012 (1/1)

April 2022                    A palm reader once told me I would get married around 27 or 28 years old. I was of course, joyful and hopeful at first, but now at my age, I became very skeptical. Either I had put in too much trust into that palm reading session, or I had missed on my fated partner on the street. So I quickly buried my wish and concentrated on other things, instead.                   From London, all three of us – Jongin, Luhan and I – decided to take a long two-weeks trip to visit our hometowns. We first landed in Singapore and stayed for a day before we took another flight to my hometown. It was a short forty-five minutes, but I was very anxious because I had not seen my family for a while. Moreover, I just told them I was bringing two friends without mentioning that both of them were males. I could not wait to see my mother’s reaction. Both my parents must be horrified.                   “Your hometown is…” Jongin gulped down the next word as he looked around the airport helplessly. We were all standing in a queue, waiting to get checked. They were both asked about their purpose of visiting and where they came from. Then, as the escalator descended down, I swore I saw a few familiar figures in the waiting area. It seemed that my parents brought my other family members as well.                   “Small, I know,” I quickly turned around so they would not see me. Frankly, the two of them were both unusually good-looking, so I could see stares being directed at the three of us. Luhan ignored them because he was so used to it, and so was Jongin, but I, on the other hand, was a bit uncomfortable.                   “You don’t look like them at all,” Luhan commented, staring at my face unabashedly. I chuckled and hushed him down. Indeed, I looked different from other people from my country because our ethnicities were different. My skin was very fair, especially after I got back from England. I got a lot thinner, too, and even my uncle in Singapore had criticized me for not taking care of myself. Now I had to deal with my parents and other relatives.                   “I will take care of your luggage. Go run to your parents,” Jongin gave me one of his rare smiles and shoo-ed me away. I turned to Luhan and he nodded at me. Tears were already brimming my eyes when I ran out and hugged both my parents. It had been close to three years since I last saw them. Their hairs had greyed due to age, their posture a bit slumped, but both of them welcomed me into their arms as I jumped on like a child.                   “Let me see you,” My mother softly tugged away and examined my face. Only then did I notice that my favorite auntie and uncle had come as well, and one cousin of mine, who had grown so tall and pretty I almost gaped at the difference. She used to be so tiny and cute, and all of a sudden, she grew up to be this dazzling young woman with sophisticated features. “You look so mature now.”                   “You look gorgeous,” My auntie patted my head and I ran on to hug her. I stole a glance at her husband and grinned widely. He was tanner and a bit thinner, but was the same as the last time I visited. He did not age one bit, but his eyes held maturity and wisdom. He ruffled my hair and laughed, “Still a kid, I see.”                   “Still the same,” I replied enthusiastically. Then I went on to give a giant hug to my cousin. She had to hunch down a bit to match my height, as I laughed at her, “What did you eat that you grow so tall? Now you can be a model with your height. Come with Jiejie and I will put you in a lot of famous magazines.”                   My cousin, Qiao, ever the shy and demure one, politely rejected with a soft tone and pleasing smile, “No, jie, I am in my final year and I have to focus on it. Else I won’t be able to graduate and I won’t get a good job in the future.”                   No matter how hard I tried to persuade her to come with me to England, she would not bend so easily. So in the end, she entered the university in my country. Then I remembered my two good friends were still waiting for me cluelessly and when I turned around, they were already there, both amused at my antics and confused at the foreign languages. I guessed my parents already had their suspicions so when I brought them to greet my family, none of them were so surprised.                   “This is Luhan,” I pointed and moved on, “And Kai.”                   I had decided to give Jongin a more Westernized name because one, it would be hard for my parents to pronounce his Korean name, and two, to avoid unnecessary scolding. Like any other communists out there, my parents had their own view of Korea-China relationship and the last thing they would want to see was their daughter dating a Korean man.                   My parents squinted a bit, and the twitch in my mother’s eyes did not escape my sight. I tried to distract them with a lot of questions, asking how this cousin had been, how that cousin had been, how they were and so on. Naturally, my auntie and uncle followed my lead and asked no more. My quiet parents also said nothing as they led us to the cars. I had wanted to sit with my cousin in the other car, but I could not leave Jongin and Luhan.                   “Where are you from?” My mother was so very careful and polite when she asked. My father was observing from the mirror as he drove. I gave Jongin and Luhan a comforting look and smiled. My mother was asking in Chinese, so it was only natural that Luhan replied while Jongin adorably looked at me in all of his cluelessness. I pat his thigh secretly to calm him down.                   “I am from China, Auntie,” Luhan was very pleasing and even my mother’s initial doubt disappeared. He knew how to talk and was well-mannered. He did not try to flatter, nor said unnecessary words. “Kai is from South Korea.”                   My mother smiled and looked at Kai. She could speak limited English, so she nodded at him and said, “Hi, Kai. It’s good to finally meet the two of you.” But behind that smile, I knew she was anything but calm. I could not play the “just friends” card to her because she was very good in investigation and all three of us did not look an inch like normal friends would. What was I supposed to say? We were in a very complicated threesome? If so, she would beat me to death.                   I could see the thoughts forming in my mother’s head. She was a very gentle and demure person, much like my cousin, while I was more like my aunt. Albeit quiet, my mother was very intelligent and protective. For her, Luhan would be too pretty. No matter how pretty I was, I could never win Luhan. Jongin was just Korean. And to her reaction, I had already thought of an answer; something solid enough to stand my ground. She was my mother, they were my friends, I could not defend one without offending the other, but I knew sometimes it was right to be wrong and wrong to be right.                   “Where are we going?” Out of respect for the two of them, I asked in English. My mother replied, “The restaurant by the river. We’ve booked a table.” Then she worriedly asked me in our local dialect, “Do you think they will like it? They seem so… posh.”                   I snorted and then threw my head back, laughing. Oh yes, both Luhan and Jongin definitely seemed posh, but if they dared say a word against my favorite restaurant, I would hate them. Just kidding. Not. I replied, “Don’t worry too much, Ma. They are both very sensible and won’t offend us, for sure. I have told them stories to prepare. They will survive. If they dislike this place, how can they go with us to the neighboring province?”                   When I mentioned our trip on the day after tomorrow, a crease appeared on my mother’s forehead. She was very courteous and wanted only the best for our guests. Of course she would worry so much over small details. Then I looked at Jongin and Luhan, “The place we’ll go to have a lot of cockroaches. You will be fine, right?”                   My eyes were full of mischief and I saw both paled at the question. I had told them before that we were going to an isolated village a few hours away and the horror of it. Though they were uncomfortable at the idea, I managed to convince them by saying that it was a routine for my family to visit that village at least a few times a year.                   “We will be fine, Auntie. Don’t worry,” Luhan jokingly smiled at me and said, “Sara said she would help us to adapt with the environment.” And that included promises of how I would chase away cockroaches and other insects for them. Men nowadays can’t even handle this minor problem! I scoffed to myself.                   Jongin chuckled a bit, and when my mother glanced at him, she laughed, too, but as her daughter, I was very nervous. Thankfully, none of them noticed the oddness and continued talking as they got to know each other. My mother was a tricky one, so I knew she would ask a lot of difficult questions in a very subtle way.                   “How did you meet Sara?”                   Luhan looked at Jongin, and Jongin stared back. Both had their own stories, and frankly I had yet to hear their first impression of me. Surprisingly, the quiet one spoke first, his tone slow and very gentle, and I was afraid that if he continued, my mother would be very suspicious of his feelings.                   “I first met her on the campus tour, with my other friend.” That was it? Even I raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief. He awkwardly glanced at my mother, who seemed surprisingly pleased at his reaction. I could not even interrupt him because he looked down at his feet, refusing to even glance at my direction.                   “She met me in the train station, when she was asking for direction,” Because Luhan felt that my mother was more comfortable speaking Chinese, he casually switched. There were some words I did not understand, but mother was better in this language, so she nodded enthusiastically. “Then we found out that we live in the same building, only one floor apart. Sometimes we would eat together with Jongin who lives not far from us.”                   Both Luhan and Jongin were short in their explanations, and they slyly avoided talking about feelings and such. My mother was at least satisfied as she glanced at me, “Do you treat them well? They must have spoilt you, right?” Spot on.                   I snickered and replied, “Ma, if I did not treat them well, I would not have brought them here.” At the mention, there was a small smile tugging on Jongin’s lips, and even Luhan’s expression gradually became warmer and softer. “They spoil me as I spoil them. It’s even. Right, Lu?”                   Luhan laughed and nodded. My father suddenly interrupted, and because of his strong features, even Jongin sat up straighter, listening very attentively. “You’re such a kid, how can you say that to your friend?” Luhan stiffened. I, on the other hand, was very much used to my father’s soft scolding and laughed at him, “Pa, if I were a kid of six-years old, then these two were not much older than ten. How can you say that to your own daughter?”                   The situation eased up again and we started chatting normally. I talked about the unique flavor of fried chicken in our country and how we used banana leaves to wrap rice because it would create a fragrant smell to the rice. The curry chicken was different from Indian curry because we added in leaves and coconut milk. All in all, the best part was still the rice. I could not wait to eat it again.                   “Look at you, drooling. So embarrassing,” Mother jokingly scolded me, and Luhan finally found the courage to speak up, “Auntie, please don’t blame her. She has been waiting to come home because she misses her family very much.”                   Ever the sweet talker, even my mother let down her defense. She ended up sighing and smiling gracefully at my two best friends, “Since you are Sara’s best friends, then I will treat you like my own sons. I hope you do not mind.”                   “It is our pleasure,” Luhan gave that blinding smile and even Jongin gave out two words, albeit short, but it sounded very sincere, “Thank you, Auntie.”                   My parents were pleased.                      DISCLAIMER: As an author, I am very biased towards Luhan. I do not know when it started, but now I realized the consequences of falling in love with your own character. And you know why they even feel so real to me? Because their characters are based off of my dream three years ago. So yes, I am in love with Luhan's character here.