Keep it in the Family (211) - Family Dinner IV (Patreon)

Eun Ha's POV:

"What a beauty~!" Mrs. Lee exclaimed the moment her eyes landed on the young woman. "Is that your daughter, Mrs. Kim?"

"Yes, that's right she's a freshman at one of the best universities in the country. And she was a top student at her school. She's also a talented pianist and fluent in three languages" Mrs. Kim bragged loudly, her chest puffed up with pride.

Eun Ha just stared. The woman was unabashedly presenting her daughter like a prize heifer at a fair.

Mr. Kim, the father, smiled indulgently, his eyes gleaming with the same predatory glint as the other men in the room. A disgusting sight.

Mia and Su Ah had both sat up straighter, their eyes narrowing.

Jae-il, who had been walking towards them, paused, his gaze briefly meeting the girl's.

Unlike her parents, the young woman herself was not as eager, but still managed to flash a polite smile at everyone. She was clearly used to this kind of treatment, and seemed to handle it well enough.

"Jae-il, come here, let me introduce you to our good friends, the Kims." Yeong Gu called out, his voice booming with enthusiasm. "This is their lovely daughter, Ari."

Jae-il walked over, his expression polite and neutral. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Kim. And you too, Ari Noona." Jae-il's usage of honorifics was, as always, perfect. As was his tone and his manners.

"We've heard much about you from Yeong Gu. Congratulations on your recent success~ it is truly an honor and privilege to be here on this momentous occasion. Please do continue your hard work and accomplish great things." Mr. Kim praised him. "I'd like you to take care of our daughter too, she's around your age. It would be nice if you became friends."

The implication was clear as day. 'Get to know each other, see if it leads to something... and see how this goes~'

Yeong Gu patted Jae-il on the back with a wide grin. "Why, of course!"

He, too, understood full well the implications.

Jae-il chuckled. "Thank you for the blessing, Mr. Kim."

Ari herself said nothing, simply bowed her head and offered him a gentle, soft-spoken greeting and an equally polite smile. She had no reaction whatsoever to the words being thrown about.

Eun Ha wanted to laugh at the farce.

This was a matchmaking in disguise, and everyone was pretending it was not.

It made Eun Ha's skin crawl.

It was not that she found Ari unpleasant or anything of that sort. The young woman herself didn't seem as pretentious or shallow as her parents. She just stood there, letting them do all the talking and not being as obnoxious about it. Perhaps she was simply used to it.

And if she were honest, Eun Ha did see the logic in it. A union between the Cha's and Kim's would be beneficial for both families.

Of course, that was the pragmatic side of her thinking. But as a mother, she wanted to tell her son to run. Run as fast and as far away from this transactional circus as possible.

She looked at Jae-il, trying to gauge his reaction, but his face remained fixed in that polite smile.

Eun Ha watched as Yeong Gu clapped his hands together. "Why don't you show our Ari around the house, Jae-il? Give her the grand tour!" His eyes twinkled with the kind of mischief that always meant trouble. Mr. Kim nodded enthusiastically, his double chin wobbling in agreement.

Jae-il's expression didn't flicker. "Of course. It would be my pleasure." He turned to Ari with a bow that was just the right amount of respect. "Shall we?"

Ari nodded, her own bow equally precise. As they walked away, Eun Ha noticed how Jae-il maintained a careful distance between them, his hands clasped behind his back, his stride measured.

He was treating her like a museum exhibit, not a potential romantic partner. It was brilliant, really. So subtle no one but her would notice.

The parents watched them go with matching smug expressions. Eun Ha could practically hear the wedding bells ringing in their heads.

They were already dividing the assets and picking out baby names.

The other guests, too, were watching the young pair with barely concealed interest. The women sighed dreamily, whispering about a match made in heaven. The men, all close associates, saw this as the Cha and Kim families forming an alliance that would elevate them all.

Everyone was happy.

Everyone except for Mia, Su Ah, and Eun Ha.

As Jae-il and Ari disappeared up the stairs, Mia stood up abruptly, her face a thundercloud. Su Ah followed suit, her eyes like chips of ice.

Eun Ha quickly intercepted them before they could march off and cause a scene.

Mia's jaw was clenched so tightly Eun Ha was worried she might crack a tooth. "I can't believe him. They're all in it together."

"Let's not jump to conclusions." Eun Ha said quietly, her hand on Mia's arm. "Jae-il is just playing nice, I'm sure he has no interest in that girl."

'I'm sure...'

Su Ah snorted softly. "That girl is not the problem, Mom. It's what she represents. Dad is trying to sell him off to the highest bidder."

"I know." Eun Ha sighed. "But we can't cause a scene."

What right did they have to interfere? As she said to the vultures earlier, Jae-il could make his own choices, and perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad thing for him, getting out of this damned house and be with someone that could genuinely give him what neither of them—publicly—couldn’t.

The thought wasn’t a pleasant one, but a mother is supposed to want the best for her son, and clearly the best wasn’t either Eun Ha herself or her daughters. 

Mia huffed, her shoulders rigid with anger. "Fine. But I won't stand by and watch. I'm going to... I don't know, go 'check on' them." The way she said 'check on them' made it sound more like 'ruin their date' or even 'murder that bitch'.

Eun Ha tightened her grip. "No. You will sit here and be a good hostess. Just like me."

Su Ah looked at her older sister, then back at her mother. "What if she tries something?"

"Jae-il can handle himself." Eun Ha stated, though she wasn't entirely convinced of that herself. She knew how persistent these types of women could be.

"Fine..."

Mia tried to wrestle her arm free, and when Eun Ha wouldn't let her, she hissed. "Mom, please."

"Mia...?"

"I have to go to the bathroom~" Mia said through gritted teeth, a twitchy smile on her perfectly made-up face. 

It was the oldest trick in the book.

Su Ah rolled her eyes. "I'll go with her." She grabbed Mia's other arm, and together, they pulled away from their mother's grasp and quickly headed upstairs.

Eun Ha watched them go, a helpless smile on her face. Those two...

"Mrs. Cha, may I have a word?" She was soon surrounded by her own posse of female vultures, ready to praise Jae-il, attempt matchmaking for their own daughters, or even asking questions about her household routines or what she cooked to make her son, her husband and even her two daughters so attractive and well-behaved.

xXx

Mia's POV:

To think that she'd end up in a situation like this.

Mia wasn't stupid, she knew her family was weird. She wasn't even sure what was what anymore, but one thing she was certain of was that she couldn't let some random girl take Jae-il away from her. It was already maddening enough having to compete with her own sister, but now, her own father had joined in on the insanity.

Of course he had to invite a vixen right into their house to hunt her brother. What a great father he was.

Mia's heels clicked against the stairs like tiny hammers. Su Ah followed two steps behind.

"This is insane." Mia hissed as they reached the landing, not looking back. "Even for Dad."

Su Ah caught up, her expression unreadable as always. "It's not really insane if you see it from their perspective. The Kims are a good family. Ari Kim is a beautiful, well-educated young woman from a respectable family. It's a logical match..." She finished with a sour expression.

Mia stopped and turned to face her sister, her eyes blazing with disbelief. "Logical? Su Ah, what the hell?! Are you hearing yourself? He's our brother! Not some.... some broodmare you want to sell off in a marriage auction."

"I'm not saying I like it. I'm saying I understand it." Su Ah retorted, her own expression darkening. "And if you start making a scene, you're only going to make it worse. We have no power, no say over this. As much as it sucks, it is up to Jae-il to make that decision."

Mia's hands balled into fists at her sides. "Then what? We just let that—that vixen have her way with him?"

Su Ah shook her head slowly. "They couldn't possibly be in love with each other, at least Jae-il wouldn't... I mean, he loves us, not her. Even if Dad gets really persistent about it, what can he do if Jae-il is not attracted to her?"

Mia's anger deflated a bit, but that damned anxiety rarely left so easily. "What if he is, though?"

Su Ah's silence was answer enough. What assurance did they have that Jae-il wouldn’t fall for a pretty, non blood-related face, and pursue a better, normal life with a young woman free of family madness and with whom he could have a family?

In such a scenario, the two of them were bound to lose.

"Let's just... see what's happening." Su Ah finally said, breaking the silence. “If nothing happens, we do nothing. If something does happen, then... then we figure out what to do then."

"Fine."

They both turned towards where Jae-il and Kim Ari were, their faces downright glacial.

Two pairs of eyes identically illuminated by the same thought from a hivemind with a similar goal. 'How to get that filthy foreign girl away from Jae-il... without causing a fuss, of course~'

A/N: To be rev