Kim Minji, 26, Surgeon.
She stared at the dining table with drool flowing out from her mouth uncontrollably. She had no idea what the special occasion was that made her parents invite her to come over. They were living in the same city, but being the responsible adult she was, she lived in her own apartment in the central town.
Three days ago, Minji was busy playing with her phone when it rang loudly, making her almost got a heart attack and accidentally crushing her game. Minji wouldn't stop jabbering the poor old lady for at least 30 minutes and her mother's ear literally burnt ad a payback for her deed. The point of her mother was revealed in fifteen seconds; "Be back on Saturday night for dinner"
Minji was so grateful to have a parents just like her mom and dad. They were annoying sometimes actually but whatever. She loved her parents especially when her mother made her favorite food.
Minji ate greedily, not noticing the disgusted look from her parents. Don't blame her, however, she rarely eat that well. She only ate properly when she had the time, or when her lazy ass was not lazy enough to make something other than cereal. Minji honestly can't cook, she might burn everything.
In the middle of her meal, Minji's father cleared his throat. At first she ignored it, whatever her dad wanted could wait. Her stomach? Not really. Then he purposely coughed loudly to get her attention.
"Yes dad?" Minji asked, barely glancing at him.
"Honey we are worried about you." Her mother said.
"You are too skinny, darling. Do you eat regularly?" Her dad participated in the conversation.
"You have bags under your eyes. Did you sleep at all? We know you are busy, but sleep is important."
"Yes, and yes, mom and dad. Don't worry, I'm fine. Also, I'll be very glad if you stop staring me like that, let me eat in peace." Minji smiled sweetly with sarcasm written all over her face.
She continued eating, but of course, her parents weren't nice enough to annoy her.
"I want to ask you a question, honey. May I?" Her mom asked.
"Can't it wait? Like a couple of minutes until I finish my food?" Minji said.
"No, it can't actually wait it's important"
"Okay, shoot." Minji said nonchalantly.
"Are you getting laid regularly?" Her mom asked. The question was dead serious and Minji looked up, horrified towards the older male version of her. Suddenly, her wild appetite was gone, and was switched to nausea.
She knew it. Something would definitely come up. Formal dinner with her parents is always a disaster.
One time, when they celebrated Minji's graduation at her apartment, her dad wanted to impress her about his cooking skills and set the kitchen on fire. There was another time when Minji brought her girlfriend to meet them, her mom (she admitted it) spilled a bowl of ice cream on her girlfriends dress. The first sentence that came from girlfriend, Yuna, after dinner was "We're through". It has been 2 years and she never dated anyone ever since. There we're still other stories about dinner, but she preferred to not recall those.
This one is definitely going to join the list.
"Are we really talking about my sex life?" She asked, concerned.
"Yes." Her parents answered at the same time. Minji rolled her eyes. It wasn't a secret since they were all close, but this was still an awkward issue to discuss.
"I'm doing okay. That is none of your concern." She shrugged, hoping the parents would drop the topic. One sex talk when she was a teenager was enough for a lifetime.
"Honey, you are not young anymore." Her mom pleaded.
"I'm 26." She said.
"Late twenties" Her mom said.
"Still twenties" Minji added.
"Darling" Her father said sternly
"Look dad, I'm fine. I really am! I'm an adult and this is my private life. I'd like to keep it that way." She threw her hands up in the air desperately.
The fact was, she had a lot - countless of meaningless one night stands for her own good. And she wasn't going to share that with her parents.
"We're getting older, Min." Her father pointed to himself, then his wife with puppy eyes.
Here it comes Told herself. Her parents were about to ask her for something suprising and improbable for her to obey.
Minji didn't answer despite her father's words as she knew better than to be hooked by their "fishing".
"Okay, I'll just come right out and say it." Her mother exhaled dramatically. She looked towards her husband for approval and he nodded in response. The doctor began to shift to the corner of her seat, just in case she and to escape.
"We want a grandchild!" Her mom clapped her hands happily like a kid receiving a candy. Minji should be worried about her eyes, since they bulged out, impossibly wide.
"WHAT!?!? No mom! No way!!" Minji shook her head furiously
"Why not?" Her mom pouted.
"You said you are an adult, Minji.."
"Yes, but..."
"No 'buts'. You can't use that again." Her mother continued. "It is our dream to carry our grandchild before we get our inevitable osteoporosis."
"Your mom is right, baby girl" Her dad added.
"Guys! Stop it! First of all, you can prevent that disease if you take yoga classes every week. Besides, you just passed half a century! Second of all, I'm not ready! can hardly take care of myself, let alone another human being! Lastly, I'm sure the both of you are very aware of it too, I don't have a girlfriend! Even if I did, it would take months, and even years to make a baby!"
After the outburst, they all sat in silence. Nobody dared to open their mouths. It was a pretty good speech - simple, and clear.
"We have a proposal for you." Again, her father cleared his throat.
"I'm not down for even a sports car."
"You can buy that with your own money, sweet cheeks!" Her father smiled dangerously. It was a bad idea to go over that night.
"Do you remember my old friend Mr. Pham? My best friend from high school who grew up with me."
Minji furrowed her eyebrows. "No."
"Well, you were six months old when we moved from Australia." He chuckled and Minji rolled her eyes.
"Honey, focus!" His wife hissed at him.
"Right! Um, he has a child, a beautiful daughter..."
"Wait, wait, wait! Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
"Depends. What are you thinking" He shrugged.
"I'd rather not to mention it. It's best if I leave now. It's getting late." She rose from her chair but stopped right away when her mother pushed her back into her seat by the shoulders.
"Honey,were just trying to help."
"I don't need your help"
"Well, you have to listen."
"What if I don't want to"
"Then you're a seditious daughter." Her mom stated.
"Honey, straight to the point before she runs"
"Okay, so, he has a daughter, his only child. She is very pretty. She's a lawyer, smart just like you and we wanted to introduce you to her." He spoke cautiously.
"You know, since he's my best friend, you guys should know each other too. We can have a family barbecue sometimes or something."
There was certainly more than that. From her father's look, Minji knew he tried to hide something and she nodded her head slightly, giving her dad permission to continue.
"So, What do you think?"
Her mother slapped her husbands arm and gave him a stern look. Minji wondered what could possibly happen after tonight. Don't get her wrong though, she loved her parents to death but sometimes, granting their wishes was a hard thing. do. This grandchild plan was pretty serious, it was a whole new level of responsibility. She couldn't just find a girlfriend and then have a kid straight away. Minji wasn't the kind of person who falls in love easily, she had only done it once, and it hurt like hell when they did. make it and no, it wasn't Yuna.
"Honey, I know it may be a lotto take in right now but we kind of hope, you know, umm... maybe you and her could be more than friends? Or how should I say it." The old woman rumbled.
"You want me to marry her?" Minji dead-panned.
"Now you get me!" Satisfaction washed all over her face as if she completed a complicated task.
"You don't have to marry straight away. Get to know her first. We've met her and we thought she's perfect for you. We only give you the best, right honey?" Her father glanced at his wife who nodded solemnly.
"So?" Her parents' smile faded away as they looked at Minji's blank face.
There were lots of scenarios playing in Minji's mind. Lots meant thousands or even millions. She looked back and forth at her mother and father.
"How about this? A year. Get to know her for a year, if you really don't feel anything, we will cancel the arrangement right away and we'll never bring it up again. Never ever. But we want you to really try. A year, honey. Deal?"
Minji didn't understand why she accepted the deal. It could be because she didn't want to disappoint her parents or maybe just a tiny bit of maybe (Minji would deny it if it was mentioned to other people), she actually wanted to do this. It wouldn't hurt, right? Her heart was made of stone anyway.
The week after the dinner went as usual. Nothing major happened except that she had the opportunity to do a boob job for the first time in her life with Ryujin. Though she only assisted her friend since she had nothing to do, but whatever. She couldn't believe she haven't done that before. Where the hell had she been on her resident year?
"So, what? Your parents want you to marry that girl and have kids with her?"
"Uh-uh," Minji shook her head.
"Get to know her first. We won't talk about marriage now. I've never met her, I don't know what she looks like."
"Whatever. So a year?" Ryujin, for the hundredth time that day, tried to comfirm the news her friend told her.
"Yes, Shin. It's not like anything could happen. One year is a short time." Minji shrugged as she ate her sandwich.
"You might want to keep your words to yourself, Minji. The universe will hear it and usually, it throws in an unwanted gift." Haerin spoke with her full mouth, that woman could eat like a pig.
"I'm telling you guys nothing is going to happen between us." The doctor reassured her friends.
"What if it happens?" Ryujin challenged. Haerin nodded eagerly, still chewing her bacon disgustingly.
"I'll take your on-call shift whenever you guys want for two months. But, if after a year nothing happens, you'll take mine. Got it?" She pointed her index finger at Ryujin who smirked smugly.
"You're on, Kim." They replied.
What was the feeling when you were about two blocks away from your destination but you're still stuck because of traffic, with heavy rain, in addition to the fact that you're late for almost forty-five minutes from your dinner with your folks and probably future wife and parents-in-law?
That was what Minji felt. She had promised her mother to be on time, even five minutes early. But a patient came into the emergency ward when she was about to leave and it cost three hours of surgery so she was stuck in the operating room. She wanted to call her mother, but her phone was dead - what a day. She wondered if her day could get any worse.
She parked her car in the lot and ran towards the entrance of the restaurant. Luckily she wore pants and running shoes, and she didn't need to worry about her slip-up since the rain was pretty heavy. A waitress greeted her as she looked around to located her parents.
"Um, reservation under Pham?" Minji asked the waitress as he nodded and led her upstairs.
She spotted her mother sitting near the window and saw her wave her hand at her as Minji made her way towards table. There were five of them there and they were all old people. Was she missing something? Did her father seriously set her up with a grandma? She thought it was his daughter. Can't blame Minji, she had a long day and was a little delusional at that moment.
"You didn't change your clothes! Why are you wearing your scrub?" Her mother hissed in a low voice when she kissed Minji's cheek.
"No time, mom." She replied and then hugged her father who gave her a weird smile.
"Hey! Um.." Awkward.
"I'm Kim Ji-yong. This is , Chae-rin my wife and this is my mother." He offered a handshake. 'Thank god' Minji mentally whispered to herself and happily shook his hand, offering the same to the other two women.
"Hanni is in the toilet. She'll be back soon."
Minji smiled respectfully at the information.
After a little chit-chat about her day, Minji's food came. The others had finished theirs whilst Minji start to dig in. Occasionally they shot a casual question to her, and the food was delectable, which made her forget the reason why she was there until a girl with milky white skin approached them.
Minji's jaw dropped to the ground as a sly grin spread across the face. Your brain only freezes at two times; one, when you're dead, and two, when you're met a hard question- Minji was sure she wasn't dead at the moment but her brain had indeed stopped working.
The smell of her savory chicken teriyaki couldn't wake her up - the way the girl, hips move, the smirk on her face, her lips, her eyes, her face.. it's just, Minji didn't have the words to describe them. She was thinking very hard to formulate an appropriate sentence. Oh god.
"Hanni." The girl threw her hand at the taller girl.
Minji stayed still with a dumb expression all over her face as she couldn't figure out how to speak properly. Then she felt her mom poke her ribs that brought her back to reality and before she could stop herself, "You wear too much make up," she blurted out, earning another painful jab to her feet. She turned her head towards her mother who gave her a sharp glare and the grain faded from Hanni's face.
"I mean, um, what is your name again?" Minji smiled uneasily. If there was cliff nearby, she would happily jump off for embarrassing her family like this. Not only she said some inappropriate words, she also missed the girl's name and her handshake.
"I'm sorry it was really rude," She chuckled awkwardly. "I, uh- I'm Minji." She added.
Awkward.
"Hanni. You aren't fashionable yourself."
She subtly snapped at Minji and the latter rolled her eyes as Hanni took a seat.
It wasn't a hundred percent Minji's fault though, Hanni did wear tons of make up. Minji couldn't help but speak her mind.
"Hanni, hon. I'll apologize for my daughter's behavior. She doesn't mean that, right, honey?" The question towards Minji was so stern that she had no choice but to mumble 'yes' quietly before she continued eating.
"It's okay, Mrs. Kim I understand." Hanni answered politely.
"So, Minji, your father said a lot about you." Hanni's mom broached. Minji chewed quickly and swallowed her food before answering.
"Good things, I hope." She said blandly.
"He likes to exaggerate sometimes," Minji smiled sweetly, earning a chuckle from all except Hanni. It wasn't that Minji looked at the girl for her reaction to the lame joke, she just - you know- glanced at her because there was something behind her. Lame excuse, Minji.
"Oh, it's good, Minji. You inherited his intelligence indeed. Topping your class, That's so his thing! Impressive!" Hanni's father chirped proudly.
"It wasn't that great. I was doing okay." Minji replied. She received a lot of compliments all the time, but that didn't mean she was used to it. It made her feel uncomfortable, to be honest.
"And modest" Hanni's grandmother cheered.
"Perfect for my granddaughter!" Minji smiled tightly, holding hack her tongue. She didn't want to he rude for the second time. Everyone at the table was happy, except for the main characters, Minji and Hanni.
A few minutes after the chattering died down, her father clinked his glass.
"I'd like to propose a toast. To the Kim-Pham clan! May we unite forever! Tied up by our daughters!" Again, everyone except the two girls raised their glass. Well, Hanni did raise her glass in a painfully slow motion and then stop immediately when Minji opened her mouth.
"Dad, marriage is still a long way from now, remember? We get to know each other first, right? Um, a year?" Minji tried to give her dad subtle clues to their deal.
Her father ignored her and her mother narrowed her eyes at the doctor, efficiently silencing her.
"I'm just saying," She whispered into her mother's ear.
"Stop saying anything" her mother hissed. Then they all toasted their glass.
"I have an announcement. Darling, please be quiet." Minji's mother stated to warn her daughter. not release any ignorant comment.
"We want to give both of you a present." She started slowly.
"Yes, there is plenty of time to get to know each other but the faster the better, right?" She questioned, and everyone nodded. Minji began to shift uncomfortably in her chair.
Here we go She thought.
"We want you to move in together so we're buying a new apartment for you! It's in the middle of the city with a wonderful view in the day and a night." Her mother clapped her hands excitedly.
"It's really romantic." Hanni's mother added.
"You guys could chill out on the couch while staring at the God painting when the sun rise and set!"
"Yes, I've seen it and I like it. You guys will love it! Your children are going to love it. It is a perfect place to start a family."
Hanni's grandmother didn't miss a beat.
Then, they started chattering again, leaving the kids out. They talked like Minji and Hanni were going to marry the next day and have a baby by the day after the next. Minji stared at Hanni silently to ask for help but she didn't look like she'd give any comment anytime soon.
"You'd agree to do this?" The taller girl whispered and Hanni shrugged nonchalantly.
"They'll get anything they want, anyway, why bother to argue?" She replied.
Minji couldn't believed the woman before her. Well, yeah, maybe she didn't have anything. complain about. But Minji? She had a lot to complain. It wasn't fair for her to before. into something like this.
"Um guys? If I may?" Minji raised her hand. She knew her mother was glaring at her but she ignored the older woman.
"Look, thank you, really, for the present but... ugh!" Her mother stepped on her foot.
"As I said I uh thank you. But I can't move out from my apartment because there is no time fixed on when I get called in to the hospital, sometimes in the middle of the night because of patients in the emergency room, and I have to be at the hospital fast. However, Hanni can, well, stay - move in and join me at any place if she wants to, of course." Minji then prayed for God, Allah, Buddha and whoever who could hear her prayers. make Hanni say no.
"I'm down with that." Hanni declared.
And Minji officially confirmed that her life was over.