Chapter 3 ~ Minho
Congrats, it started with a bang... literally
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If there is one thing I hate more than my dad’s family dinners, it is being forced to socialise with the enemy and his mother, who is too sweet for my liking.
Dad’s text said it’s a casual dinner, and yet there is nothing casual about any of this. His girlfriend is bringing a homemade lemon cake for dessert, and Dad grossly lets slip that she smells like lemons when—You know what, I don’t want to remember that bit of information.
This morning, Yeseo spent forty minutes on the phone with me asking me what she should wear, and there is Dad, who had Halmeoni help him clean the entire house twice; I hear it involved a lot of sweeping, mopping, dusting, and vacuuming.
I’m surprised my grandmother even helped in the first place, only to leave as soon as they were done.
None of it spells casual, not when you are introducing your girlfriend of six months and her vile son to your children.
Her son.
Bellamy.
Even thinking his name annoys me to no end. Of all the women in town for my dad to like, it had to be the one with the son I want nowhere near me. His name sounds like it belongs to a guy who thinks being attractive can get him whatever he wants, a real delinquent if you ask me.
I’m sitting on the couch scrolling through the series of unanswered messages from Nyla when Dad walks by for the sixth time.
I swear, if he doesn’t stop pacing, I will throw a pillow at him.
It’s not helping with my nerves since Yeseo and I are the ones meeting Victoria Maddox for the first time.
Bellamy doesn’t count. I know everything I need to know about him, and hopefully, after this dinner, Dad will understand my request to transfer to Briarston U.
New town, new opportunities and far, the fuck away from this shit show.
My sister is already planning on not visiting at all after this, so if he doesn’t let me go, I’ll ask my grandparents if they can help with housing and whatever else I will need to start fresh, because I can’t imagine having to see my tormentor more than what's normal.
Maybe I could even get a cat.
“Can you at least pretend to be interested, bud?” Dad asks.
I look up to see he’s not even staring at me, but out the bay window.
“I am interested.” In leaving goes unsaid, but I think he knows because Dad raises a brow, but I dismiss it and glance back down at my phone.
“I am so interested that I am searching whether it is possible to fake food poisoning without being taken to the hospital.”
“Minho.”
I make a bored face. “Dad.”
He sighs, knowing he won’t win me over when he can’t convince his daughter to arrive an hour before his guests to help clean his house.
Not that I was any help.
The doorbell rings seconds later, and Dad is rushing to it, mumbling something about daughters and how they drive you crazy, but when he opens the door, his rambling stops.
Then I hear them in the hallway—the soft feminine voice, the laughter, a deeper voice I know too well and could live much longer without hearing in this house. I consider climbing out the window; I mean, it’s right there, and they won’t see me slip out.
I’m about to get up from the couch when my sister walks into the living room, sunglasses still on and wearing a gross-looking set of faded grey sweatpants and a matching baggy hoodie.
“What the fuck?” I ask, looking over her outfit, because I never thought I would see the day she, of all people, would put such a thing on.
“I am attending what is surely to be a tragedy for Dad, little brother. When this woman breaks his heart because she will, I will have worthless clothes for him to cry on.”
“Where did you even get those, because I know your closet didn’t magically produce those,” I whisper.
She scoffs and rolls her eyes. “I got them from Ruby’s thrift store.”
I bite my inner cheek to stifle a laugh as soon as Dad, Victoria at his side, their hands interlocked together, and he who shall never be uttered from my lips, enter the living room behind my sister, who drops onto the couch beside me.
Victoria’s smile is warm and welcoming, and I can see why Dad likes her. She looks kind, unlike the stepmothers with fake smiles that Nyla was texting me about. No, Victoria looks like she could be one of those step-moms who carry extra snacks in her purse.
Then again, Yeseo is right: this woman is a girlfriend who could break up with Dad, so an evil stepmother and her twisted, evil doppelganger might not even be in my future.
I mean, come on, they look exactly alike that they could pass for twins, with their pretty blue eyes and sandy blonde hair.
If anything, Victoria’s son is taller than her, like giant taller, at least six foot four and muscular in a way that pisses me off because he looks like he came straight off one of those model covers of a romance novel.
It’s annoying; he’s annoying, especially when he carries himself like someone who has never been told no in his entire life.
Bellamy’s eyes meet mine, then immediately narrow like he could picture himself stabbing me from a few feet away.
Interesting.
The feeling is mutual, shit-face.
I hope my dad doesn’t expect me to get up and shake Bellamy’s hand or something. It won't happen. I am not touching him, nor am I sitting or breathing close to him.
“Yeseo, Minho,” Dad says our names more brightly than I have ever heard him. “This is Vicky and her son, Bellamy.”
Victoria smiles. “It is so nice to meet you both officially.” She takes a few steps towards us as we stand and holds out a hand.
Obviously, I shake it first when Yeseo doesn’t even bother looking at the extended hand, even as I pull away.
“Your father told me so much about you and Yeseo. I hope you don’t mind,” she pauses, rummages through her purse and pulls out a small black box.
“Your dad told me how much you like going to Bethany’s jewellery shop in the city, and I saw this piece and thought of you. ”
Oh brother.
Here we go.
Bribing my sister is comparable to being the fastest way to find yourself on her most wanted dead list, which she keeps hidden in the diary she thinks I don’t know about.
Guess who’s at the top...
This guy.
***
My sister is a goner after she opened the box and found a necklace with a Y and little diamonds. She’s in love with Victoria now, I mean, halfway through dinner, and I could see it all unfolding in real time.
Yeseo is planning the perfect wedding for our dad and Victoria, and I know she is making a list of honeymoon destinations to book herself by tomorrow.
This is a bloody nightmare.
Within the last ten minutes, Victoria has somehow learned about Yeseo’s major, my sister’s favourite coffee order at Imogen’s bakery and cafe, and future career plans.
Meanwhile, I sat quietly in my chair across from my sister and observed Bellamy as I took a sip of my dad's favourite whiskey. No, he doesn’t know because I poured it into my water bottle when he was giving Victoria and Bellamy a tour of the house.
I think I glance away from Bellamy for two seconds when I feel his burning stare on me before I face him to find that, yeah, he’s quietly sitting beside his mom while glaring holes into my head like some hurt animal.
Neither of us looks particularly thrilled to be here, and for once, I feel bad for the guy, because the number of times I pictured myself kicking him out is high, and he truly looks like he would rather be anywhere else.
Poor baby.
Knowing my dad, this shame of a dinner will go on for another forty minutes, and then he’ll let us go by ignoring us, thanks to Victoria’s presence. I don't think I’ve seen him look anywhere else since this woman arrived.
At one point, Victoria starts telling a story about Bellamy as a kid, and when I say my social battery dimmed, it died faster than a comet hitting Earth could kill the dinosaurs.
Why am I here?
“...he insisted he was going to become a professional hockey player, to go pro as they say and refused to answer anything except Captain Maddox for eight months.”
Yeseo laughs along with Dad, and then Victoria joins in, all the while I am wondering which part is so funny.
Bellamy groans, I smirk, and his gaze narrows on me again.
Good.
I guess humiliation by his mother in front of me is funny, I guess, but damn him for making that look he’s giving me while glaring so—I don’t even know, funnier?
At least something about this torture of an evening is entertaining, if only I had popcorn with extra butter and Reese's Pieces to go with it.
“You got something to say, princess?” His voice is deeper than I remember, still familiar and annoyingly nice.
I tilt my head to the side in consideration, then sit back in my chair and take a sip of the whiskey before giving him my most mocking smile I can think of, all while ignoring the “princess” comment. “Nope, not one comment, Boy Wonder.”
The nickname is something his mom had said when she was telling Yeseo more stories about Bellamy’s childhood, and I find it fitting, given he is more of a villain and massive fuck boy than sidekick hero.
“Are you sure, because you’ve been staring and it's getting old,” he grits out. “Or do you stare at all your victims before you murder them?”
“Only the ones I can’t believe were allowed to enter this house,” I shoot back. “And might I add with quite nasty glares of their own.”
He glares harder. “You haven’t seen nasty, Minho.”
I laugh softly, taking him in before meeting his eyes. “Trust me, I have, and frankly, I am already bored.”
Bellamy rolls his eyes, and I simply smile sweetly when my dad glances in our direction for once since sitting down at this table.
For the rest of dinner, I swear Bellamy is either giving me this look that says he is thinking of throwing something at me or all the ways he could throttle me.
The kicker is that when my dad and Victoria get up, they place their hands together and face us.
“We are getting married,” Dad announces, and that’s when I see the massive diamond Victoria is sporting on her finger.
“Holy mother of Jesus,” I hear my sister say before squealing like she won the lottery.
I spit my whiskey back into my water bottle after nearly choking on the swig I had taken. Either I died, or he said they are getting married after only six months of dating.
This has to be hell, and I am being punished for sins I did not commit. I glance between my dad and the ring on his fiancée's hand. “When did you have time—”
“After your birthday dinner,” he cuts me off.
So, the dinner he planned and then ended early? That dinner? The one I didn’t want because I had planned on spending my birthday with Nyla and her folks.
Fucking typical.
That’s when a loud bang reverberates off the table, and we all glance in the direction that it came from to see Bellamy’s hands curled into fists on the table. His eyes are on me before drifting to his mom and maybe dad, and holy fuck, he’s as red as a ripe tomato.
“No, no, this can’t be happening.” He shakes his head as he gets up, and the look on his mom’s face is just pure hurt.
“Dating is one thing; I can get behind that, but no way in hell will I become family to this,” he points at me, and I blow him a kiss that has his perfect jaw ticking.
“This judgmental person who thinks he’s smarter than everyone and thinks too highly of himself. ”
Aren’t I though?
And too highly of myself, the fuck? Okay, NHL wannabe.
He shakes his head some more like a petulant child who isn’t getting what they want. It’s embarrassing and amusing to watch all at the same time. “No, I just won’t.”
I don’t even know why I’m not getting up to say the same thing, and perhaps it's because I am still just stunned my dad got this woman a ring.
Bellamy storms off, and Yeseo and I exchange a glance before facing our father and future stepmother. “Congrats?” I start, and my sister covers her mouth to stop her quiet laughter. “Your engagement started with a bang... literally.”
My dad looks into Victoria’s eyes and says, “he’ll come around.” He then looks at me, and his voice becomes stern. “And Minho will learn to play more nicely.”
I laugh and clap my hands together as I sit back in my chair. “So what’s for dessert?” I ask even though I know it’s that lemon cake in the centre of the table.
Yeseo shakes her head as if that is the best way to shame me. “Cold, little brother, just cold.”
I wink and mentally prepare for the war that is surely to start if I don’t get the hell out of town, because now I am definitely not staying here long enough for Bellamy Maddox to become my brother and kill me at any given moment.
No thanks.
Briarston U, here I come.