Declan
–four weeks later
When I enter the house, the first thing I see is Yuna stretched out on a couch like a limp asparagus and looking at something on her phone. We returned to Los Angeles after spending two weeks in Korea, and since then, Yuna’s been busy planning our wedding. Her mom’s supervising from Korea, although I have a feeling Lady Min’s coming over soon.
Actually, I need to stop calling her that. Yuna’s mom isn’t happy with “Lady Min.” She says it’s rude if I’m calling her husband “Dad.” So I’m supposed to call her either Mother or Mom.
It’s just the weirdest feeling to get a totally new set of parents who look nothing like me but treat me like I’m their own child. Weird…but not unpleasant. More like…accepted. That’s the word.
“Honey, I’m home,” I call out, walking toward Yuna.
“Hey,” she says, putting down her phone.
“Is that an online catalogue your mom sent?”
“No. She doesn’t do online catalogues. Says it’s too hard to judge color. I was actually looking at the news.” She moves a little to make room for me, and I sit down and have her place her head in my lap. She sighs happily.
“What kind of news?” I ask.
“Ella and Chantel got arrested for embezzlement, just as they were about to go to the beach for the wedding.”
“Really?” I cut ties with them weeks ago and haven’t heard anything since. But then, I had their numbers blocked, and Benedict’s been swamped.
“Yep. They were working at some charity, and decided the money to help the poor was there for the taking. A quick audit discovered it. Was fairly simple.”
From the way her eyes are gleaming, I have a feeling she had something to do with the process. Maybe tipped the organization off. I have nothing against that—they both deserve to go to jail if they stole from people they were supposed to be helping.
Since I don’t want to waste time thinking about them, I ask, “How many wedding catalogues did your mom mail us?”
“Only three, which isn’t too bad. Came with some fabric samples, too. But I’m feeling lightheaded, so I need to rest for half an hour.”
“Did you have anything for lunch?” She only had a small bowl of yogurt for breakfast. And she’s been very light with lunch too in the last couple of weeks.
“I had a fruit salad,” she says, then sighs.
I shake my head with mild exasperation. “I think you need more than that for lunch.”
She looks up at me, wearing a pitiable expression that reminds me of a sad little puppy. “But I can’t. I’ve been busy.”
“Why? I thought your mom’s army of assistants is doing the bulk of the work.”
“But I have to pick out furniture and stuff.”
“Furniture? For what?” I frown a little. As far as I know, she doesn’t have anything to furnish, and we aren’t buying a new home… Are we?
“To furnish this house.”
I look around a little. “Is there something wrong with the furniture we have? Actually, the more important question is, do you have to do that right now?”
“It’s part of the wedding for a bride to bring new furniture and appliances for the home,” she says like it’s the most natural thing in the world. “When Eugene got married, his wife brought four trucks’ worth.”
I laugh a little. “I don’t want four trucks’ worth of stuff. I just want you to relax and be happy. If you don’t like what we have, we can replace it after the wedding, not right now. Okay?”
She nods.
“Now that we’ve got that sorted out, can I please get you something to eat?”
“No. I need to lose at least five more kilograms.”