A woman wearing an apron, came out from the house: her auburn hair were highlighted with the strands of gray; her face very much resembling Eun Soo's, only a little wider.
"Oma!" The women hugged, kissing and tearing. "I missed you."
"I missed you, too. I'm glad you could come."
"You did not have to lie to me about Dad, you should have just told me to visit."
"Then the next time I would see you would be on Chooseok, if I'm lucky. A mother's got to do what a mother's got to do. Let me look at you. Did you change your hair? There is something different about you." Her eyes studied Eun Soo's face. "You are glowing." "Ah," she covered her mouth with a hand. "Are you pregnant?" she whispered in Eun Soo's ear, "is he the father?"
"NO!" Eun Soo did not expect that one. "Why would you think that, Mom?"
"You ARE glowing. There are only two reasons for a woman to glow – one is pregnancy, and another…" her mother did not finish, now carefully studying Choi Young who again was demoted to the role of a passive observer. "Come here, young man."
Choi Young approached with apprehension, still in pain from the last greeting.
"Come closer, I won't bite."
"Yes." He lowered his eyes.
The woman unexpectedly slipped her arm through Choi Young's, "Why don't we come into the house where we can greet properly."
"At least she is friendlier", thought Choi Young, but stayed on alert, figuring out that today would be one of the most difficult days to survive.
After leaving his shoes outside, he was offered a pair of guest slippers and was directed by Mrs. Yoo, still holding onto his arm, into the dining room. When his arm was finally freed, he repeated the same greeting with a deep half bow, calling her "Omoni". The lady petted him on the cheek, and prompted him to stand up straight, a pleasantly surprising response after the torture inflicted by Eun Soo's father. Choi Young was not comfortable with physical affection, in general. He was not brought up to be. The way he could be with Eun Soo, so organic and loving, was very unique. He blushed at the older woman's touch, but it was her mother after all, so he took it as a good sign.
"Please sit down," invited the mother, pulling out chairs and placing Eun Soo and Choi Young next to each other. The parents sat across them, and Choi Young tried really hard not to show any fear in his eyes, swallowing hard under the sharp stare of Mr. Yoo. The four of them sat staring at each other for a while, till Eun Soo grabbed his hand under the table and pressing it, announced "We are going to wash hands before eating, we just came from the bus," and pulling Choi Young up with her, she left the table. He nervously pulled the hand away, so that Mr. Yoo would not try to cut it off or something.
After they left, the mother happily nudged her husband with an elbow "Look, they even go to the washroom together! Our daughter looks so happy. And he is very tall!"
"Is being tall a qualification for a good husband?" he sounded strangely angry. "I'm more concerned about his background, financial stability and whether he treats her right."
"Of course, why would not he treat her right?"
"There is something odd about him. I just can't put my finger on it."
"Let's play cool, they are not admitting to dating yet, so you can not treat him like a future husband."
"I think the facts are obvious – she likes him. That's all that I care about it. If he does not want to propose tonight, then at least I need to make sure he is good enough for her."
"Nobody is good enough for you."
Completely confused Choi Young followed Eun Soo to the bathroom. "Do people always wash their hands together?"
"No, I just needed an excuse to talk to you. We need to coordinate efforts. I'm afraid that my story about you being just a patient will not work any more. They are like dogs; they smelled something. I did not count on that!" she exclaimed in frustration.
"I think we will be OK. You mother was nice to me."
"Of course, she has a weakness for tall men. Have you seen my father? It makes him very jealous. And she thinks you are here to propose."
"Do I have to?"
"No, no, no…" she waved her hands to emphasize her point. "No proposal. We should probably admit that we started seeing each other, like you planned."
Choi Young grinned happily, and she could not help but appreciate how genuine he was. He really liked her that much.
"A kiss then to seal," and she initiated a quick, but passionate kiss. They left the bathroom: she was wiping her mouth, while he was cooling his cheeks, when she motioned him to stop. Her parents were talking about them. They did not realize that Eun Soo was standing in the doorway and heard the end of the conversation. She pushed Choi Young back into the bathroom, causing him to stumble and pull her back with him, almost crashing. The noise attracted the parents' attention.
"What do you think they are doing there?" wondered Mom.
"I'll go check."
"Sit, maybe, they are fooling around."
"In my house?!"
But under his wife's stern look, his body went limp in the chair. Mr. Yoo was scared of her!
"You have to be ready. My dad will test you. Maybe, you will have to drink a lot, and I mean a lot. You can not get drunk before him, you have to last. You are sick, taking antibiotics, I'll try to stop it, but if I can't… You have to eat plenty. Fill your stomach with fatty and heavy food as much as you can before and during. That's all I can do for you." She looked at him with pity and raising her small fist added "Hwaiting."