut her off. “At my place. I want it to be just us.” Realizing how intimate that sounded, he quickly added, “I don’t want to share my food with anyone.”
Vina hesitated, and that hesitation made his stomach knot. Was she wondering if it was safe to be alone with him? The last time that had happened, they’d ended up having sex. Had she figured out that if they had a date at his place, no one would be watching them. They’d be all alone, which meant that this date was for them rather than for the world? Was she thinking of how to tell him no? God, why had he even suggested it. Too fast, Orion. Too damn fast.
“Okay,” she spoke so softly that for a moment he thought he’d misheard.
“Okay?” he asked, his pulse speeding up in excitement.
“Yeah. Okay.” Turning back to stare out the window, she added, “But if I’m doing all the work then you’re buying all the ingredients.”
“Of course.” Orion grinned. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”