let's fly again

It’s a cold November afternoon, the sky clouded in gray and the rain seemingly never-ending. The mood is a bit of a drag because of the weather, but you can’t keep still. Yugyeom is finally coming over to meet your parents for the first time, after dating each other for about 2 months. You had always been patient and told him to not rush things -- heck, he’s treating the relationship like the two of you are newlyweds -- but he insisted on wanting to assure your parents that you weren’t dating a douchebag.

Yugyeom wasn’t confident, to say the least. Just a few minutes ago, he had been on the phone with you, asking frantically what to wear, what to bring, what to say. He called this one of the biggest events of his life, right before the time he confessed to you after school in the hallway. Finally, he told you that he’d be there in exactly 2 minutes, despite living more than 15 minutes away. You told him to drive safe and to calm down a little, but you knew he would be jittery the whole night. His nervousness was even making you a little bit on edge.

Ding-dong. “That must be him,” your mother says. You finish setting down plates for the table, as she wipes her hands on her apron and goes to invite him inside. You hear the sound of rain hitting on the pavement outside as the door creaks open. “You must be Yugyeom! Y/N has told us all about you. Look at you, all dressed up nicely,” your mother starts to gush. You quickly step towards the entrance and see him, wearing a black jacket blazer with a white shirt underneath. His hair is wet from the pouring rain - he must’ve forgotten his umbrella when he rushed to leave - he’s holding a box covered by a dripping plastic bag, and he has on the shyest smile you’ve ever seen. Your father looks around and hands him a towel for him to dry himself off with. He tries to take the box from Yugyeom, but your boyfriend shakes his head. “No- uh, sir- it’s wet, let me take the plastic bag off first.” Your dad smirks. “What a polite boy.”

After Yugyeom dried off his hazel, kind-of-olive-y hair, he looks at you and waves with a small laugh. You couldn’t help giggling at how cute he looked. Your mother made him take off his blazer, saying it was “too stuffy and formal.” He asked if he should help with the food, but of course, your mother insisted for him to sit down and wait. Somehow, he helped serve the rice for all four of you anyways; you could tell he had already won your mother’s maternal heart.

“So, Yugyeom, how’s school with Y/N? S/he doesn’t cause trouble for you, do they?” your father asks. For the whole night, you were impressed by how polite and calm Yugyeom was acting. He almost seems like an entirely different person. The Yugyeom you knew were always teasing and bullying his older friends, or cringing at himself after kissing up so much. “Huh? Oh, Y/N is very sweet! You don’t need to worry about her, haha,” he replied with a cheesy grin and a glance in your direction. You rolled your eyes and smiled. He always seemed to warm your heart in the littlest of ways.

It was late after dinner, and your mother ushered you to walk him back to his car. Your father gave him a big pat on the back, and he stumbled forward, a bit caught off guard. Yugyeom smiled awkwardly, and you stifled another giggle. The rain had stopped, and now dewy mist was in the air. As you guys walked, with nothing but streetlights guiding the stony black path towards his black car, Yugyeom finally broke character and let out a huge exhale. “How was I, Y/N? Do you think they like me?” You nodded. “Definitely. You didn’t have to do so much though, it must’ve been really uncomfortable for you.” He shook his head and pulled your waist closer to his. “I had to make a good first impression. They’re, uh, your parents… after all.” He blushed and looked away from you, and you laughed yet again.